The big tape gun thingy..

So, I've had it a while now - well, nearly a month. That's longevity in double sided tape use isn't it? I haven't thrown it against a door, window, or even at Mr Dunnit. I brandished it at a crop and come home unblemished. So I thought you may like to have my thoughts so far.

I'm pleased with it. It does lay down a very aggressive tape though, so if you're a bit commitment phobic or tend to 'hover' over the piece trying to get things really square...it may cause swearing; somehow the tape magically attracts the work in progress piece to it, which is sometimes very un-funny. But that may well be the work woman blaming the tools.

Willowy Blonde pointed out that the 'guys' who made it into a tape dispenser after it was a successful shop pricing gun were surely only in it for another use - coz it still looks like a

gun and hell, it ain't pretty. However, this has a couple of advantages. Lots of people think it will be heavy and cumbersome and so wouldn't dream of borrowing it - unlike a roll of tape that gets passed back and forth during a 'session'. Us big girl crafters who own the ATG gun know that it's not heavy.

The advantage to the magnificent over-the-top casing has to be that it keeps the tape edges clean. You know - how many times have you laid a neat strip of tape against the edge of something and then stuck it down, only to realise that the edge is now peppered with fluff and/or glitter that has stuck to the roll of tape. Oh. Just me then?

I'm a bit anal about getting tape onto the edges and into corners, I can't bear a peeling corner - it's a bit too home-made, even for me. I'm just about down with the where to start and where to stop the dispensing of the glue tape...but still can't deliver it to card or paper in a straight line! Nor can I work out how to avoid creating a small ridge of the glue when I stop, and that sometimes shows, especially when using paper and not card - that is an annoyance for me, but I think it may be a technique that I'm lacking. It so usually is!

I made the mistake of buying very wide tape (in my excitement I think, I would never usually use 19mm wide). I have since topped up with (although not yet using) a more standard 12mm width and I have also brought a reel converter to enable me to use 6mm tape which is quite narrow. I don't have any yet - by the time I ordered they were out of stock! I got mine and the tapes from a site recommended by Jo of JoZart; it's www.3m.co.uk - sign up for the email news and then you'll see quickly when they have it and/or the tapes on special offer. I bought the gun at offer time and paid about £15 for it....tapes extra - it doesn't come with one. But interestingly, Shopkeeper Gal and I were discussing this article and she discovered that she can supply the tapes - at much less than the 3m website is offering.....the gun is about the same price. This is worth knowing people, we aren't talking pence here.

No doubt the first couple times it will be a fiddle to load - but you won't waste tape - they put a good couple of metres of film on the end of the roll to help you. Clever stuff. Do I recommend it? I can't yet tell if it's cost effective, but it's looking that way. If you habitually use glue to stick card and paper because you like the increased 'handling' time, the ATG is not for you. But if you're a committed tape user, I'd say it's worth investigating. If you come to Ludgershall Crop or we ever meet, I'll let you test run it. For about 2 minutes. This is not a sponsored review - and I'm still not in LOVE with it, but we're definitely friends....not least because I can't lose it on my shambles of a desk!