Vellum Adhesives

From one of our readers:

Q: How do I glue vellum to my invitation without big puddles of glue showing through?

A: You have a few options for attaching vellum to cardstock.1. Spray photo mount adhesive (we love the 3M brand) – Spray a thin layer (you can use a piece of scrap paper to mask off the areas you don’t want to adhere) and simply press to your cardstock. Dries clear and very quickly. Small cans of adhesive around usually around $5.00.

2. Vellum tape – Relatively new to the market, vellum tape is a super-translucent tape that blends into most vellums. Scotch brand is widely available at craft stores and is usually around $5.00 for a roll.

3. The other option is to not use glue or tape at all. How about trying any of the multitudes of eyelets and brads that are so popular? Or, try punching two small holes in your project and weave a small ribbon through and tie a bow?

Printing On Vellum

From one of my readers: Q: I love the way vellum looks but haven’t had much success in making practice invitations with my printer. A: Vellum is a sturdy, translucent paper with a wax-like coating that is typically used as overlays for invitations. It has a smooth, slick surface which can make it difficult to print or stamp upon. Inkjets have problems with vellum because the wet inks have a hard time adhering to the smooth surface of the paper. The same goes for rubberstamping inks. There aren”t enough rough fibers for the ink to grip and soak in to, so it smears.Don’t fret, though, there are vellums on the market specifically made for inkjet pritners. Epson and Stampin’ Up make good ones that are likely compatible with all injkets. If you are unable to find inkjet compatible vellums or want to use a colored vellum, you may be able to do so with a little tweaking of your printer’s settings. * Go into your printer set-up and adjust it to the transparency setting. This will put the least amount of ink onto the vellum. * Go into page set-up in your word processing program and set the margin 1″ from the top of the page. This will allow the printer time to get a ÏholdÓ on the vellum and reduces smearing. * Select “economy”, “draft” or “speed” print mode (depending on the specific machine). This will lay down the least amount of ink possible, making it harder for the ink to smear.