Darcy Wilkinson #2 Tissue Tape Part One ....

The craze for washi/tissue tape seems to be taking over the world, however it is just so expensive.

So I set about making some of my own, and had great fun doing so. First I gathered my supplies. Tapes. Tissue paper. Non Stick paper. There are many tapes that you can use.

Here I have Micro pore tape, sports injury tape which is a sticky backed cotton fabric, then masking tape, respositionable Scotch tape, and double sided tape in 2 widths. I also used some joint mesh tape that I found in the DIY store.

You will also need some sort of non stick backing. Here I have freezer paper, and 2 kinds of baking parchment.

Spread out your non stick paper and cut some lengths of tape. The mesh joint tape, masking tape, micro pore, scotch tape and cotton injury tape are all stuck down to the baking parchment. The double sided tape is stuck to tissue paper.

Next you need to cut your tape out. The tape on tissue paper should be cut accurately, as that stays as a whole. But the other tapes on the baking paper can be roughly cut out as when you use the tape it will be separated from the backing.

Now lets start to add some colour.

Peel the backing from a tape and lay it down onto a clean non stick surface, KEEP THE BACKING TAPE, you will need to reattach the backing when you have finished painting.
The first layer is a block colour using your favourite Fresco Paints. These are so wonderful for this project because of the smooth surface they create which is great for stamping onto.

Once your block colours are dry then you can go back to each tape and add a little stamping or stencilling. For this layer use another shade of the original block colour or a very simple contrast pattern. There is another layer to come so keep this one minimal.

Now the top layer.. Again peel off the backing paper and stick your tape to clean non stick surface.

Add your top layer of stamping in a much bolder colour or pattern.

You can keep on building up your layers, add as many as you want, but I felt that these 3 main layers allowed enough of the lower layers to show through and create interest.

1. block colour
2. minimal/shaded stamping or stencilling
3. bolder stamping/stencilling

Of course you can keep the whole tape minimal or monochrome. You can always go back and add more to a tape. Perhaps add some doodling by hand that matches the project that you are working on.

I had so much fun making all these colourful ones.

Now to store them... I know many of you bought lots of Wooden Spools last month, so what better way to use them than to wrap them in these tapes.

I decided to leave my Wooden Spools unpainted. For a couple of reason.

1. My storage for these tapes is all painted, and I liked the unpainted spools as a contrast.
2. If I painted the spools to match the tape, and then the tape ran out..I would be left with a
coloured spool and have to try and match it up to the next tape that I make.
So take a little re-positionable clear tape and use it to attach your coloured tape to the spool, then wrap it tightly and use a little more clear tape to hold it in place.

Over to you, have a fun painty session making your own coloured tapes. Tomorrow I will show you the storage that I made for my tapes.

Leandra Says:Ohhh now we can make the perfect tape for each and every project, but i love the idea of a session just making loads of the stuff!! Grand idea!

Gillian Says: How very cool ... I soooo want to go make my own now and the great thing is I have the majority of these household supplies to hand. Thanks Darcy for this "lightbulb moment".