Tag Archives: washi tape

Neon in the mix

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In my craft space, there is no such thing as too much neon. I can’t seem to get enough of this trend: papers, inks, pens and – most recently – glitter. Five containers of glorious neon glitter, and I’m certain I won’t use all of it but I’ll make a valiant effort.

This card is all retro: I combined my bright neons with a stamped image of a (not-so-old) relic: the cassette. I get nostalgic looking at this stamp, but I’ll take digital music files over analog versions any day, thank you very much.

There’s a lot of neon in this design and a lot of patterns. I incorporated stripes, hounds tooth and two sizes of polka dots. Add the chevron pattern from the stamp, and there’s lot going on visually. The black and white tempers the look and provides a neutral backdrop for the neon colors.

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Stuck on washi

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Mother’s Day is tomorrow, and (gasp) crafty you has been too pressed for time, in a creativity slump or (yipe) you forgot to make a card.

I was pressed for time this year, but washi tape came to my rescue. In half an hour, at most, I had a card.

I also tried stamping for the first time on washi. I used multi-surface inks just in case the tapes’ surfaces were too slick to absorb regular ink, and they worked well.

Tape, stamp, bling, stick … done. Fabulous!

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Dot, dot, dot

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While I have numerous sentiment stamps, sometimes I don’t have the phrase I’d like, or the stamp’s font isn’t the right look for my card.

That’s when I turn to my computer. The right font can be a powerful design element, and with so many fonts available online for free personal use, you can easily find a font that fits the theme or character of your project.

To tie the look of this Valentine’s Day card together, I used fuchsia throughout and repeated the polka dots on the washi tape by stamping the pattern onto the chipboard ampersand.

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Warm washi wishes

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I’m having a slight obsession with negative space. Instead of using a die-cut on a card, I use the paper the die-cut was created from — the negative space left after cuts have been made. I’ve used the negative space as a mask for stamping, but I also like to use the “windows” as a main feature for a card. I plan my card designs around the negative space, using dimensional adhesive to let the cutouts stand out.

If you don’t have a die-cut machine, you could use a punch (ones that punch anywhere on the paper would be great for this) or, depending on how much time/patience you have, you can cut out shapes by hand. Then imagine the possibilities: cutouts that reveal the inside of a card or something underneath, such as a patterned paper. For this card, I created a striped pattern for my mittens using washi tape.

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Totally neon

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Neon colors are making a comeback, and it’s nostalgic for me. I loved the bright colors as a kid in the ’80s (neon blue was my favorite). When I see neon hues, I’m reminded of big pieces of jewelry, even bigger hair, shoulder pads and odd fashion all around. A-ha’s “Take on Me” plays in my mind, and I think of, like, Valleyspeak, you know?

Hero Arts held a challenge in July. The company offered three concepts for entry: a summer theme; a project featuring a technique that creates paper flowers; and a color theme of neon pink, neon orange and neon yellow. At least one Hero Arts stamp had to be used on each project.

The day I stumbled across the challenge, I had purchased a new Hero Arts stamp and really wanted to use it and neon colors for the contest. With a few days left to enter and ’80s hits running through my mind, I created this card, which also has a summer theme.

I had a lot of fun making this card, especially the “talk bubbles.” The best part? My card is one of the winning projects! I’m so excited!

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