Origami Note Cards Book Review
Origami Note Cards by Florence Temko is a packaged set - you get both a slim paperback book which gives you some instructions, along with 48 pieces of large-sized origami paper. I fold origami and sell it on the web, so I'm always curious to see new styles of paper.
My first note is that the imagse on the cover of the book are *gorgeous* and made me very enthusiastic about getting the book, to use those papers. However, the paper shown on the cover is NOT the paper you get inside. In my box I got very bland papers - tans, browns, yellows. The papers were nothing at all like the beautiful blues and reds that the cover images showed. I feel very strongly if they are going to demonstrate "you can make THIS item with supplied paper!" that you should then be able to have the supplies to make the item as shown.
There's a few pages of origami background and then they dive into the shapes. The instructions are fairly straightforward and even newcomers to origami should be able to get the hang of it after a few tries.
So the very first shape is a red, white, and blue shape. But they don't give you any red, white, or blue paper. So right there, as you hit the very first shape, you can't make it unless you go out and buy more paper.
On to the cat, which warns you to use paper the same color on both sides. Ooops, we weren't given any of that. Also, while they say that turning the cat upside down turns it into a dog, the cat has a pointed chin while the image of a dog doesn't have a pointed head. Obviously other steps are required which aren't shown.
The same problems continue in the book. Shape #3 for Mother's Day requires a 8.5x11 piece of paper. We weren't given one of those. The quickie note is the same. For Father's Day we need a big 20" x 40" piece of paper. Nope, didn't get one of those either. The wrap needs a piece of gift wrap, 12" x 24". The journal book needs another 8.5x11 piece.
FINALLY we are on page 30, on the 8th pattern of the book, and we've hit a pattern we can actually make with the enclosed paper! It's a sailboat, for a "good trip" card. They tell you how to make the sailboat, but not the rest of the card. Plus, your origami paper only makes the sailboat so you need more supplies to make the rest of the card.
So really out of the entire book there are only two patterns you can make with the supplied items and nothing else. They're the last two items in the book, which means you read through the rest, a bit frustrated, and only hit the "possible items" at the very end. These are the classic Japanese card and the envelope.
But wait, out of these two, the classic Japanese card is shown as a two tone version. The instructions only show you how to make the (not shown) one-tone version. They give you brief instructions to cut two pieces of washi manually, and to glue them together, to create the two tone effect. But if they're going to show that as their example, that should be what they explain to do fully.
All in all I was fairly disappointed. The papers supplied are not pretty at all. The instructions provided, by and large, cannot be made with the supplied paper.
Rating: 2/5 for at least providing usable paper, and for having some card ideas for people willing to go out and buy other paper as well as paper cutters, glue, and gift wrap paper.
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