Even More Sticky Stuff!

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Reported By Melissa Norris

I find adhesives tough. Because for the most part I've only ever used one adhesive with my scrapbooking/card making. That would be the Creative Memories Tape Runner. I love love love this product. Instead of a strip of glue it leaves "stickers." It is very easy to use, easy to refill (always a plus) and there's never any problems with it trailing off (I will explain this more later). I've never had anything I've made fall apart with it. Granted if I pull on it the pieces will come apart but it will totally mess up the paper and it's difficult. However, I wanted to review products that anyone could buy in the store. The CM tape runner is only available through a CM consultant.

I started off with glue pens. I received a free sample of UHU's Scrapbooker's Pen. I really thought this looked promising. The package claims "super fast, doesn't wrinkle paper, precise application, washable, and non clogging." Well the first thing I used it on was a cuttlebugged card. I thought this would be perfect so I didn't ruin the embossing trying to stick it to the card. Well it didn't wrinkle the paper but it made the card bow after it dried. Now maybe this could have been helped if I had placed something flat and heavy on top of the card but in my opinion you shouldn't have to do that.

I decided to try it again on something else. I decided to see how it would hold embellishments. If you remember the fabric challenge I had a scrapbooking layout with rows of buttons. I decided to lay a strip of the glue then apply the buttons. They held for a while but then just started popping off if I barely touched the page. Needless to say I wasn't too thrilled with this outcome and I re-attached my buttons with Stampin' Up!'s Crystal Effects (held perfectly by the way).

Well because of the type of person I am I thought I would give the UHU glue pen one more chance. Well if you remember me saying the label itself said "non clogging." When I pulled it out the third time what did I find...totally clogged. I had to go at it with a safety pin to clear it. I decided to try it with ribbon this time. Yeah, didn't stick. It stuck for a while but I noticed any time I touched the ribbon it would make a "crinkling" sound. I figured that couldn't be a good sign and the next time I touched it the ribbon popped off. Basically from what I can tell about this glue it doesn't seem to soak in to the paper/embellishment at all so it never forms a bond. I'm not too impressed.

I also tried the 2 Way Glue Pen by Zig Memory System (also sold by Stampin' Up!). It reminds me a lot of a paint pen in its design. It is acid and xylene free (perfect for scrapbooking). The 2 ways it's used are a Wet or Dry bond. When you apply the glue it is blue. If you immediately attach it to the other paper it dries and makes a permanent bond. If you wait and let it dry and become clear it makes a temporary bond which is good for repositioning. I tried the permanent bond and found it was strong. It came apart after I pulled but I don't think it would have fallen apart on its own. It's also good for applying glitter and other small embellishments. However I would not try to apply something heavy with it. I've also used it under a strip of ribbon to hold it in place while I attached a stronger adhesive. Overall I think it's pretty good and versatile.

As far as glue tape rollers go I tried 2 different ones. The first is the Glue Roller by UHU. I bought the permanent version. It is similar to the dotto because it leaves tiny dots of glue. I thought this one would be promising. However I was very disappointed. I taped 2 pieces of cardstock together and they came apart with very little force. I double checked to make sure I didn't get the repositionable variety but I did not. It didn't hold anything and I can definitely see cards falling apart after using it. However, I found it might be good for sealing envelopes I want to reopen.

The other is Stampin' Up!'s SNAIL adhesive which is the same as Tombow Mono Adhesive. I will start by saying it is a strong adhesive. I went back and checked some cards I made a while back with it and the bonds were still very strong. However I find it hard to use. The glue often trails off leaving what I call the packing tape effect. You know when you are trying to start a roll of packing tape and you get that piece that goes off on it's own. The snail adhesive does the same thing to me. I feel it's very wasteful. However the bond is strong and it may be a type of runner that might work for you (or who knows...I could have totally been using it wrong). The runner itself is very comfortable and easy to use but I did find it to be a little on the expensive side (I was looking at Michaels...I'm sure it could be found cheaper).

I think with all adhesives it's a trial and error situation. What works for me might not work for you. And for some projects you need a variety of products. However I hope we can provide some sort of insight for all of you.

Let us know what adhesives YOU LOVE for papercrafting/scrapbooking! There may be some reward in store (hint, hint) for people who leave helpful comments!