Crane #32 - #40

Along with the Trinity Centre, the love of it hosted an alternative royal wedding party to give people something fun to do that didn't involve watching the royal wedding. There was board games, craft workshops, picnics, mix cd swapping, ceilidhing and a spot of origami.

I made a bunch of cranes, including these ones I gave to Jon and Lori:

And I also gave a crane making lesson to Megan and Chris, with these resulting cranes:

Crane #31

On Thursday night, Jo and I met up with Dom from The Optimists Society to talk about how the love of it and The Optimists Society can work together. It was fun and exciting plans were discussed.

I also made a crane. This is Dom's hand and the mini crane....

Crane #29 and #30

I've been going along to Folk Tales (a folk music and storytelling night in Bristol) for a few years now, and decided it was about time that I contributed something. Since I'm utterly lacking in musical talent, I decided to make my storytelling debut.

One of the stories I told was a short story based on the Japanese folk story, The Crane Wife. And to accompany it, I folded an origami crane as I told the story. So crane #29 was created when I practised this on my friend Lizzie earlier in the day, and crane #30 was folded during the actual performance...

Updates...

So postal cranes have reached Reading, Newcastle and Lincolnshire safely. News of the London and Bristol cranes is still not in. Details will follow as and when I hear...

Oh and the postcrossing cranes have reached Japan and Germany too.

Whilst those cranes have been busy winging their way across the world, I spent a happy few hours at the weekend making cranes for a future project (more details to follow...).

#28

I was at work on Thursday, and one of the women I work with was having a frustrating phone call. I made her a paper crane in an attempt to cheer her up. It appeared to help.

Crane #26 and #27

Today I did some work in Kino and had a quick origami crane break. My friend Paula popped into Kino and so she left with this lovely yellow crane, and another one got left in the Kino tip pot...

Crane #23, #24 and #25

Or further adventures in Steph vs The Royal Mail...

For my birthday this year, my friend Jo gave me 60 postcards made from some of my 365 photo a day pictures from last year. One of the things I've done as a result of this is to join postcrossing, where you send postcards to and receive postcards from complete strangers around the world. Sounds a bit random, but it's ace. I've had ones from Taiwan, USA and Germany so far.

I just signed up to send a few more postcards (to Japan, China and Germany this time) and decided I'd send each a crane too. So with the assistance of a staple or two, each postcard now comes with its own crane (and an explanation of the project). Lets see how they cope with international postal systems...

Crane #19 - 22

Well, it isn't a very exciting story - just making cranes in a lunch break at work. But it's nice to see that there's a use for the front page of the metro...

Crane #14 - #18

This bit is also known as Steph vs The Royal Mail. A few years ago I had a conversation with my friend Piet about sending weird things through the post. I tried sending a wooden spoon through the post to him in America, but sadly was thwarted by the US postal system.

However, this crane challenge seemed like the perfect time to test the UK system further. So five cranes are heading to five different places around the country and I'll report back if they arrive or not...

Crane #11, #12 and #13

Tonight I went to a pub quiz. We didn't win. However I did learn that Ulan Bator is the coldest capital city in the world (it's the capital of Mongolia).

Anyway, I turned the picture round sheet into three cranes (one big one, two little ones). Beth took one home and we left the other two for the bar staff...

Crane #6 - 10

Today was a day that reminded me while I'm doing this project.

Firstly I went for a bike ride to Portishead. I stopped on the way back and sat in the sunshine and made a few cranes.

See evidence of bike and cranes. The sun was hiding behind a cloud at that point.

Upon returning to Bristol, I then bought cake from Kino and did some more sitting in the sun and making of cranes (note to self: carrying origami paper with me wherever I go = good plan).

And then a great thing happened. There were a bunch of people hanging out drinking down by the Stokes Croft junction, and one of them came over to talk to me and find out what I was doing. We got chatting, I showed her the cranes and asked if she'd like one. She said yes, and next thing I know, I'm giving cranes to the whole group of people and telling them all about the project. So cranes 6-10 are now re-homed with some random passers by.

Now I feel inspired to do something similar but on a larger scale. Watch this space...

Crane #2 - #5

Cranes 2-5 came in quick succession. My lovely friend Lizzie is in hospital at the moment, and so I went to see her today, armed with a wad of origami paper and a big smile on my face.

A happy half hour and some origami lessons later, cranes 2-5 were in existence and left with Lizzie to brighten up her hospital bed...

Crane #1

This is the crane that inspired the project. I stopped for a coffee in Chickpea cafe on Cotham Hill, and lacking a way to pass the time, I made an origami crane from some paper I had in my bag. On leaving the cafe, I managed to knock over some water (and generally make a bit of a mess). So as way of an apology, I gave the waiter the origami crane. He placed it on top of the tip jar, and said it was the best tip he'd got all day. Typically I forgot to get a photo...

It made me smile, and I realised that each crane has a story to tell. And so it begins...