One of my go-to glues in my stash and one of my personal favourites too is the Tombow Colour Glue Stick. I often have people frown at me when I ask them to have a glue stick in their basic kit – and no it’s not the kind of glue stick you send to school for your kids to use. This is a very special kind of glue stick.

I have a ton of uses for my glue stick, and if you think about it they are pretty obvious. Why would you glue down thin tissue paper with tape that will show through, or a pretty quote printed on vellum, and why would you glue down ribbon with a liquid adhesive that will simply seep through and ruin your entire project? Right…I will give you a minute to answer those questions for yourself – done!

OK now time to move on and explain just exactly why the Tombow glue stick is my go-to adhesive for certain papers and applications:
[custom_list type=”dot”]

• I love handmade mulberry paper but because they are so flimsy and thin double sided tape, roller tapes and any liquid adhesive will simply make a line where it bonds to the paper and show through leaving a totally unsightly end result.
• I love making invitations and printing the wording on vellum. Yip vellum as in tracing paper. The paper is thin and milky and with most adhesives this is a nightmare to adhere to any surface. Everything will show through and leave a visible line.
• I like building up layers of papers together on backgrounds like printed tissue paper, old vintage book paper sheets and old flimsy maps that have seen better days. But should I use tape or liquid glues I will have visible lines where the papers overlap each other and the glue sits. Using a glue stick ensures that my papers overlap seamlessly and that no glues will show through my thin and delicate papers.

…so in all of the above cases I will go to my favourite glue stick. The Tombow glue stick will dry with an even surface (when applied correctly) and will leave no visible marks or unsightly residue. It really is magical!

Tombow Colour Glue Stick in short

• The glue is blue but dries totally clear
• Acid free
• Has a really strong bond
• Is washable
• Is totally child safe

Tips and tricks

• As with Tombow mono multi the secret with the glue stick is simple – less is more. You do not need a thick layer of glue for it to work. A thin layer is what will give you a really strong bond and also dry totally clear even on vellum
• When using a glue stick, you always add the glue to the base you are going to adhere something to – this will prevent the glue from making lines in between the layers i.e when I am adhering vellum to the front of a card (see my card sample) I add the glue to the front of the card and then adhere my stamped vellum to the card. I used my hand palm to smooth out the vellum and then leave it to totally dry. I trim my edges if I need to only once the glue is dry
• Do not try and trim/cut thin freshly adhered paper or vellum using a trimmer. The blade will catch onto the paper and tear it – wait for it to totally dry and use your craft knife and metal ruler or scissors for cutting
• It can be used to adhere photos, paper, cardstock, vellum and ribbon
• You can use the Tombow glue stick as an alternative adhesive when working with products like Gold Leaving
• It is essential when adhering thin flimsy papers using the glue stick to always make sure the adhesive goes right onto the edge – for this reason I always glue on a scrap piece of paper so that I can overlap the glue onto the scrap paper and getting the glue right onto the edge of mu paper

This is a wonderful adhesive and when used right you will love it too

How I completed my background on my card

• Step 1

  Cover a piece of white cardstock with a thin layer of glue stick. Make sure that you get right up to the edges.



• Step 2

  Place the dressmaker’s pattern sheet onto the glue covered cardstock and smooth out using your palm or a bone folder.



• Step 3

  Stamp onto a piece of vellum the same size as the front of your card. Use Brilliance ink to stamp onto the vellum (the best ink for that) and let dry. Cover the front of your card with a thin layer of glue stick and place the vellum on top of the glue. Smooth out the vellum onto the glue and leave to dry thoroughly before finishing off your card.

* The following was adhered using Tombow Mono Glue Stick: Vellum, dressmaker’s pattern sheet and paper.

Products Used

• Scrapbooking Adhesives Tombow Colour Glue Stick [TB 01494]
• Scrapbooking Adhesives Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue [TB 62191]
• Celebr8 Layered Chippies [COMING SOON!]
• Graphic 45 Rubber Stamps [IC0140]
• Tsukineko – VersaFine Ink Pad – Onyx Black [TVF-8]
• Tsukineko – Brilliance Dew Drops – Pearlescent Beige [TBD-55]

Adhesive Tutorials

• Stuck On You – Adhesives Part 1
• Scrapbooking Adhesives Tombow Colour Glue Stick – Adhesives Part 2
• Heat Embossed Sticky Adhesives – Accents In A Flash – Adhesives Part 3

Post by The Wholesaler’s Designer Jowilna Nolte.

We are very proud to introduce you to our first designer, Jowilna Nolte. Jowilna is a true creative and she will be sharing some of her passion and creativity with you.

Read more about Jowilna here.