Beginner Scrapbooking - A Basic Supply LIst

A supply list for the beginner in scrapbooking is essential for anyone starting this consuming hobby. Without a list to guide you, you will jump from shop to shop, website to website and buy anything that takes your fancy. Before you know it, you'll have spent more than you intended, and purchased items you don't know what to do with. So, let's start off with our list and add just a small amount of detail to ensure you understand what you're intending to purchase. Basic Supply List 1. Scrapbook Album 2. Adhesives 3. Scissors 4. Photo / newspaper clipping 5. Pen The Scrapbook Album The scrapbooking album is used to present in a special way all those things that are meaningful to you. There are many different colors, sizes and designs of albums. The most important thing you need to know about an album is whether it is acid and lignin free. It must be both of these to be suitable for scrapbooking. Cost is another aspect of the album and it can vary widely. Pick an album that you feel will suit your needs. To start off your hobby choose a smaller size album that is easier to fill. A popular size is 8 1/2x11. Move onto a larger size when you gainAdhesives Be very careful when choosing adhesives as the wrong type will ruin a photo and possibly other sensitive items you have on your page. Always choose a photo-safe adhesive. Having said that you can buy this type of adhesive in the form of glue sticks, glue dots and double sided tape to name a few. Scissors The truly experienced scrapper, tends to have some pretty fancy gear including scissors with a patterned cutting edge. You don't need these to start off with (except if you really want them of course). A nice sharp quality pair of plain scissors will suffice. Most scrappers also have a cutter enabling you to slice off paper etc. with a straight edge. This is not essential when you are learning as it is an additional cost, but if you have difficulty maintaining straight lines this item will solve your problem. Photos and Clippings These are the central items that you will put into your scrap book. These provide the subject and hence the theme for your page, and their selection will determine what your scrapbook is all about. Choose the best quality photos or clippings, with good color that are sharply focused. If you use poor quality or out of focus photos or clippings, it will downgrade the quality of your work. Pen This is something that is easy to overlook. Beginner scrapbookers tend to focus so much on what they need to put into their album that they tend to forget that the album is incomplete without some sort of detail describing what the page is all about. This is called journaling and you can not use any old pen, it has to be one that does not bleed (leak out into the paper away from your writing). A good first choice is a pigma pen, and the best color is black. In Closing I hope this list has provided you with the guidance you need to make informed decisions about what you will purchase when you do select your first scrapbooking supplies.