Tuesday's {Tip} Washi Scraps

How many times have you thrown away bits of washi tape that were either too long for your project or for some other reason? I do it all of the time. The pieces are usually very small, and as I was working on my Documented Life Planner, I really decided that I needed to do something with the tiny scraps. Well, I came up with an idea that I love, and I wanted to share it with you today. To see my Documented Life Planner and Video, please click here.

First, I keep a scrap piece of white cardstock on my art journaling table. I think we all have those scraps of white cardstock that are just too oddly shaped or not a good size to really do anything with. Keep that scrap and put it in your table. Then every time you have a scrap of washi, stick it onto that piece of cardstock instead of throwing it into the garbage can. As you stick the pieces down, make it random. Here is a sample of a piece I started and finished:

After the cardstock is filled, I put a layer of matte medium on it to seal it and make sure the washi doesn't come up. Just put your filled paper piece onto a scrap piece of paper or deli paper, and "tap" on the matte medium with a foam brush. If you try to paint it on, it will pull up the washi. Let it dry. Here are two of my scraps just after applying matte medium. Yes, they are still wet in this photo.

Then I use these sheets to die cut or fussy cut embellishments. Here are just a few things you could do with them. You could make:

• tags
• banners
• shapes (hexagons, hearts, circles, stars)
• use them in your art journals and on all paper creations

Here are a few things I made to use on my next creation:

As you can see, I did some messy sewing on them and added some Tim Holtz Distress Ink to the edges of each piece. I hope you enjoy this idea! Have fun creating some unique embellishments!