All who are passionate about paper seem to amass a fair amount of tools “required” to papercraft. And manufacturers are helping us add to that pile! Some seem to be nice, great to have, but not absolutely necessary. Some tools you turn to over and over again. Here is my take on what I would deem necessity, and what I would love but it’s not critical.
In my absolute need list, I have a small case that I found while we were living in Japan for one year (sorry! It was a great find for me and I absolutely adore it!), and it’s in red, my favorite color. The size of this case is just portable enough for me to take everywhere and large enough to hold my basics.
Most important, I have 2 scissors. One is a German scherenschnitte (papercutting) scissor I found in a craft shop in Germany. It was inexpensive (about 8 euros) but it’s just the right size and has the most amazing blades. The other is a pair of surgical scissors I got from my father who is a doctor. He was throwing out some scissors that were no longer any good for him but they were perfect still for paper. I love the length of the blades. I tend to get my tools and supplies in strange places, especially when traveling since they make the perfect souvenir.
I have a bone folder, which is a tool used for making very sharp creases. It used to be made of bone but it’s now a very good imitation looking plastic. I love my quilling tool since I do quill. It’s basically a sharp long pin like instrument with a wooden handle. I also like to use my embossing tool although I use it more for getting into hard to reach places more than for embossing. I have a small ruler (I have a larger metal one also but it’s not very portable). A sharpie marker, mechanical pencil, gold and silver gel pens, a craft knife (bought in Japan), 2 hole punches (one in circle and one in rectangular for ribbons), glue stick, glue pen (perfect for doing glitter lines), eraser, tweezers, and hand cream.
I love my edger scissors also. I have several different ones that make different edges but I was fortunate enough to purchase them inexpensively. ProvoCraft makes some that are reasonably priced. A paper cutter is almost a necessity when making cards. I have a professional photographer’s version which I found at a yard sale for almost nothing. You can get a small version perfect for photos but I find the blade to be very dull. And lastly, I use a self-healing mat. I have two of them, one portable one and one very large sized one for my desk.
The things I love but are not absolutely necessary include contact glue (you put the glue on 2 different things, wait for it to dry and stick them together), spray glue (for very even application), a hole punch (for pricking paper), calligraphy pens, watercolor pencils, pencil sharpener, compass, a see-thru block style ruler (mainly used in quilting), Xyron sticker maker, stamp daubers (a brush for daubing stamp pads), a set of acrylic blocks for your unmounted stamps, a paper crimper (to make ridges in paper) and last, if you scrapbook, this is necessary, a corner rounder and circle/oval cutters (I love Creative Memories’). An eyelet attacher is also overkill if you don’t use it so often, a piece of wood and hammer works just as well. Shape punches are great, but a template and scissors will work just as well.
A lot of these tools can be ordinary kitchen tools or even bought in a dollar store. You don’t have to buy the most expensive tool at a craft center. Just be creative when you are in the dollar store and think twice about the possibilities. I love going with my DH to a hardware center. Tools there are much cheaper than in a craft center and much more durable. This is where I found my flathead pliers, needlenose pliers, and wire cutter.
What would you add to that stash? Everyone has a different favorite tool. I happen to love my scissors. And my case. It’s easy enough to just grab the case and go. All what I need is in it. If you organize yourself in this manner, you’ll find out that you have more time crafting than looking for your tools.
