Saturday January 30th and Sunday January 31st - the diving duck

This is the first time that the weekend project has merited the use of an entire weekend to get it right. Very fiddly business.
The diagrams are covered with wavy arrows everywhere and references to the inside reverse fold. Problem, the instructions for the inside reverse fold are folded into another origami creation. not sure which one. This is one of the days when using the paper from the day before hasn't really proven useful. Instead, i had to dig into the depths of my memories to try and remember what the inside reverse fold looked like. I finally worked it out and once i had done that, all i had to do was that crazy fold i learnt yesterday.
my diving duck's tail doesn't look like the tail in the picture, but i thought it was close enough. and my duck's head does dive so at least thats somthing. although i do think that if i tried to put it in water it would sink.And this is what you get when you push the head down:Yeah i know, it doesn't really look like its diving. what can i say. im really not very good at this origami stuff......

Friday, January 29th - a terrifying practice session

Today's task was entitled "Practice for tomorrow's diving duck". and yes. I do need to practice. Basically, I have to practice doing two folds one after the other over and over again to create a crazy crease thing. And it's not easy. My paper kept on going funny and the second time i did it, it turned out worse than the first time.
I think ill have to leave the practice till tomorrow when ill have no alcohol in my system. Luckily, tomorrows project is actually a weekend project so i have plenty of time to get this right. And i will not let origami overcome me.

Thursday, January 28th - the traditional swan

The traditional swan was surprisingly easy. No surprise cryptic instructions, no crazy over the top folding. Easy.
Now granted my swan looks like a skeleton swan and his beak is far too long, but i can see the swan there.
What i don't understand is how the swan is traditional. What makes a swan traditional? Now since the swan is the royal bird thing, maybe a traditional swan has a particularly royal look to it. Mine, with its particularly long beak, doesn't look very royal. I think a royal swan would have a wider back.
I think what they mean by traditional is that there's another swan coming this year. A swan that defies tradition... How? i guess we'll find out at some point.
PS I suddenly realised that my creations are no longer red. They are pink. How long has this been going on?, i asked myself. I went back and looked. I have been using pink paper since tuesday... Can't believe i didn't even notice.

Wednesday, January 27th - the kite base

You really don't need a picture today. Its totally not impressive.
The kite base is another base on which to build complicated origami creations. Just as its name implies, the base looks like a kite. It involves folding in half, unfolding, then bringing two of the corners and sides into the middle to make the kite.
Apart from the fact that I appear to be completely incapable of folding anything in half today (it took me four goes), it was a nice and simple task.
Tomorrow, I am making a swan.....

Tuesday January 26th - the cool paper trick

Boy have I been the arts and crafts girl tonight. Not only did i complete my cats and kittens puzzle, but I also dutifully did my origami task which involved the dangerous implement that is known as scissors.
So i was watching the second ever episode of friends tonight and its the one where ross and monica's parents come over and target monica about everything. at one point, they mention that staying at home doing puzzles is good for those single independent women who aren't likely to find a man..... Are puzzles really so bad?
Anyway, origami. The cool paper trick involved lots of folding and one simple cut. Now me and sharp objects really dont go well. Im currently nursing quite a deep cut I got on sunday night when I was using a razor blade to make 80 little foil cups i needed for work the next day.
But i did manage to use the scissors without hurting myself any more.
The point of this exercise was to create the word cool but folding lots and cutting once. It almost worked. I had two bits that I wasnt sure where they went (they ended up being part of the L) and one square that just seemed to be leftover. Im not sure i was supposed to have leftovers.....
But then I once did a puzzle where I had one piece spare, randomly.
How much of a loser am i?
I am also currently listening to the Hannah Montana movie soundtrack.

Monday, January 25th - the four step sled

The origami calendar has picked up on the fact that it is currently winter. So they've gone for a winter theme with a sled, which can be made in four steps. Lies. Its actually 10 steps.
So their first alleged step is to valley fold the sides as indicated. Now it wants me to valley fold both sides, so two folds. two steps.
Next it wants me to valley fold the two shorter sides. Two sides again. Another 2 steps.
The "third" step is to mountain fold and squash all four corners. four corners. four steps. However, if you do chose to be picky and count mountain folding and squashing as two separate steps thats eight steps... About this step. The diagram is absolutely rubbish and the instructions are pants too. I had to look at the next picture to work out what I was supposed to do.
The final step is to valley fold both sides to create blades. Again, two sides is two steps. On top of the that the instructions were again really unclear. I just folded it randomly till i got something that looked like the picture.
So instead of four steps, we have 10 steps or 14 steps for the super picky.
So here it is: the four/ten/fourteen step sled:

Friday 22nd January, Saturday 23rd January and Sunday 24th January

So again, I am grouping the weekend task(s) into one. Friday's task was to make a hummingbird. Seemed quite complicated (lots of folding) but wasn't actually that bad.
Except for the bit i didn't understand. I decided not to bother trying to understand but just to fold and see what happened. The technique actually worked and hey presto! a hummingbird.
The weekend task was a silly one. Make a hummingbird, stick it to a stick and put it in a potplant as a potplant decoration. The first reason this is silly is because im far too bad at this to make a hummingbird decent enough to put in a pot plant. the second reason this is silly is because i don't own pot plants. pot plants tend to die the minute i get anywhere near them. or they get taken outside and left there to die in the cold (totally not my fault that time).
So that project got completely ignored.