Beginning.

In 2005, my sister (Shaina) said to me, "You have a scrapbooking group in your town, and you *don't* scrap?! What's wrong with you?!" And I pretty much started scrapping that week. I mean I did "scrapbooking" when I was 12... Scotch taping photos and memorabilia to white paper with no page protectors in a post-bound scrapbook. I loved it!

But it wasn't until eleven years later that I really got into it. I honestly never saw myself as creative. I suppose because I was *always* comparing myself to Shaina. And she is the *epitome* of creative. To this day, I think her creativity and talent level are really something I can never dream to come close to. But that's okay... because I'm me. And I have my own "way."

When I first started scrapping, I was SO overwhelmed. There's just so much STUFF! And I didn't think to research *everything* before I started. I should have. I didn't join scrapbook.com (my scrappy home) until a few months after I started scrapping, and I realized, "Crap! I bought a whole bunch of stuff I don't need!"

So I thought I'd blog for all the beginners. And if I need this again, I can just copy and paste into a message board or email some place. :)

My best advice is to know what you want before you go to a scrapbook store because you will be overwhelmed. LOL. At least I was! Like... look at paper collections and things in the gallery at Scrapbook.com and the Superstore. And buy a scrapbook idea book. I wish that was the first thing I did. I would have saved SO much money! LOL.

Basics:

-idea book (I have SO many because I LOVE them. I still want more! LOL. I suppose you find whatever is right for you, but as the first one, I think I'd go with Clean and Simple Scrapbooking or Clean and Simple: The Sequel by Cathy Zielske. These touch on a little of everything in scrapbooking.

Other favorites of mine are: Real.Life.Scrapbooking by Rebecca Cooper and The Big Picture by Stacy Julian. If you don't go with The Big Picture to start out with, definitely make it your 2nd purchase. It goes into detail on how to manage your albums... which is definitely what people struggle with when just starting out. :)

-12" trimmer (I like ProvoCraft Zision... awesome and only $10! If you want to spend a *bit* more, go for the Cutterpede. You can cut in different designs with multiple attachments too!)

-adhesive (an acid-free glue stick is fine, but if you make a mistake, it's usually down there for good! LOL. If you don't want something like that... choose a tape runner like 3L EZ Dots or 3L EZ Runner Scrapbook Adhesive and just use it on corners, so it lasts longer). Those are permanent, but usually if you realize you made a mistake, you can get those to come up within the first hour you use them. I usually use the dots for paper and the runner for photos. :)

-photo splits/corners (these are to stick down photos. you just put one at each corner... Scotch makes good ones! You can even cut them in half so they last longer. I use the 3L EZ Runner on photos as well because they're just SO fast! :)

- patterned paper collection (collections are SO much easier to work with because all the patterns and colors coordinate with one another... this is great for me as it takes out the guess work!) Basic Grey, American Crafts, Scenic Route, and Tinkering Ink are my favorites!

-cardstock (the industry fave is definitely Bazzill Basics, but now more companies are inching in on the market, and they have so much to offer! Prism and World Win are fabulous! And Die Cuts With a View is pretty popular as well.

I do use Bazzill myself, but now I find myself preferring the "orange peel" texture to the ever-so-popular "canvas texture." Now that I have 600 sheets of the canvas texture, I'm going to have to do A LOT of scrapping before I switch completely to orange peel! LOL. Canvas is okay for printing journaling form your computer, but I prefer to handwrite mine these days, and the orange peel just works better for that, in my opinion. Bazzill does have the most colors out there in the canvas texture though.)

Anyway, just starting out, I'd say either go to ebay and get a lot of different colors, or go to scrapbook.com and order a pack that has a few different colors. If you buy them in small amounts, you can try out different companies and textures. Try your local scrapbook store for that. :)

-scissors/craft knife (EK Success Cutter Bees are AWESOME!)

-acid-free/archival-safe pens (ZIGs are awesome!)

-find a local scrapbook store (aka "LSS" -- go to Yahoo Yellow Pages and type in your address. Then in the search box, simply type "scrapbook" (you don't have to put quotes around it), and you'll find the closest ones to you. If none show up, visit Creating Keepsakes. They have an online store listing.)

Tips:

-If you're thinking you want this album to look pretty in 20 years, make sure you use acid-free stuff. Most regular envelopes and post-it notes and things like that aren't acid-free so they will ruin pictures or fade with time. Actually, I stuck a post-it over one of my photos when I was in junior high, and just a few years later, it turned the photo BRIGHT yellow! Ugh.

-You can get acid-free post-it like things (or journaling stickers) and other embellishments at a scrapbook store. And they are super cute!

-Also, most Sharpie pens are NOT acid free. And I learned this the hard way... that you do NOT want these in your books. They bleed BIG time and fade over time. Regular pens won't do it either. But ZIG s. They're the best! They're waterproof too!

-Oh! A big mistake I made when just starting out were buying "little things." Like 3D stickers I thought were cute (and never used), other stickers, brads, eyelets, vellum, quotes, stamps, ribbon, etc. I mean, I used some of those in the future, but I wished I would have decided my *style* first before I bought stuff I *thought* I liked. I seriously would have saved myself hundreds of dollars.

-Don't buy "nifty" tools you *think* you'll need. Like eyelet setters (I seriously bought one of these before I learned how to use it, and when I got home, my *husband* read a tutorial online and HE showed me how to use it), fancy shape cutters, die cut machines, embossing stuff, etc. Figure out exactly what you need and why (very important), and that will save you money. :)

-White, black and brown alphabets (chipboard, stickers, foam, rub-ons, etc) match with EVERY layout. Stick with those first, and you won't be sorry. Heidi Swapp or American Crafts make really cute ones! I'd start with ones that already have adhesive. Trying different alphas helps you find out what you like best.

-Have fun!