So you wanna be a scraper?

I get asked a lot “what do I need to buy to start scrapbooking?”
This is a list of must have items:
· A paper trimmer : (don’t spend a ton of money here, one about 10 bucks, that accommodates 12” paper with a pull out ruler will be fine for a beginner) If you decide that scraping or any type of paper crafting is right for you then you can invest more in a fiskars rotary trimmer.

· Cardstock: Don’t buy the multi color combo pack, you will end up with wonky colors you won’t use. Buy a few sheets of each Black, White, Craft, Cream and your favorite color for me it’s usually red or blue. When you start to do more then you can buy colors for a specific project, don’t buy cardstock just to stock up.

· A set of alphabet stamps: I don’t recommend buying letter stickers unless you have a particular project in mind a large (about 2”) and a small (1/2”) set of alphabet stamps will give you a lot more mileage in the beginning. Please get clear or acrylic stamps so you can see your words I promise this will save you so much frustration.

· A high quality black and brown inkpad.

· An acrylic block large enough to accommodate your largest alphabet stamp

· Scissors: You can’t go wrong with fiskars soft touch micro-tipped scissors. These baby’s are spring loaded so you won’t fill fatigue.

· Adhesive: Something important to remember here is that you need the right type of adhesive for each thing you are trying to glue down. You will need a dry adhesive like Tombo Mono rollers. You will need a wet adhesive like designers dry clear. You will also need glue dots mini.

· A sketch book or magazine. My personal collection includes Page Maps, all of Close to My Hearts books and best of Becky Higgins. The importance of a sketch book is to give you a starting point. After you have a sense of what you like and don’t like you might not use these as much.

This is the most basic list of what you need to get started. Now don’t get me wrong, there are tons of other things you will want but STOP! If you don’t know where on a particular project it will go don’t buy it. If you are a beginner you will be upset that you have stuff just sitting around and this hobby can grow overwhelming.

Did I forget anything? Leave a comment…