Michael LaFosse's Origami Butterflies: Elegant Designs from a Master Folder: Full-Color Origami Book with 26 Projects and Instructional Videos

I can't say enough good things about this book. It is the one that I recommend the most to people who have just started out in origami and have mastered simple models, and are looking to grow their skills with more complex ones. It is not easy to find simple-to-moderate complexity origami models that still look so closely like the real world animal or creature on which they are based. This book is filled with models that all look fantastic, and that makes it a great learning tool for newcomers: just enough complexity to challenge you, not so much that you get discouraged, and satisfying results when you are done. What's not to like? The photos are big and beautiful. The instructions are about as clear as can be, and are also printed nice and large so that they are easy to follow. For the more challenging folds that can't easily be represented in line drawings, there is the DVD to help teach you. I love this book so much I bought the Kindle version, too. The patterns are harder to follow on a Kindle, so I wouldn't start there: learn the patterns from the print book, and use the Kindle edition to "take the patterns with you" when you travel. Get this book. You can't go wrong.

The thing I like about this book is that there is room to get "individual" once you figure out the base of this great origami butterfly design. But on the other side, there is a good variety of different styles already designed for you to copy. After you fold these examples, it's pretty easy to figure out some variations for yourself. Also, it's hard to "mess up," since the result will basically just be different color variations no matter what you do. It's exactly what I wanted: an attractive butterfly design to make for my friends. It's more than I wanted: there are moth designs I like, too. Then, there's even *more* that I want: the option to get creative and come up with my own (with relative ease based on the foundation designs) once I grow tired of the ones I liked right at the start. Great book!

This book is a big thumbs up all the way ‘round. Visually, it’s a treat, even if you never make a butterfly! But don’t stop there, because this is a ‘can-do’ book. The written instructions are very clear, but the DVDs make it a near-perfect purchase. First of all, it’s fun just to watch and listen to the instructions. Then, if you get stuck on a project, just go to the instruction you need, and it all becomes clear. The first 4 butterflies I made, I didn’t even use practice paper, just jumped right in with the good stuff, and they are all lovely. With some of the later ones, I used practice paper first. Another origami book with a DVD is Origami 101 by Benjamin Coleman. I’m an “advanced beginner to low-intermediate” and I can get all the way through those two books. I’ve invested in other origami books, more advanced, and often got lost after the first several projects. A DVD with those – and better written instructions – would have helped a lot to advance me to mid-intermediate. I’ve made butterflies previously, using other instructions, but somehow they never came out exactly right because the instructions were not as clear as these. Something I really appreciate is that after the first butterfly or so, Mr. LaFosse doesn’t assume you’re a pro, he continues to provide the same good instructions as in the first project with additional helpful hints along the way. I found one little boo-boo: The written instructions for the Jan Polish butterfly leave out the inside reverse fold after step 14. The DVD includes it. It would be great if the author included papers like those he used; but of course that would raise the cost of the book by a good deal since his creations use archival paper, hand-made paper, special fine art paper, acid-free paper, etc. You can find a wide variety of good quality paper, and maybe it won’t last a lifetime, but it will last long enough. Still, it would be nice....... But look out -- you’ll want to buy more and better origami paper as you get more proficient. This book would make a nice gift for your origami friends!

I've almost folded 20 of the butterflies already.. Great designs, lots of variations, and I've got a few ideas what to use them all for later. I might have a good imagination, but it's like they're coming to life between my hands, and I can't seem to put the book down, I just wanna keep folding every different butterfly/variation before continuing with anything else.. :-) A couple of small errors in the book, but as an experienced folder I barely even noticed this, and I think no less of the book because of it. (One squash-fold in one of the first butterflies was left out, but you see what it's supposed to look like in the next step. Also a small part of some arrows is missing later in the book, but again, barely worth mentioning. Yet, I did.) But all in all: To the Author: Thanks for making an awesome origami butterfly-book!! I love it, and will probably wear it out and wish for a kindle-edition.. ;-) --Will be interesting to see what Michael LaFosse's next book will be.

The instructions in the book are a little hard to follow because there is no key written anywhere to know which symbols are what folds. However if you like the challenge of writing your own key as you go along and learn what each symbol means this book might be a good for you (especially if you are more advanced folder). The example photos are awesome and the disc that came with it is only helpful if you have a way to play which not everyone does. in all the book is good once you figure out the folds and it shows you how to make very beautiful and challenging butterfly folded art.

This is the first Origami I have tried, this book has DVD's that walk the viewer through step by step instructions. Love the book, making the butterflies with the book now. they have many different styles as well.

I couldn't wait for this book to come out. And it was worth the wait. The butterflies are beautiful. The DVD's are the biggest asset as they make it possible to understand folds that may have been difficult without seeing them done first hand. I also have the first Origami Butterflies kit written by Michael G LaFosse. I loved the fact that it came with papers, but the folds were sometimes difficult to understand. So this was a great idea on the author's part to come out with this book that not only shows the folds in the book, but a DVD as well if you have difficulty following the written directions like I did. The completed butterflies are works of art. I experimented with some different papers to see what would produce the best results. My favorite was a butterfly that I made using tissue paper thin mulberry paper. I used two different colored sheets and folded them as one and the result was gorgeous. I am a scrapbooker and have a lot of different papers on hand, so it was fun to experiment. I did find the thicker papers were harder to produce a nice crisp butterfly.

These are simple and delightful butterflies to fold. I really like how the beginning of the book explains the author's system for folding butterflies - using that information you can fold your own combination of all kinds of butterflies. Also, all the pages in the book are in color and there are multiple photos of each butterfly fully folded - which is nice for an origami book - most I have are in black and white and no photos. The price is right for the quality of the materials of the book and the wonderful butterflies diagrams included. Also, this book includes DVDs. I have yet to check those out. I tend to like diagrams over videos. This book in my opinion would be worth the purchase even without the DVDs.

MUY BUENOS MODELOS DE MARIPOSAS, DIAGRAMAS MUY CLAROS Y LOS 2 CD QUE AYUDAN MUCHO A PLEGAR ESTOS MODELOS. ALTAMENTE RECOMENDABLE!!

This book is for beginners as well as for advanced folders. The layout of the book is excellent and the photos of the models are very beautiful. All models are neatly explained with diagrams.

Die Vielfalt der Schmetterlinge, die man nach diesem Buch falten kann, ist umfangreich. Zuerst habe ich nur versucht nach den Bildern und Beschreibungen zu falten, allerdings wusste ich beim Kopf nicht richtig, was zu tun ist. Dafür gibt es aber auf den beigelegten DVDs eine Schritt für Schritt-Anleitung für jeden Schmetterling. Teilweise werden die ersten Schritte derselben Schmetterlingsart in einem Video erklärt und auf dieses Video verwiesen. Da bleiben keine Fragen offen und man kann das Video ja anhalten, wenn man für einen Schritt länger braucht. Ich wüde das Buch immer wieder kaufen oder weiter verschenken. Für Kinder sind die Schmetterlinge allerdings meiner Meinung nach zu schwer.

Livro excelente!! Vídeos ajudam a tirar dúvidas.

This book is of a high quality. Why u may wonder? alittle research about origami and you will find out that Michael Lafosse is not a newbeginner to origami. He has lots of years of experience and it comes visible to our benefit in this book because Lafosse is one the best - in my opinion - to make it very clear and understandable each step on what to do and therefore ideal for those who just started with origami. The other good things about this book is that it teaches u some of the rare type of butterfly model that u cant find on the net anywhere and they are all a joy to fold and the result is amazing.In his videos he guides u step by step through each step and makes it looks so easy and make u look like a star becoz u just finished a masterpiece thanks to good explaining. U will learn some of the more intermediate steps of folding and make u better folder like - inside reverse fold and swirvling just to mention some. all in all a great book and must own for every origami enthusiast