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Tuesday, February 3, 2015

The Wacky, Wonderful, Wholly Guacamole World of WASHI!

The Wacky, Wonderful, Wholly Guacamole World of WASHI! 




How many of you really KNOW what washi tape is...? Rather, how many of you HAD NO CLUE what the term meant, how to spell it, let alone what to do with it, before you became obsessed with everything Erin Condren / organizer / scrapbook supplies?!

To be honest, washi was a new term to us as we started delving into the world of the Erin Condren Life Planners (and we're scrapbookers, crafters and stampers from way back who had taken a hiatus for several years). Like many of you, we quickly became OBSESSED wild women wanting washi tape...seeking it out at every possible location...scouring etsy stores, amazon shops, all the group posts, the craft / hobby stores, dollar stores...looking exclusively for uniquely designed washi tape!

It is certainly a staple in our planning supply stash, an ever-growing stash, at that. Washi tape must have reproductive beams of some sort that send out signals which control our wallets and pull us in by some wild magnetic strength to stores and sites....to buy - buy - buy!!! LOL! Of course, no such myth exists, but it IS an easily addictive impulse purchase... SO BE PREPARED!

Our best lesson learned:  one role of Washi tape goes a LONG way! 

So some helpful advice...
*PLAN:  Go out on that shopping spree with a plan! Do your research online, browse the pics on the group pages and find things you like, styles / patterns / colors...
*THINK before you load up that cart...Try to get a vision of how the things you've added to your cart
will work together in your planner to make it as functional and fun as you need it to be!
*SET A BUDGET: Set a budget for yourself for that first time washi purchase... You may want to include room in the budget for stickers, pens, adhesive paper (i.e., Hobby Lobby has a fun new product), etc. ...
*DON'T SETTLE:. If you don't find what you're looking for, keep looking! You have to really envision that washi tape in your planner in some design - or you envision sharing it with a Planner Buddy or in a RAK... If it doesn't fit into those two categories (use yourself, share with friends), then put it down and step away. It's tempting to just buy it, but if you really don't have a clear plan for it, put it down and step away from the washi!

There are so many cute designs out there for washi tape! We WISH they were all in one place...but they're not. SO be open and really shop around for what you want. Etsy shops for planner supplies draw us when we're shopping for functional stickers that we use for everyday tasks/chores, etc. But  washi shopping on etsy isn't something we enjoy to be honest. It's being in that creative mode, maybe, instead of the utilitarian mode... The wacky, wonderful, wholly guacamole world of washi DOES exist! It can easily become a black hole. When you learn how far one roll truly goes, you'll quickly find that, eh, maybe buying the samples that Etsy vendors and user groups sell. Or exchanging with your Planner Buddies once you know each other's tastes can be a good resource to help you keep your actual ROLL collection count down. We currently have about 200 rolls of washi tape that we've collected since...December... Granted...MOST ALL of them were on MAJOR sale (see our previous post below to help you find those bargains!)

Bargain Shopping Tips & Pointers for Planner / Scrapbook Supplies!


To wrap up this rambling post, purchasing supplies before your planner arrives is a smart idea if you have a general sense of how you'd like to decorate your months / weeks.  Or if you KNOW you like a certain color scheme and want to stick with it, or if you have a seasonal theme planned, okay... Those are valid reasons to start purchasing supplies for your planner before it's even arrived.  We can't honestly tell you to  start small because we purchased all the items above before our planners even arrived...We'd love to hear and see pics from your first planner supply shopping spree!  Remember...

*Plan ahead, *think through the items in your cart, *stay within your budget & *don't settle!

Add us to your circles and let's stay in touch! After all, the biggest part of this Erin Condren Life Planner community is the UNITY!

Happy Planning,
Amy & Regina :)
























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