Washi Tape Backgrounds Tutorial

I hope this washi tape backgrounds tutorial will give you some ideas for using up your stash of decorative tapes.  You can use this background idea on tags, scrapbooks and greeting cards, too.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. I’ll receive a small commission if you purchase products through my links. It won’t affect your cost in any way.

Here' what my 2-page spread looks like:

Choosing & Adhering Your Washi Tapes

Since washi tape is by nature ‘low tack' it is not as sticky as regular tape.  To ensure that it stays down on my project, I added a light coat of matte medium to the page before adhering the tape.  Sometimes I cover the pages from end to end, as I did in this washi tape journal spread from 2014.  But for this one I wanted to save room on the right, so I covered about 75% of the spread.

First, go through your stash and choose a variety of patterns, widths and colors.

Unifying Patterns & Colors with Paint

To tone down and bring the colors together, I created a paint wash. This is super easy – just mix of a very little bit of paint + some glazing medium. Painting the wash over the whole spread makes it seem like the tapes belong together.

I used one of the tapes to frame a tag that I painted with the leftover wash.

Sentiment Stamp

I used one of  Tim Holtz's fabulous Motivational stamps (affiliate link won't affect your purchase price at all) and it fit perfectly.

Next I added some paint through a circle stencil and a female silhouette stencil.  I'm sorry to say I don't remember where that female shape came from. It was in a book of stencils I bought a long time ago, not a single-sale item like you can buy today.  The work around for that is to cut silhouettes out of magazines and use the negative for a stencil.

Stenciling without Seepage

Using a cosmetic sponge helps me apply just enough paint that none seeps under the stencil.

Here's a close up of the finished gal.

Mixed Media Art Membership Group

Have you heard about the Mixed Media Art Membership Group? It's a monthly membership that I host that includes facilitated learning through a Project of the Month (with closed-captioned video instruction), Themed Challenge of the Month, a live Zoom Create-Along Session where we all work on our art together, and lots of resources such as the Project Vault, Technique Vault and Resource Library. Best of all is the supportive and inspiring community we enjoy in our private Facebook Group and the gated private forum on the site where I host the videos and resources.  

The group is only open for new members a few times a year, so please add your name to the waiting list to be the first to know when the doors open again. Click here to add your name to the waiting list.

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Have a great day!

Marjie