Customized...

This is one of two custom orders I've done lately -- both for weddings!

The customer liked my red bridal bouquet that I had posted on Etsy, but she wanted a couple of changes. One, was to replace the small gold cranes I used as "filler" with silver, to match her wedding colors. The second was to change out the white ribbon that was wrapped around the stems of the original, with a ribbon that better matched the bouquet. This was the result.

New Additions to Shop

Midori bridal bouquet -- top
Originally uploaded by origami3d_cranes

Finally uploaded a couple of things that have been on my to-do list for a long time. One was this bouquet, which I've named Midori, the Japanese word for "green" or "spring." It also happens to be the name of a couple of my favorite relatives... I came across these paper colors while searching for a "honeydew" paper for a custom order. Though the order itself never was finalized, I liked the look of the two different shades of green, and that was how this bouquet was born.

The other item I've uploaded recently is the "Seahorse." It contains 95 cranes. It's one of the few designs I've done that was mostly "freehand." In other words, I didn't create a sketch for this one until it was absolutely necessary. The last time I used the freehand method was with my hammerhead ACEO, which I wasn't really happy with and ultimately ended up pulling out of my Etsy shop.

The Evolution of an Idea -- Part 2

These are the mini sunflower vines I mentioned in my last post on this project. I originally intended for them to be exact replicas of the larger sunflowers in the bouquet, complete with green cranes between the center and the petals (as well as on the backs of the flowers), but to do that, the "mini" sunflowers would have ended up much too large. So I made circles out of green scrapbooking paper instead, topped with slightly smaller circles of gold foil., and used my smallest gold cranes, folded out of the 2-inch paper, for the "petals."

Coming up soon: Part 3, which will cover the actual arranging of the different elements of the bouquet.

The Evolution of an Idea -- Part 1

After I finished my first "1001 crane" bouquet, I started looking for another bouquet idea that would also use the same amount of cranes. I knew I didn't want to do roses again, so I chose to do sunflowers. Since it was ultimately supposed to be a sample, and that anyone who ordered it would potentially be the one folding the cranes, I had to make sure that any papers I used would be readily available to the general public.

I designed another cascading bouquet, with two different sizes of sunflowers. The main flowers would be the "regular" sized sunflowers I already made to be sold on the stem. Mini sunflowers would be featured on wire "vines" branching down from the base of the bouquet.

I had created these gold foil sunflowers for the 2006 Holiday Season, and I decided that they would work for this particular bouquet. The "petals" were made from regular gold foil paper, the "center" was made from a textured gold foil paper, called "Hosoyo." I liked the contrast of the two different types of gold, but since the Hosoyo was lighter than the regular gold, it never quite seemed to look right. And I couldn't switch the colors around, because the Hosoyo paper wasn't available in the larger size that was needed for the "petals."

The first change from the original design for the bouquet was for the sunflowers themselves. I decided to go with only one type of gold foil paper, adding a mostly hidden band of green foil cranes so that the center could be distinguished from the petals.

That first alteration made me realize just how different the final product may turn out from my original sketch. Which is why I've decided to document the progress of this project here on the blog.

Next Step: Creating the mini sunflowers on the wire vines.

What's in a name?

Red, Pink Purple Bouquet -- Top
Originally uploaded by origami3d_cranes

Not much, I hope. I can't seem to think of a name for this particular combination.

This is the first wedding bouquet I've made in some time. I was having trouble finding the right ribbon color to use. Then I managed to convince myself I really needed a name for it before I could complete it. When I listed it on Etsy, I just included all three main colors in the title -- taking the easy way out.

The bouquet is the same size as my other hand-tied bridal bouquets, and contains 265 origami cranes. I'm planning to add more color combinations soon, hopefully they'll come along easier than this one.

I'm also finally getting to work on the matching bridesmaid's bouquet for the all-red bouquet I listed last month.