Make: Origami Cranes

This week's creative challenge? Fold an origami crane!

Origami cranes are such an iconic symbol - of Japan, peace, wedding season! I figure that if you're going to master an origami design, this should be the one. Plus it makes a great party trick, (well, depending on the kind of party, I guess)!

Learn how to fold one here - you'll find diagram, written & video instructions at the link.

A little secret... one of my goals for 2015 was to fold 1000 paper cranes. I figured that if I folded about three a day, I'd be set. So, I bought a special little kit, opened it... and proceeded to fold three. Can't win them all, I guess! Maybe 2016?

Anyway, isn't this the cutest paper? Gotta love cute fruit & sweet treats!

Of course, you might already be a crane-folding master. In which case, my challenge to you is to fold the tiniest crane you can!

Maybe fingertip tiny?



These wee ones are folded from 1.5" and 1" paper.

Happy folding! Hope to see your cranes on Instagram.

Have you tried any of this summer's weekly creative challenges yet? See them here:
Torn tape portraits
Mapping Memories

Make: Torn Tape Portraits

Some mornings I like to ease into the day with a little creative exploration - an "I wonder whether ____ would work?" activity.  Successful creative brainstorms are then refined for blog or book projects (while the not-so-successful ones get binned). This morning, I challenged myself to draw a portrait using only torn bits of tape.

While I don't LOVE the final product (there's something about patchwork skin that's a bit nightmarish), I did love the process and the overall idea, so I'm sharing! Be gentle, it was my first try!

Since summer is here, I thought it would be fun to try a series of creative challenges. Projects that are all about trying something new.

To start, why not try making your own torn tape portrait? One rule - no scissors (or craft knives) - simply tear and stick! I think this would be a great activity to do with any kids wandering around your house doing the "I'm bored" routine this summer - though younger kids might get frustrated with little pieces of tape.

If you do make one (or a whole gallery wall's worth), I'd love to see! Share on Instagram with the tag #tapeportrait or post to Omiyage's Facebook page. Can't wait!

Make: Magazine Collage Patterns

I've always been a bit intimidated by collage - great collages are really great, but not-so-great ones are more like visual clutter.

Wanting the final product to be something that I wasn't embarrassed by has always stopped me in my tracks when it came to trying collage... but part of my year long doodle challenge is trying different mediums and learning not to be afraid of art... so I took a deep breath and convinced myself it was time to try.

I love seeing collage pieces that cleverly use vintage images... but I don't love sourcing materials before I know if it's something I like doing. Test then invest, if you will. So, I decided that the best place to start was with what I already had - magazines... a bit of a mine field though if you're trying to avoid the crafty dream board look. But then I had a bit of a revelation...

As I flipped through magazines looking for inspiration or a starting point, it hit me...

Don't look AT the pictures. Look IN them - for interesting patterns, textures and colour combinations. Suddenly I had a starting point I could work with and went through ripping out interesting bits and pieces to play with.

But what to do with all these magazine pages? My conclusion - build patterns!

Susan (a fab artist I follow on Instagram) suggested sticking with a limited palette... so that's just what I did. Picking a narrow range of colours and then cutting them into small pieces.

Whenever I work with a repeating pattern, I like to first create a template out of card stock or cardboard and then use it to cut all the pattern pieces. I cut heaps of shapes - I find it easier to start with too many than to wind up scrambling to find more or using pieces which are just okay at the end.

Next, I arranged the pieces into the desired pattern and, once satisfied with the combinations. started sticking. This was not my favourite part and had me proclaiming that I was sticking with tape - no sticky fingers - but I'm a sucker for a pretty pattern, so went back for more!

Pink, coral, red and orange herringbone pattern.

Blue scallop pattern with a touch of hot pink. My favourite!

And diamond pattern in neutral shades.

All in all, I loved this first toe dip into the deep pool of potential that is collage. Will I be back for more? Maybe! I feel like this is a nice starting point - and I really am smitten with the blue scallop pattern.

Are you a collage lover? Any tips for me? 
Is this something you would try in your own sketchbook / art journal?

Send Tropical Mail

My recent mail swap reminded me of how much I love sending pretty mail. While my creative mail project two years ago was loads of fun, without a monthly deadline I've really gotten out of the habit of sending mail. I know, I know! 

I'm going to try to make an effort to be better about it without setting any specific goals - I want sending pretty mail to be something that I do when inspiration strikes and I have time to play around rather than feel that it's an obligation. So, in that spirit,  here's some tropical mail I just packed up to send. Featuring ideas for a hand drawn card, cute washi tape sampler and wrapping, I think there's plenty of ideas here to play with even if you're not a snail mail fanatic!

I always like to start with one image, idea or colour combo and build my pretty mail from there. This time my starting point was Bananas so a banana-covered doodle card was in order.

A blank card and a few paint markers are all you need to make colourful doodle cards. It's fun - you should try!

Of course, (wo)man cannot live on bananas alone - though there is a corner of the internet where the raw vegans may try to convince you you can - so I expanded from the bananas to a tropical colour and fruit theme to build the rest of my pretty mail package.

A washi tape sampler dressed up like Carmen Miranda - or is that Carmen Miranda dressed in washi tape? Either way - I'm pretty smitten with her!

Layered doilies, solid colour twine and a mini collage of washi tape strips dress up a small parcel.

Washi tape stickers - my favourite - packaged simply with a pretty header card. Plus some other lightweight treats that slide easily into a colourful paper bag sealed with tape and a glittery sticker.

All bundled together with another piece of twine and an extra blue doily to tie in the original colour scheme.

Basic manila mailers deserve a little love too! A paint marker doodle and a sprinkling of washi tape dots make this mail pretty from all angles.

Ready for her close-up! Maybe I should've called this post "Send Carmen Miranda Mail" or "If you need me, I'll be shopping for fruity hats on Ebay".

And there it is - a pile of tropical fruity goodness ready to be mailed. I hope the recipient enjoys it as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

Have you sent any pretty mail lately? 

Five Ways To Upcycle Colouring Books

I'm loving the current adult colouring trend... but once I'm done a page, I kinda think to myself now what? I'm not likely to display my colouring on the fridge and leaving it to gather dust on a shelf seems a bit of a waste, so I decide to dream up some different ways to use completed colouring pages for even more creative enjoyment.

Here are five ways to transform your finished colouring books:

Upcycled Wrapping

Make Wrapping Paper 
Have a colouring book with thinner pages? Use your completed pages to wrap small gifts - one of a kind gift wrap in your favourite colours. Top with twine or ribbon or keep the upcycling trend going and use up scraps of yarn or fabric in place of ribbon.

Make Gift Tags 
This is actually the project that got me thinking about crafting with colouring books. I was wrapping up some books to send out to giveaway winners and friends and wanted to add a finishing touch that tied into the books. Eureka - tags made from colouring book pages!

When making tags, try to use to use thicker pages and avoid ones where markers have bled through. Simply cut your page into a standard tag shape and punch a hole. Easy!

Upcycled Celebrations

Make Confetti
Use paper punches to create colouring book confetti. Sprinkle your custom confetti on party tables, add to gifts or slide into outgoing snail mail.



Everyone loves confetti! (Though no one likes cleaning it up...)

Make A Garland
Punch circles or other desired shapes from the colouring book page. Cut a length of twine or string. Apply glue to the blank sides of two circles and stick together with the twine sandwiched in between. Continue until your garland is as long as you'd like.

Upcycled Art

Make Collages
Create cut paper collages using colouring book pages. Cut a variety of shapes out of your finished pages and assemble into new pictures. Try mixing pages from different books together or add drawn or painted elements.



In case you're wondering, here are the colouring books I used in these projects. Joyful Designs by Joy Ting - perfect when you're in the mood for florals. Colour Me Calm by Lacy Mucklow and Angela Porter - full of mandalas and other relaxing scenes. Carnival by Sarah Walsh - quirky scenes and a festive fun!

Happy crafting!

Would you try any of these projects to give your finished colouring pages a new life? 
Do you have any other project ideas using colouring books?

Tea Time Pretty Mail

There's nothing better than pretty mail in your mailbox, don't you think?

I love to receive lovely things in the mail but must admit I've been a bit remiss in sending mail lately. It's easy to let things slip - even if you love them - once you're out of the routine. So I set aside a bit of time on Friday afternoon to play. Since I ended up with a tea theme, I calling it my own personal Crafternoon Tea!

When crafting pretty mail, I'll often start with the card - the main event, if you will. In this case, I used some of the teacups from this washi tape plus this doodle as inspiration. Are you allowed to take inspiration from yourself?  Oh well, too late! I don't always send handmade cards - there's so much fantastic stationery out there - but it is a nice way to create useful art.

Of course, a handmade card needs a pretty envelope to match. Simple cup shapes create a fun pattern with a little ribbon of white set aside to write on. This envelope will end up inside a larger one for mailing, so I only needed a small space. If it were slated to be the outer envelope, I would have left more space for the address.

And don't forget the back of that envelope! A mix of stripes, dots, crosses and lines make this envelope fun from every angle.

Next I started thinking about extra treats to include in my tea-themed pretty mail. Of course, my favourite washi tape stickers came to mind!

So simple to make - though a bit time-consuming. I simply applied tea time washi tape to my favourite backing paper (parchment paper or waxed paper work too) and then cut out the shapes.

While you could simply slide a handful of loose stickers inside your envelope, it's also fun to experiment with different packaging ideas. Here the stickers are placed inside a small flat polybag and topped with a header made of pretty paper and a doily.

I also included matching washi tapes wrapped around shipping tags. Do you ever share washi tape samples with friends or pen pals? 

Then I grabbed a template and a book of pretty paper and created some mini envelopes.

Pretty cute, right?

I'm excited by the potential of a book filled with pretty paper. (I just got a really exciting one  - I'll tell you about it soon). These mini envelopes are fun to make, but I think there's so much you can do with the paper. What do you use pretty paper for?

I'm not quite done yet, but since I'm writing this post before sending out the mail (very bad form, I know!), I'll stop here and leave a few things a mystery!

How about you? Have you sent or received any pretty mail lately?