The Who, What and Where of Washi Tape

Since alot of folks aren't familiar with Washi tape goodness I am going to share some information about it with you today as well as some sources for it.  I'll also share photos of my personal stash.  It's rather extensive and gets some people quite into a tizzy.  But I think you'll enjoy it.  It makes me happy I can tell you.



Washi tape originates in Japan and is often called Japanese masking tape.  It does share some similarities but I'm not certain they are enough to equate the two items as the same thing.  Washi has some very interesting characteristics which I think I'll share in list form below.  After I show you a picture of JUST my RED Washi (this was several months ago so my collection may or may not have grown)



Washi Characteristics:

• Semi transparent
• Low tack adhesive (you can stick it down and pull it back up again and most of the time it will not damage or tear the paper.
• Comes in many many patterns and colors
• Cannot generally be found in craft or scrapbook stores in the US
• Is now being widely copied by other companies, though it is still unique
• Has a slightly rubbery quality which allows for it to be stretched a bit
• Usually has a slightly shiny surface
• Can be written on with permanent pens such as Sharpie Markers
• Can cause addictive collecting behaviors in most who encounter its wonders

Now, for the next color PINK (this may be the reason I am starting to like pink!)

 And one more, ORANGE (orange is hard to find in tapes but Amy Tan just came out with a beautiful Chevron mixtape that is orange so I am happy with that.)

And one more for good measure, YELLOW (another very hard to find color!  makes me sad)

The question you may have is 'what can I use it for?'  The answer is; LOTS of fun things.  You can click on the button just under my blog header that says Washi tape and find a variety of examples of ways that I have used it.  

I plan to add more and more to this section of my blog as time passes so stay tuned.

Are you GREEN with envy yet?  Let me help you with that by envisioning some of the green washi patterns you could accessorize with.

Perhaps you are BLUE because you don't have any washi tape?

I have no cleverness for PURPLE, sorry.  For that matter, I don't have much tape for Purple either.  

You can use washi tape on scrap layouts as borders, you can place it on paper and then punch it.  You can use it hold down items on your page.  You can wrap packages with it.  You can use it to create embellishments as I did in the tutorial I shared yesterday.  You can embellish a hand written letter or card with it.  You can decorate the envelope you'll send the card in.  You can write on it.  You can cover a mason jar with it and store pencils inside.   You can use it to add items to your bulletin board or refrigerator. You can sit and stare at it's loveliness and just be happy. The list really is endless.  One Studio Calico gal even shared that she used some as a band-aid for her child when she ran out of printed band-aids.  Ingenious!

You may have guessed that I am not NEUTRAL on this topic.

Now, you are asking 'where can I find all of this wonderful washiness?' Below, I've shared some sources with you.  These are my personal favorite sources for Washi.  I like to support the little guy as often as I can so I do hope you'll join me in that effort.

True Washi tape can be found at:

Pretty Tape

Crafty Japan

Little Happy Things

Sugar B Supplies

Cute Tape

Other types of tape including printed packing tape types, fabric tapes and washi wannabes

It Items  many types available including fabric tape, linen tape, glass tape and more

Ecceprints-- Kawaii tape (thin printed packing type tape)

California Craft -thin solid tissue tapes

Hambly -washi tape

Two Peas In a Bucket 

Cavallini Tapes the tape pictured below is from a Cavallini set that comes with a all five of the designs pictured.

Something to know about some of the American developed washi tapes is that they will have a much more paper like texture as opposed to the more rubbery and stretchy texture of the Japanese washi tapes.

Oh, and if you're interested in how I store mine.  Here is how I used to store it.

And you can see my current storage here.

I hope this was helpful to you.  If you have additional questions, feel free to ask but leave me your email addy so I can answer you and I will be happy to answer as best I can.