Sunday, February 12, 2012

Intro to scrapbooking Part 2: More on supplies

Basic Consumables

Cardstock: Cardstock will most likely form the foundation of a lot of the pages you do and the mats for your photos when/if you do that. There are a few different options around, they range in price and quality. I like Bazzill Cardstock and so do a bunch of other scrapbookers- it's good quality, textured, quite thick, and comes in a large range of colours the downside is it's more expensive and it's really just a matter of taste. I keep on hand large quantities of White, French Vanilla (Creamy colour), Black and Kraft, and smaller quantities of Navy and Scarlet- because that's what I use most. I used to have on hand a whole range of colours- in fact I still do have on hand a whole range of colours- that's because I very seldom use colours! Lesson here is get a little and see what you end up using- then get more of that.

Patterned Paper: I'm having a torrid affair with Patterned Paper. I LOVE it sooooo much. I have way, way more than I can ever use and they just keep coming out with more, and it's all SO good and I just want to BUY IT! Sometimes you will use Patterned Paper as the foundation for your pages- but more often you will use smaller pieces on your pages. Once again start small and see what you use and what doesn't work. My advice is that people are more likely to use:
  • paper that is more low-key 
  • paper that has patterns all over rather than pictures all over
  • patterns that are not so bold
  • patterns that are not too contrasting
  • brighter colours that have subtle patterns
  • bolder patterns in lighter colours
Therefore that's what I'd look for when building up a stash.

I also recommend
  • buying a few papers from the same range so you can easily co-ordinate.
  • looking at what brands you use most over time and sticking to them. Especially as a lot of designers work with particular aesthetic- so you'll find that they will co-ordinate better over the ranges. Giving you more options.
Don't be afraid to cut.
There will be papers that you just love and you'll want to use the whole thing, or you'll want a particular part to show on your layout- don't sacrifice your design for the sake of your supplies- scrapbooking is usually about the photos and the words- everything else is secondary. (Unless you are Irene Tan- then it seems to be more about supplies and techniques). Don't hoard your stash- use it! There will be more papers to love- I promise.
Left-overs- you'll have scraps of Patterned Paper big and small. Personally I don't keep anything smaller than a business card- yes you could use it on a card, but will you, probably not. Bin it or keep a bag of the small scraps and regularly donate it to kindy. For the medium size pieces- something like a clearfile sorted by colour is a good starting point for storage- you may want to move up to one of those expanding concertina files eventually- anything more than that and you're keeping too much stuff- sort and pass on. For the really big pieces keep it with your full sheets. Don't be afraid to purge your supplies and pass on stuff that you've had forever- use it or lose it.
Patterned paper is light you don't need to go overboard when sticking it to your page- mostly I just used a photo split in each corner and maybe the centre if it is very large.

All the other bits that you stick on:

Alphabet stickers and rub-ons: Generally used for titles, these are often considered a must have supply- but they can end up being not terribly cost effective. Look out for sets that have multiple vowels and commonly used letters (m, n,s,t etc). If you have three kids with L's in their names or someone uses a bunch of A's then a set of letter stickers might not go so far. :-) There are lots of alternatives to alphabets- I'll get to that later.

Stickers: Oh so many pretty stickers, there's the temptation to just spew them onto your page! When starting out- don't go overboard and then see what you use and more importantly what you don't. More often you can do the same job, much cheaper, with patterned paper, scissors, and a punch or two.

Ribbon: Ribbon is a good investment. Go with solid colours and simple patterns eg stripes and spots. Not too wide. Look at the colours you tend to use on your LO's and buy those colours or ones that co-ordinate with those colours. Ribbon also includes: Ric rac, Pompom and other trims, lace, and the most recent trend twine. You can adhere ribbon to your pages with : Glue dots, Xyron, staples, brads.

Tape: All sorts of tape out there- Washi (Japanese paper tape is also trending right now). This is another good investment if you get solids and basic patterns. Tape can be used as a frame, feature, arrow, dividing line, adhesive and so much more- the more generic it is the more use you will get from it.

Flowers: Also a fairly good investment- layered, grouped and so on. If you have colouring options then you can buy white and recolour to suit. Flowers in the right colours and places can look fine on boy LO's too. Attach with glue, glue dots, photo splits or brads.

Rub-ons: Rub-ons are designs and words that you literally place on your page and rub-on. They can look really good and effective in the right place. In my experience you should avoid the cheaper ones as they are more prone to failure... leaving you, at best, having to rub them off or at worst with a mess on your page. Word of advice: Cut out the design you want to use from the sheet- don't just try and rub from the whole sheet- because you'll likely end up getting bits of the surrounding designs on your page.

Bling, buttons, brads, and eyelets: ('Bling' refers to gems and pearls) Once again these items are generic making them a fairly decent investment.  The first three go great in the centre of flowers and things. Brads and eyelets and another way to attach flat items like paper etc to your LO and add interest without pulling attention from your photos and story. Don't go overboard- and stick to black, white, silver and the colours you most use. Buttons are best attached with Glue dots or a good liquid adhesive like Tombo Green.

Embellishments: This covers a huge range of stuff! Essentially this is any decorative element you add to your page including a bunch of the stuff that I just singled out above. Look for multi purpose stuff- not so much theme specific and you will get more value for your money. If you are scrapping a page about Aeroplanes you don't necessarily need aeroplane embellishments because your photos will tell that story. Sometimes we get drawn in by the cute/beauty factor on stuff- but really have limited use for it- or find it just doesn't work with our style of scrapbooking no matter how cute/beautiful it is. Look for basic motifs things like: circles, hearts, arrows, butterflies, flowers and stars- these things are multi purpose and can be used over and over across a range of LO's.

Journalling Spots: It's nice to have a supply of 'stuff' you can write on- this comes in many forms, pads, cards, stickers, die cut paper, and so on. As always look for generic/multi-purpose and not too much themed stuff. But remember a piece of plain cardstock is just fine.

Non-scrapbooking scrapbooking materials: There's a bunch of stuff out in the world that you can use for scrapping that was intended to be that way- I have seen some cool ribbon buckles made will pull tabs from cans of drink and some letters cut from milk bottles. The haberdashery section is a good place to find cool stuff. Keep you eyes open and think outside the square- but don't hoard too much stuff!

NB: Lumpy and Bumpy- some people like their pages to be really lumpy and bumpy and full of texture and dimension- some prefer clean flat lines and not much texture at all- neither is right or wrong- it's personal choice. The only thing to note is that if you go the lumpy way you will want to store your albums standing up and not squished onto a shelf or the pressure may cause dents from the lumps and bumps on the opposing pages.

All that glitters is not gold... I doubt there is a scrapbooker alive who at one time did not buy something because it was a great deal- too good to pass up! Consider the cheap stuff and specials carefully- it might be good value, but if you won't use it- then it wasn't all that special and all it did was cost you money, not save you money.

Here's a list of the stuff in my stash that seemed like a good idea at the time but I haven't used or haven't used enough to justify the purchase: Beads, tags, paperclips, fat cheap ugly plastic butterflies and lady birds, raw chipboard: shapes, frames and alphabets, buckles, photo turns, photo corners, safety pins, heat embossing powder, sequins, glitter, pins, picture stickers, metal frames, twist ties, dominoes, charms, hair accessories and bottle tops.

A note about Creative Memories: A lot of scrapbookers start out with CM. Some move on and combine CM with non-CM supplies, some stay loyal, and some move one completely. CM has some great good quality tools. That stuff is worth checking out.
I have heard some funny stuff come from the mouths of CM scrappers talking about being 'rebellious' or admiring the non CM supplies but not being 'allowed' to use them. It reminds me a bit of Tupperware, a bit more expensive, a bit more prescribed, modular and doesn't fit with the other stuff.
I'm not dissing it- each to their own- it's been a great starting point for many scrappers. But I do think it's not the be all and end all of scrapbooking and the staunch dogma of "Only CM products" goes against the basic tenets of creativity...if using October Afternoon papers makes me rebellious I'll go with that.... I'll leave you to make up your own mind.

Acid and Lignin Free: There are a vast amount of differing opinions on this. You will find the 'religious right' with virginal scrapbook pages, unsullied by acid and lignin, they have their acid detecting pens and deacidifying sprays and never take any risks. And then there's the loose lefties who don't give a toss and anything goes! And a the rest who lie right across the spectrum. It comes down to two things:
  • What you want to happen to your scrapbooks down the track.
  • How important the 'non-safe' stuff is.

These are my thoughts.
I have some personally meaningful and possibly 'unsafe' stuff  that I want in my scrapbooks. Letters and pictures from my kids, tickets, programmes, maps, postcards and brochures from special events/places, greeting cards, and letters from family and other ephemera. I also have clothing tags and dockets and school stuff that tell the story of our days better than I can. I'm not willing to leave them off my pages they are part of our story.
The vast majority of my photos are backed-up digitally in two locations (one off-site). So I'm not worried about keeping the photos safe on my pages and generally I'm not willing to compromise the design of my page to keep those possibly unsafe items separate.
I am making these things to be enjoyed now by the people who are in them.
I have a lot of scrapbooks, albums and albums, mini albums, photobooks and handmade books. I'd like to think my kids will want to be handed down some of them- but there is a huge volume of stuff and I don't want to burden them with it. So if some of that stuff doesn't last the distance I'm really not worried.
That said if there is something I know will fail fast and wreck a page, or doesn't bring any meaning to the page I won't use them- regular sellotape, dried flowers, and faxes are some that come to mind.
You need to make up your own mind where you are on the scale, and what your limits will be.

Starting out with storage: Don't invest too much money in storage to begin with- you WILL grow out of it. I'd suggest you put all your stuff in zip lock bags in one of those 60 litre lidded bins from the Warehouse. By the time you fill 2-3 of those bins you have a better idea of what you need to store/organise and how you may want to store it. More on this later.

Where to buy: (NZ version)


Non-specialist stores: $2 Dollar type stores, The Warehouse, Stationery Warehouse and Spotlight.
Upsides: Easy to find, can be cheap, sometimes have cheaper versions of more expensive supplies.
Downsides: Limited selection, often poorer quality, sometimes expensive (Spotlight), no staff to give specific advice).

LSS (Local Scrapbook Store): Not too many of these around and can be a dying breed- look in your phone book and use word of mouth.
Upsides: Often have a wide range of up-to-date, professional advice, good quality, look for home based businesses with a bit of a store front for good deals. Often run classes and crops.
Downsides: can be more expensive it's hard in this business for retailers! Not too many around.

Online Stores: A few of these around and some LSS have online as well.

Upsides: Can be chearper, often have a good selection of good quality product, shop anytime- in your PJ's even! Often have blogs and forums for online support and inspiration.
Downsides: You can't see and touch the stuff in person. I find it takes longer to shop online. Postage costs, though some have free postage if you buy over a certain amount. Some are definitely not cheaper. You have to wait for it to arrive.

Auctions: Trade Me and Ebay- (Not so much Ebay in NZ- but when the exchange rate is good some bargains can be found.) Trade me can be a great place to pick up bargains- especially if you buy from the same seller and combine postage. The advantages/disadvantages are pretty much the same as for online and you'll find a lot of the Online shops are selling on trade me as well.

Overseas: There are some good deals to be had from overseas if you have some or all of the following:
  • On sale
  • Good exchange rate
  • Seller who charges actual postage.
  • Your items are flat, light and small (Eg stickers, flat-ish embellishments, individual and smaller dies etc Not Punches and 12x12 papers) and therefore cheaper to post
  • Big ticket (expensive to buy in NZ items) eg Stamps, Dies etc
  • Seller who offers a personal service and will remove extraneous packaging to reduce size and bulk. 
  • Someone who can bring the package to you.
Part 3 coming soon.
  ♥

No comments: