My Top Ten Scrapping Essentials

So this post is one I put some serious thought into. Occasionally, it will be asked on the message boards "what's the one scrapbooking tool you couldn't live without?" And as I ponder this question, I realize that it is extremely difficult to narrow it down to just one. So I decided to post what I consider to be my "Top Ten" list of essential scrapbooking tools. I am sure that I have given each of these items as the answer to the above question at least once.

1. Zots by Thermoweb. I have these in small, medium, large and jumbo sizes. I have multiple packages of each size as backup. If I ever ran out of these in the middle of a layout, I'd cry. These little guys appear on about 95% of my layouts. And I know - some of you would say adhesive is a supply, not a tool. But I am calling it a tool because I need it to belong on this list. It is that essential.
2. My Glue Glider Pro. I love this tape runner. It's easy to use, the refills are well priced (I did research refill prices before purchasing a tape runner), I love that it's smaller than the ATG gun and I love that I can order refills directly from Glue Arts and as long as I purchase over $50 worth of adhesive (that's 6+ refills) then I get free shipping.
3. My Cutterpede. It's not a fancy, expensive trimmer like the Cutterpillar, the Making Memories one or the Purple Cows one. But I love this little guy. I like the rotary blade. I like how small and compact it is. I like that it has decorative blades that you can switch the straight blade out for to give yourself a decorative edge. Maybe one day, I will upgrade to one of the big, fancy trimmers, but for now, this one serves me well.
4. Sakura black Micron pens. Yes, this is technically six tools, but I'm lumping them together as one. I actually just got these a few months ago (I was in dire need for some new journaling pens) and they have become a staple on my layouts. I use the 02 the most. Not to thick, not too thin. If you don't have these pens, I highly suggest picking up a set. I got mine at scrapbook.com. 
5. Paper piercer. Such a simple tool but so versitile. This one came in a set of Making Memories tools that I got when I first started seriously scrapbooking. I still use all the tools in this set but none (well maybe except one) more than this paper piercer. I use it to not only pierce paper, but to add tiny embellishments (like bling) to my layouts.
6. My iPod Nano. Yeah, I know. It's not technically a scrapbooking tool, but I don't think I could scrap without this little green device playing my mega mix or my favorite NPR podcast.
7. My 0.9 mm Pentel Quicker Clicker mechanical pencil. I remember when I got this pencil. It was one of the provided supplies when I took an SAT prep class my junior year in high school. Yep. I am that pathetic. I remember when I got a pencil. But this pencil is that good. I love that the lead is thick relative to other mechanical pencils. I press hard when I write so this lead doesn't break on me. It's got a clean eraser. It's so clean that many times I don't need to pull out my gum art eraser. It's very comfortable to hold too. You can buy refills for both the lead and erasers anywhere on the web and here is just one place you can buy your own pencil. It's not cheap but well worth it - trust me. I've had this same one since I was 16. I am 31 now.
8. StazOn ink in black and brown. I only show the black ink pad in this photo but the brown (Timber Brown to be exact) is just as vital to me. See, I ink the edges of all my photos with either my black or brown StazOn depending on what the color scheme of my layout is. One of these ink pads is used on every layout I make.
9. Close To My Heart microtip scissors. I love these little things. I have a pair of Cutterbees too, which I like but I like the CTMH ones better. They cut cleaner than the Cutterbees, although they aren't non-stick like the Cutterbees are, so I don't recommend them for cutting adhesive of any sort. But for fussy cutting, the Close To My Heart ones are the way to go.
10. 6" metal non-skid ruler. This was the other tool I got with my paper piercer in that Making Memories tool set that I use on 99% of my layouts. This little ruler is awesome. And it's non-skid. Even better. This and my Pentel mechanical pencil are usually the first two tools on my desk when I start a layout.

2011 Baby

So this layout was inspired by the fact that I still had some Bella Blvd Estate Sale to use up, this awesome sketch from Stuck?! sketches, this color challenge from Tami at Memorable Seasons and this Glitter Girl challenge over at Two Peas. The sketch was perfect for showcasing this single photo and allowing for a long, vertical journaling spot backed by several pennants (which helped me use up the Estate Sale scraps). I did move the title up to above the photo to allow for the larger photo while still keeping the top of the pennants, journaling spot and photo in line. Now, Tami's challenge called for the colors blue, yellow and pink. Estate Sale has blues and pinks, but no yellow. So I improvised by finding a scrap of solid yellow Prima paper to use and covering all the lime green in the Estate Sale papers with Stickles and Embellishments. Now, Shimelle's Glitter Girl challenge this past week was to rework a supply in your stash that you wouldn't necessarily use. I didn't complete the challenge before the deadline, but always love her Glitter Girl series so I watched the video anyways. And I am so glad I did because it really has helped me to look at those "iffy" supplies in a different way. So I applied what I learned from her video to this layout. Well, I covered up the lime green elements in the patterned paper with yellow. And I also did this by covering up the title "My prayer for you..." on the journaling spot (it didn't really fit with my journaling) with washi tape and a sentiment sticker. I love how this turned out and see...you can use pink on baby boy pages too!

(Supplies: Bella Blvd and Prima papers; Bazzill cardstock; American Crafts Thicker alphas and slick writer; Bella Blvd journaling spot and sentiment stickers; Studio Calico wood veneer hearts; Love My Tapes washi tape; Miscellaneous buttons; Divine Twine; EK Success Zig Writer; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist; Ranger Stickles; StazOn ink; Cuttlebug embosser and folder; Glue Arts and Thermoweb adhesives.)

A story from my real life.

To be honest, I really didn't want to create this layout. Nope. I have seriously neglected my "Book of Me" in the current months. As I was looking back at it, I saw the last layout I created for it was back in January 2011. And then their were only four more that were created a year prior to that and everything else is 2009 and earlier. Hmmmm...looks like I need to scrap about me a little more.

Well, thanks to Cathy Zielske's challenge over at Big Picture Classes' Big Idea Festival, I scrapped a long overdue layout about me. She challenged us to create a layout using her "real life" template about something "real" in our lives. So, I decided to document some of the not so fun parts of being a Stay-At-Home-Mom. It's not a glamorous topic by any means - but honest and true. And I am really happy with the way this turned out and really happy to have documented this. Thank you Cathy!

I also want to give credit to Creative Scrappers sketch #225 for the amazing design blueprint, to Scrapfit for Workout #75 - challenging us to use twine in a creative way and to Club CK's September issue challenge #2 to use camera embellishments on your page. All of these challenges came together to result in this page. Thanks for the inspiration and thanks for looking!

(Supplies: Bazzill & DCWV cardstock; AdornIt papers; mt washi tape; Creating Keepsakes camera embellishment; Studio Calico wood veneer arrows; Bazzill brads; Jillibean Soup & Divine twine; Close To My Heart sentiment stamps; Close To My Heart, Studio G & StazOn ink; Inkadinkado chalks; EK Success corner rounder punch; Creative Memories circle cutters & punches; Glue Arts, Thermoweb, Helmar & 3M adhesives.)

'Neath the cover of October skies...

...And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
And all the nights magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
Can I just have one a more moondance with you, my love
Can I just make some more romance with a-you, my love...

I love Van Morrison. This was the bridal party dance at our wedding. Seeing as we were married in October (my favorite month of the year), I had to incorporate this song somewhere that day. Anyways, I am off on a tangent because, other than stealing a lyric from this song for my title, this layout has nothing to do with our wedding. This photo was taken four Octobers later!

The first October we were out here, we decided to spend a beautiful October Saturday with our friends Ashley & Justin taking a scenic drive around Mt. Hood. I have almost scrapped all the photos from that day, but this one was still lingering, begging for special attention. Our last stop on our scenic drive was up at Timberline lodge on Mt. Hood. As we were leaving the lodge, this was the view that greeted us - silhouetted trees against the clear sky, layers of the Cascade Mountains and Mt. Jefferson in the distance. It was absolutely breathtaking. 

So this photo was finally scrapped, almost four years after being taken, thanks to several inspiration points. First was Stephanie Baxter's challenge at Big Picture Classes Big Idea Festival to use a large photo on a layout. Second, was the awesome September 1st sketch from Stuck?! Sketches which I rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise to accommodate my vertical photo. The color scheme is thanks to Lisa Truesdell's challenge over at Two Peas to scrap a Fall layout with nontraditional colors. Lucky for me, all the pinks and deep purples in Basic Grey's Indian Summer collection made this task fairly easy.

(Supplies: Basic Grey papers, alpha stickers, felt accents, chipboard accent and cardstock stickers; Bazzill cardstock & paper leaves; Sakura Micron pen; Glue Arts and Thermoweb adhesives.)

1st Father's Day

I had so much fun scrapping this layout. I mean, it is of the men in my life after all, right? I finally broke into my Jillibean Soup Macho Nacho collection after staring at it for several weeks. Those papers just seemed to cute to cut into! But based on a challenge from Amy Sorensen at Big Picture Classes Big Idea Festival to use a hoarded supply that you've been saving for that perfect layout, I decided it was time to bust out the Macho Nacho for this super special page. I also used this awesome sketches from Sketches With A Twist and the "twist" this month was to use dry or heat embossing on a layout. So I broke out some new Inkadinkado embossing powders and added the argyle criss-cross background design. The colors were also inspired by Nik's color challenge over at My Sketch World and the topic was inspired by Sherri's manly layout challenge at Inspired to Scrap.

(Supplies: Bazzill cardstock; Jillibean Soup papers, stickers, die-cuts & alphas; Studio Calico wood veneer stars; Hero Arts argyle stamps; Inkadinkado embossing powders; Sakura white gel pen; Glue Arts, Thermoweb & 3M adhesives.)