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Let's pretend you are a brand new stamper. You are creating a Christmas "wish list" for yourself with a budget of about $200. This is the list of things you already have to get you started into stamping. What else would you put on your wish list (knowing what you know now as a more experienced stamper)? The more specific you can be (like which color inks you use the most if you say ink), the better. Thanks!
You already Have:
Plenty of Stamps
SU In Color Cardstock
In Color Classic Ink Pads
Basic Gray Ink Pad
Old Olive Ink Pad
Real Red Ink Pad
SU Earth Tones Cardstock
SU White Cardstock
All of the basic supplies in SU demo package
Big Shot (machine only)
Plenty of ribbon and eyelets
Sorry, I don't know what's in the SU! demo package - if it doesn't include a heat gun and powders I would add those to my wish list. Embossing is fun and all the resist techniques etc make it even more fun!
Some dies and embossing folders to go with your Big Shot - maybe a set or two of Nestabilities for more interesting image panels and mats and then a few shapes you think will fit your style of card making.
Other than that, I'd have a look around in the gallery and see what caught my eye. Many people list their supplies so you can see what you might like to use - flowers like Primas, brads, jumbo eyelets etc etc.
Punches, definitely some punches...plain and scalloped
A scoring tool and bone folder
Glue dots and stampin dimensionals (great stocking stuffers!)
Designer Paper
Top Note Big Shot Die
Embossing Buddy and Heat Tool
Embellishments like brads, hodpodge hardware
Ribbon
Cutter Kit (cause I love the distressing tool)
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter
Two-way glue pen
This is what I would get cause using embellishments on your cards really steps them up a notch. Plus I just love glitter and embossing!!:mrgreen:
An ATG, embellishments (ribbon, brads, rhinestone stickers), some cuttlebug embossing folders & whatever you need to use them in the big shot, glitter pen, a few sets of nestabilities, SU ticket corner punch, a good paper cutter. Fun thread - I'll be following it to see what others add.
__________________ My Gallery Team Jasper! "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" Mt. 6:21
If I had these:
Plenty of Stamps
SU In Color Cardstock
In Color Classic Ink Pads
Basic Gray Ink Pad
Old Olive Ink Pad
Real Red Ink Pad
SU Earth Tones Cardstock
SU White Cardstock
All of the basic supplies in SU demo package
Big Shot (machine only)
Plenty of ribbon and eyelets
I'd want to add these:
*pencils & markers (let color be determined by what cs and ink you have and what you like to use - maybe your earth tones or in colors)
*black ink pad that i could use with watercolor/gamsol/copics, etc. (plenty of threads with recs on those)
*definitely some big shot dies - use that machine!
*atg and tape - or some reliable adhesive
*some flowers (like primas) maybe to match my ribbon
*a few brads (easy to get too many of those)
*some practical punches or die cuts (by "practical," i mean squares, rectangles, circles, etc.) - lots of choices
*definitely a scallop or die cut punch of some shape - again, lots of choices out there, maybe you can find a big shot die along those lines that you like
*chalk/pastels (personal preference, but i like the soft look)
boy, $200 can go in a jiffy. i "accidentally" spent that much this morning on a sale @ chf. hope you get some really great things.
I would say a black ink pad that you can use with coloring pencils like prismacolors and Gamsol, like StazOn.
Also, as someone else said, heat gun and embossing powders.
and Versamark (clear) ink pad
Ribbon.
Some of the Marvy punches in scallopped square and rectangles. You can always cut straight-edge squares and rectangles with a paper cutter.
and a couple bottles of Stickles. The clear ones, and also the red and green (for Christmas cards).
Oh, and a clear gel pen for detailed sparkles.
I don't own a die-cutting machine and I don't seem to miss it too much. These are the things that I find I use the most.
__________________ Now I see the secret of making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth. -- Walt Whitman
-A good quality paper cutter
-a colouring medium be it pencils, markers, wwc whatever you think you'll use most
-dimensionals
-a variety of adhesives - red liner tape, crystal effects
-a good black ink pad
-if you choose pencils /chalks as your colouring medium, then add a whisper white craft ink pad, there are some cool effects you can do with them
-a white gel pen
-(although not sold by SU! if you're looking to go SU only) stickles
__________________ "You may not have lost all your marbles, but there's definitely a hole in the bag." Grumpy Cat
First, I would replace the SU items with more generic ones, that would give me an extra $50 or so to spend! (ducking under table- I like the quality just can't get past the price of their products).
Then I'd add these:
1.)quality paper cutter- guillotine style
2.)embossing heat tool; black, white, & clear powders
3.)a few Palette ink pads (they're universal): black, brown, white, & one in each of the other color families
4.)Stickles, mostly Stardust, Xmas red, black diamond, and maybe one or two other colors
5.)Copic Spica clear glitter pen
6.)Versamark pad & marker
7.)Some Basic Grey & Memory Box decorative paper packs
8.)One or two bottles of Primas
9.)Hotfix rhinestones & pearls
10.)A few cuttlebug folders with any extra $$ like Swiss dots
Scor-Pal
ATG
black Staz-On ink
Crop-a-dile
envelopes
some kind of pop-up dots
SU guillotine style tabletop paper cutter
SU simply scrappin' kits (you can do lots with these!)
a good light for your crafting area if you don't already have one
[quote=whoistracy;11388159]First, I would replace the SU items with more generic ones, that would give me an extra $50 or so to spend! (ducking under table- I like the quality just can't get past the price of their products).
I'll protect you, Tracy! I'm big & tough.
__________________ My Gallery Team Jasper! "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" Mt. 6:21
I love my SU markers and use them all the time. So I think that is a worthwhile investment. Also a versamark pad and some embossing powders. And a heat tool if you don't already have one or else there is no need for the embossing powders :-). That would come out to be about $200 I'd say.
I can't stamp with out my SU Grid Paper. It lasts forever, helps with placement. Is a great surface area to stamp on. A great basic to get you started!
Nancy
Thank you all SO much! You are offering such great ideas. I think I was going completely down the wrong path. I wanted to buy all the ink colors in SU first. I think I always "feel" like I cannot stamp without a HUGE variety of colors. I have had to look up some of these suggestions because I did not know what they were. Thank you! Keep them coming!
The best way is to start small and buy only the things you will use. I have encouraged some of my customers to find a project they really love and buy the supplies for that. Then, once they are successful, pick another project and buy the supplies for that. If they use a shotgun approach and buy all sorts of supplies without a project in mind, they tend to get overwhelmed and then do not want to continue in their Hobby.
Good Luck with your purchases.
Nancy
Wow. Thank you. I think that is probably the best advice I have heard since coming here and it makes complete sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlbiaStamper
The best way is to start small and buy only the things you will use. I have encouraged some of my customers to find a project they really love and buy the supplies for that. Then, once they are successful, pick another project and buy the supplies for that. If they use a shotgun approach and buy all sorts of supplies without a project in mind, they tend to get overwhelmed and then do not want to continue in their Hobby.
Good Luck with your purchases.
Nancy
If you find that you like using layers, I would get an ATG gun. I LOVE layering, and I go through nearly an entire roll per month since I bought the ATG. This is soooooooo much faster and stronger than double-stick tape!!!!
I'm not sure if I can keep it under $200! :rolleyes:
Here's my suggestion...
cuttlebug and embossing folders
a whole color family of SU inks (whatever your favorite color family is)
GLITTER!!!
good assortment of adhesives (especially MONO-MULTI)
prismacolor pencils or kooh-i-noir (sp?) pencils and odorless mineral spirits
Versafine Onyx Black ink pad (the BEST black ink!!!)
embellishments (brads, dew drops, buttons, half pearls, etc.)
If there's any money left (which I doubt) buy some nestabilities! :mrgreen:
Things I would add to the list are:
Several good scissors-paper, ribbon, one with a fine cutting point
Good paper cutter
Good sturdy bone folder
Some type of scoring tool-i.e. Scor Pal/Score It, paper cutter with
scoring ability, etc.
Adhesive-double side tape and liquid adhesive
Tweezers-needle point-use it for placment of any small embellishments
(bling, small sticker, brads with short prongs, googly eyes, etc.)
As a new papercrafter, you can gradually add but just start with basic good tools. As you become more experienced, you will decide what you 'need' to produce your best work.
I would buy:
A nice brown ink
Some kraft cardstock (also white and black)
ATG Gun--well worth the $$
Scor-Pal (I had both Scor-It and Scor Pal--Scor Pal is much better)
Punches--love all my SU punches
First, I would replace the SU items with more generic ones, that would give me an extra $50 or so to spend! (ducking under table- I like the quality just can't get past the price of their products).
I also wish I had heard (and paid attention) to this when I first started. I now have enough stuff to have my own store and still do very little scrapbooking and stamping because when I set down, cannot choose from all the stuff I have. Totally overwhelming.
I'm all for whoever said pencils, markers, crayons. Many of my stamps are ones that need to be colored in, so I don't need many different colors to stamp in (don't let my hubby read this--because I do have all the ink colors out there). I use black and brown stazon (I like to use brown more than black) and then use my Prismacolor pencils, SU! markers, or watercolor crayons to color them in. I think you always need a bit of bling, so I'd go with some Stickles since I am glitter challenged. OH, and RIBBON, can't ever have too much ribbon (oh, and hemp twine coordinates well with the earth colors!!)
I think my next purchases would be:
Paper cutter (A MUST - Michaels with a coupon)
SU markers (you said you like color and this would give you all of them)
Embossing pad, powder & heat tool (with coupon at Michael's)
If you manage to find good deals and have $$$ left over, I think it is well worth it to invest in a Cuttlebug - I LOVE LOVE LOVE mine. The embossing folders really help make it easy to make elegant looking cards QUICKLY!
Either way, ENJOY!! This is a FUN decision to make!
Are you still looking for ideas? Well, you are on Okinawa, where I just left a few months ago.;) You'll find that most of the Monkey stores (you know what I am talking about, right?) have the Tombo Adhesive for 264 Yen, which is a great deal. You can find tons of ribbon and pearls and bling and alterables at the Yen stores. As far as stamping pads, well, I would buy the spots first to see which colors you mostly use and go from there to buy the regular size. Helped me a lot and was much cheaper;)
HTH
__________________ My tiny gallery Sabrina And check this out, I now have a blog.
Let's not forget heat and stick powder. OH MY GOSH is that awesome!
I just used some to make some cards the other day after buying it, like forever ago and never using it -- even when I was a demo -- my gosh I think it would have sold like hotcakes if I had used it to demo, it is fabulous!
It works like embossing powder except after it is heated with the heat gun you add glitter to it. I used Martha Stewart colored glitter but I think SU still sells the colored, right? Put that on and tap it off, I heat it again to set it and oh boy, is that a fabulous site! Glitter stays to the image lines whereever the heat and stick powder was and creates an ultrafabulous image.
Just a thought -- SU Heat and Stick and either their glitter or the fabulous glitter that Martha Stewart makes. That stuff is to die for.
I would also vote for the marker set. You don't need to get the ink pads if you have all of those, they are dual usage and my DD and I use ours ALL the time. We each have a set becuase we use them so much. Best money ever spent, ever.
For my input ....Santa is bringing me the set of Stampin Up markers....I agree ...don't need all the stamp pads but the markers are going to be awesome!!!!
Ok, now I'm going to base it on the assumption that you have nice people who will shop at Michaels or Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon for you! (and the fact that I don't know what is in the demo pack)
Crop-a-dile $20
Circle nesties $50
Grid paper $10
Plumber’s gasket (for embossing and for a clear stamp mat) $1
Paper piercer $3
Tweezers $4
Colorbox chalk ink queue—brown/blue collection (great for distressing, plus you get 3 browns & a black in one package!) $5
Dimensionals (at the dollar tree!-get two packs) $2
Tonic paper cutter $30
Bic mark-its ($19.99 at staples, bring in online price to price match $17.99 – 3.50 coupon from bic.com – 10 rebate = ) 4.50
And then either
ATG $70
Or
Cuttlebug $50
Swiss dots, textile, swirls embossing folders $15
Clear ruler $5
Since u have the big shot.
I would buy a couple of embossing folders
1. D'vine Swirl
2. Swiss Dots
(the two I use the most)
3. aqua pens (bought mine from hobby lobby for 5.99)
4. staz-on pad black (works best for aqua pens)
5. staz-on pad brown
6. stampin up chalks(bought off brand & hate stick with su on this one)
7. watercolor pencils!!!
8. blender pens work great with chalks, pencils, and ink pads. I actually would like to have another set of 3
9.scallop edge punch
10. GLUE DOTS!!! little one, big ones, and pop-up ones
joann's has them on sale all the time.
11.brads-all shapes and sizes-Hobby lobby has them on sale all the time-I spent 25.00 last time and got enough to last 3 or 4 months
12. ribbons- but i buy my ribbon in the fabric dept. instead of the scrapbook section I get 15 ft. for about 1.00 instead of 6 for .99. (now the 15 for 1.00 is with it being 50%off)
These are the things that I use on a daily basis. Have fun and Merry Christmas
Let's pretend you are a brand new stamper. You are creating a Christmas "wish list" for yourself with a budget of about $200. This is the list of things you already have to get you started into stamping. What else would you put on your wish list (knowing what you know now as a more experienced stamper)? The more specific you can be (like which color inks you use the most if you say ink), the better. Thanks!
You already Have:
Plenty of Stamps
SU In Color Cardstock
In Color Classic Ink Pads
Basic Gray Ink Pad
Old Olive Ink Pad
Real Red Ink Pad
SU Earth Tones Cardstock
SU White Cardstock
All of the basic supplies in SU demo package
Big Shot (machine only)
Plenty of ribbon and eyelets
Here's what I would add (not necessarily in order but I do think reinkers are often overlooked):
Ink refills for all pads you own or plan to buy. Classic/Dye ink can be used for many techniques (such as polished stone or for painting a stamped image)
A good waterproof ink in black and brown (I like the jumbo Archival pad by Ranger)
Craft spots in SU Earth Elements (to coordinate with cs you already have)
Clear embossing powder / Heat tool
SU markers (pref. all but that eats up most of the budget so my family choice would be Rich Regals as they, imo, go best with Earth Elements and that seems to be your preference.)
StazOn Cleaner (although I prefer the cleaner sold via The Angel Company)
Dies in versatile patterns to use w/your Big Shot (I'd probably choose a birthday theme and a Christmas theme because those are the occasions I make cards for the most)
If you make cards for kids you might want to get cs and more ink in brighter colors.
Stylus (can be used with Fiskars trimmer to score)
Bone folder
Replacement blades for paper trimmer
Scissors - 1 pair dedicated to ribbon, 1 pr for paper and a 3rd for rubber
$200 for Christmas
