Tuesday, August 31st - Swan love

Im not sure why I was supposed to fold paper to be shaped like swans that are in love. Youre supposed to know theyre in love because of the thing that looks like a heart in the middle. However, as I know for a fact that swans are evil and incapable of love, this origami is a lie.

Monday, August 30th The raging bull

My raging bull has an incredibly large face. I tried to draw the eyes and the mouth but you cant even see it on the picture so it wasnt even worth it.

Friday, August 27th, Saturday August 28th and Sunday August 29th - The seed packet

The task was to make a seed packet which would be a suitable gift for people, and I suppose it would work, with some ribbon and stuff. I also discovered over the weekend that you can buy special origami paper. Maybe i should have bought that and used that instead of the instructions.

Thursday, August 26th - The flower

This was supposed to be a pretty flower, and I think it would have been if I hadnt done it just before making caramelised onions that went rock solid. It kind of made me reluctant to do anything else that was remotely creative....And this is the reason why I couldnt be bothered: in this picture I am holding up onion

Wednesday, August 25th - The dog

This is the second dog of the year. The first one was just the head, this one was the body too.I failed at this one (no surprise there hey?). The type of dog i think was supposed to be one of those long sausage dogs. Mine looks like a seal, funnily enough

Tuesday, August 24th - The snappy beak

The snappy beak was nice and easy. It looks really evil though. Evil enough to provoke nightmakes I think. it also snaps, just like it says on the box (instruction sheet)

Monday, August 23rd - The seal

This is the second seal of the year. And it failed miserably. The instructions were ridiculously complicated. I couldnt understand a word of them. I ended up scrunching a lot and hoping for the best. it didnt turn out well. I definitely prefer seal version number 1.

Saturday, August 21st and Sunday, August 22nd - The accordion flower

I failed miserably today's task. I think I misunderstood one of the instructions and that led to total failure. It was so bad that I didnt even bother to take a picture, sorry....

Friday, August 20th - The roly-poly

I dont know what todays task was supposed to look like. It ended up being just folded nothingness. A lot of effort for something I dont really recognise

Thursday, August 19th - Practice for the rolly-polly and the accordeon flower

Today was the first practice folding session in aaaaaaaaaaaages. I was just thinking yesterday how much I missed doing nice easy practice folds. Today I got my wish!!! It was actually harder than I thought it would be but I figured it out.

Wednesday, August 18th - The dragonfly

This is the second dragonfly ive folded, and I like this one a lot better. It looks nicer and i think its easier than the other one.

Tuesday, August 17th - Big mouth bass

The only problem I had with todays task was when I had to blow into it to make it expand and be shaped like a fish. I couldnt understand why it wouldnt expand. Turns out I was blowing into the wrong bit.
My bass looks very evil. But i kept it looking evil because I think it looks cool. Also if you squeeze the "fins" together its mouth opens and shuts.

Monday, August 16th - The boyscout canoe

This is the second canoe Ive folded this year. This one is slightly different as it is white on the inside and purple on the outside. The previous one was red all over. Im not sure which one I like best.

Friday, August 13th, Saturday August 14th and Sunday August 15th - The whale

This is the second whale Ive folded this year. I kind of like this second version, it has a bit more personality. I was a bit off on the folds though so its face is a bit wonky but never mind. The point of the whale is that its supposed to be a good cat toy. You hang it on a tree and then wiggle it in front of the cat's nose and the cat plays. Now I dont have a cat. One day i will have two, but right now I dont have any cats. When I have my cats, I might try this. Im sure I can make other home-made contraptions to amuse them if I forget.

Thursday, August 12th - The flapping bird

5 years ago, I was in a nightclub, and someone I vaguely knew came up to me with an origami bird that flapped its wings. He gave it to me and I was so fascinated with it that i kept it for years! Today, I made that bird!!!!! Granted i ripped it a bit so only one wing flapped but it still worked!!! Im keeping these instructions because I want to make a bird that has both flapping wings

Wednesday, August 11th - The palm tree trunk

What is the point of a palm tree trunk without the leaves? or the coconuts. Mine didnt work anyway, it just started falling apart almost as soon as I had finished it. I took a picture of the good side.

Tuesday, August 10th - Dog gone cool

I didnt understand the instructions for this one, so i tried. When it didnt look right I scrunched it up until it did look ok. Im impressed with the result

Monday, August 9th - The bird finger pupper

I thought my bird finger puppet was going well, until it stopped looking right. I got so discouraged I couldnt be bothered to draw a beak and feathers. or maybe I was just too lazy. I guess well never know

Friday, August 6th, Saturday August 7th and Sunday Augst 8th - The giraffe

The giraffe was a two parter, but it was nice and easy. It would be quite a good one to remember, even though the neck of my giraffe wasnt long enough

Thursday, August 6th - The shell ornament

The shell ornament required a piece of paper of a size that I did not own. I therefore didnt make it. I have kept the instructions in case I ever get the right sized paper.....

Wednesday, August 4th - tips on scoring

No folding today. Instead I got tips on scoring. Scoring as in making grooves. I have been told to use a dull knife (not the first time Ive been warned about knives, i dont listen though) and a sharp edged mat or table. I will see what happens. tomorrow's task looks like a lot of effort.

Tuesday, August 3rd - The one eyed penguin

My penguin didnt work. I think I did something upside down or something. Its also designed to go on top of a pencil but I was too lazy to go and find one. The top of the pencil is supposed to be the eye, so my penguin is eyeless

Monday, August 2nd - The inside out gondola

This one was quite easy, I quite enjoyed doing it, and it looks like a gondola. I think Im just better at boats than anything else

Saturday, July 31st and Sunday, August 1st - The nesting bird

August already?????? One of the reasons Im so surprised is because manchester doesnt get much summer weather so time passes strangely in the summer in manchester, you cant rely on the weather to tell you what time of year it is.
Anyway, my nesting bird didnt come out right for some reason. It went so badly that I actually have to tell you that the head is on the left and the tail is on the right.........So now onto inception. Havent seen it yet? Dont worry, i wont put in any spoilers. All ill say is that its good, and one of the reasons I was impressed with it is that it didnt bother trying to mess with the neuroscience. One of the things about films of this genres that always gets on my nerves is when they try to pinpoint the neuroscience involved in their crazy plot. It always backfires (at least when Im watching). the example I always use (and I may have already used in this blog, i cant remember) is the butterfly effect where the doctor is pointing out a part of the brain and ashton kutcher goes "thats where the memories are stored". Well no its not. The part of the brain they were pointing at has, to my knowledge, absolutely nothing to do with memory, and I cant watch that scene without having a go at the tv. So in inception, the fact that they dont try to explain anything about the biological basis of dreaming, the sleep stages involved, or anything else neuroscience related was a breath of fresh air. hats off to them