Hey there! Can I tell you a secret? I really have a hard time using washi tape! Other than for taping up magazine cuttings, photos or illustrations to my wall or sticking loose thread ends down on the backside of my layouts, I hardly ever use washi tape. That’s also why I don’t own a lot of tapes either (maybe 20 in total and most of them are black and white or gold and white), because I just know that I don’t need them. But since I had the washi tapes from the Willow Lane collection* and thought that they are really pretty, I challenged myself to put them to use. So here’s what I did:
Crate Paper / Maggie Homes | Happy Little Moments Layout | Willow Lane
I selected four tapes that would go with the colour scheme of the papers and embellishments I had chosen (which in turn was inspired by my photo) and just stuck a few rows of tape down on a piece of white cardstock. I then used my Spellbinders Platinum 6 die cutting machine and some circle dies in different sizes to cut circles from the washi taped paper and also from some of the patterned papers. If I had only cut circles from the washi taped piece, then they wouldn’t really stand out on my layout anymore and it would become too busy. So it’s good to mix in papers that have the same or similar colours but more subtle patterns to balance things out.
Feel inspired by this layout? Make sure to save it to one of your Pinterest boards for future reference!
Creating Clusters
As you can see, I used the Frolic paper for my background. I really liked the contrast of the colours in the circles against the black and white background, and obviously the circle theme was repeated in that pattern, too. I tried to create several clusters of circles going in a vertical line down the middle of my page using circles of different sizes, colours and textures. In all of the clusters (except the top one) I included one of the washi tape circles and combined it with circles that were cut from the patterned papers, as well as two circle shaped stickers (one from the chipboard stickers and one from the foam thickers). Having various sizes, textures and patterns helps create interest and ensures that your cluster elements don’t blend into each other.
Mixing different sizes, colours and textures in a cluster helps to add interest to your page and keeps the elements from blending into each other.
To help loosen things up a little bit, I also mixed in some other shapes (mostly hearts) and kept my photo rectangular. Sometimes I like to cut my photo into a circle as well, but I felt that for this page it worked better this way. I think the rather busy washi tape circles would have overpowered a round photo.
Embellishing
Apart from the hearts, I also added in one of those cute thread bows and a yellow tea cup because, well, if I wasn’t going to use it on this page, where else would I use it? 😉 The black background was also perfect to use some of the white rub ons! They go on really nicely and they stand out so well. It looks a bit like they had been stamped wih white ink and I just love the very subtle accent they add to this page. The camera that I tucked in next to my photo was cut from the Daydream paper (it’s perfect to cut out some embellishments!) and the title was cut from the Spread Love paper. I really love both sides of this paper, so I’m very glad I have multiples of it! All of the banners make for perfect titles and embellishments, and the backside is great to cut apart and either use the strips on your page or back a cutfile with the different colours and patterns.
To finish my page off, I added some gold paint splatters, a bit of gold machine stitching through some of the circles and along the left and right side of my page where I had added a thin strip of the Melody paper that I had left from making this layout. I also used some of my Nuvo drops to add some teeny tiny dots in coordinating colours along that vertical line.
That’s it! I hope you enjoyed this layout and this idea for how to put your washi tape to good use! This is also a great way to use tapes that have patterns you normally wouldn’t really use. For me it would be the peach one with the unicorns, but combined with the other, more neutral patterns and as only small pieces, it works really well for me on this layout. So I’m very happy I got to use some more of the pretty washi tapes! And I think the other four tapes in the package make for another really pretty colour scheme! So I might try to use that one, too. I hope you give it a try, and if you do, I would love to see what you create! And I’d also love to hear from you what some of your favourite ways to use washi tape are!
Thank you for stopping by! Until next time 🙂
Kathleen
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