Making Your Own Semi-Opaque Decorative Tape

 

 

Washi tapes are all the rage, and who doesn’t love them! But they are also quite expensive, as are many of the other decorative tapes, washi or not.

As wonderful as they are, I have found that there are some ways to make some pretty cute washi tape substitutes with items you already have on hand! Obviously they are not strictly speaking washi tapes, as they are not made from rice paper, but to all extent and purposes, they come pretty close, especially due to the semi-translucency!

 

 

I want to start us off with the quickest and easiest way and also my favorite. Probably because I am REALLY into print tape!

 

Books, Magazines and Papers

 

You will need:

Regular tape, like Scotch

Old book pages

Bone folder (optional)

 

 

All you do is tear a strip of the Scotch tape, and tape it over a section of your book page.

 

 

Smooth it down evenly. Gently pull it off.

 

 

 

Do yourself a favor and leave one little corner of the tape on your finger and not smoothed on the page. It makes pulling it back up so much easier! You can just trim it off before using the tape.

And there you have it!

 

 

 

 

If find this works especially well on old book pages, as the print comes off easier and with only a thin layer of paper, which retains some of the translucency of the tape! With newer prints you may have to burnish the tape with the back of your thumbnail or a bone folder to get it down really well. The newer paper doesn’t tend to stick as easily, but with some pressure and rubbing while smoothing the tape down, you can make it come up!

You can go in any direction to get different effects. I LOVE to use old dictionaries for this, as I can customize the definitions too!

 

You can of course do this with pictures, patterns and anything else you can find!

Here I made a random patterned piece of tape from the printed dress from an old magazine page.

 

 

I also really like to use scraps from my scrapbooking papers! I tend to mostly use 6x6 scrapbooking pages, as the smaller print works better for the smaller sized cards and layouts I do for Project Life. The smaller pattern also makes it ideal for some homemade tape!

 

 

You can see how you can get two different effects from pressing down only a little bit, or really pushing it down with a bone folder.

 

 

Old dictionary pages usually come off very cleanly, but the newer scrapbook pages may require some trimming along the edge  if you want the really clean look! See the raggedy edge of the one in the middle and compare to the tape I used in the photo below! I just trimmed it with some scissors.

 

I usually use the decorative tape strips with some adhesive to affix on my project. To me it is the quickest way.

Here are some examples:

 

 

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You can however take double-sided tape and wax paper and make self-adhesive tape.

Your print will be mirror-imaged with this method however!

Do use this method, cut some wax paper into long strips, wide enough to accommodate your tape.

As above, tear off a strip of tape and place it on your book page. Just position it enough so it doesn’t come up by itself. Then take your strip of wax paper and place it over the tape on the book page. Now press down and smooth it out.

Carefully pull the wax paper together with the tape off the page. You might have to fold back the wax paper at one end a little bit and loosen the tape edge off the paper.

Voila - a self-adhesive strip of printed tape. With some fuzzy book texture to boot! To use your tape, just cut off the required amount, peel back the wax paper and stick it down!

 

Napkins

 

This is very similar to the method above, only this time we are using cheap napkins to provide the pattern.

And I really do mean cheap napkins. The less coated, the more flimsy and the less sturdy the napkins are, the better they work in this project. So check out your local dollar store for some napkins with groovy patterns!

You basically do the same thing as in the very first method.

Tear off a strips of tape, place it over the section of the napkin you would like to use, press down, then gently pull back. And there you have it. You can affix your tape with some adhesive of choice. If the napkin doesn’t come off easily, you may have to burnish the tape down a little too. Every napkin is different in that respect, so trial and error is the way with this!

You could also press the tape down irregularly and get the “torn” look when you pull it back fast.

 

 

The top two blue tapes are made from napkins, the others are made from books and magazines.

 

Printing Labels

 

This method isn’t really strictly speaking “tape” but it can serve that  same purpose and it gives you endless possibilities in terms of colors and patterns.

I saw this article called "Last Minute Japanese Tape” on the Good Look Cookbook site  the other day and thought I’d mention it here too, since it really fits the topic here today! Check it out if you get a chance!

 

 

The advantage of this method is that you can also use your digital stash! However, the drawback is that it’s not tape and it has no translucency to it. But sometimes that’s a good thing, so it’s something to keep in the back of your mind when you are looking for that decorative touch on your cards, layouts or other crafts!

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Make your own custom “flairs” or brads

 

 

So, I’ve been getting into the world of paper scrapping/project life embellishments lately and since this is all new to me, I’m finding that I’m getting quite obsessed with little things that never really interested me that much when I was a digital scrapper.

 

Amongst them are flairs. Oh boy! The little button type ones, not the pins. I could go nuts in some of those Etsy shops. Unfortunately they are also quite expensive. I’m not saying that they are unreasonably expensive, because they are quite work intensive to make, but I really can’t justify spending about a dollar a piece, however cute they are. At least not at the rate I want to use them!

 

So I looked into making my own, but of course that didn’t pan out at all, as the machines are $300 and up and then there are the supplies, etc. Totally not an option unless I want to go into selling them, and well I’m not at this point in time!

 

There are some smaller, cheaper kits available, but apparently you can’t buy more supplies once you are through your kit, which makes them even more expensive than the cute ones on Etsy.

 

So, I thought I still have some of the mod podge  dimensional magic, so I thought I’d try and make my own buttons. Well, without boring you with too many details, it didn’t end well.  Smudging, bubbles, everything running all over the place and then once fully dried, the whole thing distorted and never laid flat again. Total fail on that one!

 

It did cross my mind to do what I did with some fridge magnets years ago - just use the clear glass pebbles for flower vases and such, but they are just too high for a project life folder and it would really bulge them and not look good at all.

 

So, I almost gave in and decided I was just going to get a couple of sets from Etsy and treat them like gold (read: hoard them in my stash and not use them) - when I came across these little beauties!

 

 

They are clear, 1” round bubble Epoxy Bubble Stickers! See how they are not too high at all?!

 

 

Perfect,  right! And they are self-adhesive, so any kind of issues of  ink jet printed pictures smudging are non-existent! And they don’t turn yellow and are therefor ideal for scrapbooking and crafting!

I got 200 of them for $14.90 + s/h and now can make my own “flair” buttons to my heart’s content! That’s 7 cents per “flair”/brad (as opposed to $1,) plus whatever paper or ink I use to print or add to it, but that is minimal!

I used my Silhouette Craft Cutter to make some buttons as a print & cut and then just attached to the bottom of the clear bubbles! Voila, custom “flairs”!

 

 

And these are super easy to make up on the spot too. You can add photos to it, anything you can print and punch or cut into a 1” circle. Or draw. Or stamp for that matter! Or any kind of scrap paper you want to use! You could even use the clear bubbles as they are and adhere them for emphasis on photos, layouts or journaling cards!

 

 

So needless to say, I am a happy scrapper right now! With about 200 flairs/brads/decorative buttons at my disposal! And not only is all this much cheaper, it is so much more versatile, which I totally love!

 

Chances are I am the last one to catch on to these epoxy stickers, but maybe there are a few others of you out there, who don’t know about them yet and would be as excited as I am, to have them in their stash!

 

After doing a search on Amazon, and have since found them even cheaper than the ones I purchased (5 cents a flair/brad) and in smaller quantities for the 1" round (50), square and oval (and a few other shapes) in case anyone is interested!

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Project Life Weekly Share

I thought it might be an idea to share my Project Life pages on a weekly basis.

I am mostly up to date now, so the posts won’t be as long and picture laden as the last one - and this one.

This one will have several more weeks combined!

Are you ready?

 

Here we go:

 

 

I have started to play with different sized inserts. This one for the beginning of March is a “half-page” with three 4x6 inch pockets.

 

 

 

I wanted to keep a record of the kiddos evolving handwriting.

 

 

Here’s a quick and easy “2-pager”. I cut two papers the same size, then taped them together with some washi tape. I attached a tab at the top, so I remember that there is more to this one.

 

 

 

I randomly hand the kids blank index cards and encourage them to draw or write a story they want to add to this week’s project life. They are usually only too happy to oblige!

 

 

That week I got some really nice photos of the kids, so the page ended up mostly pictures, which works just fine for me!

I am still waiting on an alphabet roller stamp to be delivered, hence the little post it stickers to remind me what I still wanted to do on those photos!

 

 

 

I got some dividers for the various months too, but I haven’t embellished them yet. I have several ideas, but I haven’t quite made up my mind yet, what I will do with them. How are you decorating yours?

 

 

 

This one is mostly about father’s day. My husband as well as my own father! An especially good call we had that week, some reminiscing on their visit last year, some of the things we gave Daddy for his father’s day gifts, etc..

 

 

 

I screen shot the areal view of our house in Google earth and added it. And above you see another kid contribution. I now encourage them to also write the story on the back of the card, which also gives a great insight into what’s going on with them, what they are interested in and their evolving handwriting and spelling abilities!

 

 

A lengthy conversation ensued on Facebook between me and some of my friends after posting a particular picture and there was a lot of funny reminiscing prompted by it. I printed it all out and made a tri-fold insert - again with a “pull” tab to indicate that there is more to read.

And as you can see, I am slightly obsessed with the Studio Calico Wood Veneer embellishments and currently want to add them to just about anything!  I wish I could still find the stars somewhere, but other than the states and frames, all online stores seems to be sold out of them!

 

 

A screen shot of a map quest map to denote the traveling destination and  a screen shot of our skyping session (while the rest of the family was away from home.) And documenting just how bad the Skype connection is on that particular line!

 

 

 

I also like to include recipes that are significant to the family.

Above I printed out a blog post, that also contains a recipe. Since it was a long post, I folded it and added a tab.

Below I added just the recipe to the family’s favorite ice tea at the time.

 

 

So, here we are! I am now pretty much up to date on my album and look forward to just updating one week at the time from now on!

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Project Life

Yes, I got sucked into it too.

Mostly by the realization that I hadn’t done anything much with my photos since I stopped designing. You would think that I would have scrapped more, but no, somehow it went by the wayside with the hundreds of other project I did instead. And I got my creative outlet with the Art Journaling and crafting I was doing.

 

But, there were all the photos. And a glaring gap in albums for the year 2011 and it looked like 2012 was going to be much the same.

I thought of just putting together some photo books, but somehow that wasn’t very satisfying. Then I came across Project Life and it seemed like the answer for me. I could do as little or as much as I wanted, I could embellish or go for the clean and simple look, or both! And I could use a lot of my physical scrapbooking stuff as well as my digital! Perfect!

So my Project Life was born! Unfortunately none of the Becky Higgins Core Kits were available at the time, so I stocked up on the photo protectors and just got started. Yes, it meant not starting at the beginning of the year, but for this year, I just don’t care.

Like with so many things in my life, I wanted to give up the preconceived notion of what had to be in place before something could happen. I am trying more and more to start where I am, with what I have and do my best!

 

And you know, it was actually really easy to retrace the month that had already passed. Between my photos, my calendar and some Facebook updates to help, I managed to reconstruct things pretty well!

 

I’ve been learning along the way while doing this project, my likes and dislikes, what works for me, what doesn’t, how I want to organize things - even my scrapping style. I have never really paper scrapbooked before. I was always digital and have only started being hands-on again at the beginning of this year when I started art journaling.

But I have to say that even though Project Life was fairly work intensive initially, mostly because I felt the need to catch up on 3 months all at once, and I was making most things myself, I’m having great fun with this project! 

I spent a good amount of time with my Silhouette Craft Cutter initially, where I designed and cut a lot of tags, embellishments, words, arrows, letters etc. Even though that took a lot of time, it also saved a lot of money and it will the process much faster for me from here on out!

 

 

{Just imagine whole sheets of everything. I wanted to get a lot of the cutting out of the way while I was doing it!}

 

 

{I love tiny tags, so I made lots!}

 

 

{Ok, so I love tags in general!}

 

 

{I cut decorative borders and elements in a variety of patterns and papers.}

 

 

{And words!}

{I also made some  DIY decorative tape - tutorial coming soon!}

{And numerous sheets of alphabets in all sorts of sizes, colors and fonts!}

 

But maybe best of all - my children are having great fun with it too. They love to come and see what I’m recording, read what I have written, look at the pictures and add their own little cards, stories or pictures to it. They seem to be much more involved with this particular project than my digital scrapbook layouts. Don’t get me wrong, they LOVE those too, but Project Life gives us more of a chance to be hands-on together!

I also love that I now have a place to put so many more of the little bits and pieces I had kept in various boxes and folders. Report cards, little “he said/she said” quotes from the kids, ticket stubs, etc.

It all has not only a place now, but it has a story! And I am much faster at this than scrapping a full page for everything, which is always a bonus!

 

So, here are some photos of my project life folder. So far I have completed April, May and I’m almost up to date on June!

 

 

 

 

 

{For this page I scanned in the Letter from School with Max’s Test results. I also included this letter in the envelope page protector in the back though!}

 

 

 

{On this page I have a general day overview for the month, documenting anything slightly out of the ordinary. I also did a little card documenting some of the books the family read this month. And a card on how the garden progressed and I also scanned the pictures the kids brought home from school. The first  one is a self-portrait the kids drew at the beginning of the school year and the second is one they did in May!}

 

 

{Mother’s day! Since most of the cards I got from the kids were way too big to go in this folder, I quoted them on some cards. I also took screen shots of the electronic card  and gift I got from my husband!}

 

 

For the report cards I made an extra effort - well, they are our first report cards! I scanned in the outside of the report card pockets as well as the report cards themselves. Then I designed a print and cut in the Silhouette software and recreated the actual report cards with envelope, only on a 3”x4” scale. The report cards pull out, just like the real ones!  I also documented the weather for the month, which is somewhat of a page filler but still a great thing to look back on in years to come!}

 

 

 

{Tickets to a game are stapled onto a journaling card. The journaling is visible when you lift up the tickets!}

 

 

{I also like to include current events and news!}

 

 

{And when facebook tells a story too! In this example I had already written about the kid’s stomach virus. But then a day later my husband and I went down with it too, so I added that status screen shot!}

 

 

 

{It’s hard to get photos of myself into this album too, as I am usually the one taking the photos. So I took a car mirror snap shot with the phone while running errands!}

 

 

{I love to photograph the kids while they are sleeping. Not only for the cuteness, but also to show how their sleeping styles are changing over the years!}

 

{Some road trips really have nothing much to document other than that it happened. The scenery can be a little dismal and uninteresting around here, so I took a photo of the road ahead and used it for journaling.

 

So, this was a rather long and picture rich post! If you are still with me- thank you!

Are any of you doing Project Life? How are you getting on with that? Any tips and tricks to share?

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