Fold. Crease. Fold.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

I remember when I was little I used to pass my time away folding origami, from cranes to gift boxes to jumping frogs. I've always been curious about the process one goes through to come up with an original origami, and furthermore how they determine the steps of the process in order to communicate them to others. So much of origami is in the process of creating it, although that part is often overlooked because of the attention given to the final product, but it certainly isn't forgotten. The folds and crease marks are as much a part of the final piece as the shape of the object.

Today, I stumbled across the works of origami artist Cindy Ng. She has taken the remarkable craft of origami beyond paper to more luxurious materials, silver and gold. According to her interview with Charmingly Chic, each piece of jewelry from her company Origami Bijou is created using a sheet of precious metal and is folded like paper into a wearable origami.

In her interview, she is quoted saying, "Jewelry is a good way to share a classic art form with the world." In my opinion she certainly maintains the essence of origami in her jewelry designs, as the necessary folds of the process are visible even while they are made of metals.

Photo courtesy of Origami Bijou on Facebook.

Photos courtesy of Charmingly Chic.

Her designs bring the delicacy of paper origami to an approach that creates much longer-lasting pieces through the use of precious metals. The long tradition of paper folding art moves into a modern application, introducing a new form of art. I find her work very inspiring, and brings me to think that perhaps techniques in textile making could also be transferred into jewelry-making for some unique pieces of art.

As someone who really admires origami, I am very excited to discover her line of origami jewelry. The charm to her jewelry line, is the look of handmade art, and wearers can relax because unlike paper, this origami won't be crushed easily.

For those of you who haven't tried origami before, here's a quick and fun tutorial on how to make a swan! It was the very first thing I learned to fold, and it obviously hasn't detered me from learning more as I'm still a big fan of the craft.

Hope you enjoy!