Several people ask me which adhesive is the best to buy as SNAIL isn't the cheapest. In some classes I also use a different brand of double sided tape (Stylus) as I don't have 12 SNAIL dispensers and to be honest if we used SNAIL in class I would have to either ask people to BYO or pay an extra $5 a class as I find when it's not their adhesive they try to paint with the SNAIL rather than just using it as an adhesive!
I am reluctant to get people to bring their own tape for two reasons, firstly if people start bringing their own stuff to class, it gets mixed up with my stuff and things might get accidentally put in the wrong bag during clean up time and if they run out or forget to bring it they'd end up using mine anyway. Secondly people chose different quality adhesives and honestly you do get what you pay for and I would hate for someone to look at a card made in one of my classes and judge it as being rubbish purely based on the quality of the tape chosen by the creator (not me) - see below for an example.
Here is a card I made using cheap tape a few years ago, I was making some samples up and ran out of my SNAIL adhesive so grabbed the nearest tape to finish it off which happened to be from my sons craft box.
Can you see the oily looking trails left by the tape along the whisper white Top Note? Well here's a closer look.............
Sort of ruins the look of all the lovely sponging along the edges doesn't it? Well look what happens when I apply some gentle pressure.......
The whole lot just came apart - the adhesive just doesn't stick well over time and leaves a papery trail and an oily residue.
Now not every card is designed to last forever, but for those special people whom you make a handmade card for and like to keep it for longer than just the week or so of the event or can you imagine making a scrapbook page with this tape?? Definitely not acid free and wouldn't create something that will last from generation to generation! I strongly recommend thinking twice before you chose which adhesive you will use to create your artworks with as it's a shame to spend all that time, effort and supplies only to have it all come apart or be ruined by oily residues........
SNAIL is refillable and comes in 12m rolls, it has a continuous dispenser and is acid free and you really do only need a small amount in each corner of a card to hold it together permanently. To order SNAIL click here #104332 12m SNAIL adhesive $12.95 #104331 SNAIL refill $8.50.
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