Based on a video by Created By Gwen
Opens their YouTube channel
Steps written out by Crafting Step by Step · Published
Most crafters have a drawer of washi tape and use about three rolls of it. Gwen from the Created By Gwen channel set out to use her stash up, and this page pulls ten of her best ideas into one place. Some eat a whole roll at once. Others turn a scrap of tape into an embellishment. They work on scrapbook layouts, cards and junk journal pages alike.
Washi is cheap, low tack and easy to lift, so it forgives mistakes. That makes it a good place to play.
Washi tape is a thin paper tape, first made in Japan, printed with colours and patterns. It tears by hand, sticks lightly and peels off most papers without damage. It comes in thin quarter inch rolls, the standard 15 mm width and wide rolls several inches across. Some rolls are printed with small pictures you can cut out, like butterflies or flowers.
Layouts are where washi uses up the most tape. A border around the page, a matching border on a photo mat and a few stripes in the background can take a whole roll. Using the same tape in two or three places makes a page look planned, even when it was not. Keep everything straight with a t-square ruler. Crooked tape is the one thing the eye always catches.
For cards, think of washi as patterned paper you make yourself. Lay strips side by side across a panel cut to fit your card front, trim the ends, then die cut a shape from it. One taped panel often gives you two card fronts. Geometric prints line up best. Thin tape makes neat journaling or writing lines inside a card.
Washi is a good first supply for crafting with grandchildren. It tears without scissors, comes off again if it goes on crooked and leaves no wet glue to clean up.
Old washi dries out and starts to lift. Gwen sticks the tape onto strips of cardstock and stores it that way. The strips are ready to cut into backgrounds, punch into shapes or share with a friend. A dab of liquid glue or a run of adhesive under tape that has lifted will hold it.
Washi holds small dies in place in the die machine, holds stencils down while you ink, labels storage boxes and covers the join where two papers meet. It makes a flexible hinge for a hidden journaling flap and secures the loose ends of machine stitching. Wrap it over a bulldog clip or thread it through a paper clip for a quick decoration.
New to paper crafts? Start with how to scrapbook or how to make a card. Washi is a natural fit for a junk journal, and these fussy cutting tips help with printed icon tapes.
10 steps, about 16 minutes. Tap a picture to jump to that step. Your progress saves automatically.
Tick each step off as you go.
Run washi tape down all four edges of a 12 by 12 inch sheet of cardstock. Gwen lets it wrap around the edge to the back, which gives a cleaner finish than stopping flush. Trim off any excess. Then cut a second sheet a quarter inch smaller on every side and lay it on top, so a thin washi frame shows all the way around. Wide tape makes this easier.
Add a stitched edge around the inner sheet for extra detail.
Cut a scrap of cardstock a little bigger than your photo for the mat. Apply washi tape along all four sides. With thinner tape, Gwen lines it up with the edge of the paper instead of wrapping it around. Use the same tape you framed the page with. Repeating one tape in two places ties the layout together and uses up most of a roll.
Lay the tape a touch long and trim the ends with scissors for clean corners.
Lay a stripe of washi on the far left edge of your page and another on the far right. Measure in about three and a half inches from one side and add a third stripe. Use a t-square ruler so every line is straight. Fill the gap between the stripes with a strip of patterned paper, and balance the other side with a thinner strip. Any widths you like will work.
Pick a tape that matches one colour in the patterned paper.
Stick washi tape onto scrap cardstock, then punch it like any paper. Gwen uses a tab punch to make a pile of small tabs to tuck behind photos and paper layers. Wide tape fills the punch best. With standard width tape, punch it straight and leave a thin white strip at the bottom. It looks like it was meant to be there.
Store tape that is losing its stick on cardstock strips. It is ready for this idea.
When you build a cluster of paper layers, add a strip of washi to one or two of them. Gwen runs a ticket print tape down the left edge of a plain card so it anchors the cluster. On the next layer she runs a different design horizontally. Mix and match directions and prints. All of these ideas can be combined on one page.
Fold the end of the tape around the edge of the layer so it cannot peel back.
Cut your photo mat to size. Lay a short piece of washi across each of the four corners at an angle, then fold the ends around to the back. The easiest way to line them up is to start right in the corner of the mat, with the edge of the tape sitting exactly in that corner. They look like old fashioned photo corners and cost nothing.
Use the same length for every corner so they match.
Cut a strip of cardstock as wide as a journaling card and fold it in half. Seal the two open sides with washi tape. The first strip shows; tuck the second one under the journaling card so it barely does. Gwen wished she had cut a small notch at the top first. Do it before you seal the bottom, so a tag slides in and out easily.
Washi also makes a strong, flexible hinge for a lift up journaling flap.
Lay strips of washi side by side on scrap card to make an area big enough for your die. Line up the pattern as well as you can so the seams disappear. Run it through the die machine. Gwen cuts two flowers in different sizes and stacks them for a layered embellishment. If a piece sticks in the die, tap the die on your desk and it usually drops out.
A strip of washi also holds a small die in place while it goes through the machine.
Cut plain white cardstock to fit your card base. Lay strips of washi across it, lining up the design so it reads like patterned paper. Geometric prints work well. Trim the excess with scissors. Gwen then die cuts a scallop circle window from the panel. You get two looks from one panel: the window for one card and the circle for another.
Thin washi makes neat journaling lines. Use a t-square to keep them even.
Washi makes a handy mask for ink. Lay a strip across your card, then blend distress ink over the edge with a mini ink cube or a blending tool. Peel the tape away and you have a crisp line. Because washi is low tack and repositionable, you can move it around a large page, and it holds stencils in place too.
Press the tape edge down well with a fingernail so ink cannot creep under.
Keep going
How to Start a Bullet Journal: A Beginner's Guide
How to Use Washi Tape in Cards and Layouts
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E6000 Craft Adhesive, Clear (3.7 oz)
The industrial-strength craft glue that bonds glass, wood, ceramic, metal, fabric, and concrete. The one adhesive most craft projects reach for.
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Gorilla Dual-Temp Full-Size Hot Glue Gun
Dual-temp so it handles delicate florals and heavy materials alike. A precise nozzle and built-in stand make it the everyday craft-table gun.
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OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
The pro-standard cutting surface. Gridlines for square cuts, self-healing so blades never leave grooves, and big enough for paper, fabric, and leather.
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