I am Christina Crawford and I have been stamping for ten years. When I first started there were definitely some basics that I needed before I began. Oftentimes I hear, what do I need to get started with stamping and scrapbooking, and there is definitely some basic tools and things that would really help you get started and will carry through for years to come. These products are really amazing and they will last you a while, but definitely you need these to start with. The first thing to do is to choose a stamp set of your choice. This one is Polka Dots & Paisleys from Stampin Up!

. I like this stamp set because there is words in it, there is a background stamp, and there is some images. Some of the images like the Paisley, you can stamp and color in, where others like the flower is a bold stamp using the inkpad or markers, thats all you have to do, and then just stamp that right onto card stock.

This is a great stamp set to start with. Then you also need inkpads, and right now I just have two. Having some markers are nice, but you dont have to have the markers, but they will help you color in things. A paper cutter is handy, of course you need some card stock. Designer paper is great to embellish your cards. You need a nice pair of sharp scissors. Some kind of a tape adhesive. This one is a permanent acid-free snail tape adhesive, and then of course you need something to clean your stamps afterwards. This is the stamp and scrub pad and Stampin Mist Cleaner. How could you use your cards without envelopes, you definitely need to get some envelopes, and these are stamping ups, medium-sized envelopes. They are an invitation envelope size, and then you can go ahead and complete your card, write inside, and put them in an envelope.

Using these tools you can also embellish some card stock, and using the designer paper, which I have some here just to show you the beautiful vibrant colors. It will turn a very plain card, using some just pretty color, solid color card stock, like this one here, these are the earth element colors, you could see the gorgeous colors. Now, you just have endless opportunities to make beautiful, different cards. They all wont look alike by using different colors. Using the matching designer paper to put on top you can create a very plain card into something like this, or this. Using the same stamp set, but different colors you can see how just adding a few embellishments, but using the same basics or different basics, can give you totally different looking cards. Besides making cards, if you have all these tools, you can safely stamp in your scrapbook. These products are acid-free and photo safe, which is so important when youre scrapbooking. Let me show you an example. These are two scrapbook pages made with you can see just the solid color card stock, and also the stamp set used to embellish the paper. Just a little ribbon here will also add some embellishment, and thats what you could use those sharp scissors for. These are some of the basic things that you will need when you get started with your stamping.