Like many I am in love with decorative tape, including the new Japanese Masking Tapes. It’s quite easy to make your own though.
Materials:
fabric adhesive tape (for taping gauze on)
watercolor paints
waxed paper (perhaps freezer paper would work as well)
optional: pens, glue, wax crayons (for creating patterns)
I placed strips of tape on the waxed paper and added watercolor paints.
On some strips I played around with patterns first.
From left to right:
yellow: black Souffle pen
orange: silver Pilot paint pen
red: Faber Castel Pitt Artist Indian ink brush pen
dark orange: just watercolor paints, the key to blending is add more water between the colors
green: this was a more fabric type of tape, I found it hard to work with, I liked the edges though
green: clear Aquatip pen
blue: stamp with Brilliance ink
green/blue: white glue (creates a batik style)
wide green/blue: brushed on drier watercolor paint
white: painted with black watercolor paint
blue: cheap kids watercolor paint, felt grainy and powdery after
purple: cheap kids watercolor paint, felt grainy and powdery after
As you can see, anything seems to work. Play around with various mediums and let me know how they work out!
57 comments
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June 29, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Helena
Wow! They turned out great!
June 29, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Alicia
so pretty!
June 29, 2010 at 10:14 pm
kay
Thanks for sharing this! I have been in need of new, fun technique. 🙂
June 29, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Carolyn
Very clever, Julie.
June 30, 2010 at 12:09 am
Miss Jeanne
Very cool, Julie! Thanks so much for sharing!
Jeanne
June 30, 2010 at 12:13 am
Cindie D
I can’t wait to play with these! Thanks so much.
Cindie
June 30, 2010 at 1:18 am
Heather T.
Woah, totally cool! You know I’m going to use this technique–and I have time to play this morning! Perfect! Thank you!
June 30, 2010 at 2:53 am
Suzerella
Those are beautiful–good job!
June 30, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Kim Hannan
LOVE this! Very creative and awesome! TFS
July 4, 2010 at 2:50 am
lavienouveau
I LOVE these! so creative and beautiful! bravo!
July 7, 2010 at 4:10 am
Cynnie
totalllllly ccooooooolll……love it! Your tags are neat too!
July 9, 2010 at 2:13 am
MariaS
Great idea!!. And it also works with markers.
July 9, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Nina
Brilliant! Thanks so much for sharing! =)
July 13, 2010 at 5:31 am
se7en
Love it!!! We are going to have to do this!!!
July 14, 2010 at 5:05 am
Kako napraviti šarene trake? at Škrabalica
[…] ih videli u prodaji evo rešenja – napravite ih! Na ovu jednostavnu genijalnu ideju došla je Džuli iz Tajvana. Bele trake od tkanine obojila je vodenim bojama i dobila unikatne dekorativne […]
July 16, 2010 at 4:10 am
Jennia Hart
I LOVE this idea!!! How clever and they are beautiful. You did a great job.
July 17, 2010 at 12:47 pm
bekaboo
Julie, you always know the latest and greatest and how to do it even better. I had never even heard of Japanese masking tape! lol! You are the bestest!!
August 4, 2010 at 5:17 am
dianaTrout
How great is this!? I will share it on my blog. I was messing around with masking tape last night using acrylic paints which work fine as well. The final product was a bit less translucent and I was thinking of mixing in some acrylic glazing medium. I’ll try this too! Thanks
August 10, 2010 at 4:24 pm
iHanna
Great idea, thank you for sharing the link on my blog so I could find it!
August 18, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Peggy Beck
Can’t wait to go and try these myself. Wonderful inspiration to go wherever we want. Thank you so much
August 19, 2010 at 12:00 am
dani
that’s brilliant – I can’t wait to try it, thank you
August 20, 2010 at 5:31 am
manus
This looks great! Thank you so much for sharing this technique. Are the tapes still sticky after you watered them with colour?
Best wishes from Germany, Manuela
August 25, 2010 at 1:02 am
shisomama
i just came over from ohdeedoh and i love this idea! i think this will come in handy for all the lunches i will have to start packing soon!
August 25, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Heather
Thanks for that. I loved the idea so much I left a link to this in my bog, which will be published shortly. Thanks again. 😉
September 6, 2010 at 12:10 pm
HIDUP SEORANG BLOGGER
Visiting for the first time, hope can get an introductory speech and could continue.
Warmest regards always.
September 22, 2010 at 10:42 pm
japanese tape « Claudia Bravo!
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October 20, 2010 at 2:46 am
donna!ee
i have been playing with this wonderful tutorial and have created fabulous tapes that coordinate perfectly with my zine pages…i used masking tape and first aid cloth & paper tape…for background color i used stamp pads & chalk & to enhance the background color i used rubber stamps & borders with black ink pad…absolutely gorgeous with my journaling & doodling… thank you thank you thank you much for this tutorial…it has raised the cohesive level of my projects up at least 3 notches!! 😉
October 21, 2010 at 11:12 am
Lynette (NZ)
So so cool – thanks for sharing
October 23, 2010 at 1:09 am
Shane
LOVE it when someone like you lets their creative juices run – I can’t wait to have a go as well!!
Thank you so much for sharing.
Shane
October 24, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Rosie
Brilliant! I must have a go at this – soon!! =)
October 27, 2010 at 3:17 pm
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November 4, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Lynette (NZ)
My friend and I had a playday of this – I have shared it on my blog – thanks so much for the idea 🙂
http://lynettecollis.blogspot.com/2010/11/decorative-tape-making.html
November 28, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Roz Stendahl
Julie, thank you for sharing this link with me on my blog. I love what you are doing with these tapes.
December 7, 2010 at 2:05 am
Heather
Such a great idea! I’m making some to decorate my Christmas packages. Thanks!
December 11, 2010 at 1:28 am
Sharon
This is soooo inspiring. ..Especially after paying $8 plus shipping for each little package of 3 rolls.
Thank you so much!
January 3, 2011 at 6:58 am
My 2010 Blog Review « Julie K in Taiwan
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March 13, 2011 at 1:11 am
Tiffany Coombs
Very nice, and great photography also J. :o)
Thank you. I’m curious about that fabric tape and the clear Aquatip pen.
April 16, 2011 at 9:15 pm
Traci Bunkers
Oh, how cool! I’m very curious about what the brand of watercolors are that you have in the picture. They look interesting and I haven’t seen any with that size pans.
April 17, 2011 at 9:32 pm
juliekintaiwan
Hi Traci, thanks for stopping by! I find your blog quite inspiring, I especially like your recent post about using henna stencils.
The brand of paint that you asked about is from Simbalion. I think they’re a Taiwanese brand, here’s their product http://www.simbalion.com.tw/show_main/show_main5.asp?cateno5=381
Hope that helps!
Julie K in Taiwan
June 4, 2011 at 7:15 am
sandie
Thank you – I’ve made these using masking tape but never thought of micropore!
June 19, 2011 at 2:45 am
Chris
This is way wonderful!
I have linked to this on my site. I’m getting started on it now.
Thank you!
Chris
September 4, 2011 at 12:09 pm
mel mccarthy
Knew I was saving that silk bandage tape for something. Brilliant idea. Love your patterns & colours!
September 12, 2011 at 10:12 pm
Darlene
Great project – Thanks for sharing.
September 13, 2011 at 4:32 am
Ella
So clever of you; Thank you for sharing! 😀
September 13, 2011 at 7:10 pm
(Helena) (@microbionoar)
Wow, so simple 🙂 ty for sharing this brilliant idea
October 24, 2011 at 4:38 am
Nina
Wicked
February 19, 2012 at 10:16 am
Beth
Brilliant!
March 17, 2012 at 3:59 pm
Cynthia Schelzig
A girl can never have enough washi tape:)…..now thanks to you I will finally have enough. Thanks for the inspiration!
March 31, 2012 at 1:17 am
Touda
I like it a lot! My daughter will verry like it too. Thanks for sharing this idea.
Touda
August 11, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Suzanne B
Fabulous! I LOVE this!! Thank you for creating this technique and sharing it!
August 11, 2012 at 5:50 pm
Suzanne B
Back to ask what tape base did you find worked the best for you?
August 15, 2012 at 11:16 am
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March 29, 2013 at 12:18 am
Shelley
Brilliant idea! I’m going to try this for packaging up jewelry from my etsy shop! https://www.etsy.com/shop/EarthChildArt?ref=si_shop
April 13, 2013 at 5:13 am
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April 17, 2013 at 9:08 pm
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Lovely post. Great ideas and very interesting too. I am loving it.
August 23, 2013 at 1:47 am
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