Paper Tubes: Part Two

Subtitle: Pickled Vegetables

The theme this week for the Conscious Creativity class has been Using Our Senses.  Philippa let us know that this would mostly be an in the moment awareness experience...and a bit hard to capture into a tangible class project. My days this week have been enriched by being aware using all my senses....and Philippa gave us plenty of ideas to help us along. 

I have fiddled with several possible projects....but I abandoned most of them and latched on to a couple late in the week ideas that I'm now turing into my Instagram reel.  Today's part involved pickled vegetables.  

As part of my health journey...I'm eating lots of pickled vegetable.  No sugar....just vinegar, garlic, dill, spices and any vegetables I have on hand.  I fill this jar at least two times a week...and today I filmed and photographed the process and turned it into a sensory celebration.  

It really was crazy fun! It made me so aware of each step including the sounds on the cutting board and the distinctive smells of the spices and vinegar.  

I'll share more photos and a link to my final project once it's posted.

Paper Tubes Part Two: Rolling the Papers

I roll my tubes around a knitting needle....and size of the needle (and the length of your papers) determines the thickness of your tube. I roll it tightly and dab a little glue at the end to secure it.  

I have used various white glues...but I've discovered that a glue stick works pretty well because it grabs pretty quickly and less messy. I just swipe it along the back edge at the far end of the paper before I start  rolling. If I'm using white glue...I add the glue when I get to the end of the roll. You will find what works best for you.

I often use a couple small clothespins to hold it so I can quickly move onto the next tube. They only need to be on for a few seconds...then I just keep moving the clothespins to the next one and pull the tubes off as they dry.

 

It took just a few minutes to roll that little pile from yesterday's post.  

It's one of the mindfully mindless tasks I love so much....the perfect thing to do while I'm watching TV.

You never quite know how the pattern will land until you roll it....so there's kind of a little reveal moment at the end.  Remember what Ida said: It's so fun to see what you think is going to happen and it turns out totally different. Fun!  

Yup!

It's nearly impossible to roll them perfectly....so I trim all the ends. The tube flattens out when you cut them...but you can just pinch it right back out or insert the knitting needle again if you need to. I often do this as I go along...or just have a cutting session. These days I do have to be careful of repetitive hand projects....those darn thumbs of mine!

You end up with all these fun little clippings that there must be a use for.  

This is a pile from another project...and I wouldn't be surprised if I still have them. They actually would be quite pretty in a jar.  

These photos are from a commission project I did years ago for my friend Linda.

I find it helpful to lay the tubes out so I can access my colors as I go. You can see that I do like to stack two next to each other....I think it adds to the interest. Seeing this makes me want to make another one...I think they are scrumptious!