New love.... ATG

I did say that I'd write more about how I assembled my rolodex cards. As far as I know, there isn't a die to use to cut out the big shape. Most office supply places carry a punch to make the slots at the bottom of the card, so it's not too hard to cut out the shape, round the corners, and punch the slots. The real fun is in embellishing these cards. The drawback, though, is that I want the card to look good from the front and the back. Sometimes contact info is included to make it useful as a real rolodex card would be. This means that the backs of staples, brads, eyelets etc need to be covered. I usually poke them through a single layer, or through two layers so that the back is still covered by the back layer--yes, I use a real rolodex card as the base and then decorate the front and back with either cardstock or patterned paper. The challenge was finding adhesive that would hold the layers together, even if the embellishment was near the edge of the card. My favorite Tombow monoadhesive would pull apart. I tend not to have the patience to use wet glue and hold the edges together, plus I couldn't always use something heavy on top since they weren't always flat. This is when I found my new love.

My newest favorite adhesive is now the 3M ATG tape and 3M ATG, adhesive transfer gun. I think I'm in love! I'm using the 1/4" width permanent tape and it really holds! I bought my ATG supplies after hearing about them on some stamping forums. Currently, the best price can be found at framingsupplies.com. I can personally attest to their great service and quick shipping, too. There is an initial investment for the gun, but the tapes are much longer than other adhesive tapes at 36 yards, or even 60 yards for some widths. They're also cheaper, especially if you buy in bulk. And did I mention how well this tape holds?!!! It comes in 1/2" and 3/4" widths as well as the 1/4" that I've been using. It also comes in an acid-free form for scrappers who worry about tape or glue near their photos. There are a couple of guns available. The yellow one is for use with the wider tapes and has an adapter that can be added for use with the 1/4" tape. I have the red one that is specifically for use with the 1/4" tape. It looks bulky in the photo and it's definitely bigger than other tape runners, but it's light and very easy to use! Put the wheel down, pull the trigger, roll the tape onto your card, release the trigger when you get to the end, and pull up. It's just like other runners, and the backing paper gets spooled back into the gun so that there's no mess. It was also easy to load the transfer tape into the gun. There's only one drawback that I can see--it really holds! If you're one of those people who likes to pull something up before it's really adhered, this might not work for you. You've got to get it right the first time. I think there's a repositionable adhesive tape on the site, too, but I haven't tried it or heard anything about it.

Bottom line? This is by far my favorite new adhesive! Between this and the new Glue Dots vellum sheets, I've been in crafting heaven!