PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT – ADHESIVES
Welcome to today’s edition of Product Spotlight – Adhesives. We’ve all been there; faced with a ‘sticky’ dilema – what adhesive to use on this product? Today I hope to help you reduce the mystery, and make sense of which adhesive to use, on which products.
Of course, many adhesives will work on more than one type of material. Did you know that there’s a great resource in our Annual catalogue? On page 213, you’ll find a chart of suggested use of each adhesive type. I’m posting it here, for quick reference for this post.
ADHESIVES – SUGGESTED USE CHART
This is a handy quick-reference chart! It covers most daily uses for adhesives, and should answer your basic questions. I’m going to over some of the uses listed, and share some that you may not have thought of before!
FINE TIP GLUE PEN
This glue dries clear, but with a bit of a ‘shine’ to it. So if you drop some of it where it’s not needed, you will notice it a bit on your finished product. Wondering why it’s listed as ‘use’ with Glitter? When you spread a thin layer of this glue, then sprinkle your desired glitter on top, the glitter will stick, and completely cover the glue! Voila! No sticky mess, and minimal glitter ‘fall out’ residue 🙂
FOAM ADHESIVE STRIPS
Remember the ‘eclipse’ technique rage that started a few months ago? (or a few years, depending on how long you’ve been crafting!). That’s where you stamp your images onto the cardstock, then die cut letter/shapes from the image area, then put them back, popping them up so they stand out. Well, these Foam Adhesive Strips are perfect for that! They’re a bit thicker than Stampin’ Dimensionals, so the die cuts will stand up further. And because it’s a continuous strip, it will hold the entire die cut up at the same level.
These strips are also a must-have when creating Shaker Cards. They provide the necessary height gap, so your shaker element will move. They also provide the solid ‘wall’ around the die cut that’s being filled, so the shaker element material doesn’t fall out!
MINI GLUE DOTS
As far as I’m concerned, the Mini Glue Dots are ‘da bomb!’ Got a skinny die cut area that needs popping up? You know-like the leg of the deer in the new Detailed Deer Thinlits – too skinny for a Dimensional. Remove a Mini Glue Dot from the backing, and roll it between your thumb and forefinger. It will roll nicely as skinny as you need it, and you can also stretch it, along the length of the die cut! *mic drop*
They’re also great when you want to add some dimension to an area, but don’t want it as high as a Dimensional would raise it. Also, they’re wonderful for attaching Baker’s Twine bows, because they’ll be hidden behind the knot in the bow.
MULTIPURPOSE ADHESIVE SHEETS
Have you ever used these? Maybe not, because they’re a product that were here, then gone, now back again. And thank goodness they’re back! With the Thinlits getting more & more detailed, it can seem a chore to get them stuck down to your project. Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets to the rescue!
Here’s how to use these gems: First, cut your cardstock to the approximate size of your Thinlit. Then, lift one side of the backing on one Adhesive sheet. Place your cardstock on top of the exposed adhesive sheet, pressing it securely in place. Flip the lifted backing back over your cardstock, and then cut your Adhesive sheet to the same size as your cardstock. Now you’re ready to run your cardstock through the Big Shot, with your Thinlit. Once you’ve done that, you can now peel off the 2nd backing sheet from the Adhesive sheet – and stick down your detailed thinlit die cut! *you’re welcome*
These Adhesive Sheets are also listed as ‘to use’ with Glitter, for the same reason as the Fine Tip Glue Pen, the Multipurpose Glue and the Tear & Tape. They’re all clear when they’re dry, and the glitter will completely cover the adhesive, and the adhesive will hold (almost all) of the glitter in place.
The rest of the adhesives on the list & their uses are pretty self-explanatory. There’s one exception I’d like to make; I do use the Tear & Tape for some small embellishments. One that I’ve used it for recently are the Leaves Trinkets. They’re metal, and flat on the back side. Perfect for placing the Tear & Tape, and when you stick the Leaves Trinket onto your project, you can’t see the Tear & Tape, because it’s clear. You can see a card I made in THIS POST. I’ve also used the Tear & Tape with buttons. It’s also useful when you lift off your self- adhesive embellishment, and the adhesive is left behind on the sheet!
One last product, that deserves an honourable mention – the Silicone Craft Sheet. It’s perfect to use when applying your adhesives. If things get messy, the adhesive will wash off easily, and you won’t have to contend with a sticky craft area.
ORDER YOUR ADHESIVES AND GET STICKING!
Order your adhesives through my online store by clicking the product images below. You can shop anytime it’s convenient, as my store is open 24/7.
I hope you’ve enjoyed, and maybe learned something new about the many different adhesives that are offered by Stampin’ Up! If you have any special tricks you use with the adhesives, please share them in a comment! I’ll pass them along 🙂
Great post, Deborah. Lots of useful information!!
I hope it’ll help out someone, Buffy. Thanks for your kind comment 🙂