Basics of Card making/stamping -Part 1

These tutorials are a product of extensive reading, researching and lots of time spent on making them. Please do not copy, or share on your page (for promoting your items in your shop) unless I give you permission to do so. Please ask nicely....I won't say no...but you need to ask.... You can link it on your blogs if you have used these tutorials...please share the link with me when you do use these tutorials...I would love to stop by and see what you have done! 

I'm sure everyone has a list of what they call their basics..And I'm just sharing mine.Some  stampers/cardmakers wanted  info on basic paper crafting supplies and what to spend on. I thought I would provide my two cents...

I've been crafting since 2006...so whatever you see in my stash has been collected over 5 years, and I'm a very frugal shopper. Everything that came from USA is on a discount or brought during sales.

I've never paid full price for any of the items, and I rarely pay shipping. I make sure I shop at sites that give me free shipping. That way I have less guilt over spending ridiculous amounts of money (enough to feed a family for a month). It doesn't hurt to have great friends who are willing bring your stuff over to India.

This will be a long post, so have divided it into parts..I have not planned out anything, but lets see how it goes..
This first  part I'm concentrating on your Basic Tools...then will cover stamps, inks and papers (maybe in 3 different posts) . As I go along, your comments, questions will help me plan further posts...

This is the box that is always by my side when I'm crafting..

It contains all the stuff I need for everyday crafting..there is a lot lot more than this..but basics first...

 First rule of basics, get yourself a good pair of SCISSORS. I changed 3-4 till I found one that I could cut without hurting my hand. The orange fiskars one has served me really well for over 3 yrs...you'll need it for trimming your images, cutting card stock.
Always keep a sharp scissor separate for cutting ribbons. While cutting paper, scissors get dull, and will not cut ribbons as sharply. The Tim holtz scissor has been on my wish-list for 3 yrs..just got it 2 weeks ago and still getting used to its huge grip. Its mainly for cutting unmounted rubber stamps, cutting into my foam tape..which is sticky! This being a non-stick scissor, cleans easily.

Next is your Self healing cutting mat...necessary when you're cutting paper with blades or knives. Easily available in the market.

A good paper cutting blade (blue/yellow) and an CUTTING KNIFE..this one is by Camel, called Precision knife( haven't had to change the blade for over a year)..super useful for cutting out detailed images or centers of the images.

The tool on the extreme right, is what I use to pierce even holes on my project, or when I'm stitching. I have no clue as to what its called, but you will find it any shop that sells Embroidery stuff. Its similar to the Sew-Easy that is a current rage. 

On Left is my nail filer...Emery board..I use it for giving a finishing touches or distress the paper..I use it to clean up the edges of my scrapbooks too. I picked it up from a beauty shop ;)

My un-sepearable companions...My camlin 0.5 mechanical pencil (its been with me for 4 yrs now), an eraser, my white Uniball Signo gel pen, Black Sharpie marker, black sketch pen, and my water brush. (You can very well use a paint brush). You need a good ruler too..that goes without saying!!!

The white gel pen and the black marker (0.5) I use to create faux stitch lines, sharpen my stamped images with black if it hasn't stamped out properly.
And wonder what I do with my expired credit card? I use it to spread out the glue...and flatten the paper after sticking it on.

Lastly I have the corner rounder, a stack of post-its, removable tape (Scotch magic tape or invisible tape) and a basic black ink pad, which I refill with Faber-castell ink, glue and gloss, and Fevicol (forgot to show). And my newest purchase, The bone folder (paper creaser)

You do get indian corner rounder, used for photos..you can pick that up..it gives a good finish to the cards.
Post-its when I want to mask and image or just write down the measurements...removable tape-again to hold the masks in place. (just don't use this or any other tape on mulberry paper..everything rips off)
Black inkpad for quick distressing.

Bone folder (this one is of plastic not bone or teflon) is something I thought I didn't need. But after using the back of a spoon to give a good crease, using back of a ball pen..everything...This felt marvelous. And this the one purchase I would love for you to make. Indispensable.

Last one, my paper trimmer. I love it.
If you are good with making straight cuts with a precision knife and a ruler...you don't need any kind of trimmer. But it does save you a lot of trouble. I own a 8.5x5 guillotine paper cutter.
Which paper trimmer/cutter to buy is matter for another post...if you want one, I can list out another post with the pros and con's of each...

Phew that is lenghty..but too many photos too!! next will be on SIPs!!! Stamps, paper and ink. I'm not going to list what's available in the market, I'm just listing what you need to start. Then as you discover, you can explore and make your own choices!

If I've missed anything, let me know..will edit and add accordingly!!
Thanks for reading this far...