Essential Supplies for the Beginner Scrapbooker
This last weekend was another scrapbooking convention with my mom, mother-in-law, sister, and sister-in-law! We do these every year and always have a great time. Quick Quotes, the company that we go through for these, offers a variety of crafting events, from cruises to weekend events, and soon, guided tours. You can see the world AND scrapbook at the same time!
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With these events, Quick Quotes basically provides you with everything you need in order to create some pretty layouts, all you need to bring are supplies. While not all of the designs are quite up my alley, a program like this is a good way to get your feet wet with scrapbooking, if that’s something you’re interested in trying. Here are a few layouts we did this weekend. All they need are pictures!
If you’re more the go-it-on-your own type, there are tons of Pinterest boards and other websites with great ideas for scrapbooking. I have a Pinterest board myself with scrapbooking ideas, if you’d like to check it out.
Meanwhile, this weekend inspired me to put together a list of what I consider “essential” supplies for beginner scrapbookers, those just starting out. In upcoming posts, I will add videos on how to use all these awesome supplies, as well as tutorials on how to create some pages and layouts!
Enjoy! And let me know in comments if there’s something you’ve found essential that I didn’t list!
2N’s Ultimate List of Scrapbooking Essentials for the Beginner
Cutting Tools, Papers, and Adhesive
The most basic supplies needed are something to cut with, something to cut, and something to stick papers together.
Paper Trimmer | A paper trimmer allows you to cut paper or cardstock perfectly straight and perfectly sized, without having to try to use scissors! The one I love the best is this one, from Fiskars, currently priced at around $30 as of the time of this post. While there are both more expensive and less expensive versions by Fiskars and other manufacturers, I like this one the best because it gives a good-sized work surface and it’s still very portable. You can also get replacement blades for it, which are easy to swap out. For replacement blades, make sure to get ones that are compatible with the TripleTrack system. |
Paper and Cardstock  
| Paper is a basic essential! Scrapbook “papers” come in a multitude of weights, patterns, and styles. I usually prefer a light weight or medium weight cardstock to structure my pages, though you can layer on thin papers on top. If you use paper, be careful of the adhesive you use because you don’t want wrinkles or stretching due to the adhesive being too wet. The standard scrapbook page size is 12″ by 12″, so most of the packs I’ve linked below will work well to have one page for your background, then you can add decorations by cutting other papers or cardstock to various sizes. Joanns, Michaels, and Amazon all have a wonderful variety of cardstock. This pack from Amazon is great to get started with. It is two-sided, so you can use the opposite side for a different color, and it has a white core. This means when you cut it, you will see the “inside” of the paper is white and the paper itself is textured. This presents some fun opportunities to tear it for effect. If white core paper is not your thing, look for “solid dyed core” cardstock. This set of search results will give you an almost-bewildering array of options for solids, patterns and designs to choose from. If you’re just starting out, I recommend starting with solid colors with a few simple patterns as accents. I have always found mixing and matching patterns effectively to be complicated, so most of my page designs are solids with a few patterns mixed in here and there. You can buy papers a page at a time from places like Joanns and Michaels as well. |
Adhesive 3-in-1 Glue  Glue Runner   Foam Mounting Squares   | As with papers and cardstock, there is a huge array of adhesives. There are three that I like the best when it comes to just attaching paper and cardstock to other papers and cardstock.
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Paper Scissors | Scissors you can use to snip paper or cardstock is a great item to add to your kit. Just about any scissors you want to use will work, as long as you are OK using them on paper. I do recommend getting a small pair with a sharp point in addition to medium or large size with blunter tips. |
Table Mat   | Let’s face it, scrapbooking is sometimes messy. And, if you’re using anything like an X-Acto knife or anything similar, it’s really easy to damage the surface you’re working on. You can use a table cloth (I use plastic backed painting drop cloths sometimes!) but having a table mat will help keep your surface protected even from cuts and pokes. This one from We R Memory Keepers is awesome because it folds up and you can store it easily, or transport it when you are taking your kit somewhere! It also has handy guidelines on it for making angles and other cuts and measurements. It’s self-healing, comes with a ruler, and it’s magnetic to help keep your brads and other metal embellishments or tools from rolling all over the place! |
Embellishments
After the basics, you can add some pizzazz and visual interest!
Brads   | Similar to paper and cardstock, there are a ridiculous amount of embellishments out there. When I first started scrapbooking, I bought all kinds of stickers, 3-D shapes, letters, you name it. Nowadays, I keep it more simple. The one embellishment I use in almost every page I make are brads! These are decorative little metal brads, just like you may have used during craft day in elementary school. You push them through the paper and spread the little arms on the back side of the paper to hold them in place – no adhesive needed! I like to put these in corners of photos and other places in my pages to add a little interest. This set of search results will give you a huge array of options. Personally, I like the ones that are copper or silver looking (this pack is one I use often), but you can choose from a wide variety of finishes. |
Brad Setter and Piercing Tool   Cork Coasters   Piercing Mat  | Adding brads to your pages will be much easier with this handy tool. You use the point for poking through the paper, insert your brad through the hole, then use the wedge shape on the opposite end to spread the brad arms and press them flat on the other side. I use this ALL THE TIME. The point is sharp though, so don’t, like…poke it in your eye or anything. Piercing the point through your paper can scratch or poke holes in whatever you have under your paper though (including your fingers)! My mom has a cool thick cork board she uses to put under her paper. Piercing the paper sinks the sharp pointy end safely in the cork and protects the surface under the paper. I don’t know where she got it, unfortunately, but these cork coasters will do the job as long as you don’t press too hard and poke entirely through the coaster. There are also foam piercing mats you can use for a similar result – I may spring for this one since I can’t find a nice cork one like my mom’s. |
Translucent Vellum   | Translucent vellum is a thicker, translucent paper that you can lay over parts of your design. How I like to use this is to get the 8 1/2″ x 11″ size and run it through my printer! My ink jet printer will print on it just fine, as long as I let the ink dry before trying to manipulate what I printed. I’ve also written directly on it using a gel pen, but again, you need to let it dry first. I like to use this technique for adding journaling to my pages – just a little note about what was happening or a commentary on what the page is about. This pack is a good value and will work perfectly for this purpose. |
Letters | Before I got my Cricut, I would use pre-cut and pre-glued letters to add titles to my pages, or I would print a heading on a piece of cardstock to then add to my page. If a Cricut isn’t on your radar yet (though I HIGHLY recommend them!!), you can buy a wide variety of letters to do the same thing. The only thing I don’t like about the letter packs is that you may not have all the letters you need for your purpose, and you will always have leftover letters that you may never use. If you’re interested in letters, this set of search results may help. Otherwise, you can get 8.5×11 cardstock and print a title from Word or Pages, using a larger font size. Or skip titles all together! |
Washi Tape | I LOVE WASHI TAPE. It comes in yet more designs, styles, and colors. I use it to add borders to photos, random strips for visual interest, to make little tabs on flip books, the uses are endless! As are the options: this set of search results will give you way more options than you should ever need. |
Photos
Of course, one of the main purposes for scrapbooking is to create a fun and interesting way to display photos! Obviously you can get photos from just about anywhere, but I’d recommend Shutterfly. Their quality is great and if you use their phone app, you can get unlimited 4×6 prints and just pay shipping. I don’t know how long this promotion will last, but as of the time of this post, they’ve been running it for years so I’m hoping they keep it up. They also offer a bunch of other items you can get printed using your photos as well, including photo books!
Storage
Now that you have all these awesome materials, you need a place to put them! Here’s a list of the storage essentials I have in my own craft room.
Photo Keeper   | This photo keeper is an absolute must for me. I have so many prints and photographs that I had to have a place to put them, and THIS IS RAINBOW! I have seen this in stock on Amazon off and on, so the last time I saw it, I bought two! They also usually have a clear version if you’re not into the colors. You can also use the inserts to store lots of stuff, not just photos! Think ribbons, letters, stickers, anything small that you don’t want to get scattered all over. |
Brad & Small Embellishment Storage   | For a long time after I first started scrapbooking, I tried to keep all my little brads and things in separate containers, like those you might use for pills or other small items. That worked okay for a while, but soon I needed a different solution because I like to keep all my little bits separate for easy finding and I had way too many little containers rolling around. For that reason, I recommend getting something like this for your small brads and embellishments. |
Washi Tape Storage   | If you end up like me, you will have TONS of washi tape. This storage box is good for storing washi tape, chalking inks, or any other medium sized supplies in, and it’s pretty portable! |
Miscellaneous Odds and Ends Storage   | When I go to someone’s house or other event, or even if I want to set up shop temporarily somewhere in my house other than my craft room, I like to have a tote that keeps all the stuff I’m working on plus all my odds and ends together. I can’t find the current box that I have, but this one is the closest I think. I actually like this better than the one I have because it is a little more compact and it comes with separate boxes I can access separately (mine just has a big hinged lid). |
Paper Storage Vertical Storage Boxes   Paper Storage Bin   Ziploc 2 Gallon Bags   Hefty 2.5 Gallon Bags   | There’s a bunch of different options for paper storage. You’ll need something that will hold 12×12 papers. In this area there are three types I recommend:
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Albums
Once you make some beautiful pages, you’ll want somewhere to store them! Again, there are a ton of options. Many albums come with a few sheet protectors, and can be expanded to accommodate more pages than you’d think. Below is one of my favorite albums and a couple pages I made, so you can see that you don’t need a bunch of fancy materials to make pretty pages. I did use the Cricut for these, though.
Scrapbook albums are typically sized for 12×12 pages, though you can use a regular three ring binder for 8.5×11 pages. A scrapbook album will typically have posts that hold sheet protectors, which in turn hold your scrapbook pages. You sometimes have to unscrew the posts to separate the front and back of the album in order to insert your sheet protectors, so I recommend buying extra sheet protectors and add them in all at once so you don’t have to take the book apart more than once.
Here’s a search for albums, and as for sheet protectors, I recommend these. Before getting sheet protectors, be sure to check the posts on your album. Some have three, and some have more! You don’t want to end up with three-hole sheet protectors for a seven-post album!
Whew!! That was a monster list! I hope you found it helpful! If you make some pages, I would love to see them! And if you need any help or have any questions, let me know, I’m standing by!
As promised, here’s those vertical storage boxes! Maybe someday I will do a tour of my craft room, but just now it’s a mess!!
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