It used to be only certain stores carried a few scrapbooking things. Now scrapbooking items can be found everywhere, from the craft stores like Michael's and Joann's to the every day places like Walmart, Target and even dollar stores.
Now there are so many different types and brands of adhesives marketing for scrapbooking now that it's hard to know what you should buy. As a new scrapbooker, you can waste a lot of money buying different types of adhesives before you find the right fit for you. At this point, I've purchased just about every adhesive type. So I'm going to give you a quick run down on the different types and my recommendations.
To some degree it's about preference. But it's also about price and quality. The most important thing is that if it's going to come in contact with your photos, be sure it's Acid-Free. The acids in most regular adhesives will eventually eat through your photos and papers. For long term keepsakes it's important to use Acid-Free products throughout.
Now, let's talk about a few of the more common and useful types of Acid-Free adhesives:
1. The Basic Tape Runner: Generally these are clear tape runners. They are easy to use and comes with a full cartridge. Just run it along the backs of your photos and/or your paper and place onto your layouts and cards for a strong seal. Make sure you buy the permanent style. But there is a re-positional version available in most brands as well and is not permanent. Most will sell for about $6 and a refillable version is great, as refills will cost less.
2. Acid Free Glue Sticks: The best thing about these is they are inexpensive and easy to use. When I teach a class or do a demo I grab a bunch of these for my students to use. You just rub it on the backs of your cardstock and pictures and adhere. It's also repositional before the glue dries so you can quickly fix any problems. The problem with most of these is they tend to wrinkle your papers as they are kind of moist. There is now a Wrinkle Free version from Scotch (see picture), but I haven't found this item locally to try. But I've also found that any thing with more than the weight of thin paper and this adhesive doesn't hold as well. I use it for big areas, and use something else for the edges. Most of these are $1 - $2.00
3. Glue Dots: I love these little round pieces of glue that can be used to attach all kinds of embellishments to cards and layouts. They are really easy to use, once you get the hand of it. Instead of putting it on the items, this time you place the item you want to position on your projects over the glue dot and lift and then place the embellishment wherever you’d like and it stays in place. They are very strong. Great for heavy items like buttons, jewels, metal embellishments. They also come in a variety of sizes and thickness. These run about $5 but last a long time!
4. My Favorite: Herma Dotto Permanent Adhesive. To me this is the best adhesive. It glides on smooth, the dispenser fits well in my hand (as a lefty that is difficult to find in a right-handed world) and it's a strong adhesive. They've recently redesigned the dispenser, so I can't tell you much on that yet. But I love the one I've got. The downside, it is a bit more expensive both initially and the cost of the refills as well. So I use this for the edges and important items, like the photos, and use the other items above (sticks and tape runner) for lighter papers and larger areas. At the stores these can run $11-13 and $5-6 for refills. But shop online and you'll find better prices for them.
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