whatever is resourceful...

Strawberries are sweet and around our house we can't wait for strawberry pickin'-time!  Until then, we'll just have to be satisifed creating cards with strawberries on them.  This sweet stamp and the sentiment are from Unity.

But, hidden in the background, beneath the lace and ribbon is my homemade attempt at "washi" tape.  I have seen some really fabulous patterns on washi tape, tissue tape, whatever you want to call it, but I have not felt "called" to buy some.  I wanted to try and be "resourceful" and create my own (and to see what all the excitement is about). 

So, I adhered a strip of  Duck brand painters tape (it's thinner than masking tape and I found it in a clearance spot at Target) to a strip of parchment paper. I stamped a repeating pattern using this small Hero Arts stamp and black StazOn ink.  The ink dried quickly and did not smudge off, even on this tape which has a slight sheen to it.

I used the tape to adhere the large, black, scalloped circle onto the base of my card.  I'll admit, there is a benefit to the self-stick characteristic of the tape.  I like the different texture it gives to the card too.  I rolled up the leftovers (still on the parchment paper) and can save it for another project.  I have not investigated if this tape is acid-free, so I don't advise using it on your precious scrapbook layouts, but it is a fun change as a card embellishment.

I'll give this tape trial a thumbs up--

I think I'm going to experiment with different inks and patterns. 

Stay tuned for the GREAT HOME-MADE WASHI TAPE EXPERIMENT Part 2, coming soon to a blog near you.

~Kelly