Dover Kusudama Origami Book (Dover Crafts: Origami & Papercrafts)

The author is a master of origami. Amazing how she can put several modular pieces together to create stunning origami balls. Hope she continues to explore and to teach others the art of origami. Lots of compliments.

I’ve bought this book about a year ago; it’s time to share my experience. I make origami kusudama for relaxation and for home décor. That means for me that patterns should be as simple as possible, but the Kusudama itself should be nice and impressive. Ekaterina’s models meet perfectly these both conditions. I can make the parts watching TV and I always hear “wow” from my guests. Models from this book are very easy to understand even for people, who never make any origami. When my teenage daughter wanted to make a special gift for her friend, I just gave her the book and she made a beautiful kusudama in one evening. Children under 10 definitely need an adult’s supervision, especially on the connection stage, but they have fun making modules and be a part of the team. Most kusudamas in this book are very efficient with the paper. It’s important, because the nice, quality paper is expensive, but important for the result and impression.I’m totally satisfied with my purchase and highly recommend this book for everyone, who would like to try this magic – transformation of the simple plane peace of paper into the Beautiful Geometric Ball.

This book is amazing! It's as if Ekaterina could read my mind and make all my origami dreams come true. There are a number of different and unique techniques employed in her designs that are fun and challenging for an advanced enthusiast. This is probably not a good beginning instructional book, but I think there is something for all levels as long as you are willing to learn and be patient. This book has been indispensable in creating incredibly impressive designs to give as gifts, and they really aren't all that difficult or time consuming. I usually learn and memorize things quickly and don't like to buy crafting books, but this one will live on my shelf forever.

I am unable to achieve the beautiful results shown in this book. This seems to be for more advanced folders than I.

What I like about this book is the range of kusudama types. There are geometric and floral in a single book, whereas typically, origami books are about one or the other.One of the things that sets this apart from several of the modular origami books I've purchased recently by newer authors is that the diagrams are as thoughtful as the models themselves. The illustrations are simple and clear, even for the more complex constructions. (There is nearly nothing more frustrating than getting halfway through a module only to find that the instructions stop making sense.)I also like that while there are models in here that would be easy for beginner folders to understand, she has models that would challenge more nimble folders.As a folder, the best part about this book to me is that a few of the models evolve off of a single module idea, showing the versatility of a single concept and how it can transform. This concept keeps me curious and trying new methods of construction, and in this way, it is mentally challenging beyond what's on the pages.

My daughter, age 14, is an origami enthusiast and has even taught origami at our local library. She had been finding modular origami online, and asked for this book for Christmas. She finds it very easy to use and the creations she is producing are beautiful. Note: One definitely has to work up to this level; it's not a book for beginners.

This book has some very neat designs, and I love paper folding. However, I think the images and instruction on connecting the pieces to make the larger units is appalling. Which is weird because the instructions on the paper folding are just fine. I have had to figure out the connections myself, requiring a lot of unnecessary time on my part. When I do finally figure them out, I am even more baffled by the book because the instructions aren't even close. It's really weird. Cool designs though.

This is a great book for making these projects if you are advanced in this papercraft. I am only a beginner/intermediate so I am finding these very hard for me to do at this point. Maybe some day in the near future with much more practice I will be able to make something from this book. Beautiful pictures and the instructions are picture instructions and can be hard to follow.