Stamp and Ink: Masculine Birthday

Washi tape is the new craze in paper crafting! I've never used it before, but have been quite curious about it. I've recently ordered some small amounts of washi tape to see if I'd like it, but I find it can be rather pricey! Then....I found this fantastic video on DIY washi tape, and thought I'd give it a go!! So, here's my card with my homemade "washi":

The washi I used on this card isn't as bright (colorwise) as most of the washi tape you can buy. However, I still liked the subtleness of the colors in combination with the kraft paper...and the fact that I wanted to make a masculine card!

Here's how I did it:

First I created my washi tape by applying adhesive sheets to white tissue paper (Canvas Corp Tissuestock). I used a bone folder to smooth out some of the wrinkles. I still ended up with a few wrinkles I couldn't get out, but I figured I could work around them! Once smoothed out, I cut my adhesive backed tissue paper into 1" strips. Then, I used various stamps and distress inks to create my patterned tapes.

To let you in on a little secret, my middle strip of washi tape was a flop that I tried to fix. Originally, it looked horrible, but once the ink dried, I kind of liked it. Here's what happened: I stamped this strip with HA Dots and Lines stamp, which was inked with Faded Jeans distress ink. I apparently didn't ink the stamp evenly, or didn't apply even pressure, because the stamping turned out terrible. So, I decided that - once it was dry - I'd swipe it with Frayed Burlap and Faded Jeans Distress stain just to see what would happen. I was concerned about it destroying the tissue paper from the extra moisture, but that paper held up really well. Once all the ink was dry, I really liked the effect. The actual stamped image is a little faded out, but if you look really close, you'll see it! :D

The car stamp and the sentiment were inked with HA "Cup O' Joe" ink and stamped onto kraft cardstock. Both pieces were then distressed with Walnut Stain distress ink.

To make the background, I cut a 4.5x6.5" piece of kraft cardstock and ran it through the plaid embossing folder. I ran it through twice to cover the whole piece. Then, I distressed it with Walnut Stain distress ink.

The background was then adhered to my 5x7" white cardstock base. The washi tape was adhered on top of that. Then the stamped images where adhered with foam tape. Finally, the circles (which were cut with a 1" circle punch and distressed with Walnut Stain distress ink) were adhered to the card.

Needless to say, I'm pretty stoked about creating more of my own, private washi tape! ;D

Here's the supplies: