My mom is out of work due to a back injury, and I think maybe a new hobby might cheer her up. Since she loves my dad’s photography, I was thinking that scapbooking might be something she’d find fun. I’m considering buying her a starter kit for her birthday next month.
But there are tons of kits on e-bay (which is where I’ll probably buy a kit since they’re less expensive than Hallmark and have a greater variety), and I don’t know what to buy. I have no idea what a “good” kit contains, beyond the album itself and an ideas book. Acid-free stickers, papers, cardstock, die cuts, punchies (like a paper puncher? how are they different from die-cuts besides size?), frame stickers…what should I be looking for in a good kit?
BTW, I’m fairly sure the pictures she’d want to use would be family pictures (wedding/us kids growing up/holidays) and nature pictures, if that makes a difference, since I know there are tons of theme things as well.
Thanks for your help.
Do you have any links to items you’re considering?
Acid free is important and ideally should be paired with lignin free.
Punches leave you with a hole for an image where die cuts are the image (if that makes sense)
You also want some decent pens that won’t run or fade on her.
How likely is your mom to want to make complicated pages? Most of mine are fairly simple and can be done with relatively few and fairly inexpensive tools.
Very important to get lots of ABC stickers… they are the ones I use most frequently and to the best effect.
Email me if you want to 
Acid free and lignin free is important, yes.
I now have waaaaay too many scrapbooking toys, but when I started, I just had a few things:
- corner rounder (allows you to nip the corners of pictures and give them a different look)
- GOOD scissors
- a paper pack with varying colors
- a paper cutter that will handle 12" paper (Fiskars is a very good one, and pretty cheap)
- a sticker pack with some basic stickers, plus anything special I wanted to work on (holiday, vacation, etc.)
- a tape runner
- lettering templates (I like these better than stickers; although they are initially more expensive, you can use them over and over and over, and you never run out of Es.)
The rest of the tools/toys are fun to pick out personally, IMO.
Good luck!
Oh and AC Moore is a good place to get stuff if you have one near you.
I have that model, and I find it very useful, and not just for scrapbooking. I’d also suggest a pair of patterning scissors (paper edgers) in scallops or Victorian style.
Oh and here’s something I learned along the way … not all 12 inch paper or 12 by 12 albums are really perfectly square in the work area. Keep that in mind when you orient your pages!
grrr
I was thinking of something like this (plus buying some holiday themed acid-free stickers) to start with : http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2346254363&category=11789
What do you think?
I’ve never used anything by fiskars besides sewing scissors
But that looks like a decent starter package to see how she likes scrapbooking.
I do prefer a tape runner to a glue pen but those are easy enough to pick up separately if you want to try one. (I’m an addict so I buy them by the case!)
That’s a pretty good deal, all told. I’d expect to pay at least $40 for that assortment of goods on sale at a crafts store, quite possibly more. I noticed that it includes the acid-free pens, which a scrapbooker needs, too.