September 3, 2012

origami, paper beads, polymer clay beads

I developed an interest to origami while I was still volunteering at a community library. The kids had nothing to do. They were tired of listening to me read them stories, they've already finished their exercise, so I told them to do origami. They knew more animals than I did. A girl actually gave me a heart, a broken heart. I'm not sure if she knew what that meant, but I'm sure that she loved me so much.

I stumbled upon the instructions for this butterfly a few years ago when one of my korean students saw me folding paper. She wasn't even my regular student. I was just a substitute tutor. It wasn't an easy thing to make, but with a lot of patience, anyone can do origami. I was a little disappointed in the workshop because it was limited to fashion accessories and dresses. It was too literal. But I realized that it was because of the lack of time that we were limited this way, and I appreciate the lesson. I also realized that not everyone is willing to make tiny objects just as I did, both in origami and for the paper beads.

Paper beads are new to me, surprisingly. it's my first time to do this even if I've been exposed to it. They're very popular in the arts and crafts department, but I've never had the motivation to do it because it's too mainstream. I'm glad that I finally experienced it and I guess it was a successful project. The samples that were being showed in class were not really my type. Honestly, the quality of the samples could be better. Contact between layers were not done well and could be improved. Again, I realized that a lot of my classmates prefer making bigger beads because it does not require a lot of precision. I wish that the workshop was not limited to paper beads. There are a lot of ways where paper mache can be applied to accessories making if only more research was done. My sister was complaining because they made a whole mannequin from paper mache. They called her Ginang CHE. If I had it my way, I would have made a bag from paper mache. Maybe someday I will.

I'm not really a fan of polymer clay because I don't know how I can bake them. I don't want to use our oven toaster because the fumes might get into our food, but because I already bought the clay, I have no choice but to make use of it. I like the way that the workshops for jewelry making and polymer clay was handled. I found it interesting even if I've known about it before. I've been making earrings since 2005 but I was still able to learn something from the workshop. I like it when the information in the workshops help me improve my skills.
In the future, I might try working with salt dough. It's a cheaper substitute for clay than synthetic stuff.
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