It’s easy to be overwhelmed in the crowded scrapbooking aisle of a craft store, so prepare yourself by bringing along a general shopping list of items.
Table of Contents
Basic Tools
Stock up on the following scrapbooking supplies, then find a tote or another container in which to store them.
- Adhesive: Use double-sided tape to attach photos and papers to your layout. Choose a tape runner (a length of tape inserted into a holder that you control), glue dots (individual spots of double-sided tape) or adhesive sheets, which you cut down to smaller sizes.
- Adhesive remover: Most adhesives are very strong, so adhesive remover is a good supply to have on hand in case of accidents or a change of heart.
- Art gum eraser: Use this to get rid of pencil marks without leaving smears.
- Black archival pen: This handy tool helps with journaling or adding doodles and other accents to your pages.
- Craft knife: This tool is excellent for cutting intricate designs out of paper or almost any other material.
- Cutting mat: This serves as a protective work surface.
- Metal ruler: Mainly used for measuring, this tool can also be used (along with a craft knife) in place of or in addition to a paper trimmer.
- Paper trimmer: Use this tool to cut down cardstock and patterned paper quickly and accurately. Different types include guillotine trimmers (the blade is on an arm that lifts up and cuts on the downward stroke), track trimmers (the straight blade slides along a track to make the cut), and rotary trimmers (the blade is a wheel and turns along a track to cut).
- Pencil: This is used for marking measurements.
- Scissors: A small pair of scissors is perfect for cutting papers, embellishments, and photos freehand. Look for blades that have a nonstick surface for cutting into stickers and other adhesive-backed materials.
Optional Tools
Once you feel comfortable with the basic tools, venture out into more advanced ones, and look out for new categories in this ever-evolving industry. Consider asking friends whether you can try out their tools before purchasing your own.
Writing Tools
- Colored pencils: These pencils come in handy for adding detail and color.
- Colored pens: These pens come in different line widths, colors, and ink types. Look for pens that will write on slick surfaces without smearing. Pens are useful for journaling and adding accents to a page.
Paper-Altering Tools
- Paper piercer: Punch small holes as decorations or to create a place to start embroidery on a page.
- Eyelet setter: This tool can help you add an eyelet—a hollow metal embellishment—to your page.
- Burnisher: This tool is designed for adhering rub-ons to the page.
- Sanding block or files: These tools distress paper and other items, giving them a worn look.
- Paint brushes: These are used to add paint to the page.
- Tweezers: These are great for holding small bits of paper and other items in place as you work with them.
Cutting Tools
- Punch: This tool comes in many sizes—from very small to as big as your hand—and in a variety of shapes. Use them to punch holes into pieces of cardstock and patterned paper.
- Corner rounder: This tool punches out curved corners.
- Decorative scissors: These have blades that cut out shapes, such as waves, postage stamp edges, and scallops.
- Die cut tool: These tools are used primarily to cut shapes in paper (though some can cut through thicker materials). Die cut tools have either individual dies or software to create each shape. Choose one that you can operate by hand or one that hooks up to your computer, and use it to create a variety of shapes.
Stamping Tools
- Stamps: Stamps come in several forms and can be used with ink or paint. Rubber stamps come mounted on wood blocks, or unmounted to be used with acrylic blocks. Unmounted stamps are less expensive and less bulky to store. Clear stamps are used with acrylic blocks and are see-though. They are easy to position and are great for accurate stamping. Foam stamps are usually the least expensive stamps but are delicate and may wear out more quickly.
- Acrylic blocks: These are used to hold clear and unmounted rubber stamps while you stamp with them. They’re available in a range of sizes.
- Pigment and dye ink pads: Pigment inks are rich in color and a bit slow to dry, which make them a good choice for embossing. Dye inks dry quickly. Both can be used for stamping images or for inking around the edges of paper.
- Embossing powder: This powdered resin becomes hard when sprinkled on wet ink and then heated. Powders come in a range of finishes, including matte, metallic, and glitter, as well as a variety of colors.
- Heat gun: This tool is used to heat up embossing powders and make them solid. You can also use one to hasten the drying of paint or any other liquid.
Miscellaneous Tools
- Sewing machine: Sewing is a popular method of embellishing pages. Practice on scraps first to check the tension and size of stitches before you sew directly onto a layout.
- Computer and printer: A computer is useful for times when you don’t want to write your journaling by hand. Typing also gives you a chance to edit extensively. You can use a computer to make digital scrapbooks too.
- Photo printer: Photos from traditional inkjet printers are not considered archival quality—they’ll fade over time. A printer made specifically for photo printing will produce long-lasting, high-quality prints. If you have a large-format printer, you can create digital pages and print them at home.
- Wet and dry adhesives: Aside from a tape runner and glue dots, you’ll need a few other adhesives in your stash. Clear-drying glue is great for adhering bulkier items to a page. Special tapes are available for adhering vellum and other translucent materials. Heavy-duty double-sided tape and spray adhesive also frequently come in handy.
Papers
A wide variety of papers are used in scrapbooking.
Cardstock
Cardstock is heavyweight paper that comes primarily in 12″ × 12″ and 8 1/2″ × 11″ sheets. You can find it in textured and smooth styles—some types are already imprinted. Most often, cardstock is the foundation of the scrapbooking page—a blank canvas on which to add photos, patterned papers, journaling, and embellishments. Cardstock can also be used to add accents to the page.
Patterned Paper
Patterned paper comes in printed sheets—usually 12″ × 12″, but also in smaller sizes. These papers come in a broad range of styles: bright and geometric, funky and cartoonish, aged and distressed, or modern and spare. Paper manufacturers tend to release new collections several times a year, so there are always new products from which to draw inspiration. You can either stick with established brands or mix and match using various types of paper.
Specialty Papers
Specialty papers go in and out of style in the scrapbooking market. Vellum, a heavy, translucent paper, and mulberry, a handmade paper, are examples of products that have been popular in the past. Overlays (consisting of clear acetate with printing) are becoming more widely available and include photo frames, geometric designs, and organic shapes. Some overlays are meant to be used on top of an entire page, whereas others are meant to be trimmed and used in small sections. You can also find specialty papers with metallic finishes.
Embellishments
Embellishments are accents that add color to the page and complement your photos and journaling. You can use as many embellishments as you’d like, depending on your vision for each page. The assortment of embellishments available is constantly changing, so frequent visits to a craft store may reveal more than what’s listed here. Also listed are techniques that you can use on your embellishments.
Embellishment Accents
- Acrylics: Made from plastic, these shapes and letters can be clear or colored.
- Brads: Available in many sizes, these are shapes with metal prongs that punch through paper and spread open on the opposite side.
- Buttons: These can be glued or sewn onto a page, and can be from either your own collection of loose buttons or a manufacturer’s coordinated set.
- Chalk: Use this powder directly on a page to add color or change the hue of another embellishment.
- Chipboard: This versatile material is similar to cardstock but heavier. Cut your own letters and shapes or buy premade versions. Chipboard can be painted, covered with paper, otherwise altered, or simply left plain.
- Coasters: This material is similar to chipboard but usually white and lighter in weight. Buy it plain or pre-formed and treat it like chipboard.
- Die cuts: Simple shapes cut out of paper, die cuts can be bought premade, or you can buy a die-cutting tool with dies or software.
- Eyelets: These are metal holes—much like the ones used in shoes for shoelaces. They come in several sizes and colors and can be used for attaching other items to the page.
- Felt: Available in sheets or pre-made shapes, felt adds texture and dimension to a page.
- Flowers: These come in many materials, including but not limited to paper, plastic, fabric, and felt. They add color to the page.
- Found objects: Clothing tags, postmarked stamps, office supplies, and old book pages are examples of nontraditional scrap supplies that can find their way onto layouts.
- Glitter: Add your own glitter to embellishments or use a manufacturer’s glitter-covered product.
- Jewels: Self-adhesive jewels are available in many colors, shapes, and patterns.
- Journaling spots: These small, self-adhesive papers come in various colors, shapes, and patterns. They’re used to add journaling to a page.
- Letters: Letters of the alphabet come in many different styles, from die cuts and chipboard to stickers and rub-ons. They’re typically used for page titles.
- Metals: This category includes many types of embellishments, such as frames, brads, label holders, eyelets, and photo turns. A lot of metal can make a page heavy, so use metals sparingly.
- Monograms: These are generally large letters used as accents for layouts. They come in a variety of materials.
- Paint: Both acrylics and watercolors can be used on a page or accent.
- Punches: Use these to make standard shapes out of cardstock and patterned paper quickly and accurately.
- Ribbons and fibers: Use any type of material-based ribbon or prepackaged fiber.
- Rub-ons: These printed letters and shapes adhere to clear sheets. When rubbed or burnished on the front, the rub-on releases from the sheet and sticks to the paper.
- Stickers: Stickers are popular because of their versatility. You’ll find them in the form of letters, words, quotes, shapes, and borders.
- Transparent items: This category includes overlays, acrylics, vellums, and anything else that’s see-through. You can either leave transparent items plain or cover them with paint, paper, or other embellishments.
Embellishment Techniques
- Distressing: This is the act of sanding, scratching, and otherwise making a material look worn and used.
- Doodling: Usually done by hand, these drawings range from cartoonish images to elaborate swirls. Templates are available for tracing many different patterns.
- Embossing: To emboss, sprinkle a resin powder over a stamped image and heat it. The heat causes the powder to rise and harden.
- Embroidery: To embroider, use an embroidery needle and thread on paper just as you would on fabric. Pierce holes in a pattern, then sew through them.
- Inking: This is the technique of dragging an ink pad around the edges of a page to add subtle dimension.
- Sewing: Sewing can be done by hand with embroidery thread or with a regular sewing machine. Always test on pieces of scrap paper first.

[…] and creative techniques that reinforce the rest of the page (for more about embellishments, see Scrapbooking Tools and Supplies). When making the decision to add an embellishment to your page, ask yourself: does it complement […]