Catwalk project/semester 2 begins...

I really feel I should keep up with this again, it's been way too long. However I am thinking about changing to Wordpress.com but I don't understand how you follow other people..anyway I'll keep this blog for the moment.
Ok so as other folks in my class have posted, in Jewellery right now our first Sem. 2 project is 'Catwalk Jewellery' we had to research over the Christmas period catwalk design and fashion designers; also a period of history or culture to inspire our work. Paying particular attention to colour and pattern and unusual adornment of the body.
My fascination with Japanese culture sprang to mind first. Although traditional Japanese art at least is rather subtle and isn't as bold and bright as some I could think of, so I did look into the Venetian carnival, Brazil, the Aztecs...though Japan kept calling back to me and I thought I'd regret it if I didn't get to research a culture I love to learn about..
Geishas, warriors, samurai swords, modern Japanese fashion, architecture, it was difficult to know which direction I wanted to go into, eventually I decided to mix armour and geisha headresses, as a kind of contemporary Geisha 'Kanzashi' (hair ornament) which sits at the side of the head and covers the face slightly.
Unfortunately I'm having trouble with this design, I decided that the base was going to be made out of aluminium, and the rest entirely paper, using paper as a material in itself fits in very well with the japanese style, and I also love working with paper and making models, i've also tried origami a few times.
I cannot see it any other way than FLAT though. In my head, it is a lot of layers, of 2D paper, with a metal base, which didn't go down well in my tutorial (here is an example of the headdress by use of a maquette and my flatmate, pic up the top) So I've been trying to think of ways to make it more 3D. In my tutorial some folks in my class suggested that i cut out more and more shapes from this pattern and build it up in layers so that it built out the way instead, would be much more effective. It took me most of last night to make another layer and well..it's still pretty flat, so i'm not sure how long it will take me to make that work.
Perhaps using wire or something to seperate the layers slightly and building out that way would work? I'm unsure for the moment but will just have to keep going with it...when I get my epiphany (and it better be soon) I'll let you know! - Lizzie