10 Essential tools for scrapbooking

Our 10 essentials for scrapbooking.

Hey there!

If you are reading this post that means that you feel like doing some scrapbooking and we’re here to help. One of the most trendy artistic activities lately is scrapbooking, one technique which consists on the customization of albums, cards, diaries and other objects with paper, stamps, decorative elements and our favourite pictures.

If you have been won over by scrapbooking and you want to start practising, here are some essentials to optimise your work that you should definitely keep on hand. If, one the contrary, you’re an expert in the field, make sure you have these tools and tell us which one is a “must” for you. You’ll be helping all the scrapbooking beginners who have just discovered the world of scrapbooking.

Cutting mat: if you don’t want your family to freak out because you’ve spoiled your desk or dining room table, the first thing you need is a cutting base. You can find them on different measurements and models (magnetic, foldable, double-sided, etc.), but we recommend you to get a big one to use the whole surface. You may think that choosing a cutting base is easy as pie, but with all the available models and colours… it will be a hard decision!

Scissors: another essential, a pretty obvious one. But remember that not any pair of scissor works. Well, they do, but I you want to create a good-looking and precise handicraft, it’s important to invest on a good pair of classic scissors which doesn’t damage or mess up your project. Besides, we suggest you to get a decorative scissors set (with different components for cutting a variety of shapes: wavy, triangular, lace, etc.). They’ll give you place to many options when cutting and creating your albums and cards.

Craft knife: another scrapbooking classic. Maybe you’re wondering why you need a craft knife when you already have scissors. You’ll find out when you start to work. A craft knife has a precision that scissors sometimes lack. Also, they’re really effective when you want clean and fast cuts on paper.

Non-slip ruler: if you want to fold, measure or cut paper and cards STRAIGHT, you need a non-slip ruler. We repeat: non-slip. Here you cannot use any ruler because it’ll probably move and spoil your gut. It’s important as well that you don’t use a plastic ruler. Why? It’ll slowly erode due to the friction with the craft knife.

Paper trimmer: this tool helps you achieve straight and clean cuts as you’d do with a craft knife, but it also includes a cut rail and blades that make your work much more comfortable. It’s a key piece to cut album papers, cards, create tassels, etc.  As you’ll see, there’s a wide range of paper trimmers, from amateur to professional. You’ll have to choose the one which fits best your necessities and budget. Don’t forget that investing on a quality paper trimmer is important, since you’re going to use it a lot. And you’ll be wondering, is it essential to have a paper trimmer? Our first recommendation is that you get a good craft knife, scissors and ruler and, if you want to, you can postpone this decision for later one. But believe us, once you get one you’ll realise how much time it saves.

Crop-a-dile: despite of its weird name, this is a really advantageous crafting tool. With it, you can make holes from two different sizes and set eyelets on paper, cardboard, EVA foam... It’s ideal for bending, tag-making and decorating your projects. If you also need to punch on the centre of your 12 x 12” paper, the Big Bite II crop-a-dile comes to rescue. It allows you to place the eyelets anywhere on the scrapbooking paper.

Corner Chomper tool: this device is a corner rounder, you can use it with more than one paper at once, and it allows you to cut even through your albums chipboards, (which is really useful). Depending on the desired corner angle you can choose the yellow corner chomper or the classic turquoise.

Heat embossing gun: this versatile tool is used to dry inks and watercolours and for embossing. It’s an electronic device with the shape of a hair dryer, though it is very different because it barely produces air (so no dust is generated). It applies instead an intense heat so as to fuse the embossing powder. As we said, it’s also used to shorten your stamped inks drying times, but, above all, its main use is heat embossing, a technique which consists on making designs which are slightly raised and glittering to decorate your projects. For doing embossing you’ll need, along with your heat embossing gun, embossing powder, stamps and transparent ink stamp. You can get a complete set for embossing including all these elements.

Rubber brayer: very appropriate to apply and mix inks on stamps, masks, canvas and other degrade effect surfaces. You can also use it to exert more uniform pressure when you use clear stamps on a methacrylate base. An essential tool if you are into Mixed Media techniques.

Sponges or ink applicators: if you want to practise stamping with stamps or inks, you need these applicators which are used for distressing zones; giving edges an antique effect, apply ink on masks and stencils… Another essential if you like playing with colour.

Now we’d love to know about your impressions! Do you agree with us? Is there any tool you cannot live without? Let us know! You can leave us a comment down here.