Nature journalling has become an increasingly popular hobby for people looking to connect with the outdoors, record their observations, and practice mindfulness. Whether you’re an avid hiker, a backyard enthusiast, or someone simply looking to spend more time outdoors, nature journalling offers a fulfilling way to document your experiences and deepen your understanding of the natural world.
While nature journalling can seem intimidating, especially for beginners, it doesn’t have to be. With a few simple tools and techniques, you can start documenting your adventures in an organised and artistic way. One such tool that can transform your nature journal is washi tape — a decorative and versatile tape that can be used for more than just crafts. In this post, I’ll explore how to use washi tape to enhance your nature journaling experience, making it both easy and enjoyable.
What is Nature Journalling?
Before we dive into the creative possibilities with washi tape, let’s briefly discuss what nature journalling is. Nature journalling is the practice of observing, recording, and reflecting on your encounters with nature. This can include anything from sketching plants, animals, and landscapes to writing notes about the weather, sounds, and scents you experience. Some people use their nature journals as a tool for scientific observation, while others approach it more as a personal and artistic expression of their outdoor adventures (I like to do both!).
Why Use Washi Tape in Nature Journalling?
Washi tape is a decorative, paper-based adhesive tape that comes in a wide variety of colours, patterns, and textures. It’s lightweight, easy to tear, and leaves no residue, making it perfect for adding a touch of creativity to your journal pages without the mess or permanence of traditional glue.
Here are a few reasons why washi tape is the perfect companion for your nature journal:
- Easy to Use & Add a Pop of Colour
Washi tape is incredibly easy to apply, which is perfect for people who want to add creativity to their journal without spending too much time on intricate designs. The various colours and patterns make it a great tool to highlight key sections of your journal, such as observations, dates, or particular entries. You can even use it to frame sketches and photos, giving your pages a colourful border.
- Functional and Versatile
Washi tape can serve as both a decorative element and a functional one. You can use it to tape down leaves, pressed flowers, or other natural items you collect during your walks. The tape holds the items securely but gently, making it easy to remove or reposition them if needed.
- Helps Organise Your Entries
Nature journalling often involves recording a lot of information, from weather patterns and seasonal changes to plant species and animal behaviours. Washi tape can be used to create dividers, tabs, or labels in your journal, helping you stay organised and making it easier to reference your entries later on.
- Encourages Creativity
Sometimes, the blank page can be intimidating, especially for beginners. Washi tape can help overcome that hurdle by providing a fun way to add structure and creativity to your entries. It’s a simple tool that encourages experimentation and invites you to make your nature journal uniquely yours.
Tips for Using Washi Tape in Your Nature Journal
Now that you know the benefits of incorporating washi tape into your nature journalling, let’s look at some practical ways to use it.
1. Create Colourful Borders for Your Pages
One of the simplest ways to use washi tape is to create colourful borders around your journal pages. You can use a single strip or multiple strips to frame your sketches, observations, or even photographs. This adds a decorative element and helps make each page visually appealing.
2. Add a Touch of Whimsy with Patterns
Washi tape comes in endless patterns, from florals and stripes to animals and geometric designs. You can use these patterns to highlight specific areas of your journal or create decorative accents around your entries. For example, use a leaf-patterned washi tape to frame a leaf sketch, or a sky-blue tape to border your observations about the weather.
3. Use it to Attach Natural Finds
During your nature walks, you may come across interesting items like pressed flowers, leaves, feathers, or even small twigs. Washi tape is perfect for securing these natural treasures in your journal. Gently tape them down, and they’ll stay in place without causing any damage. Plus, the tape will allow you to remove and reposition items without leaving a sticky mess.
4. Create Date & Weather Tabs
If you’re someone who loves to track changes in the environment, washi tape can help you organise your entries by date and weather. Use different colours or patterns of tape to mark each day or season, and jot down the weather conditions or significant observations for that day. This helps you track patterns over time and gives you a visual way to see changes in nature.
5. Make Fold-Out Pages
If you come across something too big to fit on a regular journal page, use washi tape to create fold-out sections. Tape down one side of a piece of paper, and fold it out to include larger sketches or even a mini photo album. This is a fun way to incorporate more creativity and flexibility into your journal.
6. Use Washi Tape as a Divider
When you want to separate different sections of your journal—such as sketches from written observations or plants from animals—washi tape can act as a divider. You can create a colourful line or tab to visually break up the different sections. This helps you stay organised while still giving your journal a personalised touch.
Conclusion: Embrace the Fun of Nature Journaling with Washi Tape
Nature journalling is all about connecting with the outdoors, and washi tape is the perfect tool to make that process even more enjoyable and creative. By incorporating washi tape into your journalling routine, you can easily add a personal and artistic touch to your entries, while also making the process more functional and organised.
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned nature journaller, washi tape can help you express your love for nature in a fun, colourful, and creative way. So grab your journal, some washi tape, and head outdoors to begin your nature journaling adventure today!
