Book Reviews: Origami, Kirgami

Origami: & Other Paper Creations

By Ghylenn Descamps

Search Press

Paperback  £12.99

ISBN 978-1-84448-993-0

Kirigami: The Art of Cutting & Folding Paper

By Ho Huu An & Laurence Arnac

Search Press

Paperback £12.99

ISBN978-1-84448-994-7

Star rating: ***1/2 each

These companion titles are pick-ups from the French publishers of Marie Claire Idées, which is, as far as I am concerned, the classiest craft magazine on the planet – and possibly the universe. Idées contains beautifully conceived, opulently photographed makes, crafty lifestyle and travel features, interspersed with sexy cosmetic ads and ads for cheese and dairy products (culture gap!). I digress. But you can see how my expectations for these papercraft books were sky-high.

There is much to appreciate in these books – and dashes of the expected genius – but I am faintly disappointed by them. That is not to say that they wouldn’t make excellent gifts for papercrafters.

Origami

The Origami title is not for purists (the title tag line is the opt-out) – which is fine by me. Origami traditionalists allow only folding and no cutting or embellishment “cheats”. If you bought this book right now, you would find a host of easy-make projects suitable as stocking fillers: the modular origami star hairgrips, some cute tree decorations, and an adorable child’s tea set with a tea kettle and cups  (sweet, but oh-so-simple to make). There’s also an origami crane New Year Card (New Year’s is super-bigtime in France). This is a card with an origami crane stuck on, plus a few paper cut-outs. You could have figured that one out yourself, surely. Same goes for the New Baby Card, which is an aperture card with a cute mini-origami bunny suspended in the opening.  The Sweetie Bags with papercord handles are sweet, indeed.

A few of the projects are nicely photographed no-brainers, such as the Japanese Floral Lampshade (a purchased paper lampshade embellished with cut-outs), and the Lucky Turtle Charm (admittedly winning mini-origami turtles attached to a purchased ribbon charm). And a couple of the projects are genius, think-outside-the-box ideas that you probably would never, ever do: for example, the Fish are my Cup of Tea Teabags, in which you make your own fish-shaped teabags (which are stitched together on the sewing machine!).

This title is not meant to be a children’s book, but it would make a fine gift for an older child with a interest in origami and papercrafts.

There are 40 projects in this book – a bit of a stretch. The chapter headings are well-chosen: Jewellery and Lucky Charms (who but a child would wear origami jewellery?), Office Stationery, Decorations for the Home, At the Table, Celebrations, and For Children. Plusses: difficulty level for each project is indicated.The step-by-step origami folding diagrams are in full colour and are very clear.

The author, Ghylenn Descamps, trained in graphic design – this is her first origami book. I will look out  for her contributions to L’Idées.

To sum up: a pleasant choice for origami beginners.

Kirigami

This book is a collaboration between two authors: Laurence Arnac has a background in graphic design, and Ho Huu An trained as an oceanographer – but has a  love of papercraft.

There is much to admire in this title – but I wouldn’t recommend it for the papercutting novice. You have to be pretty handy with a craft knife to manage any of the beautiful projects. Having said that, each of the 40 papercraft projects is labelled both for cutting and folding difficulty. And there is a good tutorial section front-of-book which includes a diagram of practice cuts for learners.

As you would expect, this is a template-based book. The projects are divided into Card Projects, Table Decorations, Special Occasions, and Christmas. There’s pop-up card action aplenty, plus several boxes and ornaments. One of the cards, Celestial Sphere, is a beautiful star-topped slice form (slice forms are amazing interlocking 3-D constructions that fold flat to send). Cosmic! And I can’t imagine anybody not being suitably impressed by the baby grand piano pop-up.

There are several lovely Christmas decorations that you could send as gifts, such as the Snowflake Wall Hanging or the Reindeer Wall Hanging.

This book is intended for hand-cutters, but if you have a digital papercutter, you could scan in the pattern and make them up (for personal use only, that goes without saying).

To sum up: a pleasant collection of papercutting projects with year-round variety.

Note: I was supplied with review copies of these titles.

Book Review: Mini-Eco

MiniEco: a Craft Book

By Kate Lilley

Cicada Books

Paperback  £14.95

ISBN 978-19-08714-09-1

Star rating: ****

MiniEco is a mega-blogger (over 250,000 followers!). What makes Kate Lilley a star are her ingenious and quirky crafty ideas – many of  which are papercrafts , “her medium of choice”. She’s got bags of retro-funky style and a ginormous sense of fun. This is the book of the blog. It contains 31 choice projects,  many of which are papercrafts.

I’m a sucker for comeback success stories, and Kate Lilley’s is a great one. She has a degree in Fine Art, but found herself in web design to pay the rent. She says that she had a ten-year creative dry spell, which ended when she became a parent. Devising inexpensive, eco-conscious toys for her kids re-ignited her crafty inspiration. And her techie nous helped her to create an ace on-line presence. The triumph of transferable skills!

Pop-Up Pixel Cards: retro-winners!

Many of MiniEco’s trademark projects are inspired by 1980’s computer graphics. The Pop-Up Pixel Cards (pic above) are winners, inspired by “Space-Invader”-type computer images. The stair-step construction lends itself to the necessary papercutting. A very clever finishing touch is the Day-Glo backing paper, which gives the designs a screen-like “neon” glow.  The Dot Matrix Cards, super-graphic messages achieved with a long-reach paper punch, have the same retro 80’s feel.  And it is an idea which you can adapt yourself for other cards.  Another retro-typographic idea is the 3D 8-Bit Font, jumbo chunky cardboard letters which can be used to spell out messages. What I love about these is that the zig-zag pattern templates for the letters are things of beauty in their own right, before you assemble them into their final form.

Great Dodecahedrons: the gradient adds "glow".

Like me, MiniEco is a Fan of papercraft  guru Paul Jackson. She has absorbed the papercraft construction know-how put forth in his books (Folding Techniques for Designers,Structural Packaging) and come up with some super projects. Check out the Great Dodecahedron (pic above), a 3-D hanging decoration which can be made up in a gradient version,  templates downloadable from the MiniEco website. Sort of a cardstock Bucky Ball. There’s also a pleated Paper Lampshade – a very fashionable look. Similar lampshades are available expensively online - but if you are up for a fun (and challenging) bit of fancy folding, you can make Mini-Ecos pennywise design.

There are several projects inspired by facetted gems: 3-D Paper Gems and Spray-Painted Chalk Stencils (depicting gems). (I’ve done the gem thing myself:Jewel Boxes).

It is refreshing to see lots of geometrically-inspired projects. So many craft titles are aimed at the “girly” market – you know, hearts and flowers, ribbon and lace. Here, you will find many unisex ideas that can be made for or with the kids. (This is not a children’s craft book, although most of the projects have kid-appeal. Probably because the author is joyfully rediscovering many of the crafts she learned as a child: Spirograph Wrapping Paper, Lego Sign, a trio of macramé projects.)

This is a really hands-on book. For the non-papercraft projects, MiniEco is ready to use all sorts of craft techniques: Hama Bead Candle Holders, which are threaded together using a Peyote Stitch construction method. Other projects involve simple sewing – or some woodworking lite (drill and sandpaper).

Each project is given a star-rated skill level – a useful guide. Some have scannable QR codes, so you can zoom into online info (it would have been great for all projects to have this feature). Written step-by-steps are provided –  with how-to illustrations where required. This works fine. And there is a generous sprinkling of hints, tips, and extension ideas. 

This is a really good “taster” book- it does indeed capture the originality and spirit of the MiniEco blog - geek chic with a tweak. I wanted more – so I hope there’s a follow-up title to come.

Note: I was supplied with a review copy of this title.

Book Review: Make Your Own Woodland Creatures

Make Your Own Woodland Creatures:

35 simple 3D cardboard projects

By Clare Youngs

Cico Books

Hardback  £14.99

ISBN 978-1-78249-040-1

Star rating: *****

Notice to papercrafters: if you buy this book as a gift, you will want to keep it for yourself.

Woodland creatures are having a mega-moment. They are here, there, everywhere: clock the John Lewis Christmas ad, and Donna Wilson home dec designs, for example. So Make Your Own Woodland Creatures is right on trend – delightfully so – and perfectly timed for Christmas gift-giving.

This is a papercraft book with a difference. With this book, you can create an entire woodland eco-system inhabited by whimsical slotted cardboard creatures. There are even five press-out and assemble creatures made of sturdy cardboard: Prickly Hedgehog, Pretty Partridge and Chicks, Cheery Chipmunk, Stripey-Tailed Raccoon, Black-and-White Badger (don’t know how the Racoon missed the alliteration net).

The slot-together creatures are like simplified sliceforms. The photographed animals are decorated in sprightly mixed prints (a bit Orla Kiely-influenced). The book is divided into several chapters: Cute and Furry, Big Beasties, Birds of a Feather, Little Critters, and Down by the Pond.  There are 35 different animals – so, a generous  number of projects which can be made time and again. The author certainly took a good idea and ran with it!

Up front, you will find basic directions for making the creatures out of layered cardstock, or, for greater permanence, plywood. There’s a template section at the back. On page, you get a diagram showing required pattern pieces plus beautifully illustrated step-by-step assembly diagrams (and a beauty shot of the finished project).

The woodland creatures are designed with flair - clever construction, economy of line. Nice. I am a big fan of Clare Youngs (her other titles for Cico are also winners: including Book Art, Papercrafting in No Time). I believe she has a background in advertising packaging design – and this shows, in a good way.

Although this book does not teach a specific craft skill, it is a title you will come back to repeatedly. The imaginative animals make wonderful budget gifts to give to kids. (What child wouldn’t be enchanted to receive a Sticky-Tongued Frog or a Koala and Joey?). The Reindeer could be used to make beautiful seasonal tableaux.

Note: I was sent a review copy of this title. Although I did not specifically request it, I was charmed by it.