11 essentials in cardmaking in my opinion, with video

I think these are essentials as I can't seem to make a card without them. Ofcourse there's more , but to make a card you need a few supllies you will reach for time after time, as do I.
These are the basics and if you have those you can start to branch out into other things and supplies as needed.

11: Mondi or Canon (250gram)or Claire Fontaine (250 grams 110lbs) colour laser printer paper 140lbs or 300 grams.

I couldn't find my specific one, I've used Mondi until my copyshop/printer switched to Canon.
I liked them both, they're slightly coated for Laser copying/printing and that is fab with inkblending to be honest either Distress or Memento blending.

10: Leitz/Esselte A5 pockets. These are great for metric countries as A5 is exactly half an A4 sheet. They have  no flap, but the flap annoys me anyway and they're stronger and cheaper than the Avery Elle pockets I had before. Also because they're metric sized there's no wastage for the insert flap I use to write the name and company on of the stamp or diesets I put in them.

9: Non Stick Titanium Scotch scissors. Some gunk will stick to them anyway, but most of it doesn't . They're easily cleaned and super sharp. I got a cut whilst cleaning the blades one, just from rubbing the blade, so be careful!.

8:  tape and tape runners. I get mine from Action these days, the taperunner is only 98 euro cents and works great, the double sided tape and foam are about half the price and well you know I like to use foamtape. I would suggest to look around in Dollar store types shops, you  might not find the exact same, but similar ones will probably work just as well.
I also got 2 inch wide foam from Ali Express and those are super super sticky and once the papers touched you won't get them apart again, also I now tear the tape as they will gunk up your scissors immediately. Amazon also has similar ones, not sure if the same seller.

7: mini glue bottle with fine applicators. There's many brands out there, I got mine at the local craftstore, I can't remember their brand as I threw away the packaging. It had 3 or 4 of these bottle in the pack and I love them with tacky glue for all sorts of fine work, like detailed diecuts when I forget to use Stick it ;-)

6: Post it like tape. I have been looking for the wide Post it tape for ages in The Netherlands,  I found correction tape that is wider, but I'm not sure it's repositionable. So when I found these narrow tapes in a dispenser at Wibra I was so happy and bought them all, good thing too as they never came back in store. So I looked on the internet and ofcourse found some on Ali Express. I can't shop Amazon, and free delivery on already cheap supplies? yes please. the ones I got are about 2"wide and not sticky at all! the narrow ones are better, but the 2"ones I wonder how you would keep it on the fridge or something...again if you can find alike items or the proper #m one I would get that, I will keep looking, but for now these will do. Also if you;re lucky to get the full sticky Post its...they should be fab too, again I can't find them and Inkadinkadoo masking paper is too expensive for borders and such I use this tape for.

5: Scoring boards. I have two the Martha Stewart one and the WRMK one. I got the WRMK one first. And I love that all the groves are numbered, whereas with the MS one I have to fill it in with a Sharpie to make it easier to use.  I don't really like the cutter on the WRMK one as much as I thought I would, it dulls a bit too quickly in my opinion. But there's a new version out (light gray and teal) and it might be better.
I sue scoring board to score my card blanks as they're so thick, also I use them for gift boxes, bags and such, Very versatile tool, esp with the MS one and the envelope corner. I have the WRMK envelope punchboard so I never used the MS one.

4: Stamps and dies..ofcourse you can't go without them and there's so much choice it's crazy. I like cartoony style stamps of adorable critters the most and have mainly the basic dies, like cirlces, squares, rectangles and such. and once I got those I branched out into the decorative ones as I needed them.
Digital (or digi) stamps are a good starting option, there's many free ones out there and when you buy any, they do  not have shipping costs, no customs charges, sometimes taxes, but also no waiting time, instant download and gratification :-D


3: Alcohol markers. Once you have an image to color I like my Spectrum Noir the best. They're cheap to start with and refillable and the nibs can be replaced if needed. Personally I like the bullet nibs more than brush nibs. I have had Copic markes (original and ciao)  and Pro markers, but I destashed them once I got the 216 set of Noirs.

I also use the Crafter's Companion Neenah ultra smooth card with it. I think it's 110lbs or 216grams. and I love it. for the representation of the color, the blending I have tried others, but some are so stark white, the colors become almost fluorescent.

There are other brands available but again these are my personal choices.

2: Inks. to stamp images I like to use the Simon Says Stamp Intense black ink or the My Favorite things (MFT) hybrid black ink. Bother are alcohol marker friendly but also waterproof, so great for markers and or watercoloring. the MFT one is refillable and as my SSS is running low I grab the MFT one more often, but I do believe the SSS is more black, darker with one pass. I wonder if the Hero arts intense black is the same as the SSS one.

1: Stamping tools. To stamp  properly and without  wastage I love using a stamping tool. I have 3 kinds the MISTI, the Stamper's Friend and the   WRMK one. I prefer the Stamper's fried and have a review on my Youtube channel. And there's more choices out there. Get the one that fits your crafting and budget.