The Origami Forum

Hello there,

This is my first post, my name is Shauno I am 29 and I decided to take up Origami over Christmas, because I met a girl from the Netherlands, who I made a deep connection with and now she has gone home I want to send her something to opitomize my feelings for her.

It's a bit stupid really, I mean she lives in Holland and there is about a 1% chance that any kind of relationship with her could work. But I think back to all the little glances we had, the "Snogs" we shared, the laughs we had and well... I'll leave it there and I don't know, something inside of me is just saying "Go for it".

I'm using the old adage, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." and trying to go with the flow, I mean, we men are supposed to be the persuers aren't we?

So, I have got myself some origami paper and I have learned how to fold basic Kawasaki flowers, using (I don't know the method), but it's a very creasefull method, it looks very "Creasy" if you get me, but it does the job. I see some of the more simpler, but less creasing methods for roses, but I don't seem to have the finger dexterity for that.

So I have been making black roses, one of the first times me and the girl in quesion interacted was when we were playing word association game (We do drama, we met through a foreign exchange), I was next to her and it came to me and the person before me had said Yellow, so I said Black. The girl just stalled and said, "What??? What is Blackkk!" (I'm a scouser you see, for those who do not know, scouser hock their words, much like the Scots and Irish.).

So that is why I am using black roses, I am also using another youtube video on how to do the Catalyx or Stem is it?

Things are going well, however my sprials never really turn out that "Good", I open up the bud with my little finger and a pair of tweezers, however, I just can't seem to get the desired effect.

If anyone would like to gander over my "Finished product", then I have some pics here.



and here is the bottom.



You see? It looks very... I don't know, french fancyish? If you get me?, very pillow like? I have made some progress and I have opened it up and made it more appealing, but i'm thinking there is just something I am missing or there is something I should be doing and getting a better result. Any comments or suggestions on that would be great.

Also, (if I may be so bold), I am going to use wooden kebab sticks for stems for my rose, they are going to be painted green and I am looking to glue on some petals to it, does anyone have a suggestion or link to a decent petals for the stem?

If anyone has any more suggestions too, maybe someone has some kind of detail they like to add to their folded roses, then I would be very greatful indeed. I am going to give the roses a little spray of the aftershave I wore on our first night.

I never understand why half the forum newbies are just here because they want to make kawasaki roses for their "girlfreinds".... Seems like you guys could come up with something a tad more original

Ok, I'm not sure exactly what you want us to tell you. There is a sticky on roses as well as a bazillion videos on K-roses which you can find using Google.

Unfortunately, we don't yet have a sticky on Love, Lust, or Long-Distance Relationships.

ahudson wrote:I never understand why half the forum newbies are just here because they want to make kawasaki roses for their "girlfreinds".... Seems like you guys could come up with something a tad more original

Because girls love roses they think its sweet that you also took the time to make it for them, as opposed to just buying them at a store. Plus, the origami rose won't die like a real one will.

Whatever the case may be, making a rose for someone has always worked for me. Im sorry i have never folded the kawasaki rose, but i have folded brian chan's rose.

I will refer you to this thread, which should help with the rose: viewtopic.php?t=753

Adhudson - I'm sorry that you think that making an origami rose isn't original, maybe you could give me and the rest of the forum a slice of your originality and tell us what you would count as original perhaps? Point being, this is a forum for Origami. But, hey thanks for your insightful comments.

Senor - I've looked around the forums, aside of differnet folding methods which I cannot yet do, there is have seen no definitive way of how to open up your rose and tailor it to look better. Again, point being, I have attached a couple of pictures of my folding, if anyone could offer me advice as to what I may be doing wrong, I would be greatful. But yet again mate, thanks for your input.

Ragnorax - Thank you very much indeed and I agree with you, if I was a girl I would much prefer origami roses than some at the shop. No matter how much they cost or how nice they smelled.

Guy, search in you tube for kawasaki rose and you will find some tutorials.

Well, okay, I'll comment from the other side of the gender wall. Take all of these with a micromole of NaCl, if you will.

It's not about model originality*, or about how it looks**. It's about the effort put in by the guy to show how much he cares. Even if it looks like something the cat dragged in, despite how many hours of trying, we'll share a laugh over it, but it'll still be treasured. Guys with loose wallets are a dime a dozen, and they're an unsustainable resource.

Anyway, on the technical aspects of rose folding: One possible way of improving the rose is to try different types of paper. Origami paper is fine for folding K-roses, but when it comes to shaping, opening the centre and curling the petals, it does have a tendency to tear. Look around your local stationery/art/scrapbooking store for other types of suitable papers. Offhand, it's hard to say what works and what's not without trying, but generally a stronger fiber paper such as mulberry can be shaped without tearing.

Craft tissue paper is an option. You might have to backcoat them to get the desired thickness.

Tissue foil would produce a lot of wrinkles, which is probably undesirable in a rose.

Wetfolding with heavier weight papers is another nice way of getting a rose shaped.

Or you can try cloth or felt, using spray starch to stiffen it sufficiently for folding.

*Buying chocolates for a girl isn't very original either. But we don't care. Especially if they're Mon Cheri (the European version, not the US).
** on the other hand, if those are the only things that matter to the other party, find someone else PRONTO.

andssl wrote:Guy, search in you tube for kawasaki rose and you will find some tutorials.

Guy, have you even bothered to read my post, or are you just bumping your post count up another notch?

Thanks for the info Wolf, i'll pop into town on the weekend and have a nosey around the craft shops.

I'm pretty happy now though after messing around with my folds, they don't look THAT bad, but they don't look great either. I'm not a seasoned pro and I am not after any awards, I just wanted to convey my feelings in a way that opitomizes me and our time together.

My purpose was only to help to close the bottom of the rose, crazy man!! Be gentle in the next time!!!

Folks - He asked for help and a little encouragement, and jumped on, and a teasing - that was misunderstood as such.

Shauno - Try: viewtopic.php?t=753

That should point you in the right direction.

I recommend that you send her just one Black Rose, regardless of your own opinion of its faults - but create an elegant presentation. A nice box, stolen from a florist discard, some pretty florist paper purchased from sympathetic florist or grocery store etc., a couple of lines on a nice card: poetry if you can... well-composed, SIMPLE prose, if not poetry. And a nice bow or Origami Crane/Flapping Bird.... Pick and choose suggestions as desired, but send it before the end of the month, or within 2 weeks if possible.

Good Luck,

Hank Simon

BTW- despite teasing, some of the folks on this Forum folded entire arrangements for their Wedding... so we understand.

Girls love roses, but they like jewelry a whole lot more. Good luck.

doodlebug!

sorry, i couldn't resist .

as for "romantic" origami, another possibility is david derudas' "duo cigne" (sp?). diagrams are freely available for that. neal elias' "last waltz" also is nice, but is more suited for anniversaries and stuff, imho.

depending on how familiar a woman (or anyone) is with roses, i'm not sure black roses is the best choice.