Question: How can I attach clear materials to my projects without the adhesive showing?

Susan Says: There are so many great advantages to using clear accents like Vinyl Word Blocks, Overlays™ and vinyl tags on your projects, but many paper crafters struggle with how to attach them. Let me share some easy, tried-and-true methods I use.

Adhesives
Using a simple glue stick, Glue Dots™ or clear mounting tabs on the back of a clear accent will usually result in the adhesive showing through the clear material when you press it onto your paper. However, this doesn’t mean that you cannot use these adhesives at all–it just means you have to get a little creative with them!

Take a look at the vinyl tag shown at the right and notice how some of the words like “wish”, “magical” and “It’s Your Day” have solid blocks of color around them. Whether you choose to use the vinyl tag whole or cut it into pieces, you can apply adhesive behind these solid areas and the adhesive will not show through the opaque color. The same is true for images and words found on Vinyl Word Blocks–the colors are opaque so adhesive can be applied behind the colored areas.

If you want to glue a word or image to your page that doesn’t have any opaque color around it, try gluing it on a light-colored paper. While the adhesive may slightly show under your clear material, it is more likely to show if you apply it to a darker paper than a light-colored paper.

To use adhesives to attach overlays to your scrapbook pages, apply the adhesive to small portions on the back of the overlay, then add photos, journaling and larger embellishments on the top of the overlay to cover the areas of adhesive. Remember–use a light touch to apply adhesive. A little bit will go a long way!

Fasteners
Glue is not the only option you have for attaching clear accents to your projects. Ball-chains, ribbons, brads and eyelets work well for attaching clear materials, and they do double duty by adding extra dimension and texture.

Ball-chains. All Paper Pizazz® Vinyl Word Blocks and Attachments™ Vinyl Tags come with their very own ball-chain, perfect for attaching the clear vinyl to your projects. Punch a 1/8” hole anywhere on the vinyl piece and run the ball-chain through, or use the hole that comes pre-punched on the vinyl. After that, just loop the ball-chain around a button on a pocket or connect the ball-chain around one edge of a slide mount. You can also punch additional 1/8” holes in your background paper, photos or journaling and thread the ball-chain through the holes to connect it directly to your project. Need to secure the ball-chain in place? Apply a Mini Glue Dot™ to the ball-chain fastener and press it onto your project to prevent the chain from sliding around.

Click here for larger image.

Ribbons. Just like ball-chains, ribbons can be used to hang a whole vinyl block or tag or just one piece of vinyl on your projects. Just punch an appropriately-sized hole for the width of ribbon you choose, then run the ribbon through the hole and tie it, loop it or glue it onto your project. Ribbons are another great way to hide adhesives too. Just run a strip of ribbon across a vinyl tag or add a knotted piece of ribbon or a bow to a piece of vinyl, then apply a Glue Dot™ or a clear mounting tab to the back of the vinyl underneath the ribbon so the adhesive remains invisible. To attach an overlay to your scrapbook page with ribbons, just lay the overlay on top of your paper and punch a series of holes along one edge or one corner of your page. Run strips of ribbon through the holes and tie the tails together or weave ribbon through the holes to secure the overlay in place.

Brads and eyelets. Using brads and eyelets is a very simple way to attach clear materials like vinyl and acetate. Just use a 1/16” or 1/8” hole punch to punch holes through both the clear accent and the paper underneath, then add a brad to the hole and fasten it on the back to keep all the elements in place. Add one brad or eyelet to each corner of your page to secure an Overlay in place, or add one to each end of a small piece of vinyl or a vinyl border. Brads and eyelets act to keep the clear elements in place while adding a dimensional, metallic accent.

Susan joined the Hot Off The Press design team seven years ago and has since produced countless paper crafting projects for Paper Wishes, Creative Paper Crafts and popular scrapbooking magazines like PaperWorks and Crafts & Things. For more projects from this paper engineering master, check out Susan’s Paper Engineering Secrets, Cardmaker’s Idea Book and Terrific Template Ideas.