Faux Washi Tape

Warning…I have been playing!!!   ….spent ages fiddling and testing as I wanted to see if I could recreate Washi tape without spending anything extra but before I waffle, I will post the end result used on a card.  It was thanks to “Less is More” to give me a nudge to actually use my end products!  This week is a sketch, not normally one of my fave challenges but it instantly inspired me to use the tape and it was a good opportunity to make my hubbies valentine card

    

I deliberately avoided the obvious valentine colours and my cards are often more about the words rather than the image. It was an extremely easy and quick card…..apart from the hours testing ways to make tape!!!! Oh and cutting out the lettering printed on the PC to create the message….fiddly!

Well this is how the tape turned out

In the end I was quite pleased, but it is obviously not as instant as the proper washi/tissue/masking/decorative tape on the market as after creating the colour/ design I had to apply an adhesive to attach it, but the effect was very similar and the design can be tailored to the project.

I had to smile yesterday when my copy of Simply Cards and Papercrafts dropped through my door…there was an article on ……. creating WASHI TAPE!! The very talented Jo Kill has also been playing with the idea, she applied paper straight onto double sided tape, which obviously is better as the tape is instantly adhesive, and the effect is wonderful with tissue but other papers need reducing in thickness or it can just look like strips of paper stuck on. It was a fab article and the cards she produced with her tape are ….as always….stunning!

I wanted all my designs to have the same finish whatever their source, so I applied my designs under Scotch invisible sticky tape,  (actually I used a much cheaper brand for a lot of the test pieces), that way the top surface always had the same translucent effect on the top.

Initially I simply chalked (also used eyeshadow…which gave a lovely iridescent look) on the back (sticky side) of the tape, patterns can be created with strips of wax paper (backing off double sided!) or create a stencil or add punched shapes

        

I then moved onto transferring paper images, different papers needed different approaches…. some could…..

a) have the tape stuck straight on and cut out – great for tissue paper

b) burnished on and then ripped off (then trim sides)– great for fibrous paper , book pages, newspapers, old wallpaper

c) stick on tape, turn over,  lightly sand the back, brush back with water…..leave for a while….rub off backing paper – great for transfer of laser printed images, magazine images/text (I had generally poor results with the inkjet printed papers I tried)

My next step was attaching the tape,  I was so pleased, I tried wet glues and dry glue (pritt), it didn’t affect any of the surfaces and several days on they haven’t dropped off despite leaving the test pieces on the windowsill. I applied the wet glue as a very thin layer with a glue spreader (an old plastic store card works just as well) and it was a lot quicker and easier than I anticipated.

Still I had to try Jo’s version in comparison, not sure if you can see but there is a subtle difference, and both can be stamped on if required (I used stazon…mine took longer to dry). Cost wise Jo’s is a lot cheaper as I used Poundland double sided tape but based on using actual Scotch brand tape mine works out as    (but there are much cheaper invisible tapes available). My set of washi tape worked out as approx 30p a metre (bought a set of 5 different widths £14.25 + 1.50 p&p)

….and  the inspiration behind my card….. was a piece of tissue in a boot box which has “head over heels” written all over it…..I had to buy the boots….they were reduced from £80 to £6…..they were two sizes to big …...but I really wanted that tissue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!