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| Glue review |
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Useful stuff ~
Glue review
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| Introduction |
It's often difficult to know what glue to use, especially if you've only just started to make cards. I can't claim to be a total expert as there are such a lot of different adhesives on the market and it's often a matter of personal choice - some people will swear by one thing whilst the next person hates it! Here's a quick guide though.
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| Double-sided tape |
Great for sticking backgrounds to cards. It is very strong and sticky and never warps a card blank. Use for card, paper, mulberry paper, flat paper flowers, fun foam and other embellishments where you have a reasonably sized completely flat surface. Cut it to size and stick it to one surface and then lift up the corner with the point of a craft knife to remove the backing. It can also be stuck to the back of a sheet of thin card, paper or even embossing foil before punching or cutting out shapes so you will have a ready-made sticker when it's cut. Don't use it on embellishments if your sticking surface is uneven as there won't be enough contact with your card blank to keep the item stuck firmly.
On the minus side, you have to get it right first time! If you don't stick your backing on straight the first time, you're in trouble. It will rip the top surface off the card blank if you try to remove your mis-positioned item.
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| Glue stick |
Good for sticking down mulberry paper if you want any feathered edges to be stuck down too. You can also stick backgrounds with glue stick but use it fairly sparingly. If you use too much of it or over too large an area, you many find that your card blank will warp. It can get brittle with age and anything fairly rigid, like a cardstock background, may fall off the card blank after time, especially when you bend it.
On the plus side, it's repositionable as long as you peel and stick your item immediately. Don't try peeling and re-sticking mulberry paper or other flimsy papers though - it rarely works. Peel it off straight away and cut or tear a new piece instead.
UHU magic stick is great as it goes on purple so you can see exactly where you've been with it, but it dries clear.
I use it for sticking leaf skeletons (sparingly or you'll push the glue through the leaf) and it can also be used for angel wire (also known as angel hair or sometimes spider's web).
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| Tacky glue - Aleene's (or Impex) gold bottle glue |
I'd never be without this. Invaluable for sticking all manner of embellishments to cards. It dries clear and flexible so embellishments shouldn't 'pop off' the card if it's bent. It can be used in a thin line or can be dotted on the back of a larger embellishment. Not advisable for sticking backgrounds as it will warp the card if you use it over a large area.
Paper flowers are easily stuck with Aleene's - use a blob of it on the back of the flower head and a thin line down the stem. It can be used for buttons, resins, lightweight wire embellishments and charms.
You may need to weigh down some embellishments until the glue's dry - pom-poms (Rudolph's nose!) and pipe-cleaners included. These will stick very well with Aleene's but weigh them down until dry with a craft punch, stapler, roll of tape or whatever other heavy-ish object you have to hand.
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| Ordinary PVA (school) glue |
I don't really recommend this for use in card making. It doesn't stick well and I've found that embellishments either won't stick with it at all or fall off soon afterwards. Sorry to say that I put Anita's tacky glue into the 'ordinary' PVA category. We used to sell it until I tried using it one day and found that it just wouldn't stick whatever it was I was trying to stick. It's good as a children's glue but use the tacky PVA alternative (Aleene's/Impex gold bottle tacky glue) for cards.
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| Sticky pads |
These are also something that I find invaluable as they add depth to otherwise flat embellishments, such as die cuts. I used to cut the required size of sticky pad from one of the continuous rolls that you can buy but my scissors always got very sticky with adhesive. I find sticky pad squares much more user friendly even if more expensive.
Can't think of many minus points for these, except that I've found them welded to the carpet when the children get hold of them! Great product.
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| Glue gun |
I've had phases of using a glue gun, thinking it's great for a while and then getting fed up with it and going back to Aleene's glue again. I've only used a hot melt glue gun so I don't know what the low temperature guns are like. It's great for ultra fast drying gluing if you can get the blob of glue onto your embellishment and stick it immediately - and I mean immediately! There is no time for any re-consideration of the placement of your embellishment - know where you want it to go and stick - NOW. It's no good for a line of glue, such as on a pipe-cleaner, as the glue will have set before you've finished applying it. No good for hard metal items such as coins as the coldness of the metal makes the glue set before you've had time to place it. Perhaps I'm just too slow!
But they are good for many embellishments - perhaps a button, for example, or pom-poms - and it's a good thing in these cases that the glue is dry immediately. No need to weigh down the embellishment whilst waiting for it to dry. I have found that it peels off fairly easily when cool - great when it's where it shouldn't be (like on your hand - ouch, that hurts!) but some embellishments may also peel off easily too, especially if the glue has already started to cure before you've stuck your embellishment properly.
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| Sellotape |
Still a useful craft item. Use for unseen sticking, perhaps to stick the ends of cord or string if the ends are tucked round the back of a piece of background card or embellishment. Very useful for lifting peel off stickers (especially wording) from the sheet and positioning them on your card straight. You can use Magic tape for this as it's not as sticky as traditional Sellotape or just press the stickier stuff on your clothes a few times so it loses some of its tack.
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| Sticky dot sheets |
These can be bought as a little pad of sheets or in a roll. I haven't envisaged a use for sticky dots in a roll yet beyond what you could do with ordinary double sided tape so didn't want to stock them. Sticky dots by the sheet can be very useful. A sheet consists of hundreds (or thousands?) of tiny sticky dots. You lift up the non-stick sheet and put your embellishment on it. The little dots are transferred onto the embellishment and you can then put it where it's required. Good for strange shaped things that would otherwise need lots of little pieces of double sided tape. You do need to smooth down any excess dots around the edge of the embellishment so they don't show.
They're a real pain if you get any dots where you don't want them, such as on your nice white card blank. Glue rubbers are available for their removal - seems to work OK but I'm not totally convinced that a normal kind of rubber wouldn't do the same thing.
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| Adhesive rollers |
These are very quick and convenient for sticking smooth paper and lightweight card to smooth card blanks. Not recommended for textured surfaces and not as strong as double-sided tape, although quicker and more convenient. These are really great for sticking inserts into card blanks in super-fast time. Not recommended for use on small embellishment items as you can't really get enough glue on there to hold the item firmly; use Aleene's tacky glue or double sided tape instead.
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| Glue dots |
These are very quick and useful for sticking embellishments such as buttons and resins. I've read that they can sometimes lose their sticky though in extremes of temperature, so if you have your finished card on a window ledge above a radiator, for example, the glue dot may dry out and lose its sticky - and the embellishment may fall off.
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| Vellum tape runner or vellum tape |
We are now stocking a vellum tape runner which applies a line of practically invisible adhesive and works on most vellums. Scotch Vellum (not stocked) tape is also meant to be good for sticking down vellum without any trace, if expensive. Make sure that you rub it down well to ensure invisible sticking.
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| Vellum glue |
There are three glues that I've read are good for sticking vellum (all untested). Making Memories make a glue pen that they say is good for vellum, there is Pritt Permanent Refillable Roller adhesive (available from Viking and other office suppliers) and Tombow glue stick.
You can also stick vellum with your normal choice of glue but cover up where it shows through with your embellishment. You could use little blobs of tacky glue and cover up where it's stuck with little peel offs, such as stars or hearts.
Any all over glue would also do the trick, such as a Xyron machine.
Vellum can also be attached in other ways, without glue. You can use eyelets to fix it or you can attach it with elasticated cord if you're using it as an insert. You can also fix it by using peel-off sticker corners or borders.
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| Xyron Machine |
Again, not something we stock at present but can be very useful for applying a neat, all over layer of adhesive to many items. Especially good for applying fabric as it won't fray when it's on your card. You can run a whole length of fabric through a Xyron and cut it to size afterwards.
Great for fast application and immediate adhesion - you don't have to wait for anything to dry. Can be used to stick vellum as it gives an all-over adhesive that won't show through. Can be used for skeleton leaves or angel wire too although I'm not keen that you can see the shiny adhesive through the spaces with both of these products. It's a matter of personal choice though if you don't mind this.
Machines are expensive though as are the cartridges but the speed and convenience can make a Xyron invaluable for some applications. Once stuck, there is no repositioning of permanent Xyron adhesive, so get it right.
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| Spray adhesives |
When I first started making cards, I used Spray Mount for everything - backgrounds, mulberry paper and leaf skeletons. After a while I found that everything was lifting off the card blanks. After investigation I found that it was because Spray Mount is repositionable and doesn't actually dry - ever! Not much good for card making!
I've used a couple of other permanent spray adhesives but have found them too gloopy, smelly and expensive. They should only be used in well ventilated areas - outside is best! Perhaps sprays have got better since then but I'm not convinced about them.
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| Strong clear glue (such as Bostick, UHU or EvoStick) |
These stick very well and can still be useful for card making. I've found them too 'stringy' though and end up in a right mess with them. Not good if you get a string of glue across your card blank (fun to peel off your fingers later though!) Squeeze the tube VERY gently until the glue just appears. Apply it to embellishments well away from card blanks and papers, to avoid ruining everything with stringy stuff.
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| Silicon glue |
Silicon glue is great for sticking items that aren't quite flat. If you have cut the shank off a button and still have an annoying little bump, you can use silicon glue to apply it to your card. It's a thick, gel-like paste that will mould itself into uneven surfaces nicely and still adhere well.
On the minus side, it's very smelly and the tubes dry out quickly, making it un-economical. I've had a couple of tubes that have burst in the drawer (the glue must expand in extremes of temperature) and then dried out.
You can, however, use clear silica sealant from DIY shops, the sort that comes in big tubes that you need a gun for. This will stick just as well and is much more economical. If you find the applicator guns ungainly, squeeze some of the glue into a baby's medicine syringe (available from any chemist) - this makes it much easier to apply. One or two brands of craft silicon come with a little syringe like this. Leave a little blob of glue sticking out of the end of the syringe when you've finished with it - this will dry and become a seal. The glue should stay soft in the syringe until you next use it - just pull out the little sealant plug.
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| Invisible thread (or fine fishing line) |
Not a glue, of course, but we should mention this here as I find this great for fixing difficult-to-stick items such as wire items and some of our metal embellishments. Use it with a fine sewing needle with just a two or three stiches to keep your embellishment in place for a well fixed finished that won't come off whatever you do to it. It's a good idea to stitch your embellishment onto a backing piece of card and then fix this to your card blank - that way you won't see the fastening stitches or knots at the back. Smooth down the stitching holes with your fingernail as much as possible.
Look after your roll of thread though. If you throw it into your craft box without securing the end, you'll get a tangled mess and it's impossible to find the end without cutting half the thread away. Use a bit of Sellotape to hold the end down.
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| Beading wire |
In the same way as invisible thread, thin beading wire can also be used to fix wire and metal embellishments to cards. Make holes with a fine sewing needle and push it through. Twist the ends at the back (use pliers or tweezers if necessary) and push the ends flat to the cardstock. Like invisible thread, best used on a cardstock background which is then attached to the card blank so you can't see the twisted ends.
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| Eyelets and brads |
Again not glue but these are also good for fixing backing card or vellum to card blanks for a really modern look.
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| Double-sided adhesive sheets |
These can be used for sticking backgrounds, especially fabric, when double-sided tape would be too fiddly. Also use for for punching or cutting shapes in order to stick accent beads, foil or velvet flakes to them. You can use bigger beads if you fill in any gaps with accent beads afterwards. Great for mounting work, such as embroidery, onto cards and into apertures.
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| Jones Tones (or other) dimensional paint |
You can use dimensional paint to stick down little bits and bobs such as gems. The containers have very fine nozzles so you can apply a teeny bit where needed. You can use white paint for eyes and put a little black bead in the middle of it. Use a little dab of 'shiny clear' if you don't want any adhesive to show, just as you would use a glue.
© Sandie Goble/Mad about Cards Ltd, November 2004. Updated June 2006.
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