Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful, safe and happy new year this year.

On the other hand, I seem to have a "bad rap" with New Years...

2011 Began with me having surgery.

End of 2011/begining of 2012 - my husband and I came down with a horrible stomach virus.

End of 2012/ beginning of 2013 we lost of a dear loved one, and I was sick with a sinus infection and lost my voice for nearly a week.

The new year is a time to be "starting fresh" or "starting over", isn't it? It seems to me that the final week of December through the first week in January is the worst time of year for my family and I. 

I'm hoping to turn this year around, and get it back on track to be "MY year". A year for good and positive changes and events.

So, to start getting rid of the bad mojo that this year has begun with, I compiled a list of all of the blogs/parties/magazines that my Origami has been featured in.

I am so thankful and happy that I was able to work with each and every one of these amazing bloggers and party planners. They are all incredible in their own way, and have worked so hard to get to where they are now. It was an absolute pleasure to work with each and every one of them. Thank you so much to all!

If you haven't seen one/any of these posts before, you absolutely HAVE to check them out. The details are incredible, and nothing was missed from ANY of them!

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Love you to the Moon Baby Shower

By: Pen and Paper Flowers

Featuring: Custom printed lucky stars

Blog Post:

http://www.pnpflowersinc.com/2011/01/love-you-to-moon-baby-shower.html

(Party was also featured on Amy Atlas Events):

 http://blog.amyatlas.com/2010/12/over-the-moon-guest-feature/) 

Pen and Paper Flowers has also featured my Lucky Stars and Fortune cookies, which were made from a set of Designer Paper that she herself made:

http://www.pnpflowersinc.com/2011/01/sweet-treat-origami-delights.html

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Abracadabra ~ A Magic Party

By: The Party Wagon

Featuring: Lucky Stars and Star Balls

Blog Post:

http://party-wagon.com/childrens-party-blog/2011/10/25/abracadabra-a-magic-party.html

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Boat Party ~ Sailor Party

By: The Party Wagon

Featuring: Origami Boats

Blog Post:

http://party-wagon.com/childrens-party-blog/2012/11/12/boat-party-sailor-party.html

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Superhero Party

By: Crossing the Bugger-Dixon Line

Featuring: Custom Printed Lucky Stars

Blog Post:

http://bugger-dixonline.blogspot.com/2011/06/super-j-party.html

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A Lorax Inspired Giveaway

By: Crossing the Bugger-Dixon Line

Featuring: Seed Bombs

Blog Post:

http://bugger-dixonline.blogspot.com/2012/03/lorax-inspired-giveaway-origami.html

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Rollerskate Party

By: Crossing the Bugger Dixon Line

Featuring: Large and Small Flower Balls

Blog Post:

http://bugger-dixonline.blogspot.com/2012/08/roller-skate-party-full-party-post.html

(Party featured in Bird's Party Magazine):

http://www.blog.birdsparty.com/2012/08/birds-party-magazine-fall-2012-issue-6.html#.UOwyFm9ZVv4

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Superhero Party 

By: A Little Tipsy

Featuring: Custom Printed Lucky Stars

Blog Post:

http://www.alittletipsy.com/2011/12/super-hero-squad-party-decor.html

(This party was also featured on her local T.V. Station!):

http://www.alittletipsy.com/2011/12/its-here-its-live-its-meon-tv.html

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Fall Festival Photoshoot and Giveaway

By: Violet's Buds

Featuring: Spiral Paper Flowers and Lucky Star Garland

Blog Post:

http://violetsbuds.blogspot.com/2012/10/fall-festival-giveaway.html

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I do so hope you head over and check out the details from each one. 

They are all incredibly amazing and so much work was put into each and every party and feature.

Share the love :)

Day 13: 30 Days of Thanks Giveaway!!

It was so beautifully warm the past couple days. I sat out on the porch while the kids played in the yard and just enjoyed the sunshine.

I hope you get to take a moment over the next few days to just stop and enjoy the moment too.

For the Giveaway today, I have donated something from my own shop.

These flowers are one of the newer items in my shop (I only just started making them this past spring). I absolutely adore them, and am honestly in love with them myself.

They are so simple, yet so beautiful.

They are so versatile and easy to customize to any color scheme. I have yet to find a color combo or paper that does NOT look good in these flowers.

For todays prize, the winner will be receiving a bouquet of RAINBOW flowers, with stems.

You can display them year 'round, and they'll never wilt on you ;)

Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter for your chance to win!

Not entering, but still want contact info? You can find Origami Delights here:

Etsy Shop

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Blog (you're already here!)

PLEASE NOTE: Entries are limited to residents of the US only. The Rafflecopter tool does not have a filter and therefore WILL allow you to enter even if you are outside the US, but to be fair on shipping costs to all of the sponsors, only those within the US will be eligble to claim the prizes.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Remember: some important notes and quick reminders about the giveaway (these reminders wil be posted each day of the giveaway!):

1) Each entry that you earn with be checked for accuracy. Please do not say you following a blog, made a purchase from a shop, like a page, etc. if you in fact did not. If you are caught cheating, you will be automatically disqualified from the ENTIRE giveaway, not just the one day.

2) Whether you win or not, please take a moment to say "thank you" to the sponsors. Each sponsor took their own time and resources to provide us with the opportunity to have this wonderful giveaway. No sponsors = no prizes = no Giveaway.

It only takes a moment to pop into their shop or FB page to say Thank You.

Please do.

3) You may enter on as many or as few days as you wish. Yes, that means you or someone else may win on more than one day, and that is absolutely A-O.K. Also, sponsors may enter only on days that their item is NOT being featured. (aka, don't enter for your own item). Might seem silly, but it's a good reminder, trust me ;)

4) Winners will have 48 hours to claim their prize. If not claimed after 48 hours a new winner will be drawn for that days prize.

5) Have fun and Good Luck!!

Still here!

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. I am still here, and still super busy, which is the reason for the lack of updates.

Even though the "busy-ness" is still in full swing, I wanted to take a moment and hop on quick for a super exciting update :)

I recently had the chance to work again with a super sweet lady named Jenny from Crossing the Bugger-Dixon Line. She  is incredibly talented and so amazing to work with.

She designed  a Roller Skate Party that was featured in the most recent issue of Bird's Party Magazine (and this is not the first time she has been in the magazine!)

Now, some of you may have never heard of Bird's Party Magazine, but you should DEFINITELY have it on your favorites list!

These are what I sent her:

You'll have to head over to the digital copy of the magazine (it's free to read!) to see the final result and how she used them though :)

There are TONS of great parties, goodies and fun in the 140 page issue, but be sure to spend some extra time on pages 18-23 :)

http://issuu.com/birdsparty/docs/bird_s_party_magazine_-_fall_2012__issue_6

Enjoy, and have a great week everyone!

Kusudama Flowers: By the Numbers

I was contacted about 6 months ago by a company in Florida named Greenery Productions. They were looking for 156 of my Kusudama Flowers made from maps, and would need them delivered in a few weeks. I figured out how many flowers I would need to make per day in order to be able to deliver them on time, and agreed to make the flowers for them.

Somehow I got a bit behind in my timing of folding and ended up having to assemble them throughout the Thanksgiving weekend, but I was able to finish them, and deliver on time. 

The first order, with blue and green embellished centers.

I was contacted again at the end of March with a request for 175 flowers, this time with red centers. The company that wanted them would need to make a decision by the 5th if they wanted to go ahead with the order, and the order would need to be there for April 16th.

I looked at the date and calculated it out that I would need to make just 12 flowers per day in order to be able to mail them by the Wednesday before and be delivered on time. Totally doable, right? Right. So I said I would.

Somehow, the following week after that got EXTREMELY busy with appointments at the office (I'm also a Licensed Massage Therapist) and things at home and other orders that were somehow falling behind (really, where in the world is time going???)

All of a sudden, it was the 5th, Greenery Productions contacted me saying that yes, the company WOULD like to go ahead with the order.

I had yet to cut a single peice of map.

*GULP*

It was time to "hunker down" and get to business.

Somewhere around 4am yesterday morning, as I was gluing petals together, I was thinking about how much work I had done over the past week (yes,  just 7 days!).

So here are the facts:

175 Flowers with 175 Stems and 175 Red Glass Beads.

Each flower has 5 petals = 875 single petals.

Each petal was cut from a recycled map, with an average of 3 of those sides being cut by me (this accounts for the ones cut along the edge that didnt need that side cut, and the ones in the middle  that did)  = 2625 cuts.

Each petal consists of 12 folds = 10,500 (!!!!) folds.

Each petal is glued into form, then held with 2 binder clips until dry = 3,500 squeezes of the clips (4 times each petal- twice to put them on, twice to take them off).

Each petal is glued into form, and then they are glued into groups of 2, then those groups of two are glued together into 4 = 1,225 squeezes of the glue bottle.

The final petal is glued on with hot glue at the same time as the stem. When all the stems and petals are together, the beads are then placed, also with hot glue = 350 squeezes of the glue gun trigger, and 5 long glue sticks.

They shipped in one very large box = 9 pounds 8 ounces total.

*PHEW*

I'm beat.

Honestly, I have never pulled an "all nighter" for work or school or anything other than when I was younger and sleeping over at a friends house. And although I didn't this time either, the 2 hours of sleep I snuck in from 5-7am yesterday really DIDN'T help much.

But they are done, they are shiped, and will be arriving well before the deadline.

All 175.
Don't mind the toys in the background. Housework was delayed until I finished.

I think these flowers are beautiful, especially with the added center bead and love that they can be changed for any decor.

 

Happy Friday the 13th everyone! Hope you have a beautiful weekend!

Front Page Feature!

A great big THANK YOU to Keri from toocutecustomcrafts for making this INCREDIBLE treasury that was featured on the front page this morning!