Varieties Of Adhesive

Hello Friends!

Have you ever wondered what adhesive you should use for what? I know I have! I'm going to help you understand what adhesives work best with the types of surfaces you're working with. Today I am talking mainly about paper crafting adhesives from Stampin' Up!

Any of the adhesives work well with paper. But what about all those different types of embellishments? We have wood elements, sequins, buttons, die cuts, and anything else you want to add to your paper crafting project. No wonder it can be confusing!

Stampin' Up introduced a new adhesive in the Holiday Catalog called "Fine Tip Glue Pen". If you haven't purchased this yet, I highly recommend it! It's great for adding those tiny embellishments that are oh so popular right now. Think sequins, intricate die cut words, or any intricate die cut for that matter. Anything tiny that you want to adhere to your project can be done with the Fine Tip Glue Pen.

Let's talk about our most popular adhesives, which are the tape runners. Stampin' Up! offers 2 varieties, Snail Permanent Adhesive and Fast Fuse Adhesive. Both are permanent! Both have refills available for purchase.

Snail is great for every day card making. It's a pretty strong adhesive. It's one of the best, if not the best, tape runner I've ever used! Fast Fuse is a much stronger adhesive, which is also great for every day card making, but it also is awesome for putting together boxes, gift bags and envelopes! If you need a really strong adhesive to ensure your creations don't fall apart, I would recommend either of these adhesive tape runners.

Liquid Glues...so many, how do you choose? Well, Stampin' Up! carries a few options for you.

My tried and true favorite is the Multipurpose Liquid Glue. The Multipurpose Liquid Glue is just that, multipurpose! You can certainly use it for adhering your paper together, although if you use a liquid adhesive for that, use it sparingly or it will leave lumps and warp your paper. That wouldn't be good unless that is the look you're going for. (I doubt it is) Multipurpose Liquid Glue is awesome for adhering wood elements, buttons, Baker's Twine, ribbon (again, use sparingly) sequins, die cuts, flowers, punched pieces, pretty much any embellishment you wish to use.

The 2-Way Glue Pen is great for embellishments as well. Mainly paper embellishments like die cuts or punched out pieces. It's called a 2-Way Glue Pen because it can be used as a permanent adhesive or temporary adhesive. If you want to use it as a temporary adhesive, simply apply it to the surface and let dry. Then you can tack down whatever it is you need a temporary adhesive for. Maybe you want to hold your paper in place while using stencils or while creating a background with stamps.

Crystal Effects is another great liquid adhesive. It can be used for most embellishments to adhere them to your project. Crystal Effects can also be used to give a glossy shine to an embellishment. Simply apply to the area you wish to be shiny and let it dry. Overnight is best to make sure it's completely dry.

Next, I'd like to briefly touch on Glue Sticks. While I rarely use them, I still recommend them. Why? Because they are great for beginners. Glue sticks allow you to position your patterned paper onto your card base with ease. Apply the glue stick and line up your paper. When it's in the position you wish it to be, then press and smooth it out. Stampin' Up!'s Glue Sticks are a quick drying formula and are octagon shaped for getting into those tight corners. Glue Sticks can also be used to adhere most paper embellishments, provided you are gluing them flat on your card front or project.

Another new product this year is the Tear & Tape Adhesive. This adhesive is extremely strong! It can be used for envelopes, gift bags, boxes, anything you need to stay together. Think Halloween goodie bags. You simply apply it and remove the backing paper to expose the adhesive. Make sure your placement is spot on because you will have a very difficult time adjusting it once it's stuck to the Tear & Tape Adhesive.

Glue Dots are a favorite for adding flowers, buttons, metal embellishments, wooden embellishments, ribbon, centers to flowers, etc. They are easy to use. The best method I have found is to expose the Glue Dot while it's on the backing paper, bring your embellishment to the glue dot, press down and remove from the backing paper.

I've saved my favorite favorite products for last. The Stampin' Dimensionals and Heat & Stick Powder!

Stampin' Dimensionals. Everyone wants a little interest, lift and dimension to their projects! Stampin' Dimensionals are fabulous to "pop up" any embellishment. I've used them on paper embellishments, such as die cuts and punched pieces, wood elements, metal embellishments, flowers, pretty much anything I want to have some "lift".

Heat & Stick Powder from Stampin' Up! is technically categorized with the embossing powders, but it could also be categorized as an adhesive. It does exactly what the name describes. You heat it with your heat tool, it becomes sticky and you add glitter, flocking powder, or any other fine substance you wish to add to your projects. It's SO easy to use and minimal mess! You've got to love that! Who avoids glitter at all costs? I used to until I discovered Heat & Stick Powder. Give it a try. You will love it!

The last few items I want to make mention of is, the Adhesive Accessories that Stampin' Up! carries. Stampin' Up! offers the Heat Tool, Adhesive Remover (a MUST have!), and a Silicone Craft Sheet in a convenient 6 x 6 size!

You can see all of these items HERE, with the exception of the Heat & Stick Powder, which can be found HERE.

Don't forget to add adhesive to your shopping bag the next time you're shopping at my Stampin' Up! site!

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me and ask! That's what I'm here for!