New blank cards: Origami leaves and dolphins

Before I begin introducing other styles from my inaugural collection, such as cards with 3D motifs or paper cuts, let me quickly show you my two most recent origami creations: leaves and dolphins. Both of these cards feature beautiful textured card stock from Japan. 

Blank leaf card

Article No.: 00JO-A6-WOO-14101

Are you looking for a blank card that suits the fall season? Are you tired of flowers, puppies, drinks, beaches and the likes on cards and would prefer something more autumnal, but no less bright and elegant? Look no further. This handmade blank card combines an origami leaf with a variety of beautiful Japanese papers in fall colours and with different textures.

• Textured Japanese card stock in wood brown.
• The collage consists of vertical paper stripes in crinkled gold paper (long) and brown washi paper (short), three diagonal stripes in latte-coloured linen card stock, one uneven broad stripe of brown Japanese tissue paper, and an origami leaf, hand-folded from dark red origami paper with an attached stem made of dark brown paper. The leaf is only glued in the centre in order to create a 3D effect.
• The size of the card is 10.7cm x 15.7 cm (4 1/4" x 6 1/4").
• Blank inside. The card contains a loosely inserted sheet of watermarked Japanese lining paper.
• A matching light reddish-brown envelope with shimmery speckles is included.

Blank dolphin card

Article No.: 00JO-A6-SEA-14101

This handmade blank card combines a variety of elegant Japanese papers in nautical colours and features a shimmery origami dolphin. It is suitable for many different purposes. You could send "happy birthday" wishes to a dolphin or sea lover. Or instead of the usual "Good luck!" why not wish your recipient that something may go swimmingly!? Send it to a friend who loves Japan, but hates the dolphin hunt. Or use the card in true Douglas Adams fashion to say "So long" and/or "thanks (for all the fish)"!

• Textured Japanese card stock in sea blue.
• The collage consists of two vertical paper stripes in blue and shimmery light turquoise, a horizontal stripe in white (finely printed Japanese tissue), chiyogami (precious Japanese silk-screened paper) in a navy blue and white wave pattern, and an origami dolphin hand-folded from shimmery blue ungeishi paper.
• The size of the card is 10.7cm x 15.7 cm (4 1/4" x 6 1/4").
• Blank inside. The card contains a loosely inserted sheet of watermarked Japanese lining paper.
• A matching light blue envelope is included.

Set of THREE blank dolphin cards

Article No.: 00SE-A6-SEA-14101

You can buy my blank dolphin cards also in a set of three -- at a discounted price!

Please note that no cards are exactly the same, as each card is made by hand and features a different cut from a full sheet of chiyogami. That is, you will receive three unique cards in this set. The different components of the design are, however, arranged in the same way on every card.

The full set is held together by a thin printed card-stock wrapper.

What’s up with that folded bird?

Red-crowned cranes are majestic large birds that are revered in Japanese culture. Since they are not as common as other birds and were believed to live up to 1,000 years, they have become symbols of good luck and longevity. When origami became a popular pastime during the Edo period (17th century CE), people began folding cranes, and the paper crane has since assumed similar symbolic value as the live animal.  

I learned to fold origami cranes, when I was approximately ten years old, and I still have the instructions that I used back then (not that I need them anymore). Together with an origami book, which surprisingly did not include instructions for the crane, my mom had also bought me a pack of made-in-Japan origami paper, which came – and this is no surprise at all – with crane-folding instructions. Once I had mastered the simpler folds from my book, learning how to fold cranes was the logical next step. Since that day, I have folded many many cranes in my life.

Other people’s folded cranes have also had an impact on me. When I visited the Japan Foundation library during the 2012 Doors Open Toronto, I found an origami crane on a book shelf that had a message on its wing, which read, “Unfold me!” Upon unfolding, a teeny teeny teeny paper crane fell out, and I was blown away anew by the magic of origami. 

A few months later, my husband and I travelled to Japan on our honeymoon, and at our very first hotel, we were greeted by two paper cranes on our bed, which was not only a beautiful sight, but a gesture that made us feel welcome straight away. 

The greatest impact on me, however, had Sadako Sasaki, whose story I encountered during my visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Sadako suffered from leukemia as a result of her exposure to the radiation of the atomic bomb when she was a small child in 1945. Believing in the old Japanese legend that promised the granting of one wish to anyone who folded one thousand paper cranes, she folded as many cranes and more in order to be granted the wish to overcome her illness. She died at the age of 12. While Sadako has become a symbol of innocent victims of war, the paper crane has become an important peace symbol. In honour of Sadako and all the innocent victims of the atomic bomb, I bought a pack of origami paper at the Peace Memorial Museum’s gift shop, folded a crane at the Children’s Peace Monument, and donated it right there. I think of Sadako and the victims of war every time I fold a crane.   

 

When it comes to decorating cards with origami, there is nothing as versatile as the crane. It looks stunning in both 2D and 3D. It is thick enough, to jump out of the card and provide a nice texture, but thin enough to stay in shape without glue and complement a two-dimensional design. When glued to a card, one wing can be folded up, out, or to the side. There is no good side or bad side; a paper crane looks good on either side when it’s folded right. It is pretty on its own, but looks lovely in company, too, whether it’s two cranes beak to break, or a chain of cranes. And it fits a great variety of tones, not just in colour, but in sentiment. That’s why Paper Turns is full of paper cranes.