Demo's & Customer's, too much adhesive?
 

I have to ask this ? here. My stamping friends and I talk about this all the time...

"First of all, my name is jpmayo and I am an adhesive addict..." (I used one snail refill in about a week, i've backed off a little, but it's not that expensive so I want my cards cemented, on the flip side, I also don't have 20 people using mine!)
Anywho...

Demo's, do you think your customers use too much adhesive (snail)??
Customer's, do you think you use too much adhesive?

I am asking because I went to a stamp camp for the 1st time, there were 4 different stations and at all of them, except my demo's table (she knows how I am), they said, "don't use too much adhesive". One of them actually said that if you think you are an adhesive abuser then she would have to do all of our glueing! Oh and a new demo I know called me last night to tell me that on the SU demo sight they were complaining about their customers abuse of the adhesives...they do sell some at Dollar Tree stores.
That just seemed too strange.
Also, the only cards I have ever recieved that have fallen apart are the ones from my demo...so there is also the snail under-use issue to consider.

Oh, thanks to JulieHRR, I corrected my post to say the "SU" website since I said "SCS" at first but that was wrong, I have SCS on the brain 24/7!!

**Question edited to be SCS correct, I am by far way too snotty and sarcastic to post anymore questions...you'all are teaching me a lot.**

I guess it would depend on the definition of "too much". I would think it would be what's right for you. Maybe, during future stamp camps you could take your own adhesive so that way there's no discussion :) meaning they can't tell how much you can or can't use. Also, if you use snail and you are buying refills does it really matter how much you use if you are using it. Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

Don't worry, I use a ton of snail, and I am a demo!!!! I want to make sure that it holds. I do have my customers bring thier own to like stamp camps or my open houses, where they can use all of my other stuff. But when I am demoing they use mine. I had to get a zxyron to SAVE money on my own scrapbooking. So dont worry about it!!! Have fun and enjoy being creative!!!

We are not supposed to use non-SU! product at our workshops, camps and classes. Also, I've heard that the Dollar Tree adhesive is awful -- dispenser tips snapping off, tape tearing easily...

I personally do not have a ton of money to spend on SNAIL refills for the folks who think they need to cover the entire back of the cardstock or run a strip all the way down the entire side -- that's a foot and a half of adhesive for a single full-size layer! I put about an inch in each corner, and maybe a little bit in the center and then I rub it well after I stick it down. No cards falling apart here, even if I made them months ago!

The general rule I heard from the demos was just an inch or 1/2 inch in each corner and I just don't see how that is enough to hold a card for years and years. One said that it also helps if you have to take the card apart fror forgetting a step, and that has never happened to me, I just start over if I mess it up. Maybe I am a waster...

That was my 1st stamp camp, i'll know next time that it's "BYOS":)

Ok, totally joking about the dollar store adhesive. Don't you have a fear of a part of a card falling off when the reciever gets it?? Oh, I do, maybe it is just my compulsiveness but I would DIE if that happened when someone got something from me.
Like I said, from now on all stamp camps are BYOS for me! :D

I try to teach my customers to put some in each of the corners of a piece and an additional bit on the center, prior to mounting.

I've seen folks literally wallpaper the back of a piece prior to mounting. And, then I wonder what they're gonna do, if they mount it crooked or in the wrong spot and then hafta figure out how to get the darn thing off without destroying the entire project . . . ;)

My cards do not typically fall apart, but I will say that hot or cold temperatures definitely affect how well any adhesive will hold.

SNAIL is a pretty strong paper to paper bond, and it is not inexpensive; the fact is, if you go overly heavy handed with it, you're going to use up a lot of it and therefore have to replace it more frequently.

That said, I also require all participants at my classes/camps bring their own adhesive; they are free to use as much or as little of their adhesive as they wish.

The glue dots hold really well, maybe they would work for you. You only need a few of them, and it's a controlled amount. I think they work great, especially for ribbon and and crimped paper and things like that too. Also, they just increased how many come in a box without raising the price! yay!

I'm with row4d and your demos. I use that method on my cards and figure if they hold up to customers looking at them in my sample baskets for a year or so, they will hold up when I send one to my MIL or anyone else.

I'm certainly not going to tell you you're a waster, but you definitely want to try to get over starting over on a card and try using less Snail so that you can take it apart and fix it. First of all, if you start over at a stamp camp, you would be using twice the materials that the demonstrators planned you to use. Now, if that happens once in a blue moon, maybe as a demo I wouldn't mind but if it happened often that would be a different story. Also speaking as someone who has been to many stamp camps as a customer, as a fellow customer there I would be annoyed if someone went through two times the amount of stuff that I did, again if it happened often. (Actually, one of my demo's customers did just that, at every stamp camp, and it *did* annoy me because she paid the same amount for the stamp camp that I did but usually came away with 2 cards, projects, whatever because she would start over instead of fixing the mistake but also carry around the mistake.)

When your demos said you can take apart the card, they were speaking "in the moment" with the Snail. It's not like if you rub it really well after applying like row4d mentioned that the card will come apart when it gets to your recipient. Just don't do the rubbing until after you know that the card is the way you want it, that way if you need to take a layer up you can.


HTH,

I attend lots of stamp camps and the demo's always ask that you bring your own adhesive. I like that as I prefer one brand and another friend likes to use another.

I didn't mind if people used a ton when I had stamp camps, because at least their cards didn't fall apart. I've gotten too many cards in the mail in pieces.... I don't skimp on adhesive!!

Of course, now that I use mono multi, I sincerely doubt you could pry apart my layers if you WANTED to! LOL! :)

What is mono multi??

mono multi is a liquid adhesive, it is a white glue that dries clear and it sticks for LIFE... I am totally addicted to it! It is CHEAP ($2/tube) and lasts forever! Emily did the whole Texas swap day with one tube (45 cards) and came home and is still using that same tube a few weeks later!!!

I get it at http://www.penwa.com and I love it! You just draw a thin line of adhesive with the pen tip and stick together and it is lovely. No buckling like with other liquid adhesives..... it is great!

I would never ask to re-do a card at my demo's house or a stamp camp, though I have thought about it but...if I said I needed to re-do it then they would know that I messed up and thats not going to happen...I am a little bit of a perfectionist.
I put a frog pull-card in my gallery that I made at that stamp camp I am referring too and it is messed up pretty bad (can't master that hobby knife!)!
It was a dare from my stamping buddies for me to display something not perfect and I lived, phew (though I have since thrown it out)! My demo keeps telling me that stamping isnt about perfection and that those little mess-ups are what makes each persons work special but I'm not buying it, yet.

That said, I am happy there are opinions on both sides, I am not totally alone in my adhesive abuse:)

I am an adhesive addict, too. The more the better! :)

Sounds like a loaded question.

I use tons of mono adhesive when I make cards too. I'm trying to cut down on costs and I tried the mono multi (learned about it from a previous post, mamakimberly suggested it) and I LOVE the stuff. I use it all the time now.

Por Que?

Oh, I will HAVE to try that mono multi!!

As a consultant for CTMH, I used to provide my customers with adhesive at all my clubs, crops, gatherings, workshops, etc... BUT, I did have a few "mono junkies" who would run a line of tape from one corner to the next, and two complete lines in the middle. (Imagine: literally a YARD of adhesive for one 12 x 12 scrapbook page!!!) I figured out that monoadhesive was by far my single biggest expense, and changed my rule. They now need to bring their own adhesive to club, and if they forget, I have some that they can buy at MY COST. This really makes them aware of how expensive tape can get... Something that a lot of them told me they never even considered before. So I say, YES! I do limit adhesive with my customers, but they are happy that I now can afford to use more embellishments in our projects, like ribbon, buttons, beads, mini-brads, hinges, etc... No one has ever complained, and it really saves me money! Just my 2 cents...

It is the one that is in the 2-sided white bottle, right? I am on that website to get some right now:)
Do they sell it anywhere else, like Michael's? THANKS! I'll be gluing all day and all night:cool:

Have your customers start bringing their own adhesive to classes. They'll begin to realize the expense when they have to purchase it themselves. Another thing you could do also is purchase the JoAnn Etc brand or the one sold at either Dollar Tree or the 99 Cents stores. I prefer the one from Joann stores, it did a pretty good job, and it was reasonably priced. The adhesive dilemmas have finally been resolved for me by doing all of the above. Good luck,

AMalick ')

Oh, I'm not a demo, just an adhesive addict:)
I do agree that people should bring their own adhesive, I guess, but what about the $20.00 that I paid to go to the stamp camp?
At a regular SU party you would want your future, potential customers to use your snail so they can get hooked on it like I have, right?
I have been stamping for about 5 months and I have used 3 snail refills and I have 6 more coming in my order on Thursday:), just in case, I love the stuff! It is a great product and I ma a guaranteed return customer because of it:D

Too Much adhesive
 

Have them bring their own. Many demo's are doing this now & I have heard no complaints!!

I use way too much, but I get my mono through my business account w/ officemax, and it's half the cost of the snail through SU. That being said, I do bring my own to stamp camp, certain workshops, etc. If I forget, and I usually do, then I buy a refill from my demo. When we do our monthly get together though, she brings her own. She knows that I use too much, we've had long discussions about it. Whenever I use hers at club, I always make a concerted effort to use less. :)

I personally hate the Snail (regular mono) adhesive. I can't tell you how many swaps I have gotten that are now in pieces. And forget putting stuff up on a display board at workshops; a few days on the board, and the layers are falling apart.

I use the Dotto adhesive by Hermafix... works great, SU sells it, and I have never ever had anything fall apart.

I also like glue dots, but as SU doesn't sell them, I use it only for personal use. And the Mono "Aqua" liquid glue is great (thanks SweetMissDaisy!).

I spend a lot of time on my creations, and I don't want them to fall apart, whether I am sending stuff in the mail, or swaps, etc.

Yes, it's the 2-sided white bottle with green lids. I didn't look at Michaels, but all the office store in my town didn't have the stuff. I ordered 2 bottles and the shipping was expensive, but now I think it was well worth it. I'll need to get some friends hooked on the stuff so we can split a large order & will come out cheaper. :)

SU! does carry glue dots, both in Mini and Pop-up. See p. 220, product "I".

Yes, on the mono multi, it is white with green lids... the clear blue bottle called mono aqua is an entirely different product. It holds well, but buckles the cardstock, so I won't use it!

:)

I wish SU carried the tabs - same brand as the Dotto, but the tabs instead of the dots. I use those pretty exclusively - best and easiest adhesive I have found. I don't understand why they carry one and not the other. JMO

Because if you ask Demos if they think their customers use too much mono, and in the next sentence ask customers if they think it's silly to worry about it, then it sounds like you are trying to pit one group against the other. Think about it. Doesn't it sound like you are trying to instigate another brawl? People are still recovering from the last one.

OMG I hate the tabs! I can't ever get them to go exactly where I want them. I usually end up with a little over-hang on my cards and end up having to cut the excess off.

I always use a ton of adhesive also. I'm a double sided tape girl and tried doing just the corners, really. But I don't like when my layers don't lay completely flat and attached and when just the corners had adhesive, you could tell. Lets just say I buy my refills in BULK.

Laura

They used to, but discontinued carrying it, what, mebbe 2, possibly 3, years ago?

I didn't like it because it was near impossible to use to secure smallish sized things, like punched out flowers, to a project; they were just waaaaaay too big in many instances? Then, you had to trim 'em down, or whatever, to make it work for that . . . But, for mounting card front panels, scrapbooking, they are indeed wonderful, I would agree.

Scotch makes a quick dry tacky adhesive that my LSS has begun carrying that is awesome. It comes in a 4 oz bottle and is billed as photo safe, acid free and good for paper, metal and plastic. You only need a little bit and it holds like crazy. I love it for adhering little pieces (like QuicKutz dies) and for larger projects that take more adhesive to complete, like a book of some sort.

I also love two-sided tape. I'm not sure it's the most economical or not, but it works well.

I had such awful adhesive problems--my stuff was always falling to pieces and I finally posted here about a week and a half ago and asked about adhesive. I was told by these wonderful ladies to go get the mono multi and now I can tell you it is great! I found it at Jo Anns in the card making aisle not with the other adhesives. Thanks to all who suggested it because it will save my sanity and my wallet! THe Snail did nothing for me, and I tried it my demo's way with just a bit and with my own Snail, quite a bit and it still came apart after a few weeks. This mono multi you really do use only a bit and it still works great!

I use scotch double-sided tape too. ~For me~ it is the most economical-- because using anything else frustrates me. I have ruined many card trying something else! I can't manage a liquid and I've never liked a dispenser. Of course I bring my own to stamp camps-I just use whatever is provided at regular stamp club meetings.

For you Scotch ATG 700 users - do you prefer using that or the mono multi?

As for the $20 fee you pay for the camp (asked by jpmayo) - your demo spends many hours prepping, cutting and planning for the camp. So your $20 fee covers the supplies and her time. With all the time she probably spent for the camp, she is probably making about $2 an hour if that after expenses. You can't even pay a babysitter $2 an hour anymore (sadly).

So what is it - Mono Multi or the Scotch ATG - I do know size is an issue - does the Multi dry right away? Can you undo your card easy if you want to change it? I guess I'll have to send my MIL to JoAnn's since I don't have one within a 90 mile radius of where I live in Texas. I miss having Joann's and Michael's and Kohl's and Target close by...I guess it saves me money though!

Vicki

Scotch
 

I know with the Scotch quick dry tacky adhesive, It dries very quickly and you are not going to be able to pull apart a project without tearing it.

I haven't read all the replys to your post - so forgive me if this was already mentioned. But - I have my stamp camp customers bring their own adhesive to stamp camp. They can use whatever and however much they want. I provide any special adhesive such as glue dots or sticky strips and this has worked well so far. I used to charge $40 for stamp camp (and included the stamp set) and had them bring their own adhesive and still no one complained.

I don't like to think of myself as being an "adhesive abuser". I think I'm an "adhesive lover". I hate hate HATE that feeling of walking into your craft room expecting to see that cute little card you made and only to see pieces have slid this way and that way ... or ... horror of horrors ... lying lifeless on the floor FEET away from the card on which it belonged! If I'm sending it out, I'm determined for it to stick!!! I will glue it to the death!-- that sucker is going NOWHERE!

That being said, however .... I respect other people's property. I pay for my own glue habit ... I don't expect my demo to suffer financially at my ever-gluing hands. This consideration, plus the fact that I prefer to keep my obsessive gluing habits in the closet, means I use only a moderate amount there. I expect that I'll have to do some re-gluing later on, and I'm okay with that.

The thing that irked me was when I was in a class using my OWN adhesive and some woman beside me squawked about how much adhesive I used. I just remarked that since I was okay with spending my money on the adhesive, I don't see how it made a difference any to her.