Whimsical DIY Washi Tape Photo Frame

Hello everyone!  Today I have a fun, whimsical, and colorful project.  But, first, you know that there has to be a back story.  LOL.  Back in January I won a contest that Susan K. Weckesser was having on her blog - {my sweet earth}.  I won a bunch of stickers, papers, and embellishments from Fancy Pants Designs, I also got to pick one of Susan's rubber stamp sets (I picked What's Up Gnomey), which she co-brands with Unity Stamp Co., and she also sent me 5 of her new inks that have recently been released by Clearsnap under the Color Box line. I have to say - that was a great box o goodies to win!

I love getting new supplies to play with and, since I love all of Susan's stamps, I could not wait to jump right in.  She has 5 new Color Pop Premium Dye inks  - Kiss (red), Fresh (green), Ice (light blue),  Sky (dark blue), and Cocoa (light brown).  She also has Black, which is a Color Pop Archival ink and White and Gold Color Pop Pigment inks.

I received 5 of the inks - Black (archival), Gold (pigment) and Ice, Fresh, and Kiss (dye). The first thing I noticed (and loved) were the gorgeous bright colors.  The dye inks remind of Ancient Page inks, which are no longer being made but were my favorite back in the day, and were also made by Clearsnap.   I've used these inks on a few projects so far and have ordered the rest of the colors.  I love that they are a small size and easy to travel with or take on the go and the dye inks are perfect to use with a waterbrush. And I love the price point - around $3.50!  I just wish there was a yellow and pink.  Maybe next time!

I wanted to try and only use the colors I received and I also wanted to do something other than a card.  So I dove into my stash of her stamps and pulled out the "A Little Bit Washi" set.  I decided to do a "patchwork washi" photo frame.  

I grabbed a white 5" x 7" photo mat and, starting in one of the corners, I stamped one of the washi tape images with Kiss (red), then a different washi image with Ice (blue), then another washi image with Fresh (green) and then a another washi image with Gold.  

I continued doing this, working my way around the frame, stamping images in the different colors - 

Until I had filled in the whole photo frame.

I loved this "patchwork" feel but wanted it to look stitched.  I had a x-stitch stamp from a Brasilian stamp company called Scraplooving and, using the Black archival ink and a stamp positioner, I stamped where each washi tape meets - to give it a look that they were sewn together.  

The last thing to do was to put it in a frame!

I had a lot of fun making this "home decor" project and hope you enjoyed it also.  Please stop back tomorrow when I unveil the "photo" of my Uncle (who is a Gnome) - for the center of this photo frame.  As always, please leave me a comment if you wish and until next time - 

Hugs from Brasil - 
Michael