What Are Your Most Frequent Used Tools?

[scorpiobaby]

I am in the midst of paring down my craft space and am fully aware I am in tool overload lol.

I'd love to know what you creative crafters use the most. Is it punches, dies OR nothing at all and you use industry created products to create your projects?

Any advice is welcomed. TIA

[southgirl]

mm My Sizzix is first, then the Tool N One and the envelope make by WRMC.

When I find a tool that works (first, I am shocked) I keep it and toss the ones that don't.

[gregzgurl]

Tools I use EVERY time I make anything:

• Xacto guillotine paper cutter
• Small Martha Stewart scoring board
• Pink Scotch ATG gun
• MISTI

Things I use MOST of the time:

• Foam mounting tape and/or glue dots
• Coloring mediums - Prismacolor pencils, Prismacolor and Bic markers, re-inkers for watercoloring
• C-thru gridded ruler
• Small, sharp scissors - Fiskars (orange) or Cutterbee

Things I use OFTEN:

• Big Shot and dies/embossing folders
• Heat gun and embossing powders (clear, black, white, metallics)
• Punches - used to be more frequent, now it's mostly borders and corner rounders

I have lots more than I've listed, but those are the I HAVE TO HAVE THIS items. ;)

I rarely use store-bought die cuts or stickers or flowers or what-have-you. I don't want to find space or containers to store them in, and it's more fun to make your own! Besides, they are more "custom" that way...

[9or18holes]

Stamp-a-ma jig for sure.

[punch-crazy]

Very little industry created items.
If I can I make it myself. So my tools are all well loved.
I couldn't do without my paper trimmer, scissors, punches and dies.

[buggainok]

On nearly every card I make, I use:

Making Memories Precision Trimmer,

Cutterbee Scissors for cutting out images and precision trimming,

Score Pal or Martha Stewart Score Board,

Cuttlebug and dies, and/or embossing folders,

Colored markers (Bics and Sharpies),

ATG gun, and sometimes Green and White Mono-Multi, or foam dimensionals,

My little stamp for the back of the card that says "Handmade By" and sign my name.

[bobbiev3]

Fiskars paper cutter, adhesives of various varietys, Martha Stewart Score Board, Sizzix Big Shot

[harvestmoon]

Besides my Fiskars rotary trimmer, Score Pal and Zip Dry glue, I find myself using my Big Shot and dies for almost every card. I have pointy little Fiskars scissors and Cutter Bee Teflon scissors for sticky things. Tweezers, and I can't live without my Stamp-a-ma-jig. For personal cards I make envelopes with WRMK punch board, for Operation Write Home, it's store-bought envies.
3-M foam tape, and SU scrubbing pad to remove ink from stamps, Clear acrylic blocks.

[Cinnistew]

MISTI - (best investment in a tool I have ever made)
Genesis Paper Trimmer (w/edgelight)
ScorPal
Silhouette SD
Teresa Collins Mega Runner
Vagabond
ScanNCut
Matte Multi Medium
Copics
"Handmade by" stamp

[Allistamps123]

Cuttlebug, embossing folders or dies.....every card almost. I also use punches a lot.

Also my small, pointed Fiskars or Cutter Bee scissors and ATG.

[lylacfey]

Tools I use every time-
Xacto Knife, Metal Ruler, Cutting Mat
Permanent Glue Stick & Burnisher (Soda Lid)
Double Sided Tape
MicroTip Scissors
Regular Scissors
0.7 Pencil
Ink Pen

Tools I use often-
Drafting Tools
Stencils
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Cuttlebug & Embossing Folders
Silhouette Cameo or Cricut with Gypsy
Black Fine Tip Sharpie
Coloring Tools- Colored Pencils, Alcohol Markers, Watercolors, Acrylics, etc

I do use punches. I am into dollhouse miniatures. That's a bit of a must in a miniaturists toolbox. For papercrafting I mainly use basic shapes. Most of my punches are for miniatures.

Dies rarely and the ones I have are steel rule to cut through a variety of materials. For paper crafting dies are rarely used.

Industry Created items- I buy stickers, washi, resin cabochons. I do make all three of those items too but I succumb to cuteness, lol. I have a very large collection of rhinestone bling. I make my own flowers, 3d embellishments, chipboard, die cuts. Sometimes I buy chipboard, die cuts or 3d embellishments if I find them for a good price. That bought collection can fit in a sandwich bag.

[lutheran]

All the basics:
trimmer
score board
heat tool
stamp scrubber
Big Shot
other shapes cutter
That's pretty much it, all the rest of the space is for stamps, ink, paper.
Mary Beth

[JoBear2]

• Big Shot & all the basic shaped dies like circles, squares etc. including the scalloped versions of each
• Centering ruler
• Stamp positioner (or Stamp-a-ma-jig) or MISTI
• Regular 8" scissors + scissors with a curved blade for paper-piecing/fine cutting or trimming
• Score board
• Tombow Mono Multi glue
• Removable tape (for holding down dies for diecutting)
• Copic multi-liner black pen .05
• Scalpel knife
• Self-healing cutting mat
• Couture Creations non-stick craft mat (for Distress Inks)
• Metal ruler
• Closed tweezers - awesome for holding small pieces that I need to apply my heat-gun to so I don't burn my fingers
• Heat-gun
• Perfect Layers Tools (I use these on 99% of my cards)
• Embossing folders (I think I could pare down my folders to basic ones likes Swiss dots, floral ones, snowflakes as I reckon I use 10% of my folders 90% of the time!)
• Glossy Accents
• SU Dazzling Details glitter glue (I have alot of coloured ones in other brands but I don't use them much)
• Doublesided foam tape/dimensionals
• Fiskars scalloped border punch & Martha Stewart Lace Doily edge punch (I have alot of punches but could get by with just these two)
• Watercolour pencils & Distress Inks

I still have my circle punches from before nesting circles dies were released (as well as ovals etc. etc.) but I could live without them as I rarely use them now.

Hope this helps

[Denverkat276]

This really isn't hard.

1. Tim Holtz Scissors/Cutterbee Scissors/Craft knife
2. A Center Ruler(with a metal straight edge... Tim's is the best)
3. Embossing tool kit w/mat (which has a bone folder in it)
4. Score board


These items listed above I cannot function without. MUST haves!! Now, don't get me wrong, there are other things that I will go to like my cropadile, my die cutters and dies but when it comes down to it the four things above I can't do anything without. I love my scissors too so they are at the top of my list.

[ceramicat1]

Ebosser
Silhouette
Scoreboard
ATG gun

[cmoore2cats]

Bug, Tombow adhesive, dies on nearly every card.

Cindy/CA

[Cartermrc]

Use the most: Cutterbee non- stick scissors, Teflon bone folder, 6 by 1 inch quilt ruler, mechanical pencil, stamp cleaner (I dilute the solution by half with water), Fiskars trimmer, Stampin Up paper shears, Scorpal board and mat, Tombo glue and the pink ATG gun.

[lharnish]

Tools I use EVERY time I make anything:

Fiskars paper cutter
Martha Stewart scoring board (small for crops and classes, large in my craft room)
Pink Scotch ATG gun
WRMK Envelope Punch Board (98% of the time)
Sheet of fun foam on my workspace when stamping
Acrylic blocks with grid lines on them

Things I use MOST of the time:

Foam mounting tape and/or glue dots
Watered down Aleene's Tacky Glue in a Quilling glue bottle
Big Shot with dies and embossing folders
Ruler
Small, sharp scissors
Tweezers
Poking tool
Tool N One for intricate dies
Bling from the dollar store (pearls and gems in various sizes and shapes)

Things I use OFTEN:

Heat gun and embossing powders (clear, black, white, metallics)
Embossing buddy when embossing
Punches
The four of the five styles of corner chompers by WRMK
Hot glue gun
Stampamajig

And I plan to be using my MISTI on a regular basis when it finally arrives :-)

[Illinois Marge]

To the OP: Won't this vary by the type or style of cards that you make? What might be my frequently used tools may not be yours. I might emboss everything, you might emboss nothing. Maybe if you make a few cards, put what you use in a box or piled up on the table, and see if you reach for it on the next card. I think pretty soon you'll have an idea what you reach for the most.