Japanese Inspirations Part 3 of 3
The art of paper folding can be found in the traditions of different places like China, South America and parts of Europe. However, modern paper folding developments owe much to Japanese origami techniques, an art form which remains popular today.


There are literally tons of how to origami sites. Here are a few which I thought would be good to start with if you are inspired enough to try. Folding patterns that aren't too difficult to execute on small pieces of paper are best. Some of the larger designs could be used for pins rather than earrings.


Cranes
Crane earrings are one of the most popular ways to make your own origami jewelry because they look so graceful.  Once you've completed the folding, it is easy enough to stick a head or eye pin through the birds. A coat of varnish should preserve your creation. Or you could always make replacements! This pair you see here was created by photographerpandora. She attached the cranes differently from the ones in the following tutorials.
Tami's tutorial on CutOutandKeep uses the head pin with beads on top of and below each crane. If you prefer to see it demonstrated, check out Davi Kallman's origami crane earring video tutorial. She uses elastic to string the cranes.



Stars
These cute origami stars are made from strips of paper rather than from squares. The tutorial by umeorigami is easy to do. The author points out they make great beads and garlands.

Hearts
Craftyartworld's tutorial shows you how to make a simple flat origami heart. A small pair will look great as earrings. There is an accompanying video to help illustrate the steps.

Jo from the Chubby Hobby blog has the loveliest heart earring tutorials. Worth a go!

Abigail's Craft Howtos has a very pretty water lily origami brooch. It is tougher than it looks! Abigail says washi paper soaks up varnish like a sponge making it durable. Her brooch survived being bashed around in her bag for a few hours!

Book Review
If you are looking for a book, Ayako Brodek's book Origami Jewelry: More Than 40 Exquisite Designs to Fold and Wear is awesome. The jewelry is beautiful and highly wearable. If you would like to review it for yourself from the comfort of your chair, check out Google Book Search here. You can see several pages from the book. I highly recommend using Google Book Search and libraries to review books before deciding whether to buy or not. Not every book is available for review but it is always worth a quick check.

Happy Folding!

______________________________
Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips