One of the most frequently asked questions I receive here on the blog is: “where do you buy washi tape?”  So, I decided to compile a list of my favorite places!

I realize that there are many (many!) awesome places out there that sell washi tape these days — this list is just of the ones that I personally have purchased from and that are still likely to carry washi tape. :)

One quick word on washi tape — I think of washi tape as being different from paper tape, masking tape, tissue tape, or fabric tape. To me, washi tape is made from Japanese washi paper and has a translucent quality about it (so that you can see  some of what is underneath the tape). It’s also easy to remove and reposition (much like a post-it note). The principle manufacturer is Kamoi Kakoshi Co who makes mt masking tape. As you are shopping, look for the brand on the inside of the tape roll. Tapes by Kamoi Kakoshi Co will have “mt” or “kamoi” on the inside. Here’s a great story about how they started making washi tape.

Okay enough chit-chat, on to the list!

First off, brick and mortar stores (some are also online):

• Anthropologie — they even have that super cute squirrel washi tape holder in the photo (J got it for me for Christmas, love!)
• Itoya in Tokyo (the Ginza location) — love this store so much!
• Paper Source - find it in their shops and online
• Kinokuniya Stationery and Gift - they are in Japantown in San Francisco — they also have a huge selection of pens from Japan. If you go, check out their bookstore just across the way for Japanese craft books, including books on how to use washi tape.

Online shops:

• Crafty Japan – Melanie is in Japan and has a HUGE selection of washi tape and other awesome Japanese crafty supplies (including hard to find gocco supplies!). She always has the latest and greatest tapes, and shipping time isn’t that bad either — orders always seem to arrive within a week. :)
• UGUiSU – ships from Tokyo to all over the world! They always have a great selection and other nifty things from Japan. Once again, shipping times aren’t long.
• Cute Tape – is based in the US and in addition to tape also has stamps and twine (yah!)
• Ginko Papers – the very first place I ordered tape from — and I still have some of those first rolls even 5 years later — washi tape seems to last forever! Ginko Papers makes regular trips to Japan to find new and nifty treats for their shop.
• Lotta Jansdotter – I am a huge Lotta fan and I was over the moon when I found out she has her own line of washi tape. Love.

Happy shopping,

I used my new typewriter to make the message on this one — love the typewriter so much! I’ll be writing a post all about it and places to look for typewriters/things to watch out for soon.

Also had to use my new Studio Calico Chevron Mask and Boss Lady Mr. Huey’s. Love how this looks — so soft and pretty! And I love the randomness of it too!

The crepe paper flowers are stickers by Martha Stewart — I’ve been hoarding them (er, saving them for a special occasion) for a while now.

Love the patterned paper too — it’s by Crate Paper. I used some more to create a card for J’s Grandma!

Love that stamp, I used it to make so many cards for my Grandma. Was thinking about her when I made this one.

Hope you have a great weekend, and wishing a very Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

Hugs,

I used it yesterday to make a Mother’s Day card for my step-mom — love how it turned out!

And I had to add a little zig zag washi tape (by Trendy Tape, found it at Archiver’s the other day) and twine!

My step-mom is an avid reader, so I made her a matching bookmark too!

Sure hope she likes it!

And I can’t wait to use my typewriter more! Yah! I gotta get better pics, was cloudy and rainy when I took these.

I’ve got more Mother’s Day cards to share too — can’t wait to show you!

The sweet ellie is one of the four new My Monthly Hero May Birthday stamps — love her so much!

Check out the card over on the Hero Arts blog for complete materials and instructions. And! I also got to feature one of my favorite stamp stores in the country — Stamp Antonio, in San Antonio, Texas! If you anywhere near there (or even if you don’t!)  you really should go visit them! Plus you can also see The Alamo, and there’s a Riverwalk with shops, great restaurants, and boat rides, too. J and I love to go in December when there’s a BIG Christmas tree all lit up outside the Alamo and caroling on the boats on the river. So fun!

Hope your day sparkles,

Hi you guys! I know I haven’t posted much lately, but I’ve had a bunch going on with my knee (not happy stuff) and then I was on vacation for a week (yay!). I feel like I’m finally crawling out from a deep deep hole. But, every little thing really is gonna be alright! And I’m gonna start blogging again. Have sure missed all of you.

This card is on the Hero Arts blog today, so join me over there to find out about how I made it, and find out which of these stamps is on sale for 25% off this week! woo!

More soon!

In the meantime, check out this card I made for the Hero Arts blog. Today is my day to host the blog and I’ve got lots to share including the deets on this card, the April contest (cannot believe it’s April already, can you?), and these new Studio Calico stamps.

Click on over and I’ll meet you there,

Linda and Mary Dawn started the blog because of their love of Hero Arts stamps, and they invited a group of us to make cards to kick off this very first week of festivities! The theme this week is “Playing Favorites”. It was sooooo hard picking my favorite stamps to use but I finally did it!

Check out the full card over at A Blog Named Hero! Hint hint! I hear there may be prizes to be had too…!

By the by, for those of you who like Hero Arts trivia: did you know that Hero Arts got it’s name when Jackie, the founder of Hero Arts, illustrated a book called A Girl Named Hero using stamps.  The heroine of the book was named Hero, and Jackie really identified with her because she was creative, brave, innovative and independent. Wish I could find a copy of the book, would so love to see it! And I think A Blog Named Hero is very appropriately named, don’t you?

Thanks so much for inviting me, Linda and Mary Dawn! It is truly an honor. Wishing you all the success with the blog!

Can’t wait to see what the other invited artists came up with today, too — I’m off to check it out!

I took both of these photos on my iPhone using the instagram app — love this app like crazy! I’m sideoats on instagram if you’d like to follow me.

Here’s a bit about the supplies that I used besides the washi tape! First off, it’s kind of hard to tell, but the Paper Source luxe white notecards have a nice texture to them.

The new cupcake stamp is by Basic Grey! It’s in the NEW PB + J Collection and will be coming to stores soon. (YUM.)  The patterned paper is from the older Life of the Party 6×6 paper pad – love how you can mix old and new, don’t you?

I colored the cupcake using Copic markers — wanted it to look really chocolatey and rich and delicious. Then to finish it off I just added some brown gems.

Happy Birthday, Dad!  We love you!

Anyhow, you know how it is when you are pressed for time and your mind goes blank and you can’t think of what to do? Well, that’s what happened to me. Until I spied some of the new pretty papers from BasicGrey’s Konnichiwa Collection — just love this collection so much! I just knew I had to use them. And then I remembered Kelly’s awesome card on the Hero Arts blog today and I was set! (If you haven’t seen her card yet you owe it to yourself to go and check it out – it’s a masterpiece!)

Here’s what I came up with!

Isn’t that paper just beautiful? Makes me wish I could go to Japan to see the cherry blossoms. Here’s a closeup of the window that I made using the Hero Arts Frame Cuts Small Tag Frame:

And! Here’s a little snap I took of the card coming together — just loaded up the back with lotsa foam tape and then added gems over the holes in the tags. Easy.

I wanted to make sure that the cards stayed nice since they’re going all the way from Texas to Arizona and West Virginia, so I used a *lot* of tape! If you were going to hand-deliver the cards you wouldn’t need quite so much :)

Two more tips — since the window is popped up like that, the gems won’t poke through the envelope. Another trip I learned is to glue the patterned paper to some white cardstock before cutting out the window — this way it won’t sag as much and you won’t need quite so much tape, ha!

And one last trick: You don’t have to try to stamp the message inside the window! YES. Just stamp it on a scrap and then remove the backing from the tape and position it on there, then position the whole lot on the card front. Woo!

Annnnnd, I forgot to take a photo of the envelopes (darn!) — but I used pretty pink envelopes for them and stamped them with the coordinating stamps from the BasicGrey Konnichiwa Collection. Can’t wait until they open up their mailboxes and see the cards. :)

Happy birthday, Aunt Ada and Aunt Freda! Sure wish I could be there to celebrate with you and give you a big big hug!

Hugs to all of you, and hope you have a great weekend,

Can’t tell you how much I love this new stamp Calico Borders stamp set from Studio Calico! The butterflies are so fun to color with watercolors. And I want to use that “she believed that she could, so she did” message on everything. I think that this stamp will have to be my new motto.

Oh and the Lattice background? Love it too!

Believe that you can, and you will!

xo,