Adhesive to use with your Scrapbook
Sticky Situations - What Kind of Adhesive to Use in Your Scrapbook
by Nan Wood
The many adhesive options available on the scrapbooking supply market may leave you mystified as to which ones you need for your project. Not only are countless types of adhesives available, but you often are given choices between a number of brands as well. This can leave beginners frustrated and ready to go home and use a hot glue gun for the whole project. A word of caution, however—learning to use the different types of adhesives will help protect your photographs and keep your work in tact for many years.
There are three basic types of adhesives: glues, tapes, and corner mounts. The first, glue, is probably the item you are most familiar with using with your other craft projects. Hot glue and tacky glue, both common items around the house, are not good for your scrapbooking project. Although these adhesives are strong and permanent, the heat and acidity that comes with using them will ruin your photographs over time. Another common option is the glue stick. These are inexpensive, but remember that you get what you pay for—glue sticks lose their stickiness over time, and your pages will come undone. Many other glue options are available on the market especially for scrapbooking. These products will always say “acid free” and “photo safe” on the label to let you know that they are ok to use with pictures. Glue pens are popular, but one of the most innovative products in recent years has been glue dots. This product is pressure-sensitive and works very well for adhering embellishments to the page. Another helpful scrapbooking glue product comes in an aerosol can. When sprayed to an item such as vellum or tissue, you can adhere the light paper to the page without leaving marks showing through. Glue dots and aerosol sprays can be pricey, but are effective when used correctly.
When sticking your actually pictures to the page, however, glues are probably not your best option. The best way to go about adhering pictures to your page is to use a tape product. Again, be sure that the product label ensures that it is safe to use with photographs, since not all tapes are made the same. Traditional tape options, such as foam mounting tape or double sided tape are good to use in your album, but also check out the products made exclusively for scrapbooking. Mounting squares are a popular item, as are roll-on tape dispensers. Some temporary products are also available in case you don’t want to permanently attach your photographs to the page. This is also where corner mounts work well. Related to the tape family, these little triangles allow you to stick photographs to the page without commitment. Corner mounts work especially well with valuable photographs, but can only be used when you have cropped your pictures in a square or rectangular shape.
Whatever adhesive choices you make, remember that it is important to use the products correctly. Not all glues and tapes are made for the same purposes, so learning to use these products is vital. By experimenting with technique and following the usage guidelines you can create a beautiful and long-lasting album.
For more information and online resources, visit
Scrapbooking
by Nan Wood
The many adhesive options available on the scrapbooking supply market may leave you mystified as to which ones you need for your project. Not only are countless types of adhesives available, but you often are given choices between a number of brands as well. This can leave beginners frustrated and ready to go home and use a hot glue gun for the whole project. A word of caution, however—learning to use the different types of adhesives will help protect your photographs and keep your work in tact for many years.
There are three basic types of adhesives: glues, tapes, and corner mounts. The first, glue, is probably the item you are most familiar with using with your other craft projects. Hot glue and tacky glue, both common items around the house, are not good for your scrapbooking project. Although these adhesives are strong and permanent, the heat and acidity that comes with using them will ruin your photographs over time. Another common option is the glue stick. These are inexpensive, but remember that you get what you pay for—glue sticks lose their stickiness over time, and your pages will come undone. Many other glue options are available on the market especially for scrapbooking. These products will always say “acid free” and “photo safe” on the label to let you know that they are ok to use with pictures. Glue pens are popular, but one of the most innovative products in recent years has been glue dots. This product is pressure-sensitive and works very well for adhering embellishments to the page. Another helpful scrapbooking glue product comes in an aerosol can. When sprayed to an item such as vellum or tissue, you can adhere the light paper to the page without leaving marks showing through. Glue dots and aerosol sprays can be pricey, but are effective when used correctly.
When sticking your actually pictures to the page, however, glues are probably not your best option. The best way to go about adhering pictures to your page is to use a tape product. Again, be sure that the product label ensures that it is safe to use with photographs, since not all tapes are made the same. Traditional tape options, such as foam mounting tape or double sided tape are good to use in your album, but also check out the products made exclusively for scrapbooking. Mounting squares are a popular item, as are roll-on tape dispensers. Some temporary products are also available in case you don’t want to permanently attach your photographs to the page. This is also where corner mounts work well. Related to the tape family, these little triangles allow you to stick photographs to the page without commitment. Corner mounts work especially well with valuable photographs, but can only be used when you have cropped your pictures in a square or rectangular shape.
Whatever adhesive choices you make, remember that it is important to use the products correctly. Not all glues and tapes are made for the same purposes, so learning to use these products is vital. By experimenting with technique and following the usage guidelines you can create a beautiful and long-lasting album.
For more information and online resources, visit
Scrapbooking
posted by Nan at 11:46 AM
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