Journey to 1000 Paper Cranes

  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!

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 e...

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!

  My favorite pandemic birthday wish I like to send to a few of my favorites Day 33:  I never imagined that Friday in November that I would be this close to being done with folding 1000 paper cranes.  One thought was maybe I could be done by my birthday, January 12th.  I'll be done within the week, unless something major throws that off.  So excited to start the next part which will be stringing them with blue beads.  It was a long day at work, not a bad day just a long day and I had a couple errands after work so wasn't home until almost 7:30pm.  So appreciated my friend Kendra checking in on me, making sure I was doing okay regarding the grief of losing our dog Ming.  Several clients have been asking as well.  When I got home I had quite a bit of pain in my upper back, neck, shoulders, and that darn wrist so I decided an Epsom salt bath was overdue.  Felt really really good.  On this day I had folded some paper cranes in the early...

  Day 28:  Have I told you about my right wrist pain?  Well it is something that has come and gone prior to this project but boy oh boy the pain has been more present with this project.   Thankfully I started my day with Sarah, my acupuncturist and ended with Adrian, my new massage therapist .  How come I had never thought of doing this before?  I mean to start and end a work day like this was glorious!  On this morning I challenged my friends to guess the date of when I will complete the folding of 1000 paper cranes.  So far the earliest date is 12/10 and the latest date is 12/23.  There are a few dates that would be meaningful to me like Emily's birthday, Uncle Hal's birthday, or Jeremy's birthday.  Today is our youngest dog's birthday!  Lau is 8 today, I think we have to celebrate.  By end of day I folded 17 paper cranes.  I was able to fold some at work again.  Can't wait to start stringing beads with them!...

Day 23: Woke up really early, I think it was 3:50am.  Felt a little queasy all day and wondering if it was the ice cream from the day before mixed with not sleeping more.  Don't eat ice cream all that much and by the end of the day I was feeling better.  I managed to get two naps in during the day, watched two Robin Williams Movies (Man of the Year and Patch Adams), folded paper cranes, and did some more stickers by numbers.  Midday I got an envelope of beads from one of my friends (thank you Michelle A!) so by evening I was sorting those.  Getting really excited about stringing the cranes with the beads.  Just trying to figure out if I am going to try any patterns color wise with the cranes themselves.  What would you do?  By the end of the day I had folded 16 paper cranes.  (731/1000)

Day 17:  The previous day I had made a blue bead request of my friends because my inventory was short.  I plan to string a series of beads at the top of a string, maybe 2-3 inches worth then will start stringing paper cranes with maybe three beads between each crane.  My friend Leslie found a great peace of wood, looks like a walking stick from my childhood Camp Myrtlewood.  She's going to be drilling 50 holes in that and I am going to hang it via a curtain rod holder.  Leslie had told me she had beads, I should not have doubted the amount whatsoever! She gave me a large stash to choose from that I sorted through last night. I love organizing things, not everything mind you but certain things.  Beads are one of those things.  After going through them all I set aside a group of beads, which will certainly be more than I need.  Also have a couple friends who might add to these, it makes it more special adding touches of people who are dear to me....

Day 16:  Enjoyed the day with errands, check ins with some family, chores, stickers, cranes, and making decisions about how I am going to display my 1000 paper cranes.  My friend is coming up with a dowel for me and will be putting holes in it for me to string 50 strings of 20 cranes with beads.  I've decided to use blue thread. Blue is my favorite color.  I will be using blue beads, with a series of beads at the top and bottom of the string and a few beads between each paper crane.  However I found out I love blue so much I have very little left in terms of beads.  I used to make beaded lanyards for work and I've made some jewelry in the past.  Ended up dismantling one lanyard that had some of my favorite beads because I don't need lanyards anymore.  Well I use one at work to string the key for the bathroom.  So my friend is coming up with beads for me but if anyone else has some to donate to this project I would appreciate it.  Willing...