The Washi Tape Shop
True to its name, this shop has an extremely wide selection of washi tape. I don’t know why I latched on to this specific type of stationery, but recently this has become my favourite kind of decorative journal amendment. Finding both a variety of interesting designs and some large sets to beef up the collection and make it easy to do a lot of decorating and fill up a lot of journaling with it.
Something that surprises me is the fact that a lot of brands of washi tape call it “masking tape,” possibly referring to its compositional similarity to the tape used for covering edges when painting (mask = cover/hide). It is made of paper and intended to tear like paper, easily and without stretching like plastic tapes would. But washi tape is specifically intended to be showy and decorative, and to be a feature of the page, rather than a temporary component in its construction like the masking tape from the hardware store.
One set I really liked from the Washi Tape Shop was copied from/inspired by the works of Van Gogh, a colourful and abstract style that works well in repetitive designs.
Not a washi tape, but a product I was really charmed by, are these little boxes of stickers from Mo-Card. So charmed that I have ordered more from another store, of which I’ll discuss more in a future post. Specifically I love the reproductions of old postage stamps from various countries. As implied more than once here, it’s obvious that many of these products are not employing a team of artists to make original creations, but rather relying on the work of others, known and unknown, with and (more likely) without permission. At the same time, there are numerous original designs and with future orders I think I will focus my custom on that.
A final interesting product line was this collection of washi sticker-rolls. These included several floral designs, including a set intended as a build-your-own flower from rolls of petals. Generally I’m happy I have found this fascinating new part of the stationery world to enjoy as part of my letter-writing and journaling habit, and I’d definitely recommend the Washi Tape Shop as an entry-level destination for those seeking to get into these decorative do-dads themselves.
