Staryu Kusudama

Not your regular sonobe...
One day a few years back, when I was just surfing in water on my Swampert in Pokemon Ruby, I encountered a wild pokemon. Annoyed, I waited for the pokemon to be revealed, but the irritation in my face was instantly replaced with excitement as a shiny Staryu met my amazed eyes!

My shiny Staryu (named Barracuda because it sounded nice, I was about 12, "Starfish" was the lamest name ever, and well, note the irony of the difference in physical appearance...) was my first and only shiny pokemon so Staryus have saved a special place in my heart since that day. Thus, when I saw this pin on pinterest.com (http://calicoorigami.web.fc2.com/main/pokemon_hitode.html), I knew that I HAD to try it out someday.

Figuring out how the kusudama pieces went together was CHALLENGING. ARDUOUS. CONFUSING. HUFF. I couldn't find instructions anywhere (despite searching high and low all over the internet), yet I suppose the puzzle of figuring out what to do was quite an interesting challenge. I was really cautious about cutting apart the units because my origami paper supply is running low (sob-choke-gasp), so I elated when I figured out that it was the right choice. *phew*

Anyhow, I've finished my version (not sure if mine was the same way that the original was made -- especially because there is a regular Staryu side AND a shiny Staryu side) and am content (not to mention proud!) with the result. ^^