Journey to 1000 Paper Cranes

  Days 46-50:  Ten paper cranes beaded & flying with butterflies = halfway through one strand.  There will be 20 to a strand, 50 strands in total = 1000 paper cranes.  A handful of paper cranes have flown away to new homes & new origami paper was given as a gift from Jeremy so some new designs will be popping up.  On day 49 I enjoyed stringing up a backyard light show.  The backyard is one of my favorite places to be with the sounds of children playing at the park, the birds that consistently fly over head & travel to our birdhouses or nest in the trees, and the daily fetch/tug of war with the pups.  It is not unusual to hear the neighborhood dogs talking, the stray cats hissing, and the view from the deck has been amazing. 

  My favorite paper crane Day 45:  Hung my first paper crane with beads to my liking.  Fitting on Uncle Hal's birthday, Happy Solstice, and a great way to start the week.  Uncle Hal & Aunt Gayle with mementos from 1996 trip to Bangkok, Thailand, etc   Have been carrying this quote around with me for over a week now.  More beads, stringing, & paper cranes to come!

  After a break on 12/17/20 came Days 42 to 44:  Thursday was rough.  The morning started with unpacking the car insurance deemed totaled.  Then there was the unexpected call that Ming's ashes had arrived.  Oh the tears fell; it felt like losing him all over again.  On Friday my friend Leslie brought over some other needles that I tried however the eyes of both needles were still too large to fit through the smallest beads.  Thankfully Saturday I got a bead kit with several tools including the right needles; the day was spent running errands and catching up on work so I didn't get to stringing any paper cranes. However I've been writing in preparation for another blog post for my private practice which morphed into a second writing that was polished to share with a group today.  All of this during this journey to 1000 paper cranes and so I've decided this one, will go here.   ******************* Through the Woods Over the hill & through the woods... It feels like 20

Day 41:  I was all excited because  I  thought I had it, the answer to get these cranes on a string with beads.  Well after tearing one paper crane (sorry crane!) and folding one to replace it I got two paper cranes on a string....but the beads....my friend had brought me two extra long needles...unfortunately both of those needles plus mine, the head where you string through is too wide to get several of the bead that I'd picked out on!  So now I am on the hunt for the perfect needle and now that I am sitting here I might use bead wire....While I was super frustrated about tearing the crane I really enjoyed folding another crane, I feel like I am even more attentive to that process because it feels good to have mastered that particularly after the disappointing evening of stringing beads with cranes.  However I still only worked on this for about an hour and might not even have that kind of time tonight because I work until 7pm.  Here's to trial and error folks!

Day 40:  Tonight I laid out 20 paper cranes so I could figure out the length of string to use.  I picked my first set of beads and got one crane strung and attempted the second crane only to end up with a ball of string and confusion.  It was too late to do much else.  Still, being able to relish in the delight of the 1000 completed this morning I think I figured out what I did wrong.  I think I'll have better luck tonight.  One of my friends sent me a photo of one of the cranes I gifted her.  I love it!

Day 39:  So excited I just can't hide it!!!  At 9pm tonight I finished folding the 1000th paper crane.  Now I get to start the beading and stringing the cranes.  Will be interesting to see how long this next part takes me.  50 strings with 20 paper cranes a piece.  Not sure how long they will be, thankfully I have a big wall at work.  25 paper cranes complete 1000 today.