Uses of Papercrafting Adhesives

What Adhesives Do I Use With My Projects

Papercrafting has all sorts of adhesives available for use today. This blog post is going to show the uses of papercrafting adhesives…when to use specific kinds of adhesives and my favorite adhesives.

Many papercrafters swear by one particular product, while others use different adhesives depending on the type of project. Also some adhesives work better in certain areas of the country, due to humidity or lack thereof.

I’m actually one of the latter types of papercrafters. I use all sorts of adhesives. I use adhesives from Stampin’ Up!, as well as, adhesives I buy from other retail sellers. Like most, I have my favorites and I pass those favorites on to my clients.

Types and Uses of Adhesives

Tombow Snail

In my area of the US, we have very low humidity most of the year. Many people like Tombow’s Snail Adhesive, but I’m not a huge fan. While it is convenient and easy to use, in a dry climate, it tends to dry out and lose it’s stickiness. After a few months, your project will start to fall apart. When I lived in a more humid area of the country, I didn’t have this issue as much. So, this really depends on where you live as to whether it is a good choice. I will say, it is a good all around adhesive. It is mostly for gluing cardstock or paper to cardstock or paper.

Dimensionals and Mini Dimensionals

Dimensionals and Mini Dimensionals are just that. They add dimension to your project. If you want something to pop up off the page a bit, but still be able to fit into an envelope or go through the mail, these are perfect for the job. Stampin’ Up!’s dimesionals have the perfect depth for any project! Dimensionals are great for paper, cardstock, ribbon, and glitter paper. I love and use the mini dimensionals all the time.

Glue Dots

Glue dots are a great and very strong adhesive. Their only drawback is that they are small and don’t cover a lot of area. But, that’s how you use them. You use them mostly with smaller embellishments, ribbon, glitter paper, die cuts, punch outs, and any other small items you might want to adhere to your projects.

Foam Adhesive Strips

Foam Adhesive Strips are mainly used for dimensional cards like shaker cards. These go around your window to seal in your sequins, snow mica pieces, or beads. They also have a very strong adhesive quality. They have a higher profile than the dimensionals, so if you are using on a card, you don’t want to use too many other dimensions or it won’t go through the mail.

Liquid Glue

There are many types of liquid glues on the market. Stampin’ Up! sells a Mulitpurpose Liquid Glue. This is a good all around glue, although you don’t want to have any spill-over as it dries shiny and you will see it if you make any mistakes. I do use Stampin’ Up! Multipurpose Glue on my projects if there is no chance of spill-over. My main choice in liquid glue is Art Glitter Glue. You can get it through Amazon.com or any scrapbooking site. It doesn’t have glitter in it as its name may suggest. Art Glitter Glue is a multipurpose white glue that dries totally clear. It doesn’t gunk up your hands when you use it. It is a very strong adhesive. Liquid glues are great for 3D projects and projects where you are trying to position something precisely and you want a second or two to get it right. To be honest, I use this almost every time I craft.

Tape Adhesives

Tape adhesives are a very strong adhesive. They are used in 3D projects and projects with moving parts that may get a lot of stress on the parts. Once again, Stampin’ Up! sells a very serviceable Tear & Tape Adhesive. While it works well, it only comes in one thickness. I love making 3D projects, so I tend to need other sizes of tape adhesives. Personally, I use Scor tape or Sookwang for this purpose. I can get this in any size from 1/8″ to 6″ thick. My most used sizes are 1″ and under. These you can also get on Amazon or Ebay very easily.

I get asked all the time which adhesive should be used for a project. Hopefully, this gave you a good overview of the different types of papercrafting adhesives and when to use them. Sometimes it’s hard to know when to use which adhesive. To check out all the adhesives in the current Stampin’ Up! catalog, click here.

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