'The Tackifier' Blog by FindTape

If you are a millennial or have a millennial living in your home, you are no doubt aware that teens are using their creative talents to ask the most important question in spring..."Want to go to prom?" Gone are the days of simple hallway conversations between classes and passed notes from your best friends. Our kids are finding more and more innovative ways to entice each other to prom. The good news is that Duck Brand, marketed by ShurTech Brands LLC, celebrated this new trend by awarding three winners $1,000 for their promposals!

Stuck-at-Prom Duct Tape Promposal

Duck brand invited students to use the vibrant assortment of Duck Tape® colors, designs and crafting tapes – as well as its original silver – to create their fun and unique promposal, and then share their stories on social media for a chance to win one of three $1,000 prizes to help offset the costs of prom. High school students posted a photo entry via Twitter or Instragram using hashtags #DuckTapePromposal and #Sweepstakes, Winners were chosen at random and just announced.

FindTape.com offers over 35 unique Duck Brand duct tapes for all of your most colorful and special projects. Low prices, fast delivery and easy shopping. Good luck...and we hope they say YES!

FindTape.com has many crafty customers, many of whom use pressure-sensitive adhesive tape in artistic ways. Our colored tape is often used to decorate scrapbooks, hula hoops, and phone cases.

But one of my favorite uses for our tape is both artistic and charitable: Decorating crutches for wounded warriors and military veterans who are amputees.

The genius behind this activity is Genevieve Finn, who founded Genevieve’s Crutches along with her mother, Regina. Genevieve and her mother are regular customers of FindTape.com, and their story is very uplifting.

When Genevieve was 15 years old, she spent a lot of time on crutches. An active kid and an athlete, she began experiencing pain from hip problems. She had to use crutches for several months before and after two separate surgeries that led to her recovery.

As a creative person, she quickly found a solution to the boring look of her silver crutches. In preparation for attending a Mets game, she used tape to decorate her crutches in the team's colors.

This seemingly simple action completely changed Genevieve's perspective on her injury. People commented on her crutches, and suddenly, her injury wasn't front and center. She discovered the decorated crutches made a positive difference in her recovery. That's when she and her mother recognized the therapeutic value of crutches as art. They set out to help others feel this way too.

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Mark Twain was a scrapbooker with a big appreciation for adhesive. In fact, he was so passionate about scrapbooking that in 1872 he invented a scrapbook with preinstalled gummed strips. It turned out to be one of his most profitable inventions.

Scrapbooking became popular in the 19th century with the explosion of newspapers and magazines, according to Ellen Garvey, author of Writing with Scissors: American Scrapbooks from the Civil War to the Harlem Renaissance. People clipped articles and pasted them into books to keep track of interesting news and information.

But scrapbooks also have a place in civil rights history. Women suffragists and African-Americans created scrapbooks as a way to express their political viewpoints, Garvey says. (Check out her more detailed discussion on this topic at a program hosted by the American Antiquarian Society here.)

More than a century later, the appeal of scrapbooking hasn't diminished. On May 2, thousands of crafters will celebrate National Scrapbooking Day. Of course, today's scrapbookers have many more design options, with dozens of adhesive tapes to choose from.

As you prepare for National Scrapbooking Day, here are a few adhesive tapes to help add patterns, colors, and texture to your scrapbooking project.

Easy Application

Many scrapbookers use ATG dispensers to make it easier to apply adhesive tape to pages. JVCC ATG-7502 ATG Tape offers good adhesion to paper. Plus, it's acid neutral, which is essential for securing photographs without harming them. Another great tape is Scapa T002 ATG Tape, also acid or pH-neutral with an acrylic adhesive and is very easy to work with.

Many scrapbookers favor electronic cutting machines such as those from Cricut®. The Duck Brand Prism Crafting Tape works well in these, and it features a unique holographic / prismatic effect to add shine and dimension to projects. Patterns include small stars, squares and lots of dots.

Decorative Design

Imaginative projects require dozens of colors, designs, and textures, and these adhesive tapes offer no shortage. Duck Brand Printed Duck Tape is a patterned duct tape that tears easily by hand without curling and conforms to uneven surfaces. It's available in patterns such as ACU digital camouflage, black and white checker, blue tie-dye, dragon, hot rod flames, hardwood camouflage, leopard, orange tie-dye, paint splatter, pink zebra, skulls and zig-zag zebra.

For more, shall we say, illuminating projects, Duck Brand Glow-in-the-Dark Gaffer Tape Sheets provide a decorative element. They’re available in 8-1/2 inch x 10 inch display cards (the material area is approximately 4-1/4 inch x 10 inch) and are photoluminescent after the tape is activated by an artificial or natural light source. Sheets are available in a variety of shapes including numbers, letters, stars and moon, and circles and stripes, as well as a plain sheet.

To add texture to a project, Duck Brand Fabric Crafting Tape is a good choice. It’s a cloth fabric tape, available in several patterns: yellow speckled dot, pink with brown dots and white squares, coral multi stripe and blue pin dot.

We discussed Washi paper tape in a previous blog post, here, but it too is a popular option for adding patterns, color, and texture to your scrapbook page.

Duck Brand Ducklings Mini Duct Tape Rolls are perfect for trimming because they are very small. They're available in a multitude of colors and patterns, including black, blue surf flower, blue leopard, chrome, neon pink, neon lime green, pink zebra, rainbow, zig zag and paint splatter.

Working with Photos

When working with photographs, an acid free/pH neutral adhesive is essential. Acid can cause the tape's adhesive to yellow over time thereby ruining the image. 3M Scotch 908 ATG Gold Tape is photo safe in accordance with both Black and White Photographic Activity Tests and Color Photographic Activity Tests (per ANSI IT9.16).

There are times when you'll want your photos have a bit more pop. One way to give them a bit of dimension is to use double-side foam mounting tape. 3M Scotch 108 Removable Foam Mounting Squares are approximately 1/16 inch thick and add just enough lift to make your photos stand out.

National Scrapbooking Day

Celebrate National Scrapbooking Day by joining a scrapbooking event or group. You can find an event near you using community sites such as Meetup.com. In the meantime, make sure you order your scrapbooking supplies well in advance, so you have everything you need.

ATG dispensers are popular among scrapbookers, crafters, photographers, and event producers. They make it easy to apply pressure-sensitive adhesive tape known as ATG tape. This tape comes unsupported by a backing or carrier (like cloth, film, or paper), and is pre-applied to a special release liner. It is reverse wound, with the release liner being located on the underside when you unwind it from the roll. If you were to apply this tape manually to your project, it could be very messy. An ATG dispenser makes it clean and simple to apply.

But there are four primary ATG dispensers to choose from. With several varieties of ATG refill rolls available, it can be confusing at first to determine which type fits in your ATG gun.

The key is in the design of the plastic core of the ATG refill roll. Some cores have wider openings than others. In the video below, I’ll show you the difference between the ATG refill rolls and explain how to match your ATG dispenser to the right ATG refill tape.

For greater detail, our handy matrix will help you determine which ATG refill tape best fits your ATG dispenser.

Creating Art with Washi Tape

Washi Tape comes in dozens of colors and styles and can be used to decorate almost anything, including furniture, walls, laptops, pencil holders, and even bicycles. Because it is both versatile and offers a lot of creative potential, it is a favorite among crafters and scrapbookers.

What is Washi Tape?

This decorative tape is a masking tape made from Japanese rice paper that can be torn by hand. It can be used on paper, objects and walls, and because it's easy to reposition, it's ideal for decorating projects.

The tape is manufactured by Japan-based Kamoi Kakoshi, a specialist in Japanese Washi paper tape for industrial use since 1923. For its first several decades, the company focused on producing paper tape for use in the painting of buildings, automobiles, and furniture.

In 2006, three women approached the company with an idea to create Washi masking tape in many colors and patterns. The new tape could be used in a myriad of everyday projects around the home: to decorate rooms or books, to make gifts, and in creative projects of almost any kind.

Kamoi Kakoshi released the new product in 2008, to great success. It has been sold in more than 20 countries, won awards, and even inspired a museum in an old factory at the manufacturer's headquarters in Okayama. In a few short years, it has become one of the hottest trends among crafters.

The tape is popular not only because it is available in a variety of colors and patterns. It has a number of other attractive attributes. It's strong, but extremely thin, and it's easy to reposition. Washi tape is also semi-transparent, so it can be layered for a greater creative effect. And because it's easy to write on, it's great for making notes or sharing messages.

How Washi Tape is Used

Crafters use Washi Tape to make picture frames, clocks, bracelets, and jewelry boxes. During the holidays, they use it to make cards and ornaments. Scrapbookers use it to embellish pages, create intricate designs, and decorate planners and book covers.

Washi Tape Projects

There is no shortage of ideas for projects and crafts on the Web. A Google search for "Washi Tape crafts" returns more than a million results, and Pinterest is a treasure trove of Washi Tape projects for kids, home, and scrapbooking.

There are hundreds of ideas on craft and scrapbooking blogs as well. Over at Omiyage Blogs, blogger Marisa Edghill has written a book called Washi Style, and on its pages are 101+ ideas for Washi Tape projects.

If you're just getting started – or even if you're looking for a little bit of inspiration, here's a short wrap-up of some ideas we've gathered from around the Web.

Using Washi Tape in Craft Projects

Blogger Tanner Bell has collected 14 DIY projects using Washi Tape at A Little Craft in Your Day. Some of these ideas include decorating your laptop keyboard and your power cords, and creating coasters and shadow box art.

At DIY Lifestyle magazine, colorful Washi Tape birds is a fun spring project.

Washi Tape Ways to Decorate Your Home

Wall art is featured in a post on Washi Tape Crafts (this blog is a great resource for craft, holiday, and home décor ideas for Washi Tape). Amy Anderson, who also blogs at Mod Podge Rocks, highlights 15 unique ideas culled from crafters around the Web, including picture frames, shadow boxes, and wall decals.

The wall decals are inspiration from the Everything Emily blog. Emily had wanted to decorate the walls of her son's bedroom, but didn't want anything expensive or permanent because she knew she'd be moving soon. One of the benefits of Washi Tape is that it can be easily removed. As Emily said in an update to her post: "We currently just moved from the home where these lovely diy decals were and the removal process was EXTREMELY easy! The decals peeled right off without damaging the walls! I will say they left a little dark coloring around the area where they were but I cleaned it off with a damp cloth and it came right off!"

Jenni Radosevich at ISpyDIY offers some more wall art inspiration from around the Web, including a city skyline headboard, and designs for – yes – stairs. Radosevich calls Washi Tape "one of the greatest craft inventions ever," adding: "Honestly, the patterns, the colors, the ability to put this paper tape on anything makes it so fun to use."

Scrapbooking

Washi Tape is ideal for scrapbooking because there are an infinite number of combinations that can be created from the many colors and styles available. Posting on the Get It Scrapped blog, Michelle Houghton demonstrates how Washi Tape can be layered to create unique scrapbook designs. The tutorial covers Washi Tape weaving and is a good example of the art that can be created with this material.

For more ideas, visit our Pinterest boards for Washi Tape Projects, Scrapbooking, Creative Cards, and Event Planning.

You can find and buy Kamoi Kakoshi's mt Washi Tape at FindTape.com. We offer 30 different solid colors and over 35 patterns. Roll sizes are 0.6 inches X 33 feet and price breaks are offered in quantities as low as 8 rolls at a time. You can even build up a set of mixed colors or patterns to still take advantage of the 8 roll price break.

JVCC SLPT20 Designer Packaging Tape offers custom designs or patterns printed on standard polypropylene film carton sealing tape. This tape is great for projects such as crafting, hooping, fashion and others; but is also exceptional at basic box and carton sealing or for just grabbing attention. Patterns include boat flags, chain, color bars, dashed-line road, purple circles and scissor cut.

Duck Brand Printed Duck Duct Tape Patterns is patterned duct tape with high performance strength and moderate adhesion characteristics. Excellent for repairs, color-coding, fashion, crafting and imaginative projects. Patterns include ACU digital camouflage, black and white checker, blue tie-dye, dragon, hot rod flames, hardwood camouflage, leopard, orange tie-dye, paint splatter, pink zebra, skulls and zig-zag zebra.

Duck Brand Printed EZ Start Packaging Tape is a 2.6 mil thick high performance packaging tape loaded into a disposable dispenser. The tape offers a wide temperature range; doesn't split or tear; and offers ultraviolet resistance to eliminate yellowing and to increase shelf life. Patterns include black olives, peace sign, pink zebra and tie-dye.

Platypus Designer Duct Tape comes in 14 patterns which include Argyle, Candy Cane, Denim, Diamond Plate, Grass, Houndstooth, Jolly Roger, Leopard, Paisley, Polka Dot, Snowflake, Wicker, Wood Grain and Wool Stocking. It's the perfect tape to use for your next duct tape project. The polyethylene coated cloth is 10.5 mils thick and offers 32 ounces per inch of peel adhesion.

We've seen over the last several years incredibly creative work done with tape purchased from our web site. From hula hoops to art installations to window displays customers have used our tape in a myriad of ways. We just saw a new window display one recently posted online so we thought we'd showcase a few of these now.

Monika Grzymala's Distortions 2008 art installation in Vancouver, BC

POST 27 window display in Chicago, IL

Martha Stewart gift wrapping in Blueprint November/December 2007

Martha Stewart halloween decoration in Martha Stewart Living October 2008