What to Do with Washi, Part 4

Our fourth washi post (and last for the time being!) covers an adorable use of the sticky stuff. Check it out!

Those little banners are epic bursts of color! The easiest way to get this look is to attach the tape to strips of card stock to give it some body. Washi on its own tends to curl and is very, very thin and flexible; attaching it to card stock makes it easier to manage. Then, use a small square punch turned upside down to punch out the right-angle divot. SO EASY!

Now, there are certainly other things you can do with washi tape, such as using it as the ground for a scene or stamping on it directly (use Palette or StazOn ink for a nice, clean stamped image...water-based inks will bleed or pool, and pigment inks won't ever dry). But I hope that, if you've bought the stuff and were wondering what to do with it, these four posts have helped.

If you don't have washi, don't run out and buy any unless you really want to play. Several of you have noted in comments and emails that you can easily substitute patterned paper for all these techniques. Additionally, you can stamp faux washi in a variety of ways (Hero Arts and other companies have faux washi stamp sets, or you can adapt background stamps to make your own!).

If, however, you want to play around with something new, washi tape can be lots of fun!

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts
paper: Papertrey white, SU real red
ink: Memento
accessories: washi tape, square punch

What to Do with Washi, Part 3

First of all, let me say that the first One-Layer Simplicity Challenge is getting off to an amazing start. If you haven't checked it out or participated yet, I encourage you to click HERE! Remember that you can link to entries all the way through the 24th of the month...it's no longer just a weekly challenge!

And now for part 3 of our Washi Tape series, in which we will modify tape to suit our needs.

The royal "we." I'm owning it.

We saw this card in the Winter issue of Take Ten. It's a wonderfully artsy card by Kim Ross.

We particularly loved the double layer of washi tape and the bling, so we simplified Kim's card a bit. Here's our first attempt.

We overlapped the washi tape and didn't care for the effect. Also, the bling doesn't quite work, either...too close together, too bold, and it sort of randomly stops. Note how Kim's bling covers about 1/3 of the top layer of washi and forces the eye to move around nicely. Our bling, not so much.

Our card is not terrible, but it's not our best effort, either.

Hmm. That royal "we" feels a wee bit snobbish. Let's get back to the commoner "I." So much less pretentious! Besides, it's been centuries, perhaps a whole millennium, since my family held royal title.

I simplified Kim's design even further and came up with one that looks like I made it.

This is so much cleaner and simpler, crisp yet casual.  To make the strips of washi tape narrower, I stuck lengths of it down on wax paper, cut using a quilting ruler and craft knife, and then peeled the strips up to place on the card.

As you can see, the teal strip is thicker than the light blue strip...on purpose. The thicker, darker, heavier strip forms the base of the design, then the thinner, lighter shade, then the stamped sentiment.

Looks a mess, I know, but it works perfectly. If you have a really clean cutting mat, you could use it, but mine isn't too clean. It's quite old and cut up. The wax paper at least gives a dust- and dirt-free surface to adhere the washi tape to.

Tomorrow we'll see one more CAS trick for using washi!

Supplies
stamps: various
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey Ink
accessories: Washi tape, rhinestones, flower punch, glue pen, wax paper, craft knife, quilting ruler

What to Do with Washi, Part 2

Reader Doris D commented that she doesn't like washi tape "just put" on a card. I get that. Unity is so very important in design. When the washi tape looks integral to the design and intentionally placed, rather than slapped on randomly, it can be very effective. I like seeing it used as real tape to hold a note, for instance, on the front of a card. Also, though I imagine Doris didn't like this card, the theme of the tape can create feelings of unity.

Readers Susan and Super Jen also pointed out that you can substitute designer paper for washi tape, which is very helpful for those of you who don't want to invest in washi tape but have a hoard collection of designer paper just waiting to be used.

I, however, want to play with something new and fun, and washi tape is turning out to be that for me.

So here's a second use of washi tape that requires very little modification and is thus an easy application: used straight as a border.

The two strips of washi were added to a scrap of card stock, and then the corners were rounded with a Corner Chomper. The nail heads on the flower centers and beside the sentiment create a visual triangle that helps bring the design together.

Note that the washi tape is straight and not overlapped...very tidy and clean and intentional. Don't you just love the bright, happy colors on all that glorious white!?!?!

*happy sigh*

Next up, we'll get a little looser with the washi, and modify it--easily--to adapt to a specific design.

Supplies
stamps: Clearly Besotted
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: Scotch brand washi tape, dimensionals, Corner Chomper, nail heads

What to Do with Washi, Part 1

Thank you all so much for your enthusiasm regarding the new One-Layer Simplicity Challenge blog! Lots of you are subscribing, and we really hope that having it in one place makes it easier for people to participate and have fun! I also want to thank Ardyth for all her wonderful work getting the blog up and running and looking so delightfully CAS, and for covering comments and answering questions yesterday when I could not.

And now, for some wishy-washi fun!

Several years ago, when the washi trend kicked off, I saw some cards that Julie Ebersole made with it and rushed right out to buy me some of that goodness.

Problem was, I wasn't Julie. Most of what I made with washi ended up in the recycle bin and my frustration level shot up into the ether and made me go postal and resulted in mixed metaphors. Whenever that happens, I remember what my husband said long ago when I whined about stamping: "I thought hobbies were supposed to be fun."

So I got rid of all but one roll of the diabolical crap stuff and stamped happily ever after.

But we grow as creative beings, right? I mean, if I could grow to love the color orange, anything is possible. In the past six months, I've seen a lot of gorgeous work with washi, much of it delightfully clean and simple, so I decided to try again.

To quote Julie, now I "likey" me some washi.

If you're feeling like I did the first time around (frustrated), perhaps this series of posts will help you make nice with the sticky stuff.

I bought all but the hearts and graph rolls at Office Depot from a big display of Scotch brand tapes. (I've also seen the big display at Target.) The hearts roll was at Michael's, and the graph tape was the keeper roll from my doomed order years ago.

When choosing rolls, try to remember the following...

Coordination. Buy stuff that works together, preferably three coordinating rolls, but two will nicely do for CAS designs. That green graph roll and the hearts still need friends for maximum versatility, but all the others have buddies. The hot pink border works great with the neon green, the two blues go together, the striped tape is a spectrum from salmon pink to red that partners with the floral tape.

For my first cards, I wanted to cut squares of the tape, so I attached strips to a large scrap of card stock and cut them into strips. This makes working with washi so much easier.

I used a quilting ruler and exacto knife to cut a bunch of sturdy squares.

And then I made these two cards using my favorite CAS layout.

I also made a couple of cards for Operation Write Home using a different design. The graph tape works particularly well in this layout, doesn't it?

Finally, I made a couple more cards to use up most of the squares I'd cut.

If washi tape is intimidating you, give this technique of backing it with card stock a try. It makes working with the tape a breezy piece of cake.

Hmm. I guess I mix metaphors when I'm happy, too.

What are your feelings about washi tape? Do you like it, hate it, fear it, want it?

Supplies
stamps: Various sentiments from Papertrey and Hero Arts
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: assorted washi tape, dimensionals, quilting ruler, exacto knife, tweezers

The New One-Layer Challenge!--ETA

Please click yourself over to the NEW One-Layer Simplicity Blog for the very first OLS challenge. We hope you'll play along!

And a very happy new year to each and every one of you!

ETA: I'm so sorry for the problems with the link! You will not need permission to view it when we get this straightened out. It will be open. We're working on it!

The problem should be fixed now. Thank you, Ardyth!!

Christmas Thanks

First, an announcement! The new, updated One-Layer Challenge will be posted Tuesday at midnight, to help you stamp in the New Year. You'll find a link to the new challenge right here, so check it out after the ball drops. We've made some significant changes that we hope you'll be as excited about as we are!

Now, we have a card that is very timely. After receiving gifts for Christmas, it's time to say thank you. And here's a perfect card for just that!

The pine bough is an old PSX stamp, and I chose the sentiment because it is so loose and sketchy, just like the boughs. There is a visual triangle of trios of red berries made with Stickles. Click on the picture to see it bigger if the berries aren't clear.

And finally, here's to a wonderful 2014, full of health, peace, and inky fun!

Supplies
stamps: PSX (bough), Clear and Simple (sentiment)
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey Ink
accessories: corner rounder, red Stickles

Of Pens and Ink and Birthday Cards

I'll give you the cards first today because I have lots to blather about them that has nothing to do with stamping. You come here for the cards. The blathering is optional.

I rarely do collage-style stamping, but these two birthday cards are special. They are going to our adult nephews, whose birthdays are in the first few months of the year.

And yes, those are real, honest-to-goodness, old-fashioned pen nibs attached to the cards. The bulk doesn't matter because these cards will be mailed in boxes that include a fountain pen. And a check. Because young 20-somethings might have a bit of sentiment, but they can always use money.

Most of you know I was a writer long before I became a crafter. And from a very young age, I had a pen fetish. In college, as poor as I was, I treated myself to new pens whenever I felt blue...roller balls, felt-tips, even the cheapest ball point pens were an uplifting treat!

You can say it. "She's a geek."

Yeah, like you didn't already know that.

When my mom invited me to take a calligraphy class with her one summer during college, I jumped at the chance, and started enjoying old-fashioned dip pens in addition to the regular kind.

My fountain pen addiction began after my grandfather died. Papa wasn't a writer. He was a barnstorming pilot in the early days of aviation and then a captain in the United States Army Air Forces, flying a variety of bombers and heavy cargo aircraft during World War II and the Berlin Airlift. After all that flying, he settled down and worked as an auto body mechanic at a Ford dealership until he retired.

At some point during or after 1948, he purchased or was given a Parker 51 fountain pen. The Parker 51 began production in 1941, but Papa's pen has the aerometric ink bladder design, which wasn't produced until 1948. He kept the pen on his desk--a drop-top desk that he built himself--for paying bills.

After Papa died while I was still in college, my mother gave me his Parker 51, which gave me the bug to collect fountain pens. The 51 leaked a bit, and it was far too precious to take out of my house, so I bought a similarly designed (and inexpensive) Parker 45 to carry in my purse, where it still resides today.

Soon, after saving my pennies, Waterman fountain pens expanded my collection...the Laureat and Carene and Tuxedo. A few Shaeffers joined the fun. I returned several pens I ordered because they didn't write well, including a Montblanc (it leaked) and some Italian pen that was gorgeous but not smooth at all. For me, the collection was about using the pens, not merely displaying them or hoarding them as works of art.

When I left my job at Micron Technology, my friends collected money to buy me the mother of all Parkers...the Parker Duo Fold. I still smile when I hold it.

Since I had children, however, the time needed to care for fine fountain pens, to clean them and refill them, rub them with diapers, has diminished. Other than the Parker 45, I rarely use them anymore, although they are displayed on my bookshelf.

But as I said, display isn't a good reason for owning a pen for me. The Duo Fold and Carene and Laureat will be mine forever, as will Papa's 51. But the others are not so precious, and I've decided to gift them to the next generation...my sons, our nephews, our niece.

Fountain pens require care and now that Matt and Eli are adults, its time to send them theirs. I'm particularly excited about sending Matt a pen because he, like my grandfather, is a mechanic. I will tell him the story of my first fountain pen, and maybe it will mean something to him that I'm passing on one of mine to him.

I hope so.

If you made it this far, perhaps you'll share your story of your favorite pen in the comments. I do love a good pen story!

Supplies
stamps: SU Letters from Home, Papertrey Ink Birthday Basics
ink: various
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: dip nibs, dimensionals