Glue to You

I got a little busy today, finishing up some Valentine's.  I went rummaging around in my box of valentine scraps and found two finished cards that did not make the cut a few years ago.  I used the wrong kind of glue which ruffled up the paper a bit.  That's the thing about glue though, you can really make a pig's ear out of a thing if you don't use the right stuff. 

If you're wondering, I've pretty much settled on three kinds of adhesives in the craft cave.  Which is not to say I don't use others, like foam squares and sticky dots, but these three are my go-to sticky things.

    1) Hot glue is a favorite.  Yes, yes, it can be stringy, but you just have to get the hang of it.  Maybe your first project with hot glue will look like a pig's ear, but your next one will be just fine.  I promise.  It can add dimension in a snap, it sticks things down FOREVER, which is important when your card sits in a shoebox for sometimes YEARS before you send it, and its beyond cheap if you buy those sticks in bulk.  

    2) After hot glue, comes the Tombow tape runner.  I dare to say, the best tape runner ever.  And, I've used them all, people.  Some of you out there get mad because these are small.  You use them up too fast for what they cost at the local Michaels.  Buy your Tombow refills in bulk at any online office supply store that sells them.  If you buy enough (go in with your gal pals to increase the amount you can buy) you can get them below $2 a piece.   

Out of curiosity, how many of you bought one of those HUMONGOUS tape runners that held like IDK 10 miles of 1/4 inch tape?  They were popular!  I would teach a card class, and there would always be someone with one of those at the table.  Banging it around and getting it stuck on all the wrong pieces.  Man, talk about making a pig's ear out of something.  

So, what am I talking about?  Well, a bunch of years ago, someone in the industry got the idea to redesign what is essentially a packing tape dispenser to work with 1/4 inch 2-sided tape.  That thing was huge and heavy as a bag of rocks.  So much so as to make the user have to stand up and lean over it to get the tape where they wanted it to go.  I gave them an A for effort.  They were trying to bring down the cost of tape refills for the average scrapbooker.  It was a good problem to try to solve, but for this little ol' gal, it was nope at first sight.

    3) When I need actual glue, PVA is the best for paper projects as it won't curl your paper, It works like a gem with fabric, and when it dries it's still flexible, so it won't crack.  It dries fast and cleans up with water and is also inexpensive.  I've had my bottle for going on 6 years or so and it's still not near empty.  And that's me, people.  I use the crap out of my stuff.