Originally, it was quite hard to find suppliers and retail stores that would sell you scrapbooking materials. But with enthusiasts opening their own local scrapbooking stores and with online vendors that can sell you everything and anything in between, the difficulty is now in choosing.
Many beginners find it confusing to choose the basic materials once they get into the scrapbook shop. This is, of course, due to the fact that there is simply too much to choose from. Add to that the excitement of seeing all the different colors, designs, samples, layouts, concepts and ideas that will overwhelm your senses and having you buying everything in sight.
This is a common trap. However it must be understood that to get started, there are only a few things that you must buy. In fact, you need not buy them all at once. It is best to just buy a few pieces and try it out to see if scrapbooking is for you.
Planning what must be bought and what should be left for later is a necessity when shopping for scrapbooking materials. It's too easy when faced with the array of overwhelming choices, without really knowing enough, to get carried away and buy stuff you don't really need or will never use.
Even veterans can fall into this trap. The variety of materials, embellishments, die cuts etc. plus the tools and gadgets is, these days, really overwhelming and it's really tempting to buy that set of die cut letters with no idea what they'll be used for. But they look so good!
So you really need to have a definite plan of what materials you want to buy. In this article, we will tackle the major scrapbooking materials that will prove useful for almost any project.
Album
The most important scrapbooking material and the one that completes the project is the album. For the album alone, you will find hundreds of various designs, formats and sizes that will in itself make it a hard decision. We will not discuss the many types of albums here, we'll just provide an overview for some of the basic choices. Conventional albums appear in 8½×11" or 12"×12" pages. However, smaller albums have become more popular with the integration of newer scrapbooking formats. Other smaller sizes appear in 6"×6" to 8"×8".
Page protectors
The main function that page protectors serve is to help lessen the susceptibility of your photos, memorabilia and the pages, as a whole to damage and tears. And the added value of holding them in place and to avoid stick-ons from falling out. There are basically two choices when it comes to protectors; a) clear protectors that let you retain the normal hues of the layout and, b) non-glare protectors that can make it easier to view the contents.
Paper
Many scrappers turn to papers when it comes to adding designs and choosing the background for their layouts. Patterned papers are among the main choices. For the background, however, it is best to use papers with subtle colors so as to help focus the eye's attention on the photos rather than on the background.
Cardstock
A staple in the scrapbooking world, cardstock is light card, generally heavier and more rigid than papers but not what you would consider cardboard. These are effective in securing the foundations when placing memorabilia, embellishments and photos.
Adhesives
These materials simply hold everything together. These are widely available but be careful in choosing one though. Always look for acid-free adhesives and make sure that they are photo-safe. If they are not, they will most likely cause oxidation of the pictures, the condition when the colors of the paper, photos and other similar materials fade.
Scissors
A definite must-have. You obviously need scissors for cutting and trimming. They help transform objects such as fibers, ribbons and fabrics into manageable size that will coordinate with the design you have.
Paper cutter
A handy addition for trimming photos and papers where you want a really straight edge.
Rulers
Precision, that's the rule. Obviously, this will save time when it comes to drawing clean, straight lines.
There are many other scrapbooking materials that you will find useful. Among them are the following: vellum, exacto knife, self-healing cutting mat, white plastic eraser, glue eraser, lettering and fonts, black pens, colored pens or pencils, grease pencil, photo corners maybe a tote for your scrapbooking storage.
Do your scrapbooks look like scrap? Then check out How To Scrapbook at howtoscrapbookingideas.com where you will also find some free videos on how to edit your photos and pictures.
Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Crafts Articles Via RSS!
