1. Pink Sparkle Magnetic Glassboard Mat from Glassboard Studios. They have lots of design options, all of them are beautiful. I would get one that catches you eye and would look good in your crafting space. The 24″ x 35″ is a popular size with cardmakers. Glass mats are great for doing all types of crafts. They wipe up cleanly, you can smush your ink pads on them spritz with water and then blot up the ink on a piece of watercolor paper for a unique background. The magnetic ones have the bonus ability to hold papers and stencils in place by using magnets. It is like having an extra set of hands! 😁
2. Magnet Set from Glassboard Studios. They hold your paper and stencils in place perfectly.
3. MagInk Quad magnetic holder for small ink pads from Glassboard Studios. When you are ink blending or stenciling, these trays hold your mini ink pads in place so you can work without having to hold them.
4. MagInk Trays – magnetic holder for larger ink pads from Glassboard Studios. My Catherine Pooler, Altenew, VersaMark, Memento, Lawn Fawn, Nuvo Embossing Pad, and Catherine Pooler ink pads fit well. They 3″ square Distress Ink Pad do not fit.
5. Spellbinders Mega Machine Bundle
With these machines, you can die cut, emboss, foil, and use press plates to create professional paper projects. They have other machine bundles available. You don’t have to have all them at once. Start with a name brand die cutting machine with at least a 6 inch pass through. This will allow you to use all major brands of embossing folders in addition to your dies. Once you are comfortable with die cutting and basic stamping, you can experiment with dry embossing, heat embossing, debossing, foiling, press plates, etc.
6. Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue
I use this stuff everyday! Do not buy the cheap stuff. There is a huge difference.
7. Stampwheel 2.0 Starter Kit from Altenew – This is a great stamping platform that allows to to rotate stamps, get crisp images, and it has a removable side when you are stamping on larger paper. Many cardmakers also use a Misti Stamping Platform.
8. Altenew’s Mini Blending Brushes
There are small sets of these brushes available, but these are my absolute favorite blending brush for stencils and small areas.
9. Tonic Studios Paper Trimmer 12″
There are lots of nice guillotine paper trimmers out there. This one is a work horse at a low price. If you don’t make a lot of cards, you can use a rotary type paper trimmer.
10. Reverse Tweezers .. Honestly, any brand will work, but these are a must have in a craft room. I own more than one pair, which comes in handy when I temporarily misplace one pair.
11. Perfect Picker – Pick and pierce tool. This tool or one like it is another must have. I use mine daily when gluing small items or weeding intricate die cuts. Do not buy the type with a ball at the end.
12. Adhesive foam tape – I actually like the rolls I get from Dollar Tree. $1.25 for 3 rolls. I also get the Dollar Tree makeup brushes with the handle for ink blending larger areas. I keep a separate set of brushes for my Distress Oxide Inks because they are a hybrid type ink.
15. Inks – Get colors you like and types that work with the types of mediums you like to work with. You don’t need to buy every color that a company makes. I would buy a couple of dye inks and hybrid inks in colors that you like and test them out. I like Tim Holtz Distress Oxides Inks, Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Altenew Inks, Catherine Pooler Inks, Pinkfresh Inks, BetterPress Inks. You will need specific inks for different projects. Ex. You will need a permanent or archival type ink if you are going to watercolor a stamped image, and a water-based dye type ink when using alcohol ink markers. This chart was created by Amanda Kaahanui.
13. Heavy white cardstock for card bases. If you buy a pack of 8½” x 11″, you can cut each sheet into either 2 card bases or 4 A2 panels (4¼” x 5½”). I like the Accent Opaque cardstock from Amazon. It is a bright white, heavy, and less expensive than some of the other well-known brands. If you plan to make a lot of cards, cutting and creating your own bases is much cheaper.
271 gsm https://amzn.to/4pdRVau
325 gsm https://amzn.to/4alaG74
14. Colored cardstock – Get a smooth, solid core, acid-free, 8½ x 11″ cardstock. You can cut each piece into 4 A2 panels. Cheap cardstock will fade, discolor, and not cut well. Many companies sell colored cardstock and patterned paper. Find a company you like and buy one pack or a Sampler set to make sure you like them before you buy a bunch. … watch for sales.
16. Nesting Dies – Have a variety of sizes and shapes in your stash so that you have lots of layout options. Kat Scrappiness has a lot of dies available at bargain prices. https://tidd.ly/4pb6ifL
17. Bone Folder for scoring and creasing cardstock. Most brands will work just fine.
18. Scoring Board – many brands are similar. Make sure you get one that can handle 12″ paper and has ⅛” increments.
19. Heat gun – I love this one from Amazon. It is inexpensive and works for everything. I have been using it for years. It is great because you can adjust the temperature. I use a low temperature when drying alcohol inks on Yupo, a medium temperature when drying a watercolor or stencil paste project, and a higher temperature when heat embossing with embossing powder.
20. A T-square ruler. Most brands are fine. This tool will help you to make sure sentiments are level and to line up card layers. If you also make scrapbook pages, you will need a 12″ t-square.
21. A good pair of sharp scissors. I love my Singer nano tip scissors. They are great for fussy cutting and trimming. There are many on the market to choose from. I also have a pair of titanium blade scissors for cutting adhesive foam.
22. Thick vellum. Do not buy cheap vellum. Not all vellum papers are created equal.. Oplymio thick vellum is amazing. You can add ink colors to the back side to tint it, you can use it in an embossing folder, you can add heat embossing to it… etc. Adding a die cut shape of vellum behind your sentiment or focal image can add a wow factor to your card.
23. Colored envelopes – If you are going to spend time, love, and money to make a special hand made card for someone, add a nice color coordinated envelope. If you make A2 sized cards these are good envelopes from Amazon, not the most expensive, but better than the cheap ones. You get 200 A2 envelopes in a variety of colors for about $20, 10 cents each. They also sell large sets of white envelopes.
24. A nail buffing block – You can usually buy these for $1 and many stores like, Target, Walmart, Dollar Tree, CVS, Walgreens, Beauty Supply Stores, etc. I use mine everyday to light buff and smooth the edges of my die cuts. It helps to remove and “paper hairs”. It will make your card look more professional.
25. My Sweet Petunia Precision Glue Press – This little tool is a lifesaver if you have any difficulties with squeezing a glue bottle. Even if you don’t have any hand or strength difficulties, it is wonderful with helping you to get a nice even flow of glue on your project and the special base prevents clogs. It comes with 2 tip sizes for precise glue application. It comes with Nuvo glue, but you can refill the glue gun with whatever glue you prefer. My link above will take you to Scrapbook.com … many companies sell this tool, but they are often out of stock. Scrapbook.com usually has them in stock.
🌟 If you have any questions or need help finding an item, you can message me on Instagram, Facebook, or on this blog. I also have a linktr.ee page with all of my company links on one page. You can bookmark the linktr.ee page for future use. -> https://linktr.ee/deborahhellman
Designs by Deborah 
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