by Christina Walker
There is no shortage of craft and scrapbooking supplies available today, and every product claims that it is an essential addition to your crafts and sewing supply box. Whether you're building a scrapbooking supply from scratch or need to down-size your considerable collection, knowing which supplies to buy (or keep) can be a frustrating task. Fortunately, this list of the truly essential scrapbooking supplies can guide you in your search and help you put your creative ideas on paper.
Cutters and printers: Cutters and printers are a couple of the essential scrapbooking supplies to have because these tools can help you create lots of the decorations and embellishments you need for your scrapbook layouts. Photo and layout printers save you the time and money of printing the basics of each page at a local printer and make it easy to print a variety of things at home. Cutting mats and paper cutters and trimmers let you cut paper to the exact dimensions and edges you need; choose between rotary paper cutters and paper guillotines depending on how much paper you need to cut through or how much control you need from the cutter. Die-cut machines allow you to create designs, phrases and images to embellish your scrapbook, and some die-cut machines have a print function so they can add color and texture to your die cuts as well.
Pens and markers: Pens, markers, crayons and other coloring utensils may not seem very essential to your scrapbook, but they fulfill a variety of purposes. Practice your calligraphy with an elegant pen and write page titles or captions for special photos. Markers let you color in homemade stickers and die cuts or add colorful, impromptu designs to your scrapbook layouts.
Albums and paper: It's really hard to create a scrapbook without paper to put your designs on or albums in which to store and display them. Choose your scrapbooking paper well; make sure it is acid-free and archival-safe to protect your older photos and other memories. Scrapbooking paper comes in lots of sizes to match your scrapbook albums, and you can even get it in pre-designed colors and sets to take some of the work out of scrapbooking. Scrapbook albums can look like old-fashioned books, simple three-ring binders or even just photo albums.
Adhesives: Using the right adhesives and tapes is extremely important in the world of scrapbooking. Most scrapbookers will tell you that they use different kinds of adhesives depending on what they need to attach to their scrapbook. The various kinds of adhesives and tapes can include glue sticks, hot glue, spray glue, tape runners, staples and brads, and the list goes on. To learn more about which adhesives and tapes pair best with which gluing tasks, read our guide on the best scrapbooking adhesives and tapes.
Stamps and embossers: In addition to die cuts, photos and layouts, you need stamps and embossers to give your scrapbook pages dimension and interest. Stamps and stickers may be flat, but they strategically place designs and colors around the page, while die cuts and embossed designs create depth and texture for your pages.
Storage and organization: Finally, you have to be able to store all your scrapbooking supplies and finished albums. Investing in the proper craft storage will make your life far simpler by providing homes for each category of supply you need to store and organize. Some craft storage options even give you a place to work on your scrapbooking. Learning how to choose crafts and sewing storage will be of great benefit to your scrapbooking hobby.
