Hello, friends! Washi is a wonderful product for its versatility and simplicity. With just a few strips of washi, your memory-keeping spreads are embellished with lovely patterns and color with minimal effort. The Tranquility Collection Washi included the rich greens from the collection in a variety of styles to be paired with each other or with other products from the kits. For today's post, we asked our Memory Keeping Team to share ways they enjoy using washi in their designs. April is a master of adding washi for perfect decorative touches in her layouts. "Washi is my absolute favorite embellishment to use when I am looking to add a pop of color or layers of texture. For these pages, I layered two torn pieces of washi tape from the Tranquility Modern Memory Keeping Kit and the Tranquility Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit (still available!) with the leaf stamp behind the photo. I mimicked the layers on the left page but added a sticker. To add a little spice to the numbered journal spots, I tore off small pieces of washi tape and layered them with the numbers from the Tranquility Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit. A simple, quick page commemorating a few fave May moments." We love how April used washi combined with stamps and stickers for her decorative clusters. Notice how April rips her washi with a jagged edge to create more visual interest. Odessa created a beautiful washi border for her Tranquility Simple Dori. "Not only do the Cocoa Daisy kits come with gorgeous washi every month but the sticker kits have lots of washi strips, too! I used a combination of some of the Tranquility Collection Washi along with the washi strips from the Memory Keeping Sticker Kit (still available!) and the Tranquility Daisy Add-On Sticker Kit to start this layout. It gives me even more patterns to work with that all look great together! I started by laying down lots of cute green washi along the plain side of the layout in my Tranquility Simple Dori. I varied the length of the torn edges; I really like that look. The pattern on the other side is so cute and I wanted more of it. Luckily the Tranquility Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit. had the same print on cardstock so I cut a strip of it to keep it going. I then cut some white cardstock on top for my photo. Next, I decided on photo placement before I filled it in with embellishments. It worked perfectly centred on the page. Then I cut down a page from the weekly notepad from the Tranquility Planner Add on Kit to use opposite the washi. Because this layout was about crummy weather I wanted a good way to record it. This notepad was perfect! I used a date roller stamp to mark the days and then one of my favourite Limited Edition Stamp Sets from Cocoa Daisy to mark the weather. On the other side, on top of all that washi, I used some die cuts from the Tranquility Classified: Memory Keeping Kit and Tranquility Modern Memory Keeping Kit along with a cut-down journal card to journal on. I kept it simple to not take away from the washi. The contrast of the pink/peach of the paper with the green of the washi is so good!" We love how Odessa combined the washi rolls with the washi strips for a stunning border. Odessa had such a clever use of the notepad to document the daily weather, an important focus for this layout. Audrey used washi as the main pop of color and pattern in this stunning layout. "Washi is a great way to make a simple page come alive. And, the washi in the Tranquility Collection is simply divine, so I had to use it for a 6x8 hybrid layout. I started this layout on my computer in photoshop elements where I did my journaling. I knew that I was going to put washi strips on the bottom so I sized the journaling taking the washi strips into account. With my journaling done, I placed the washi in strips on the bottom of the page. I used three different washi and spaced them out just a bit so some white from the page comes through. I then placed my photos on the page, popping them up with pop dots from my stash. I used a photo of my Mom and me when I was a wee tot, whose dominant color is red to accent the greens and blues of the washi. Finally, I ended this layout by stamping potted plants on the side of my journaling and on the side of my photo. I also added a few enamel dots and the acrylic word "Grow" which just seemed like a perfect sentiment for baby me." We love how Audrey gave some white space between her washi strips to allow each pattern a little more visual impact. The stamps from the Tranquility Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit move the colors around the page beautifully.¬†   We hope you are inspired to use washi in your creative projects. There are still a few items from the Tranquility Collection in the Daisy Store, so make sure to check it out! Share your spreads with us by tagging @cocoa_daisy on social media or posting to the Cocoa Daisy Fan Page.

Best,

Rachel, Memory Keeping Team Blog Coordinator