LOVE STRUCK Projects Using the Cricut Cartridge Doodle Charms

Greetings everyone … This is ♥Carol♥, I hope you are all having a spectacular week. Thanx for visiting me here in My Little Creation Corner. Today I am sharing the details of my “LOVE NOTES” creations which were designed for the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog.

As most of you know by now, I am a Design Team member on the SWEET TREATS THURSDAY Team at the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog. This special team of designers will tantalize your taste buds with a delicious selection of yummie creations using their favorite crafting tools (Cricut and Cricut Cartridges, Cuttlebug, YourStory, YuDu and the Gypsy). I’m very pleased to be included with this wonderful team of talented crafters as a Design Team Member. I hope you’ll pop over and take a look … and be sure to check back every Thursday as the SWEET TREATS THURSDAY Design Team will be presenting fun new crafts, tutorials and/or other helpful hints and tricks to help keep you inspired.

This Week’s assignment was to use our Cricuts and the Doodle Charms cartridge to create a set of projects. We were instructed to use not less than 2 cuts from the DC cart, but were allowed to use as many as we liked. I selected to use the Mail Box, Hearts, and the Dragon Fly … but as you will see here … I also used cuts from the new Limited Edition Mini Cricut Cartridge, Love Struck.

My “LOVE NOTES” projects …

The Card

(Please click on any image to see Full Size)

The Envelope

The Card and Envelope Set

The Mail Box

The Project Trio

Supplies Used:

Cricut Expressions

Doodle Charms Cricut Cartridge
Love Struck Limited Edition Mini Cricut Cartridge
Patterned Paper and Card Stock from S.E.I. Chacolat Paper Pack
Metallic Silver card stock
Pink Lace & Pearls Ribbon from Wrights Creative Classics
Textile Texture Cuttlebug A2 Embossing Folder
Jumbo Java Dew Drop Chalk Ink
Adhesives (Glue Glider Pro, Zig 2-way Glue Pen, Dimensionals, Glue Dots)

The Card - measures 4.25x5.25 inches and fits beautifully in the envelope.  I Made the base card out a wine colored colored card stock, placed a pink card stock mat on top (4x5 inches) on top and inked the edges in brown and added another mat of patterned paper (3.75x4.75 inches) on top and again inked the edges in brown.  I then ran the entire card face thru the cuttlebug ... the size was a perfect fit to do this and gives the card a beautifully embossed surface.  The mailbox was cut at 2.5 inches.  The dragon flies were cut at one inch and have three layers, one of card stock, then patterned paper, and then the dragon fly body ... I folded the wings up to give the card some extra dimension.  The letters were computer generated and matted to the wine card stock.  All embellishments, except the lace and pearl ribbon, were placed on the card using dimensionals to add extra visual interest.

The Envelope - was cut from the Love Struck cartridge and was cut "fit to page" which was a perfect fit for the card.  It's cut from the same patterned paper as the card face.  I added a strip of card behind the heart cut outs to give it extra interest ... but added the strip of lace and pearl ribbon, which helped coordinate the card and envelope together beautifully.

The Mail Box - was cut out of patterned paper and was cut at 11.25 inches.  Again, I used the Love Struck cartridge for the mail box.  I added a silver mail box flag and attached it with a mauve heart brad, then added a small mauve colored bow, and a heart from the Doodle Charms cart.  I also added the same lace and pearl ribbon around the mailbox that I used on the card and envelope.  The letters and dragon fly were both cut at 1.75 inches. 

WOW, was I ever amazed at how easy both the mailbox and envelope were to cut out and put together.  If you do not yet have the Love Struck cart, I highly recommend it ... there are so many beautiful and intricate cuts on this cart.  Here's a look at all that this cart has to offer ...

(Click on Image to view full size)

I hope you enjoy these projects as much as I did making them and sharing them with you … feel free to leave comments, I would love to hear what you think. As always, thank you for visiting me here at my Little Creation Corner and don’t forget to stop by and check out the creations made by the other talented Sweet Treats Thursdays Design Team members at the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog. 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!


Hugz,
♥Carol♥

Sweet Treats Thursday - Review, Cricut Cartridge PAGODA

Greetings Everyone … this is ♥Carol♥ … Welcome to My Little Creation Corner.

As a Design Team Member on the the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog, Sweet Treats Thursday Team, I was asked to do a review of the new Cricut Cartridges, PAGODA.  (Please visit the Cuttlebug Challenge blog to see the initial review).  I'd like to share a more detailed review of that cartridge for you here as well.

(NOTE:  Please click on this, and all images, to see in their FULL size)

This cart is filled with a wonderful selection of images, with the key features on the cartridge being as follows...

Base Feature Images (characters like lanterns, dolls, kites, dragons, birds, trees, dragon flies, fish, flowers bridges, fans, umbrellas, teapot and cup, chopsticks, kimonos, and much more)

Base Shift Feature (layering pieces for the base images)

Kanji Feature (images of each of the Kanji characters)

Kanji Shift Feature (shadows for the Kanji characters)

Kanji Tag Feature (the Kanji character in various tag shapes)
Kanji Tag Shift Feature (which are the backgrounds for the Kanji Tags)

Kanji Word  Feature (which is the English translation of the respective Kanji character on it’s respective key in a rectangular tag style)
Kanji Word Shift Feature (which is the respective Kanji character that will fit nicely in the word tag)

Kanji Tag Feature (which are the various images in a variety of tag shapes)
Kanji Tag Shift (background pieces for the tags)

Card Feature (rectangular shaped cards with the images in them)
Card Shift Feature (circular cards with the images in them)

Shadow Feature (shadows for the images)
Shadow Shift Feature (shadows for the Kanji characters, this shadows the shadow of the Kanji Character Shift shadow – virtually a 2nd shadow for the Kanji characters).

Before I started writing this review, I wanted to identify exactly what a Kanji was, and which Asian culture it represented, so I called Provo Craft directly and asked the question. I was told that this cartridge is Chinese, however, it is also part Japanese. Are you as confused by that explanation as much as I was?  Well, I couldn’t stop with that, so I looked it up on line at Wakipedea, and this is the definition I found …

Kanji (help•info) (漢字?) are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with hiragana (ひらがな, 平仮名), katakana (カタカナ, 片仮名), Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet (also known as Rōmaji). The Japanese term kanji (漢字) literally means "Han characters".

Still confused, I looked it up in the dictionary, and this is the definition I found …

“a Japanese system of writing that utilizes characters borrowed or adapted from Chinese writing, a single character in the kanji system”

Now this I could understand! *grin* But the really important thing to say is the images are absolutely adorable. I love that you can use the images, the Kanji character, and the English translation all together.

One thing I will note is that trying to figure out the meaning of each Kanji character is, was a bit of a challenge. I discovered that they are actually all in the cartridge handbook.  To see the English translation, look on the Kanji Word Feature Key. But, just a warning, the image in your handbook is extremely small … so pull out your glasses, or your bi-focals, you just might need them. If you have a Gypsy or the Design Studio program, you can enlarge this image so that you can read it easier.

I really do like the wonderful options on this cart … it offers a delight blend of whimsical images mixed with delicate intricately detailed images as well. Combined with the Kanji characters and the English translations, you have an opportunity for endless creative possibilities to make a wide variety of crafts.

Here’s a sample I made this morning that mixes the Kanji character for “friend” and the English translation … I teamed it together with one of the Cuttlebug embossing folders from the new Asian line to make this greeting card …

another view

To make this card, I used the following supplies ...

Cricut Cartridge Pagoda
Cricut Cartridge George Basics Shapes
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (from the new Asian set)
Cricut Design Studio Program
Ribbon (Offray, pink flora)
Prima Fabric Fancies Flowers
Core'dinations Chocolate Box card stock
S.E.I. Patterned Paper from the Chocolat Paper Stack
Pink card stock
Small Bronze Brads
Sanding block
Pop Dots
Glue Glider Adhesive
Zig 2-way fine tip Glue Pen

This card is similar to a Joy Fold card and to make it, I followed these steps.

1)  Cut Patterned paper to size 8.5x11 and fold in half for card base.
2)  Emboss the Asian Lady on Coredinations Chocolate Box card stock, then sand lightly to bring out the pink background color.
3)  Trim around the embossed image and mat onto pink card stock and trim around the image again.
4)  Using Design Studio, place the "friend" Kanji word (from Pagoda) on the mat using a 2x3 inch size, add the Kanji character (size 1.5") inside the rectangle then welded a rectangle (from George) to the right side of the tag and stretched it so that it extended another 3 inches.

5)  Scor the tag at 2 inches and adhere the right 3 inches of the tag backwards to the inside right edge of the card.  Fold the remaining 2 inches over the front face of the card.
6)  Adhere ribbon vertically along the left side of card and attach brads to flowers and adhere top of ribbon.
7)  Adhere the Asian Lady, using pop dots, over the ribbon.

Although there is not an image of the inside of the card, the right side of the card is matted with the brown card stock, the pink tag "friends" tag opens up to a pink color to add the sentiment, and I added a pink shadow to the brown Kanji "friend" symbol that was cutout from the front tag and placed it next to the inside sentiment.


I hope you found this review both helpful and informative. Please feel free to leave a comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I hope you’ll take a moment and stop by and visit the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog to see this review in it's condensed form as well as all the other wonderful creations to be found there.

As always, thanks for stopping by and visiting me here at my Little Creation Corner.

Happy Crafting Everyone!

Hugz,
Carol

Special Announcement - Sweet Treats Thursday

Greetings everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR, I hope 2010 is starting off on a happy note for all … This is ♥Carol♥ … and today I’d like to share a special announcement. Over at the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog, a new team of creative designers have come together to form a design team called SWEET TREATS THURSDAY.

This team of designers will tantalize your taste buds with a delicious selection of yummie creations using their favorite crafting tools (Cricut and Cricut Cartridges, Cuttlebug, YourStory, YuDu and the Gypsy). I’m very pleased and excited to be included with this wonderful team of talented crafters as a Design Team Member. I hope you’ll pop over and take a look … and be sure to check back every Thursday as the SWEET TREATS THURSDAY Design Team will be presenting fun new crafts, tutorials and/or other helpful hints and tricks to help keep you inspired.

Our first assignment was to use our Cricuts and the Doodle Charms cartridge to create a set of projects. We were instructed to use not less than 2 cuts from the DC cart, but were allowed to use as many as we liked. I selected to use the teddy bear and the heart … but as you will see here … I used several other cuts as well.

The Teddy Gift Set Trio …

Supplies used for this project were:

Cricut Expressions

Doodle Charms Cricut Cartridge

White and Pink Card Stock

Kiwi Embroidery Paper – Pink Gingham Check

Pink Gingham Ribbon – width sizes 1.25 and .50 inches

Darning Threads – Pink and White

Small Pearls

White Doodle Pen

Adhesives
(Glue Glider Pro, Zig 2-way Glue Pen, Dimensionals, Glue Dots)

Wrapping Paper

The Card and Envelope

The card measures 5”x 6.5”

(REMINDER … Click on any image to see full view)

The Photo Frame

The Photo frame measures 17”X10”, but the little frames on each side of the main picture

measure only 1.5”x2”, so each of the Doodle Charms cuts were made at a 1” size or less.

The cuts are embellished with hand doodling, pearls for eyes on the critters

and small bows on the hearts that are ½” or less across.

I also added small gingham bows to accent the main picture opening and then

tied a nice big bow around the frame.

The Gift Package

When I went to wrap the gift, I discovered that I didn’t have any paper that would

match the set, so I used a solid color wrapping paper that I had and

turned it inside out so that I was using the inside (white) as the wrapping.

To accent the package, I cut little 1” teddy bears and hearts,

embossed them and adhered them down with glue dots.

I actually like the way this turned out and plan to use this trick again in the future

whenever I don’t have the exact wrapping that I need.

Whoops … I see that the teddy bear tag did not make on the package

before the picture was taken.

All three items were super easy to make, and the great thing is, they were actually very inexpensive to make too!

I hope you enjoy these projects as much as I did making them and sharing them with you … feel free to leave comments, I would love to hear what you think. As always, thank you for visiting me here at my Little Creation Corner and don’t forget to stop by and check out the other creations at the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Hugz,
♥Carol♥

The Snowman Scoop! (a card and verse)

Hi Everyone ... This is ♥Carol♥ ... Welcome to my Little Creation Corner.  I hope everyone is off to a great start with your Holiday crafts.  I seem to be running a little slow this year, so I am now working like a little demon trying to get my Christmas cards completed.


Here's one of my first cards for the year ... I struggled trying to find a snowman with the right size tummy, so I made my own by welding two circles from the George cart using Design Studio and added the hat and scarf and carrot nose from the Snow Friends Cartridge. I also added a ribbon, a pompom and wiggly eyes to give the card a little more character and gave him a grin by using my hole punch .. the grin is a little large, next time I will use a smaller hole punch.

BTW, the center of the tummy is a Stampin'Up Treat cup filled with marshmallows.  Not that I am trying to give anyone a plug here ... but I purchased my Stampin'Up supplies from Mandy Ferg from the cricut.com message board.  If you don't have a Stampin'Up rep yet, I highly recommend her ... besides being a super sweet lady, she also is a wonderful Stampin'Up representative and has great customer service too!

The image inside is from PC Crafters, the verse is one I made special for this card, and the lettering is computer generated.

I hope you like it, and, as always ... thanx for looking

The Outside of the card

The Center of the Card

The Back of the Card

(Remember ... Click on any image to see full size.)

The verse is hard to read ... this is what it says ...

This Snowman’s Special

Here’s the scoop,

His tummy’s really

Filled with poop!

But that’s not the part

That’s so incredible,

This Snowman’s poop

Is really edible!

Just take a bite

And you will see,

His poop is

Yummy as can be!

He also brings

This wish from us

For a Happy New Year

& Merry Christmas!

I hope you enjoyed seeing this card as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you.  Thanx again for visiting my Little Creation Corner.  If you have the time, leave me a comment, I love hearing reading what all of you have to say!  HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! 
 
♥Carol♥

Thanksgiving Centerpiece and Invitation - Using the Cricut Expressions and the Animal Kingdom and Winter Woodlands Cartridges

Greetings Everyone and HAPPY THANKSGIVING … This is ♥Carol♥ … Welcome to my Little Creation Corner ... today I’d like to share a couple of simple Thanksgiving projects I made with a little help from my Cricut Expressions and the Animal Kingdom and Winter Woodlands cartridges.


The first is a centerpiece I made for the Thanksgiving table. This project was very easy and inexpensive to make. I purchased a couple of fall floral stems from my local craft store (and as luck would have it, they were on sale for $.79 each). I added some turkeys which were made from scraps of card stock I already had, using the Animal Kingdom cartridge and cut at 5.5 inches. The turkeys were attached to the arrangement using a 3 foot, 1/8 inch dowel I purchased from the same craft store (for $.39) cut into 4 equal pieces. The copper colored pail was purchased for $.99. It’s tied around the center with a bit of raffia I already had. After all the turkeys were made, this centerpiece took less than 20 minutes to put together.

The total cost for this project is as follows …

$0.79 Fall Floral Stem
$0.79 Fall Floral Stem
$0.39 1/8 inch 3 ft. dowel
$0.99 Small Copper Pail
$0.00 Rafia from stash on hand
$0.00 Google Eyes from stash on hand
$0.00 Card Stock from stash on hand
_____

$2.96 (plus tax) Total out of pocket cost
====

Here is the completed centerpiece …

(for details, click on any image to see full size)

To make the turkeys, I used the Animal Kingdom cartridge. Since this cartridge only has minimal layering pieces, I cut 5 turkeys in various colors for each turkey made. I then cut them apart and pieced the various colors together (similar to a jigsaw puzzle) to make them more colorful. By adding wiggly eyes and a small raffia bow tie, it gave them more depth, dimension and character.

Cut turkeys from Animal Kingdom

(Brown is the background piece)

I then made a matching card using the same turkey … in this case, I made an invitation to Thanksgiving Dinner and included the menu and a short verse I wrote. I used scraps of different colored fall papers I had on hand. All words were computer generated and printed on card stock. The little tag on the face of the card was made using the Winter Woodlands cartridge, layered with different colored papers and attached together with brads. Both the turkey and tag are popped up using dimensionals.

Here is the card face …

Here is the card center ….

Supplies used were from stash on hand

(cardstock, patterned scrapbook paper, raffia, wiggly eyes, brads and dimensionals)

REMINDER … You can click on any image to see full view.

Both projects were super easy to make, and the great thing is, they were also very inexpensive too!

I hope you enjoy these projects as much as I did making them and sharing them with you … feel free to leave comments, I love hearing your thoughts. As always, thank you for visiting me here at my Little Creation Corner.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

♥Carol♥

Craft Adhesives

Hiya Everyone ... This is ♥Carol♥, welcome to my LITTLE CREATION CORNER.  I hope you are all having a wonderful day.  I've received several questions regarding the types of crafting adhesives I use, so let's take a moment to talk about it. 

So ... What Adhesive do I use???? Ahhh … this question pops up frequently and is more complex to answer than you might think. The reason is, I actually use several different types of adhesives … depending on my need. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of great adhesives on the market, and everyone has their own special favorites. Following is a list of my particular favorites and their uses … these are the ones I use the most …

*** BTW ... I did not intend this to be a commercial or product review, however, I think it's unfair to talk about a product and not show you what the product is ***

Glue Glider Pro – This adhesive gun offers a continuous line of double-sided adhesive strip, and it’s what I use on most of my larger pieces (matting pictures, applying larger pieces to greeting cards, etc.).  I generally use the High Tack refills because they work great and are longer than the other refills, so they last longer.  The GGP is relatively small, light weight, easy to handle and use, the refill cartridges pop in an out like a breeze, so they are exceptionally easy to change … and they are great size to take to crops, etc. BTW … here’s a helpful hint … Since the GGP does NOT come with a cap, to prevent foreign matter from sticking to the tip, I pull the cartridge out, turn it around, and slide it in backwards. This is a handy tip when storing your GGP and also when taking to crops, etc.  I should also note that another great alternative is the ATG Gun.  Although I do not have one, I know many who do ... and they all love them.

Glue Runners/Snail Adhesives – These are used the same as the Glue Glider Pro ... they are a double sided tape that come in small dispensers. I don’t use them often but find they are really handy to have around and grab when you have something you want to glue down quickly. They are also great to take to crops because they are so small and won’t take up much of your much needed space in you supply tote.  Plus, if you ever run out of your other adhesives, you will be very glad you have one or two of these around.  There are hundreds of glue runners (also know as snail adhesives) to choose from. My particular favorite is TomBo Mono Adhesive, however, I've used other types that work well too.

Zig Fine Tip 2-Way Glue Pen – This is one of the FEW wet adhesives I use … but I am using it constantly. It is a wet glue, in a pen-type applicator. It’s perfect for adhering small layering pieces to your project … if you have a Cricut, or other die cutting machine, then you know how small some of the layering pieces can be … this is the perfect tool for that. ALSO … this is a great tool for applying glitter to projects – and the amazing thing is that whether it is wet or dry, the glitter will stick beautifully. Simply draw or color in the areas you wish to glitter, then sprinkle glitter over your project, brush away any excess (I have a very cheap soft bristle paint brush I use for this), and you are left with wonderful bling! The great thing about doing it this way, is that the fine tip allows you to add very fine details and outlines. I also like adding Swarovski Crystals to my project and this adhesive allow me to apply a tiny little dot of glue, the perfect size for adhering these pretty little gems. Helpful hint … This adhesive goes on blue, but turns clear as it dries. For a permanent bond effect, adhere while the glue is wet and allow to dry (this glue dries very quickly) … for a temporary or repositionable bond, allow adhesive to dry first, then adhere to your item.

SCOTCH QUICK DRY GLUE ... I also love the long lasting hold of the Scotch Quick Dry Glue ... it has a super fine nozzel that makes it great for adhering even the tinest layers and thin letters ...

Zig Wide-Tip 2-Way Glue Pen – it’s the same great glue as noted above and works the same way except that the super wide tip makes it near impossible to really do any fine detailed work with this glue pen. HOWEVER, this is definitely my first choice for re-sticking my Cricut mats.  To do this, clean any lingering debris off your mats using a scraper tool and wash with a non-alcohol baby wipe or mild soap and water, allow to dry, then apply the adhesive evenly over the cutting surface portion of your mat.  Allow to dry thoroughly, and your mat will work as good as new. 

Glue Dots and Zots – These little dots of glue are wonderful. Glue Dots are my personal favorite because they come on a paper strip in a single-file style, or roll-type applicator or single use perforated sheets. Although Zots work just as well, they come on a double-wide paper strip with 2 rows of glue dots that are staggered … for some clumsy reason all my own, I find it more difficult to get just one glue dot off at a time with this 2-row staggered dispensing method  It seems like I am continuously snagging an extra dot or two where I don’t want it. Please understand that I am not trying to give Zots a negative review, as they really do work as well as the Glue Dots, I am merely speaking of my own personal preference. BTW, both the Glue Dots and Zots work fabulous for adhering bows, buttons, pearls, skittles, rhinestones, and many other items as well. They have a strong hold, and come in a variety of sizes from ¼ inch to ½ inch and even in dimensionals and strips too.

Xyron Sticker Maker – These sure are handy to have around for applying a quick all-over adhesive to the back of your cut pieces. I really love to use them for letters, especially the thin letters with a lot of intricate detailing. Just pop it in the Xyron Sticker Maker (top side up), and roll it through the machine ... it’s just that simple … you have made yourself a little sticker. Another great use is to put it through the Xyron machine once … then, without removing the paper backing, turn it over and run it through again. This will give you adhesive on both sides of your cut piece. This is great for applying all over glitter to the top of your piece or adding embossing powder and then heat embossing for another great look. Hint: to help reduce excess adhesive bit from clinging to your piece, press your cut piece down firmly against the paper backing BEFORE removing the paper, I also like to outline the edge of the cut pieces with a stylus or ball point pen before I remove the paper to ensure the glue bits are not clinging to my pieces.  There are several size widths of Xyron machines available and I have most of them. However, the ones I use the most are the small 3” and 5" sizes  … I also like the “X”, which is a small hand-held manual sticker maker (great size for taking to crops).

Terrifically Tacky Tape – This is a double-sided tape with a red backing. There are other look-alike brands on the market, I’ve tried some of them and found them to work just as well, however, I tend to buy this brand mainly because it is available at most craft stores (where you can always use a coupon) and at many online vendors as well. This tape has an exceptionally strong hold, which makes it ideal for making paper boxes, bags, shaker boxes, and other items that require a strong adhesive. This tape will even adhere small beads to paper, wood, glass, metal, plastic, etc. Plus, you can heat emboss with this tape too! This tape is available in a wide variety of widths and comes in sheets as well.

Vellum Adhesives – Vellum is so translucent that it is really important to use an adhesive that is totally invisible. You sure don’t want to go thru all the work of making a gorgeous card or LO and have it spoiled by having your adhesive show behind your work. It is really worth the money to keep some special adhesives on hand that are especially designed to work with vellum. Although there are many brands on the market today, and I am sure most of them are excellent … here are the ones I’ve tried that work really well for me …

Ranger’s Glossy Accents and Aleen’s Paper Glaze – These are clear, three-dimensional glossy mediums. I use them to accent, brighten, dimensionalize and magnify distinct areas on my scrapbook pages, album covers, rubber stamped images, greeting cards, paper crafts or home décor projects. These are ideal for decoupage and paper mache projects too. And the great things is that they also work well as an adhesive by placing a small amount under embellishments to make them stick and on top to protect and glossify! Just a warning, the drying time is much longer using these products.

Zip Dry  – As a general rule, I do not like working with wet glues or glue sticks. However, I do make a few exceptions, as noted above. This is another exception … but I do caution you to use it sparingly because little goes a long way … and the more you use, the longer it takes to dry. But Zip Dry is the best I’ve found and it really is quicker drying than most other wet glues, plus it does not wrinkle or warp your paper like some wet glues. I especially love using it when I am adhering large areas (but great for small areas too) … like one piece of card stock over another or photos in LOs and also for making boxes, which I hold in place with a paperclip until dry (a minute or so will do it).  Also, when I do not have any chip board, I'll cut multiple pieces of the same item and use this adhesive to glue the pieces one on the top of the other for a thicker look.   One of the nice things about using this glue is that since it is wet, you will have time to move your piece into the exact position you want before it dries, but move quickly as it is definitely fast drying.  BTW, once this adhesive is dry, it has a very strong hold!

Pop Dots and Dimensionals – I would be remiss if I didn’t include these little jewels. Any time I want to have a nice dimensional look on my cards and other crafts … I use pop dots. These are a double-sided adhesive with a layer of soft foam in between. I love them and use them often. There are many different brands on the market, and they come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and thicknesses. Some brands even offer them in both black and white.  I am not particularly picky about the brand I use, as they all seem to work pretty much the same … I haven’t found one yet that I didn’t like. In fact, a nice alternative is to use the scotch foam mounting tape … that works great too, and you can cut it to the exact size you need. Just a word of caution … dimensional have a super strong bond … be sure you know where you want the placement to be BEFORE you stick them down, because it’s next to impossible to remove without tearing, or at the very least scaring, your paper. Helpful Hint: The pop dots, and similar brands come on little sheets that you pull the dot off of … but when you’ve used all the dots, don’t throw that sheet away, you can also cut your negative space and use that too … it works just the same.

Scotch Tape and Packing Tape – Yes, I even use plain old scotch tape … any brand is fine. I often use scotch tape to adhere a strip of ribbon around a small piece of paper or card stock on my greeting cards. But you will be amazed at how handy it is to have a roll of scotch tape in your crafting room, and how often you will actually use it! After all, you do not need double sided tape for everything.  The same applies to packing tape. You can’t send out a RAK (or other package) without it (((wink))).

I realize this is a rather long and extensive list of adhesives … and you may be wondering if I really have and, more importantly, do I actually use all of them. And the answer is YES!  In fact, I use even more adhesives for other crafts (wood, glass, fabric, jewelry, etc.), however, at this time, I am writing about mainly paper crafting.  If I had to narrow this selection of adhesives down to just a few, I would select the Glue Glider Pro and the Zig fine-tip glue pen. Luckily, I don’t have to do that, because I truly do use them all! (((grin)))

BTW, I have not been paid to endorse any of these products, nor have I been given free samples from any of the brands listed … this is simply my personal opinion and list of my favorite adhesives … and was posted in response to direct questions from some of you.  (However, if there are any manufactures out there that would like to send me free product to try out and write my honest review/opinion on it ... I certainly invite you to do so!  *wink*) ** Special note:  Since the original writing of this report, I have received adhesives from the following companies ... Zip Dry from Beacon Adhesives and Crop & Glue Vellum Adhesive from Glue Arts.  However, receiving these products had no reflection on the writing of this report ... I have been using these products for some time now because I believe them to be the best for my needs in their respective areas of use.  I will continue to recommended them just as I did previously.

I hope you found this useful … feel free to leave me a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts ... and please feel free to share your favorite adhesives too ... I'm always open to trying new things.

Have a great week everyone!

Hugz,
♥Carol♥