To adhere or not to adhere...

As an avid scrapbooker I have very STRONG feelings about adhesive. Here are common concerns:

1. How much are the refills?
2. How long do they last?
3. How well do they adhere? If I mail someone a card I made, is it going to fall apart when they open the envelope?
4. How easy is it to apply?

I've had some pretty bad experiences with a few adhesives that should remain nameless because I'm not one for official mudslinging. I tend to mudsling only "off the record." I think my blog is very much "on the record." Basically, I hate ones with refills that unfeed themselves. I hate ones that won't apply well and you have to keep fighting it.

As I've evolved as a scrapbooker, so has my adhesive selection. Some of my recent favorites are:

1. My ATG Gun. LOVE IT! I pretty much use it on just about everything and my friend just found refills on EBay for super cheap! Yippee!
2. The Xyron X. I have a bigger one too, but I feel like it is too wasteful. The X is perfect for little stuff. I remember seeing an infomercial that Lisa Bearnson did about Xyron and I thought it was the dumbest idea ever- then I used one- oh boy! Heaven sent.
3. Scotch Quickdry Adhesive. I use this on fine detail work or chipboard stuff. My friend Melanie referred me to it and sometimes I joke with her that it's probably just watered down Elmer's glue with a much higher price tag on it.
4. Zots. Right now I have some in all of their sizes, but I tend to use the tiny ones and medium ones the most. I use them on flowers, ribbons, and other detailed things that need stronger adhesive.

Those pretty much meet all of my adhesive needs with all of my projects.

Last night I had a Stampin Up cards class and needed to bring my own adhesive and scissors. I packed them up on Thursday night and then left the bag at home Friday morning. I realized I forgot about 10 min from home and thought about turning around but then realized I could probably just pick up some adhesive somewhere before the class.

I ran through my mind of all of my options: a scrapbook store (too expensive), Michaels/JoAnns/Hobby Lobby (not one nearby, and didn't have a coupon on me- and I never pay full price for something like that there) or Wal-Mart (right on the way to her house and cheap). So I headed to Wal-Mart's scrapbook aisle. Well, I got there and saw a few adhesive options for $6! $6! I didn't even NEED one (see, I have 4 very feasible options listed above) and I just had to have one for a few hours! I couldn't use glue sticks (the affordable option) because I was making cards and I'm too stingy with my glue sticks so there is no way I was going to wrestle with glue sticks all night long on 10 different cards.

Then I saw one (Ad-Tech) for $3.50. Definitely cheaper than $6, but still more than I wanted to spend. But I didn't have any choice- otherwise I'd have to pay my consultant for whatever SU was trying to convince me to pay for something I could get at JoAnns with a coupon. They had a runner option and a dots option. I thought I'd try out the dots option as I never had before. I LOVED it! It was totally agreeable and pretty decent adhesive. I now have a backup! My friend said that apparently Oriental Trading Co also sells them. Who knows how long the refills last, but for last night, that little purple tool saved my hiney! Thought I'd share the info!