Paper Tubes: Part One

There is so much spring happening out there...I can hardly keep up. Today I'm celebrating white....so fresh and clean. 

We continue to have cool days and nights...which the spring blooms really like. And even though I'm still wearing earmuffs and gloves on our early morning walks...I'm loving every spring minute.

We saw our first hummingbird yesterday, and we have 8 ducklings on the pond.  

Part One: Choosing Papers

I can't write about paper tubes without giving a shout out to Ellen...an artist I admire who taught me so much fabulous art stuff while I lived in Madison. She's done all kinds of recycled paper projects including paper beads and tubes and she shared many of her techniques with me.

I have a trivet in my kitchen that Ellen made out of recycled paper where she tightly wrapped coils....another take on the same concept.  

And...I can't help but share this photo from Becker Middle School.

I saw this photo years and years ago and it is what inspired me to do my pieces in a more rhythmic and staggered style like the header on my blog. 

The first step making paper tubes is to choose and cut up papers. 

I've mostly used recycled magazines and catalogs...and a lot of my images come from art and craft magazines which gives them a certain look. I like a variety...some with words, different shades and tones, and some patterns and neutrals.  Anything goes really. Often times one catalog will have a certain color scheme so it all coordinates.

Any lightweight paper would work.....just find some you love....and a scheme and rhythm will appear. Magazine papers might seem a little thin...but you'll be surprised how strong they are when they are rolled. Thick paper would be hard to roll.

The cuts don't have to be perfect...there is a trimming step that takes care of that.  It's good idea if they are all about the same length so when rolled the tubes are similar thickness...but the width doesn't matter.  

Mine are about 3 to 1/2 inches long...and I like a variety of widths. Ida is making most of hers wide...but she can make final decisions during her project design phase. Once they're rolled...you can always cut them to any length you want.

I remember making beads like this way back when.  

You start this type with a triangle....but for the art pieces I like to make.....I like the uniform tubes.

So in the tube style....the ONLY part that shows is the very edge of the paper along the end of the roll.  So don't waste a beautiful image inside of the roll.

Cut your paper so you take advantage of that and have the parts that you don't like so much rolled up inside.

This post has already gotten pretty long....so tomorrow we'll start rolling and trimming.