Must-Have Supplies

Let’s stamp! If you’ve never stamped before, you do need a couple of supplies. A lot depends on your personal style, tastes and what you want to stamp—but for now, let’s talk about the basics.

Must have supplies:

• Stamps
• Acrylic blocks
• Ink pads
• Coloring tools
• Paper
• Blank cards

Stamps

Pretty much the most basic thing you’ll need! You can choose between a wood-mounted stamp or an acrylic stamp—both are good options. Acrylic stamp sets are a little more expensive than wood-mounted, but you get many more designs that coordinate. You can also get foam stamps, which are great for big, bold designs like letters.

I’d start with a versatile focal image that appeals to you: A flower, a butterfly, a tree—whatever image you think you’ll use a lot. A flower, for example, can be used for all kinds of card-giving occasions, or on a scrapbook page.

A sentiment stamp (or stamp set) is another good option. Look for basic greetings like “Happy Birthday” and “Celebrate”.

Acrylic Blocks

If you’re just getting into acrylic stamps, you’ll also need to buy mounts. They’re sold separately from the stamps and you can find them at your local stamp store or Paper Wishes. You’ll want a variety of mounts to accommodate your different stamp sizes. (I have five, ranging from a 1" square to a 6"x2" rectangle.)

An acrylic block that’s slightly larger than your stamp is perfect. If the stamp is too big for the mount, you won’t get a good impression. And if the mount is much bigger than the stamp, it’s hard to ink without inking your acrylic mount, which can lead to stray ink marks. Be sure to clean your mounts as well as your stamps.

Ink Pads

You’ll need something to ink that stamp. I recommend a Black StazOn ink pad, which can be used on paper as well as non-porous surfaces like metal. Branch out into different colors and types of ink as you get more experience. We explore all kinds of inks in our About Ink Pads section.

Coloring Tools

Once you have your image stamped, you’ll probably want to color it in. You can use chalks (most scrapbookers have a set already—so put ‘em to use!) but you can also use colored pencils and Marvy Markers. Read more about this on our Coloring section.

Paper

This is another must-have. Start with scrap paper (like computer paper) for testing out your new stamps. Then stamp them onto glossy or matte paper. You can buy paper in packages, or by the sheet. Check out our Types of Paper section for specifics.

Blank cards

Stamps are perfect for card making. Sure, you can fold a piece of cardstock in half and have a blank card, but I prefer having packages of pre-scored blank cards that come with perfectly-sized envelopes.

Other paper crafting basics

Along with your stamps, you’ll also need a few basic paper crafting tools.

• Adhesive: A glue stick or Click n Stick mounting tabs are both good choices.
• Scissors: A good, sharp pair is perfect for trimming small pieces.
• Paper trimmer: This will save you time and angst—especially if you can’t cut a straight line!

Clean Up

I use baby wipes to clean my stamps—they’re inexpensive and readily available!