Card craft tool essentials - Adhesives

Adhesives

Another subject you would think of as easy is glue, but alas it is a sticky subject (pun very much intended!!) There is no correct or incorrect glues to use, it is generally a matter of choice. You will however need a variety of combinations for your crafting needs. You will likely need a combination of wet and dry adhesives and a combination of flat and depth adhesives.  I will try and make this a little clearer.

In future entries i hope to look further at sticky tape, sticky dots, pad adhesives, reel adhesives, stick adhesives, pen adhesives, tape pen adhesives, and canned adhesives.  There is so much variety and purpose out there it is incredibly hard to do the subject justice in neutral terms.  For now we just look at the basics.

Wet adhesives. Many crafters use a store brand PVA glue as their wet glue. This thick white glue is economical, dries clear, and can be rubbed off areas it shouldn't be. There are other wet glues out there but many of them leave a mark if they seep out from underneath. For a wet adhesive start with PVA it has many uses and is an all round success.

Another useful 'wet' glues would be a silicone glue. Silicone glue is often used in'decoupage' to give 'depth' to the layers of an image you are creating.  Silicone glue is not only a wet glue but is also what i would call a 'depth glue.'

PVA glue will be available in DIY and craft stores alike as at April 2012 costs seen from £1 for 200ml.

Dry adhesives. Many items come under the banner of dry adhesives; tapes, dots, reels, tape pens are the most obvious and all appear in my own kit. A dry adhesive is useful when you want an instant stick as it doesn't have the drying time of a wet glue.  A dry glue could be a simple as a 'glue stick', although i would also think hard about using double sided craft tape too.  There is one dry adhesive that i think is an excellent tool kit essential, and that is foam pads, foam pads are the dry equivalent of silicone glue as they allow you to add depth to your work.

Glue sticks can be found in most high street stationery stores and craft stores alike and can be purchased for £1 as at April 2012.

Flat adhesives.  For most crafting purposes you will be looking for a 'flat glue' to stick one item flat against another.  This may be where you are 'matting and layering', sticking inserts into cards, or putting ribbons and other fancy embellishments onto your craft work.  Please dont worry if these terms do not make sense yet just think of your craft project edge on - sometimes it is very flat with layer straight on top of layer.  These are 'flat glues.'  Flat glues may be  wet like the PVA glue previously mentioned or be dry glue in the form of double sided tape.  There are many other forms of flat adhesive all with their own benefits but double sided tape is a great starting point.

Double sided craft tape can be purchased for £1 for 25m from craft shops.

Depth adhesives. Sometimes when creating a craft project you will want to 'add a little interest' by not having something directly on top of another but make a gap so it stands out a little to provide focus and depth.  When you want to do this you will need to use a depth adhesive.  There are two i suggest as a starting point, one wet and one dry.  The choice is entirely yours!

Foam pads can be purchased for £1 a sheet or even cheaper when bought in a more substantial pack.