Crafting Beginners Kit - Help!

Rummer

Hello

I have been following the great ideas of people on this board for a while and I would like to get more into crafting and card making. I do not want to go and throw good money after bad so I wondered what the basic essentials should be for someone starting to craft. Stickers cards etc I can collect as I go I am thinking more about what kind of tools or equipment I would need and a MSE way of finding them. So far I have:

A rotary cutter
Self healing board
Good scissors
Pinking shears

No I just need to know where to take it from here. Thank you in advance for all your suggestions.

pretzelnut

I dont think there is a standard start up list - it all depends on what your into.

I started crafting with:
Card,
Paper,
Scissors,
off cuts of ribbon,
& a ruler.

These basics helped me make my tea bag holders.

I then went and bought some patterned papers that i liked so that i could make different designs.

I then had to get a gullotine as i was struggling to cut all the straight lines with scissors.

I say start small and build it up as you go along. Dont just buy stuff. I have bought stuff that i have needed to make presents for christmas.

I have built my collection up quite quickly but i have bought a few big items that i will never have to buy again and i have more than enough stuff to keep me going for years.

I could reccommend loads of products that i now couldnt live without, but if i didnt have the money to buy them i'm sure i would have managed somehow.

www.artymiss.co.uk have a clearance section with items from 25p, delivery is a bit slow but worth the wait.
www.craftsuperstore.co.uk also have a clearance section but they also give loyalty points everytime you shop. Fast delivery.
www.glitterpot.co.uk has some nice stuff and you can buy single sheets of patterned paper which is handy when starting out and P&P is really cheap.

Try ebay for auctions that have loads of different bits and bobs in them. Then you have loads of variety.

Rumage around your local craft shop and see if they have a reduced section.
Wilkinsons stock some create & craft products.
£ shops are great for bits and bobs too.

If you get some nice packaging be MSE and keep it in a scrap box. Dont throw out off-cuts of anything however small they will come in handy oneday.

I use my PC for printing of images and some wording as i cant justify the cost of stamps - just yet.

Rummer

Thank you for that! I am being given a gift of £50 for Christmas that I would like to use to buy pieces of equipment as I have been collecting the other bits and pieces as you have recommended. The links look great!

Gingerbiscuit_2

Hi I would recommend getting some glue tape dispensers. Not sure of exact name! The worse thing when your starting out is using the wrong glue that bends your work or means it falls off. These glue tapes stick really well card and paper without mess which is great.

Foam pads are good for adding that bit extra to your work found even cheap ones from pound shop work just as good as more expensive ones.

PVA glue is good for sticking small items that just need something extra like buttons say.

Essential buy is also a small paper cutter guillotine type thing, not sure if this is what your rotary cutter is or if its more of a craft knife and mat. Cant say I ever got the hang of using knives and nothing worse spending hours trying to matt and layer ( stick squares of card on top of each other ) and they are all wonky.

A good pack of card in white and colored will go a long way. Once you start crafting you tend to end up very quickly with lots of bits of pieces anyway so get some storage boxes and get ahead!

Rummer

I picked up a few bits and pieces today, some fancy stickers and some felt. I have a guillotine, laminator and binding machine somewhere from my days at Uni so I will dig them out too!

irishgirl62

punches? I love my circle punches as I would type out words or print pictures and hover the circle punches over them, i have them in 1" 1.5" and 2"

Rummer

Thank you Irishgirl!

irishgirl62

the next thing after circle punches are scallop punches lol its a never ending buying thing but get the scallop punches slightly wider than the circle punches so that the circles sit on top of the scallops

i bought mine from here after months of looking for them

http://www.happy-daze.net/catalog/punches-woodware-punches-c-25_169.html?page=2&sort=3a

LJM

if you look on www.madaboutcards.com they have the 50p shop on there and sometimes a 10% off weekend

Rummer

I thought I would resurect this post as a lot of people have shown interest in starting to craft and it would be good if the more experienced amongst us could share the products they can't live without.

mary-op

Thanks for bumping this up...........I don't have anything other than a few pairs of curvy scissors...........scallop punch looks like the sort of thing I could really do with.
irishgirl -thanks for the link for that:j