What Glue to Use – featuring tesa adhesive giveaway

When it comes to crafting, there is a huge range of products that you can buy. It’s very easy to want everything. However, there’s always a few ‘essentials’ that are the most important. Everything else comes as extra, add on costs if you wish to spend it. These crafting essentials vary depending on the craft itself. If you’re crocheting, an essential is a crochet hook. For papercrafts, one of these essential items is an adhesive. This post will be looking into the variety of different adhesives that you could use and some examples of when you might want to use them. So without further ado, let’s have a look at some of the adhesive essentials you may need.

Personally, I don’t believe that ‘one adhesive fits all’. It’s simply not the case. The material matters; some work better on fabric, others might work better on wood. The purpose also matters; whether you want a strong adhesive that permanently sticks quickly, a temporary option or perhaps a slow drying one.

I’m also thrilled to announce that there will be a giveaway at the end of this post. What better way to end National Craft Month than by sharing a crafty giveaway? Hopefully these products will inspire you to craft even more! So, let’s get on with looking at the different types of adhesive before then!

THE GLUE STICK

The Glue Stick is perhaps one of the forms of adhesive that most people have used at some point in their lives. This particular adhesive is great for young children. It allows children to play and get crafty, without accidentally sticking their fingers together or wrecking the walls by sticking something that won’t come off without ruining all of the paintwork. For any parents encouraging craft, the glue stick is an staple item that you just need to offer them.

However, it’s not just limited to children. Adults too can benefit from owning a glue stick. I personally find myself reaching for mine when I need to give myself time to ‘wiggle’ the piece around and stick it to the right position. This comes in very handy for scrapbooking, journalling or cardmaking for me. There are times when I really want to make sure every piece is in the exact spot. The glue stick gives me a few moments to reposition it. Once it’s in the perfect spot, I can press it down and wait for it to adhere properly.

I am currently using the tesa Easy Stick. The triangle shape of the product prevents it from just rolling right off my desk, which is great and provides those tiny edges that I could use to apply glue to small bits of paper.

THE MULTI-PURPOSE ADHESIVE

No stationery collection is complete without a multi-purpose adhesive. As the name suggests, it’s a versatile essential. These are usually suitable for children to use as well as adults, as they are not as sticky as super glue, for example. However, it’s definitely a little more messy as it is wet glue.

I really love the tesa Multi-Purpose Adhesive glue that comes with a special cap on the bottle. This cap can be clicked open and allows for a fine application easily, before being sealed to prevent drying. With the fine applicator, I feel like it reduces the amount of mess instantly. I don’t actually have children though so this may be entirely false but it might be a bit cleaner than an open pot of glue, for example.

Multi-Purpose glue is great for a wide range of materials. The one I use works on the usual paper, card and photos but also on textiles, felt, leather, wood or cork. I usually use this for papercrafting but honestly, it is great for repairing everyday objects around the house too. It is pretty much another essential type of glue that you should have in your arsenal.

THE STICKY TAPE

There are a number of different types of tape available. Single sided, double sided, decorative tapes, washi tapes, masking tape, painter’s tape etc. There’s just so much choice out there. Today, we’ll start with the basic types: transparent single sided tape and double sided tape.

Single Sided adhesive tape:

Single sided adhesive tape is another common product that you’ve likely used before. Whilst the tape is transparent, it is not entirely invisible to the eye. However, it’s really easy to use and very effective. I personally go straight to this when I need something quick, effective and am not super worried about it showing. For example, wrapping presents or sealing post is much easier with tape than attempting to use glue on it. Wet glue would be terrible on some wrapping papers that are just too thin to be able to deal with it and some glues might not be strong enough to adhere it properly. Tape is perfect for gift wrapping.

Double Sided adhesive tape:

Double sided tape is perhaps less used in non-crafty households but I think it’s an essential. It’s a great way to adhere something down with tape, without the said tape being shown. It’s a dry method of gluing that works so well. I particularly love using double sided tape in journals for memory keeping or in papercrafts, such as cardmaking and scrapbooking. I have also used it around the house. For example, to adhere a papercut to the back of a frame or to mount a poster. I actually use double sided tape to ‘fix’ things too. For example, when the paper cover of something starts to peel up, I adhere it back down with a bit of double sided tape again.

What I recommend and use:

I currently am using a variety of different tapes. I have a tesafilm desk dispenser on my table right now, which I absolutely love. The bottom of the dispenser has a really strong anti-slip pad on it. I’ve put it on the edge of my desk (in fact, a bit of it is hanging off the edge as I ran out of desk space) and it’s never once moved or fallen off. It sits there perfectly, even when I accidentally push my laptop into it. This makes it super easy to take tape out of it without having to hold it down too. I have once peeled it off the table to move it and there was absolutely no residue or anything from the anti-slip pad so I don’t think it will damage my table at all.

I use this pink desk dispenser on my craft desk and then also keep a mini dispenser in my stationery case, so I can carry it around with me. Both of these are refillable. As the mini dispenser is for hand use, it features an ergonomic design that makes it easy to hold whilst you’re crafting away.

I also use the tesafilm double sided tape and double sided adhesive pads. The tape comes in a dispenser too, which I haven’t seen before. It makes it really easy to tear off a small strip of tape and place it down where you want. The adhesive pads I use are the tesa Tack.

THE ADHESIVE PADS & STAMPS

Adhesive Pads:

Adhesive pads are little bits of glue that are usually double sided and will allow you to quickly adhere things together. You can get permanent pads, as well as removable ones. The removable ones are really useful for adhering things to walls or cupboards – like a photograph of your friends or a drawing that your child did. It’s possible to get transparent pads that you add behind the surface, so they are hidden. However, you can also get coloured or decorative ones that you can display if you wish to do so.

I currently use tesa tack, which are double sided removable pads. They work on a variety of surfaces and can be removed without a trace. If you’re making a moodboard, a wall of photos or want to display postcards that you’ve received, for example, than these adhesive pads are great. They let you stick things up in your home and your office, without damaging the paintwork. As they are removable, you can also quickly change the photos around for a fresh new look.

A pack of adhesive pads can last quite a while as they recommend that you only need 1 pad for papers up to A5 size. So you could easily fill your wall with 72 photos, for example, if you wanted to use the whole pack up. (For bigger pages, you can simply add more pads to make it stronger). It removes the need for pins that can cause damage.

Although I don’t have them myself, you can also get coloured adhesive packs from tesa, which are available in a pink or blue. They come in different shapes too. I think these are pretty fun, especially for children.

Glue Stamps:

Whilst these are all removable, tesa also offer a permanent method of adhering in a similar style. This is the tesa glue stamp. This is a strong adhesive that you press down (i.e. ‘stamp down’) onto the page. It leaves a small square bit of glue down on the surface. You can then stick it to something else.

I’ve never seen this sort of product from another place before and I’ve absolutely fallen in love with it. It’s so much fun to use. It works in a similar way to the ‘roller’ style glue but it is particularly useful for just leaving a lot of glue easily, without having to think too much about it. It’s very fast and effective. This tool has made scrapbooking so much easier.

THE ROLLER GLUE

Honestly, the roller may be one of my favourite and most used products. Like the glue stamp, they are very fast to use and don’t require a waiting time to dry. They work immediately and allow you to put the glue down exactly where you want it. However, this works great for when you’re trying to cover a much larger surface. I always have one on my desk as I use it in so many situations. It is really handy when journalling or doing memory keeping as it allows you to quickly stick down some photos or memorabilia. I also use it often in cardmaking, when I want to stick different layers together.

If you have not used one before, the roller essentially puts down a strip of tape like substance on the surface you roll it onto. It sits above the paper, so the surface doesn’t get wet, allowing you to use it on thin paper too. These work best on paper, card and photographs.

These rollers come in permanent and non-permanent glue. You can also get ‘correction’ versions of it, allowing you to correct any mistakes. I like to have both a permanent and a non-permanent roller in my collection.

What I recommend and use:

Having a good roller adhesive is really important to me. I am using the tesaRoller. This is a strong permanent adhesive that works really well. The roller itself is already made out of 100% recycled plastic, which I think is fantastic but it’s also refillable, which I really like, as it reduces the amount of waste materials overall too.

If you like to travel and want to do any sort of journalling whilst out there, I would highly recommend keeping a roller with you. I always take one with me as I can carry it in my hand luggage on planes, since there’s no liquid inside it and I find it so useful to have for travel journalling. Although I haven’t used it myself, tesa also have a ‘Mini Glue Roller’, which is simply a smaller version of the same thing. So if you do travel a lot and prefer to keep a mini on you to save space, then check that out.

THE SPRAY GLUE

Glue also comes in a spray can version. This is a very versatile product that allows for quick application in a number of different materials. Spray glues are really good for catching every little bit of the surface that you want to stick down. For example, it works really well on detailed die-cuts or wooden embellishments. A detailed piece can sometimes be too hard to glue with the other methods so a quick spray is a great way to catch every little area of it.

When using spray glue, I avoid using it in a small enclosed room and prefer to do it outside or by a window. The best way to do this is to cover the surface below the item or around it before spraying glue, so you avoid getting it everywhere. I tend to craft on my desk, right next to my laptop. Getting glue over my laptop would not be ideal, so I always grab an old cardboard box that I use for spray paints or glues. I put the product inside the box and then use the spray so any splatter of the glue hits the cardboard box instead of my desk or laptop.

The tesa spray glue that I currently use comes in a large container that I’m sure will last me a while. This particular one is a permanent adhesive, which works on a variety of materials from paper and card to wood, leather or fabric. I don’t use spray glues as much as some of the other options but that’s why it’s very important to me that the one I have works on a range of different materials. This allows me to use it more often and pretty much any time I need it, it will work for me.

THE DECORATIVE GLUE

If you think glue is all about just adhering things together, you would be wrong! You can also get ‘Glitter Glue’, which is essentially a beautiful way to apply glitter to something. I can definitely see the appeal of these and would highly recommend parents to invest in some, if their children are old enough to use them. Glitter glues are a fun way to decorate something – such as an envelope or birthday gift. They can also be used to create artwork or cards, for example.

I am using the glitter glue range from tesa, which offers six different colours in one pack. I honestly cannot pick a favourite colour. They are all so bright and beautiful. I love the shine and the glitter in each of the colours. In this pack, I got gold, silver, green, purple, red and pink. Even though it’s March, I’m already planning to use the red and green around Christmas time!

Glitter glue does take a little while to dry but the once they’re done, they are so gorgeous. I really like the tesa ones because they don’t leave glitter everywhere after drying. Once dried, the glitter doesn’t flake off or come onto your skin. When I got it, I first tested it by rubbing quite roughly on the page once the glues had dried and it was surprising that no glitter came off.

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ALL OF THE GLUE

And there you have it! A whole bunch of different types of glue and the different times you might find yourself reaching for one above the other. If you’re interested in trying out any of these particular products, check out tesa’s website, which has them all – and a whole lot more. The items that I specifically mentioned are:

• tesa® Easy Stick
• tesa® Multi-Purpose Glue ecoLogo®
• tesa Easy Cut® Desk dispenser SMART
• tesafilm® Mini Dispenser ecoLogo®
• tesafilm® double-sided
• tesa® TACK Transparent Double-sided Adhesive Pads
• tesa® TACK Coloured Adhesive Pads
• tesa® Glue Stamp
• tesa® Roller Permanent Gluing ecoLogo®
• tesa® Mini Glue Roller ecologo®
• tesa® 60021 Permanent
• tesa® Glitter glue

WANT THE CHANCE TO WIN SOME OF THESE PRODUCTS?

I tested out these some of these products for tesa over the past month and decided that I loved them enough to share them with you. So tesa have kindly offered to do a giveaway of FIVE bundles of different tapes and glues for you. Yes, this means that there will be FIVE winners, that each receive a free pack of glue to get crafty with! 

Each bundle contains:

• Multi-Purpose Glue
• Permanent Roller
• tesa film tape
• Easy Stick
• Glue Stamp

To enter the giveaway, follow the instructions below. The more you do, the better the chance of winning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Disclaimer: Whilst I was not paid to do this post, I am receiving the products free from tesa to giveaway. I’ve chosen to work with them simply because I really like their products and have put together this bundle with them. Product photos are from tesa themselves. This post may also contain affiliate links. You can find out more about them here.