The scrapbooking basics.
What do you need to get started? Whenever
you start a new hobby you accept that there is every chance you will make at
least one "stupid purchase". All you can hope for is that we can keep our
'stupid purchases' to a minimum. (My not so smart purchase
was a smaller 9"
paper trimmer - I was too cheap and new to scrapbooking at the time to by the more expensive 12"
trimmer - fortunately I had with me at the time couple of friends who were
fluent in scrapbooking. They promptly marched me back into the craft show to
upgrade to the 12" trimmer.
Which product
to choose?
There is a huge range of tools and
materials available to scrapbookers these days. It is easy to become
overwhelmed by all the product choices. When it comes to scrapbooking tools
I tend not to buy my basic cache of supplies from scrapbook stores as you
can usually get a better price for them same or similar products from other
stores like k-mart (you cant beat a 15% of storewide sale at k-mart).
Take your time to read through this list of scrapbooking tools and materials
especially for creating mini albums. listed in
order of priority (to me anyways)
Paper
cutter
A good Paper cutter is a definite
must have. We use them a lot to crop photos, photo matts and to trim
12x12 papers. They are excellent for straighter , precise cuts and are
very simple to use. Some trimmers come with an extra scoring tool to
create creases in you card which is handy for mini albums like accordion
albums. Make sure that you get a paper trimmer that can take 12"X12".
The blades are pretty durable but keep in mind that they will need
replacing. All brands sell replacement blades for a few dollars. |
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Scissors
Invest in a good pair of good short, sharp craft
scissors -
these type of scissors are better for working with the smaller pieces
and embellishments used with everyday scrapbooking. Covering chipboard
letters with patterned paper and neatly trimming the excess off is near
to impossible with a larger pair of scissors regardless of how sharp
they may be. |
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Adhesive
Acid free white glue and double sided tape(3mm wide - 12mm wide) are my must haves for
making scrapbook albums. You can pick these items up from any scrapbook
store. I like to use mod podge on the covers of my
albums as it acts as a sealant and gives them that extra durability
ie kid friendly, A
tape runner is a very handy albeit a not so cheap item, although when
you weigh the expense against the time you save you might well think it
is worth it. If you can afford it - buy it. |
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Craft Knife
A good sharp craft knife or hobby knife and extra blades. I've never
had any problem using any craft knife but i do prefer to use an x-acto
or similar (I recently bought a knife from k-mart that was exactly like
my x-acto except it didn't have x-acto etched into it??) |
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A Metal ruler
If you're going to use a craft knife it's handy to have a 12" metal
ruler to cut a perfectly straight edge
- don't think that you can get away with your old plastic ruler, your
craft knife will cut straight through it (been there, done that!).
Rulers are handy for creating straight folds
as well. |
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Crop-a-dile
This item is a godsend. It can punch through
anything and makes eyelet setting a breeze (i actually use eyelets more
now) I love that I can use it to punch holes through my mini album pages
and cover all at once if it is not too thick. It can even punch
through tin, leather, cds, thinnish acrylic and more! It's one tough
scrapbook tool... love it.
Who makes it... We-R-Memory-Keepers
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