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Scrapbooking can be a very rewarding hobby, but it is also one that requires both material and time input. A scrapbook is so much more substantive than a photo album precisely because of this additional input. If you have the time, but lack the materials, it is actually very easy to pick up scrapbooking supplies as you go.

To understand what you want in terms of scrapbooking supplies, it is helpful to understand what separates a scrapbook from a mere photo album. A photo album contains a serialized listing of photographs. You may choose to put them in a certain order, but other than that there isn't much artistic impact available in the medium. A scrapbook, on the other hand, allows you to decorate, comment, and generally enrich the memories as you lay them down for posterity. Photos are only the beginning of a scrapbook, birth certificates, letters, even items such as baby clothing or a wedding veil can be integrated into a scrapbook to create a much richer experience.

Clearly, the first things you need for successful scrapbooking are pictures or other memorabilia to build the page around. The item in question will be your focus, the central point of the finished piece. Paper is the primary medium for scrapbooking, and so a successful scrap-booker will have a wide variety handy. However if you're starting up, it's easiest to make small purchases as they are needed.

For example, if your first scrapbook is for a wedding the primary colors of the book will probably be the same as the colors of the wedding, white, gold, red, and black are all common wedding colors. If on the other hand you're starting a scrapbook for a newborn the theme of the first pages will more than likely be baby blue or pink. In either situation, the only colors you need are the ones you will use. If you've been scrapbooking for years you may have the paper on hand, but if you're building up your scrapbooking supplies you should focus on the usable items.

If a picture is your subject and paper is your canvass, then all that's left to get you going is a medium and the tools to work it. What makes scrapbooking interesting is that while paper is the canvass, it is also usually the medium. That means the tools you need tools to work the paper. Scissors, punches, stamps, and stickers all make prominent appearances in scrapbooking. If you intend to do it seriously, you'll amass a collection of them over the years. To start with, a simple pair of scissors (for shape cutting), a paper cutter (for cropping pages and pictures), a good set of markers (for commentary and illustration), and some accents (stickers, stamps, or doodads) will yield a page with a little time and creativity. Of course, once you start making pages, you'll need an album to hold them in, but again, you can pick those up as you go. Pick up multi use items like pens before a single use items like stickers and prioritize what you want, and you'll be well on your way to a scrapbooking collection.

Jennifer R. Scott has been writing for over ten years on a broad range of topics. She has a background that includes such diverse areas as environmentalism, cooking, animal care, and technology. If you would like more information on scrapbooking, please visit Scrapbooking Supplies , a supplier of high quality art supplies.

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