Scrapbooking Tools and other Essentials

Essential Scrapbooking Tools

Scrapbooking is a process of organizing and preserving photographs and precious memories. Many people are attracted to the hobby because besides being fun and rewarding, scrapbooks enhance the essence of photos and allow you to share and enjoy the wonderful memories associated with them for years to come.

Scrapbooking designs might be focused on weddings, graduations, vacations or the arrival of a new family member. With the availability of ready-made scrapbooking supplies and easy to use tools, you don't have to be wildly creative to do a great job.

Now, some people who might be interested in scrapbooking and paper crafts get intimidated by the vast number of products and scrapbooking tools available online or at their local craft and hobby store. Despite all of the variety, there are only a few essential tools that are required to create beautiful scrapbooking and paper crafting projects.

Having the right tools at hand is also the secret to scrapbooking both quickly and easily. Not only will the proper tools will make it more fun, easy and enjoyable, but what’s great is that the tools will be able to be used over and over again – thus saving you both time and money. Here are some of essential items you'll need to assemble a basic scrapbooking tool kit.

1. Small Craft Scissors: A pair of small hand-held scissors will be needed for trimming rough edges, poking holes and cutting everything from paper, photos, ribbon and much more. Look for a sharp pair that will allow you to cut fine details. While a large pair of scissors will also be useful, they're not as critical to a basic tool kit.
   
2. Adhesive/Glue: Generally speaking, there are three primary types of adhesives that are useful to the scrapbooker. A tape runner is best for adhering paper, photos or other lightweight elements to paper. A glue stick is best for adhering large areas of paper firmly to a surface, such as a book cover. Thick liquid adhesives, such as Allene's Tacky Glue, are best for adhering heavier elements, such as buttons or metal embellishments.Whether you decide to use dry adhesives (similar to double-sided tape) or wet adhesives (glue-like), you’ll want to have plenty of it on hand. You may even want to invest in purpose-specific adhesives if you find yourself working with specific items a lot (such as Glue Lines made specifically for ribbon, or metal glue for heavier embellishments).
3. Large Paper Trimmer: A paper trimmer is arguably the singlemost valuable tool in a scrapbooker’s tool kit, as it will allow you to cut straight lines quickly and easily. The most versatile trimmer is a portable 12” trimmer. You’ll be able to cut multiple sheets of paper or photos in one easy step (rather than trying to cut a straight line by hand), and you’ll be able to take your trimmer with you wherever you go.
4. Trash Tote: Decal backings, extra ribbon, paper scraps and cropped photo trimmings – the end is all the same: a bunch of trash. Having a designated spot from the very beginning will keep your space nice and neat, and it will help make clean-up a breeze. Small pop-up trash containers are especially practical for scrappers.
5. Small Paper Trimmer: A 12” trimmer is the most versatile trimmer you can own, but a small 6” to 9” trimmer will also be super useful for quick photo crops. Many have rulers and replaceable blades so you they are multi-functional and you can’t really go wrong with this essential tool.
6. Hole Punch - A basic hole punch is an important tool that will be used in a number of projects. A small punch can be used for eyelets or brads, and a larger punch can be used to create holes at the edges of tags. A multi-punch tool such as the Crop-A-Dile can punch different hole sizes and set a wide variety of snaps and eyelets with very little effort.

As you progress, you’ll want to add other useful items to your scrapbookng tool kit, including a die-cutting machine, an eyelet setting machine, specialty punches, templates, circle cutters and others. However, the basic tools outlined above will likely become your most-used items that will help you get through your pages quickly and easily.