About Us
Promoting and sharing the love of origami and all things handcrafted.
Fostering an appreciation of art and creativity through function and use.
The Artist
Wendii Strauss is the creative owner behind Paper Blooms.
Interested in art since childhood, Wendii was privileged to circle back after a career in law and having children.
Malaysian born, she was raised in the Western suburbs of Sydney and is now based in Wahroonga.
Wendii has trained in various disciplines at Sydney Art School, including watercolour and acrylic painting, sketch and silversmithing.
The Journey
Wendii is self-taught in origami, having learnt from books and online resources over time.
Her interest in origami bloomed during COVID, when she folded with her daughter during the lockdowns, and they started developing their own original creations, particularly flower forms and animals.
Looking at the mountain of origami after lockdown, the idea for Paper Blooms was born and led, eventually, here.
Starting initially with origami flowers and cards, the jewellery journey was sparked by a customer asking for a brooch one day at a market. Wendii wondered how she could make that work. That question led her, eventually, here.
What is Origami?
Origami is a deeply symbolic ancient Japanese art form.
In Japanese the word ‘Ori’ means fold and ‘kami’ (pronounced with a ‘g’) means paper. ‘Kami” also means something that floats or exists above or ‘stands on high’.
In its early days in Japan, paper was produced and used almost exclusively by monks.
The monks who produced it, used it to create abstract figures that had a symbolic or ritual meaning.
It was seen as a way for humans to communicate with the gods; and in a way, origami, was like a type of prayer.
Symbolism
Deeply imbued in history and culture, most of our origami and botanical pieces have a symbolic meaning as summarised below.
Butterfly: hope, transformation, love.
Crane: happiness, good fortune, peace.
Dragon: prosperity, good fortune.
Envelope/bag: message, wealth, possibilities.
Fan: possibilities, wealth.
Feather: freedom, divinity.
Hydrangea: grace, beauty, gratitude.
Lavender: loyalty, calm.
Leaf/Maple: growth, strength, renewal.
Lily: enlightenment, purity, hope.
Plane: imagination, freedom, communication.
Rose: Love.
Shell: hope, strength, protection.
Tree: growth, strength.
Tulip: deep love.
Did you know?
-
Every end product item we offer is handmade.
-
Most of our origami jewellery is made waterproof by coating it in resin after folding. The process takes about a week from folding to fitting and was developed by Wendii through trial and error.
-
The nature sourced items are all homegrown or garden found.
-
We are earth conscious. Paper and organic material based, we minimise the use of single use packaging and plastics and recycle or upcycle where possible.
-
Our flowers on bamboo reeds are compatible with scented reed diffusers.
-
Most of our cards are designed to be interactive or functional. In most cases the origami can be removed and played with or used (e.g. as a bookmark or pocket to hold money or a voucher).
-
Wendii has recently expanded her jewellery into cloth, utilising Kimono fabrics and patterns.
-
Wendii has also published a children's book - “The Adventures of Indiana Cat – Let Me In!”, which uses origami and origami paper for its illustrations.
-
She is also looking beyond paper, currently exploring metal work and casting.