I believe this is one way I can actually contribute to the origami community instead of just linking contributions by others (though that’s valuable as well). Plus, this is more fun for me to do.

More importantly, I now have my camera and my microphone working, which is quite a miracle, so I’ll be able to produce decent quality videos.

Finally, if there’s anyone interested in joining the blog as a writer, contributer, etc, I’d be happy to welcome you to the staff. Just send me an email to origaminu [at] gmail.com, telling me how you’d like to contribute.

~~sphoenixee–

One of the most popular models among origami artists is Kawasaki’s Rose. A truly beautiful creation, the Rose was invented by Toshikazu Kawasaki in the early 90s. It has been diagrammed multiple times, and several variations have spawned in the past decade. The rose model you see above is based on the variation posted on DofTNet. The calyx, leaf, and stem are based on Ron Yu’s method.

Note that this is a complex piece and not suitable for beginners. For those just starting out, try the Traditional Crane after reviewing this page on basics.

Without further ado, here are the diagrams for two distinct versions of the rose and also for several variations of the calyx, stem, and leaf. If you know of another variation, feel free to post a link or write your method in the comments.

Here is the original version from Origami for the Connoisseur by Kunihiko Kasahara and Toshie Takahama.

DofTNet - Excellent, clear diagrams, with links to instructions for calyx, stem, and leaf. The method for the rose is a variation on the Connoisseur one.
Cattail.nu – This method is similar to the Connoisseur original.

Here is the “new” Kawasaki Rose diagrammed by Winson Chan, which features tilting the paper by 22.5 degrees to create a different look, and more natural feel to some.

Joseph Wu’s Origami - This site also features Joseph Wu’s diagram for the base. In addition to this rose, he has a very nice diagrams collection.

And, here are the videos:

Metacafe - Good quality video of the original rose.

DofTNet’s version – Excellent, high quality stop-motion video!

New Kawasaki Rose – not the greatest quality, but strangely enough, the only one I could find for this.

Best of luck to your folding! This is not an easy model.

Feel free to share your experiences, tips, more diagrams, or anything related in comments!

Perhaps the most well known piece of origami, the crane is a symbol of peace and prosperity. A simple, yet beautiful creation, it was greatly popularized by Eleanor Coerr’s 1977 novel Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. In the story, a girl suffering from radiation-caused leukemia spent her time in the hospital folding cranes, believing in an old legend which is said to grant the folder any wish upon completion of a thousand cranes.

Learn to fold this beautiful creature with a pdf diagram from Imperial College London Origami Society.

Or, for those of you visual learners, here’s a video from Expert Village: