Holding a Crane

Today, I checked on the design.origami.free.fr web news, and saw that there was something that I hadn't really expected: A video by Brian Chan and Jason Ku, called "Origami Ultimate Challenge". I might give some spoilers, so you may want to watch the video before reading any further.
Anyways, the very ending of the video inspired me to fold what I did, without realizing it. I started off by trying to fold a hand, and then I tried making that hand hold something. The first thing that came to my mind was a crane. I got to folding, and ended up with the following CP. A 4:1 rectangle works best.


As you can see from the CP, you can't add anything to the "end" of the arm, because the end is really the middle of the paper. If you fold the paper that leads up to the crane inside the arm that leads to the hand, you will get a better result.

A Squid

As mentioned before, this month's challenge on the french origami forum is mollusks. I decided to try to fold a squid time. So, I started off thinking of how to get six short flaps, two long ones and a body. As usual, I based the model on the corners and got a good result. The only problem is that the top is easy to rip, because all of the layers. Here is the CP that I ended up using:


It shouldn't be too hard to see which part is which. The six flaps have to be pleated upwards so that they don't get in the way of the long tentacles. You should see what I mean when you look at the pictures.

Slow Moving

This month's challenge on the french forum is "on the abandoned beach, and the challenge is to fold Mollusks. These are clams, squid, snails and much more. So, I decided that this would be a good time to try a snail. I started folding and at first tried a 22.5° angle based model, but the shell ended up too small. So, I tried a 15° angle based shell and 22.5° angle based head. And, lucky me, I made a color changed shell without realizing it! Here is the CP that I came up with. The lines from the bottom corner are, as I mentioned, 15°.


The CP just gives a basic idea of how to make it. There are multiple layers made in certain areas, but I didn't show those folds. However, you should be able to get to the base using this. After that, good luck with the shell. It takes a while to shape.

They're everywhere!

This month's challenge on the english origami forum was "something microscopic", and the guidelines were anything smaller than a flea. I looked around for microscopic things, and eventually found what I wanted: a Dust Mite. I started folding it, and ended up basing it my dog and ant designs, both of which I am diagramming right now. Here is what I ended up with as a CP:


The body needs a lot of folds to get it in the right place, and the mouth needs to be made out of the front flap. Take a look at some dust mite pictures to get an idea of how to shape it.


Images edited using GIMP to give that microscopic feel

A Dog

I recently had to do two projects about l'Hôtel de Glace (the Ice Hotel) in Québec. My first project was about moving the setting to Africa, and my next I chose to make 3 important models about the book. I had already folded the Igloo, so I decided to try a dog and a man in a parka. The man was just a simple man, using 22.5° angles and five flaps, but the dog was another matter. I started by dividing a fifth and making the head, which I based loosely on Joisel's rat, and then i folded the two corners on either side to the middle.
On the CP, the horizontal and vertical lines nearest to the top corner are one fifth.


After folding all this, you need to stretch the leg flaps out, and then shape the body. The leg part is a pretty hard step, so good luck!

Traditional Frog, and Then Some

The other day, I had half a sheet of paper and I started to fold it, like I usually do. I ended up with some weird waterbomb base thing. I showed it to my friend, and he said "Now fold it into something". So, I started to fold and recognized what I was folding. It was the traditional frog, except with a mouth and different front legs. Over all, I like how the model ended up because it still jumps normally (except that the head is a bit heavier). Here is the simple CP, from half of a 8.5:11 paper (17:11)


Here is how it should end up. Theres not much to do after folding the base, just fold the legs and shape the mouth.