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Reported by Kristine Fowler
A while back a friend suggested that I 'needed' to try the Essential Glue Pad by Tsukineko. We were at a craft expo, and I was admiring several cards with glitter-covered images. This was something I had never successfully created. In all of my previous attempts, my glitter would never stick the way it should, where it should, or for as long as it should. It was pretty obvious I hadn't found the 'right' adhesive for the task, so on her advice alone, I bought The Essential Glue Pad Kit and was willing to give it a try.
A while back a friend suggested that I 'needed' to try the Essential Glue Pad by Tsukineko. We were at a craft expo, and I was admiring several cards with glitter-covered images. This was something I had never successfully created. In all of my previous attempts, my glitter would never stick the way it should, where it should, or for as long as it should. It was pretty obvious I hadn't found the 'right' adhesive for the task, so on her advice alone, I bought The Essential Glue Pad Kit and was willing to give it a try.If you're looking to try this product for yourself, a quick internet search reveals that the Essential Glue Pad Kit is widely available and to my surprise is generally priced around the USD $9 mark. I say that I'm surprised by this because I'm pretty sure that I didn't pay that much for it at the expo -- so do shop around. A quick Google search turned up ScrapMasters, Scrapbook Creations, and CreateForLess. The best price I found online was at JoAnn where the kit is USD $6.99, considerably less than the rest.
The Essential Glue Pad Kit comes with a dry Glue Pad, and a 15mL (0.5 fl. oz) bottle of Glue. Before you use it the first time, you need to add glue to the pad. The pad itself is made of a spongy material. Presumably it is shipped empty so that the glue doesn't start to dry before you begin to use it. Directions for applying the glue to the pad are on the back of the kit box.
Here's what Tsukineko has to say about the Essential Glue Pad:
Ultra-Fine Glitter
Sticks Great. There is definately some loss of detail but this was to be expected. I actually glittered this about a week ago - and intentionally left it lying around where it might take some abuse... and it's still stuck. It's nice to prove that the glue has staying power!
Seed Beads
Well -- it holds them, but it's definitely not the best example of 'how' to use seed beads that I've ever seen! LOL! The medium is far too big for the image to be recognizable. This sample is way more fragile than the others too, a few beads here and there are most definitely missing.
Lastly, here's quick closeup of a card where I applied the glue direct-to-paper and covered it with CTMH Primsa Glitter. The snowflake is a Cuttlebug combo die. This was super easy to do, and I just love the way it turned out!
Here's what Tsukineko has to say about the Essential Glue Pad:
"Great for rubber stamping, stenciling and direct-to-paper applications! Perfect for use with ultra-fine glitter, chalk, powdered pigments, gold leafing and more! Best results are achieved on vellum and coated cardstock."The really cool thing about the Tsukineko Essential Glue Pad is that NO HEAT is required to set the glue. This is a really big deal for me since I don't have a lot of patience when I'm crafting. I'm generally in a hurry, and if I can eliminate one step and get the same bottom line effect then I'm all over it!
So let's look at the Essential Glue Pad in action:
For the purpose of this review, I figured it best to show some examples of how the glue works with various media: chalk, ultra-fine glitter, micro-beads and seed beads. I purposely chose a stamp that had some relatively fine detail for this demonstration, just to see how the detail held up. It is a snowflake from the set New Fallen Snow by CTMH. This shouldn't come as a surprise, but you will see below that the finer the medium, the more recognizable the original image.
Chalk (applied with Pazzle applicator)
All of the detail of the original stamped image is retained - this definately gets the thumbs up!Ultra-Fine Glitter
Sticks Great. There is definately some loss of detail but this was to be expected. I actually glittered this about a week ago - and intentionally left it lying around where it might take some abuse... and it's still stuck. It's nice to prove that the glue has staying power!
Micro-Beads
I totally love the look of this one! Like the glitter, this was done a week or so ago, and there is little or no loss of texture.
I totally love the look of this one! Like the glitter, this was done a week or so ago, and there is little or no loss of texture.
Seed Beads
Well -- it holds them, but it's definitely not the best example of 'how' to use seed beads that I've ever seen! LOL! The medium is far too big for the image to be recognizable. This sample is way more fragile than the others too, a few beads here and there are most definitely missing.
Lastly, here's quick closeup of a card where I applied the glue direct-to-paper and covered it with CTMH Primsa Glitter. The snowflake is a Cuttlebug combo die. This was super easy to do, and I just love the way it turned out!
So what's the bottom line on The Essential Glue Pad by Tsukineko?
Pros:- no heat required
- great 'staying' or 'sticking' power with glitter and other fine media
- dries quickly
- refills are available so you don't need to purchase the pad itself over and over
- Tsukineko recommends using Stazon cleaner to clean the stamp after stamping with the glue, and Stazon cleaner is not really recommended for use with acrylic stamps.
Do you use the Tsukineko Essential Glue Pad for your crafting projects? Do you love it or hate it? Have you tried it with flocking? I haven't (yet!). Leave us a comment and let us know what works (or doesn't work) for you.
10 Crafters have opinions about this post:
NICE review! I was just eyeballing this product the other day, hesitated on buying it- didn't. Now that I've "seen in in action" I think i WILL pick some up! Great way to use up all this glitter and microbeads I've collected over the years! THANKS!
Great review. I haven't tried beads yet, I did glitter and it was fun. I did try flocking, and I had a love-hate relationship with it. Mainly because it didn't stay, so I press down, and then flock stuck to my finger. I just chalked it up as user-error. At the last expo I went to, I was told to try to use the stamp block to press instead of finger because it's a good non-pourous surface. So, I'll try that next.
I hav ethis glue pad and Have never got the glitter to stick. You make it look great! Do you press down the glitter? What is your trick?
I have this product for at least 5 years and could never get the glitter to stick. I have tried heating it leaving it anything you can think of really hate it. I saw a demo at a stamp show and she said to press it down after you apply the glitter did that no good
I now use elmers glue and works great
One thing I will say is you have to apply the glue to the pad alot because it does dry fast which can be costly thumbs down for me
I just picked this pad up last weekend and I tried it with flocking a few days ago. I got a little loss of detail, but otherwise it's stuck down great. Also, I just cleaned my stamp afterward with my regular stamp cleaner instead of Staz-On and I had no problems. I need to go try it with glitter. Thanks for the review! I hadn't thought of microbeads.
The first thing I have learned form this is to make sure you use enough glue to get the pad sticky to the touch. The pad came dry with the refill to load it with, and when you use enough, it will work great.
The second thing I learned was that you need to not only keep the clear plastic shied over the glue surface to keep it moist (like the Stazon) but before you put it away, spritz the pad with a spray or two if water to keep it from drying out and needing to be refilled again...I've had mine 3 years or so and it is still great. You Glitter Queens NEED this pad/tool!!!
Excellent posting! Good imagination! Have a nice weekend.
Great review. Loved this...now I'll have to pick this up!
thanks for this review and the comments, I have really been thinking this one over b/c glitter and flocking have been 'calling' me lately (must be Christmas). I have found that in Australia it is not very widely stocked, even by large online stores, which is a bummer
I have this pad for 2 years and it doesn't work well. The glue doesn't "glue" doesn't works ... I don't know why. I'll do what Cheryll Lynn says here and I'll come back to say what I think after (if I can because I haven' enough vocabulary to write in english
lot of sunny kiss (even if sun doesn't here because it's 5h33 of the morning and the sun comes here at 7h30)
marie-Hélène from SPAIN
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