I never thought I needed washi tape. Now I can’t live without it. What is it about these little strips of awesomeness that makes them so great?
My latest discovery is Mark's Writable Maste Washi Tape, which, when I saw it came in a grid pattern, jumped at the chance to get. I had already been a fan of traditional washi tapes for years, so adding another cool one to the collection that I could write on was an easy choice.
Now let’s be clear about a few things up front. First off, you don’t neeeeeed washi tape. Any regular tape will do for most normal uses, and will likely do a better job at actually sticking things together. Secondly, you can write on many tapes, both standard and of the washi variety, with ballpoint pens, permanent markers, and pencils. And third, they can be expensive, especially when compared to the basics.
So, why washi tape? For the same reason you buy that purple gel ink pen, or that shimmer ink, or that eleventh notebook. They are fun, and allow you to make your stationery personal. What you put on the page is an expression of yourself, and washi tape fits right in with all of it.
My main use for washi tape is to embellish my visual journal. I’ve discussed my process before, and adding this writable washi tape to my kit gives me something else fun to play with. Couldn’t I just write on the page itself? Of course! But why not have even more fun with the process than I normally do?
Writing on this tape actually works. It is designed to be used with water-based inks, which standard tapes can’t handle. Anything I threw at it - from gel, to roller, to pencil, to fountain, and more - worked. The wettest inks, such as the Schmidt P8127 rollerball refill and the Montblanc JFK fountain pen ink, did take a long time to dry. Over 30 seconds for each in fact, so you don’t want to drag your hand over them immediately or close your notebook until you are sure they are dry.
Despite that, I was still impressed with how well this tape performed. I could write on it with ease, and pull and it restick as needed, just like any other washi tape.
One of the best parts of the stationery hobby is discovering fun and interesting ways to use the products I have. Sure, I’d get by with a basic pen and notebook just fine, but this is way more fun, and it is way more me. And I plan on experimenting and discovering for the rest of my life.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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