Pop into any scrapbooking or craft store and you’ll see the adhesives aisle - a whole row dedicated just to sticking your projects together. No matter what that project should be, there is no doubt a specialized adhesive for it. For a beginner to scrapbooking, browsing the scrapbooking aisles can be daunting enough, but then to be confronted with more options of how to actually stick the pages together, well it’s enough to send you screaming to the hills! One of the main reasons for scrapbooking is displaying photos in an aesthetically pleasing way. As such, it’s important to remember to use archival-safe adhesives that are acid free and therefore photo safe! With all that said, I thought I’d share some of my favorite adhesive, tips and tricks.

Diggin’ for Victory Beginner Project by Di Hickman Zoom in to view this project closer Make this project: Step-by-step instructions Mail a link to this project to a friend

 

Permanent or Repositionable: That’s the first question you have to ask yourself. If you think you’re going to make a mistake, or prefer to have the option of laying something down then being able to lift it up and move it elsewhere then repositionable adhesive might be a better choice. If you opt for permanent, keep in mind that permanent does mean permanent. There is no such thing as a do-over with permanent adhesive! Once it’s down, it’s pretty much staying there!



Double-sided tapes and tabs: These come in lots of varieties, from rolls in various widths, to tabs with or without a carrier backing, to whole adhesive sheets. Which you choose really depends on the size of your project. You wouldn’t use the adhesive sheets on a small project; I save mine for altered projects. For patterned paper and cardstock I usually use the double sided tape on a roll. For photos I prefer the photo tabs with the little lift off covers. I prefer these tabs for photos as I like to move the photo around on my layouts for a while, when I’m happy with the placement I can just lift off the tabs and press down for a great adhesive bond.



Adhesive rollers: These took the scrapbooking world by storm when they first appeared on the market. They have a multitude of uses from paper, to photos and my favorite use - ribbon! If you need one reason to get an adhesive roller, ribbon is it. They just work so well for adhering ribbon to cards and layouts. The rollers come in a variety of sizes and manufacturers. There are rollers that have a solid line of adhesive, ones that have small dots and everything in between. One of the huge benefits of adhesive rollers is ease of use. This makes them perfect for scrapbookers with arthritis or disabilities, kids or anyone short on time. I burnt my hand recently and these adhesive rollers were all I used whilst recuperating.



Dimensional Adhesives: I personally use Glue Dots or dimensional foam adhesive. Foam adhesive comes in many shapes, from dots to squares to strips and is an excellent way to add dimension to a layout without the page getting excessively lumpy in your album. As you can see there are lots of options, and these are just the basics! I tend to think of adhesives like I do patterned paper - always try something new, step outside your box, and you can never have enough!!!

To find the products mentioned in this article and shown in this layout, check with your local scrapbook retailer. Browse our Premier Retail Stores for coupons to a store near you.