Love Is in the Air...Washi Style

Have I said how much I enjoy Using My Hoard? Well, I am.

Having the list of all my inventory is useful, too, for giving me direction when I'm feeling overwhelmed and not sure what to work on next. For instance, the other day, I felt lost, looked at the list, saw washi tape on it, went to my bowl of washi tape,...

...sorted through, and found a lot of red and pink and love-themed rolls. So for the next few days, I'll show why I'm keeping my washi tape. Well, maybe not all of it, but a lot of it.

Today's two cards were a bit hard to photograph, but they look so cool in real life. First up, a heart popped up perfectly positioned over a strip of washi, with the pattern smoothly continued on the heart.

To get the tape perfectly lined up, just center the tape on the card first, using a line between the stacked Loves for reference. Then, center the tape on the heart in the same way. When you layer the heart onto the card, you can easily align everything!

The second card was slightly more difficult to align because I didn't really have a reference for overlapping the patterned tape, but eyeballing worked this time!

Washi took a while to grow on me, but if you put "washi" into the search box on the sidebar of Simplicity, you'll find lots of posts with a variety of ideas for using it. It definitely fits into my CAS style, and while some of the colors and patterns I've purchased might not be fabulous for me, the product itself is definitely a keeper for my hoard.

Storing it in the bowl, however, might not be the best option for me, as much as I love that bowl. I'm toying with the idea of putting the washi in my embellishment drawers by color...I might use it more often, and it will be easier to see which colors and designs I actually use and need to keep.

Alternatives to Washi Tape
If you don't have washi tape in your hoard, consider what you already have that might work similarly. Cutting designer paper or vellum into strips is the most obvious choice, but you could also substitute ribbon for washi in designs you're inspired by.

Strips of fabric would work, too, if you have a big hoard of fabric! Just back the fabric with fusible webbing, and iron it onto copy paper as a backing before cutting it. Then you can glue it without worrying about show-through.

But none of these alternatives will be as easy as washi, given that the adhesive is already on the back and it comes up off most card stock (if you're careful) for repositioning or removal if you change your mind.

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey
ink: Hero Arts
paper: Papertrey
accessories: washi tape, heart punch, Fiskar's shapecutter heart template and cutting tool, craft knife to trim washi to shapes, dimensionals