I am pleased to announce that The Braid has moved and has now a new name:
ORIGAMI SPIRIT
Please update your bookmarks with the new address:
http://www.origamispirit.com

At this new address I will continue writing about origami –in English and Spanish, sharing my enthusiasm for paper folding in the same spirit as I have on The Braid.

Writing at The Braid has been rewarding in many ways including the formation of friendships with people around the world for whom paper folding is also a passion.

This move has been possible with the valuable assistance of John Sutton, my great advisor of all things web (My Web Advisor).

Thank you very much for your visits to The Braid and for sharing your experiences. I look forward to seeing you over at ORIGAMI SPIRIT.

Recently, my family celebrated  my parent’s golden anniversary.  Since I wanted origami to be present on this occasion, I asked for ideas to a group of friends with whom I communicate through an Internet origami mailing list.
Hans-Werner Guth (Germany) sent me a very nice idea of his creation…

[Read the whole post now at ORIGAMI SPIRIT]

This year, much to the pride of Latin Americans, we had Román Díaz (Uruguay) as a special guest at the Origami USA convention in New York City. He is the first person ever from Latin America to be invited as a special guest to this origami event.

I have been following the progress of Román’s artistic origami work since the beginning of the decade, and it was a great pleasure to finally meet him in person and have the opportunity of folding paper at the same table! Here I show the flower that Román  taught to Fernando Villarruel and me.

Román is a prolific and self-taught  (in the full sense of the word) origami artist, who has created a large range of origami models to suit all tastes: from the simplest such as flowers and frogs to the most complex, such as bulls and unicorns. Here are some samples of the models he exhibited at the convention.

Román has created his own origami vocabulary, which makes his work unique and original. He published his first book, Origami for Interpreters, some years ago and has just published his second book, Origami Essence. Through these books, origami practitioners can go beyond being visual fans of Román’s wide range of work, and become participants of his ingenious and elegant folding processes.

Here I show photos taken at the Origami USA 2010 convention where I highlighted the presence of Román Díaz as well as other participants who came from Latin America, including Noelia Ávila (Argentina), Luz de Pessoa (Brazil) and Fernando Villarruel (Mexico).

This cloud of origami words  was created in  WORDLE, the website of Jonathan Feinberg. I encourage you to create your own word cloud. And it doesn’t have to be a cloud of origami words. You can use love words, soccer world cup words, cooking words, gardening words, recycling words…  anything!

Enjoy!

Origami model : “Seagull” Created by Simon Andersen.  Diagrams for this seagull are found in the website of Hans Dybkjær (Denmark)

The folding sequence is elegant, and here I post the result  with great satisfaction. The model is meant to be duo-color, but I folded it using onion skin paper, which is white on both sides.

May 14, 2010 update: I bought my copy of Origami Essence. I love it! Do not hesitate to buy it. It’s worth every penny.

Click here and visit Origami Spirit, where you will find variations and instructions on how to fold these origami stars.

F • E • L • I • Z •••N • A • V • I • D • A • D

Here is the link to the online store where this origami toilet paper is sold although at this time is SOLD OUT 

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Update: Diana Lee has sent me a link to  Amazon, where this origami toilet paper can be purchased.

I usually don’t like to bother you with Christmas wishes because I know that you must be overwhelmed receiving requests from paper folders all over the world.

This year will be an exception though. I do have a wish for the coming Christmas.

I’d like to receive a book called Origami Essence written by  Román Díaz, a good friend of mine and a great origami master.

For your convenience, here I send you a link to the site of Nicolas Terry (France) which is the only place you can purchase it.

The book is full of great models, from simple to complex, but I am especially interested in inflatable models like the ones in the photographs below.

I will be very happy if you leave a copy of this great book under my tree. And I will be much happier if you bring a copy of this book to all the readers of my blog.

Cheers,

Leyla

PS. I promise you I will recycle all the gift  wrapping paper into a ton of origami models!