Origami USA Artist Trading Cards 2014

Liner notes for origami convention artist trading cards swap

I fell in love with this sunflower model at a weekly origami meeting. In subsequent meetings, I kept folding them with different types of paper. The possibilities were endless. The colorful index cards were left over from studying for an exam. The background piece of paper is a random shape cut from a square or hexagon. The card can also be used as a mini-note book, mini-guest book, or a simple display stand! Fill it with a witty quote or a favorite convention memory! 

The model

Kazuo Kobayashi sunflower from Origami Flowers. Or read my friend Linda's book review on OUSA)

Brainstorming 

Some of the features below show up in my "draft notes and pics" but are not actually used.

• Funky color combo (used)
• Spirograph as background (not used)
• Magazine centers (some used)
• Poems/quotes inside card (not used)
• Potential pop up card (not used)
• Maps as backgrounds (not used, pictured below)

The prototype 

White part is cut from hexagon memo paper. 

The paper

Memo cube, duo foil, single side and duo sided patterned kami, magazine pattern cutout, etc

The card

Colored index card folded in half. Can be used to take notes and also used as a stand. 

These are a few of my favorite cards

(Picked and photographed the night after finishing cards)

(Picked and photographed the night after finishing labels) strangely enough I had only two repeats: the orange/red foil and the cheetah print with arc.

Fun facts

• Patterns include strawberry and cheetah print!
• Not all sunflowers had center piece (duo foil looked better without). This model is a two piece model. 
• White cut out pieces were unplanned. Random cut and shape and twists. All cutting, gluing, and positioning on cards were done in one night. 

Links to shuttlefly gallery: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0CYsmLRw1bMWca

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Links to other ATCs: http://azuleteats.blogspot.com/search/label/ATC

Link to countdown pics (or separate blog) - placeholder

Walking around LES

I walk around the LES and neighboring streets fairly often, mostly due to the distance from subway and my destinations. There is something fun about stumbling upon different kinds of shops, restaurants, and coffee places with colorful fire escape stairs on apt buildings. This time I got a few pics of various things I found interesting. Afterwards I looked up the artists and provided the links below. The caption are my comments, not the actual titles of the works.

blue pineapple

rainbow love

Thirsty shark

Artist Credits:

pineapple one unknown.

rainbow: http://bradleytheodore.com/

shark: http://zitogallery.com/home/

Here is an article about the work by Bradley Theodore. Didn't realize the work is fairly recent. While it was more meaningful to read about who the skulls are, I wonder if I would have enjoyed it anyway without the reference. Looking through Zito's page made me realize just how different types of work he does, from portraits to paintings to even a hand painted lettering section of Zito's page. 

What kind of murals/graffiti do you like around the city?

2013 June OUSA Artist Trading Cards

As part of the 2013 June Origami USA Origami convention, my friend Talo organized the Artist Trading Cards event, which involves 27 cards in the official set and 27 participants. 

In a nutshell, everyone has to create at least 27 cards with origami in them (no theme for this trade) and then everyone takes home an entire set. We also met up and I got a chance to see other people's bonus cards from previous years. Mini-art gallery in the making!

 

Liner notes for my ATC (also presented at the ATC exhibition):

“Perfect blue in 3”: A top secret project. Naturally, all my OMG friends were quite curious about the theme of my first ATC for my first origami convention. Most guessed hydrangea which isn’t too far off. I went through several drafts and revisions and really enjoyed every part of the design/production process. 3 materials (memo cube, regular computer paper, and cardstock) and 3 patterns were used in the final set while maintaining a monochromatic look. As for the labels, I wanted an opportunity to use the cat manga stencil I bought at a comics event.


Planning and inspiration photos below. I had originally wanted to write a dev blog post (similar to video game makers) but decided to at least post the pics here (and hopefully fill in the details in the future). I tried various drafts and color combos and ended up deciding on three variations. Hope you enjoyed my first ATC and look forward to future trades!

Mobile users, please try this link as the embedded gallery may not work. http://azuletblogphotos.shutterfly.com/pictures/96

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