Friday, June 15, 2007

Some wonderful origami stuff



WHAT IS ORIGAMI?
Origami is the Japanese art of paperfolding in which pieces of paper, usually square in shape and uncut, are folded into decorative objects such as birds and animals. An ancient art that dates back to 538 A.D., origami has grown over the centuries from a craft used to make decorations for ceremonial occasions to an art form practiced by people of all ages and all nationalities. Today people from all walks of life, from schoolchildren to mathematicians, enjoy origami. These origami enthusiasts refer to themselves a paperfolders. They also use the terms origamists and origamians, although these terms are less popular. The decorative paper objects that they fold are referred to as folds or models.
ORIGAMI PAPER
Origami is one of the simplest of art forms because the only materials needed are your hands and pieces of paper. Using only pieces of paper, an experienced paperfolder can make an almost limitless number of origami models.
You can purchase origami paper at most ar
t supply stores. Origami paper comes in a variety of colors, patterns, sizes and textures. Most origami models can be folded using any type of origami paper, but sometimes the model that you are folding will dictate the type of paper that you will use. In general, you should use thin paper when folding a complex model that has many folds. Heavy paper should be used when folding a large-scale model.
Keep in mind that you do not really need to buy
origami paper to make origami. You can use any paper available in your home - loose-leaf paper, typewriting paper, and even gift-wrapping paper. All you have to do is cut the paper into squares (or whatever shape is required by the model) and you are ready to fold.

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