Adhesive for Vellum

I have tried two techniques for adhering vellum to cardstock; spray adhesive and vellum tape. Both products have their good points and their bad points and we will explore both in this tutorial.

The vellum tape is very easy to use and requires less effort and preparation but it tends to show through the vellum unless you cover the tape with some kind of embellishment, ribbon, etc. over the top of the vellum.

This LTC features a stained glass window that has been stamped on vellum, embossed and colored, and adhered to the card with the vellum tape. The stamp is so busy that the tape does not show through.

This LTC has a ribbon of vellum tape running down the left side of the card. As you can see, the tape shows through the vellum. I was not very happy with this outcome but I was new to the whole LTC thing and was excited about trading them so I sent them off anyway.

I was very happy with the outcome of this LTC. I used the spray adhesive for this one and as you can see, there is no residue showing through the vellum. The vellum will also stick very well and will not easily be pulled off. There is no adhesive to distract you from the carving.

So, the bottom line is that I prefer the spray adhesive over the vellum tape. Spray adhesive can be used on paper, wood, plastic, and vellum. It does need to be applied in a very well ventilated area and should be sprayed inside a box with high sides since it will spread to other surfaces as you apply it. Below is an example of how I applied the spray to my cards.

I placed the cards inside a sweater box lined with newspaper and took them outside on the deck to be sprayed. A good tip would be to wear long sleeves because the spray did leave a sticky residue on my arms but was easily washed off.

You need to let the cards dry for about 5-7 minutes and then they are ready for the vellum to be applied. The cards will look a little opague until they dry.

What is also nice about the spray adhesive is when you apply the vellum and it is not centered on the card, you can lift it and reapply it if you do this right away. Once it sticks, it is on there and might tear the paper underneath if you try to pull it apart. Is suggests in the directions to spray both surfaces of the paper that you are sticking together, but I didn't and it worked just fine.

As you can see, there is no residue or tape showing through the vellum to distract you from the image. This is my contribution to the Classic Alice Swap. I did add some extra embellishments to the card but I guess you would need to be in the swap to see it. ;0)