Hi my friends! For today’s post, I thought I’d talk about my 10 most used crafty tools that I can’t live without for cardmaking. Some of these products are machines and some are simple items that make creating easy. So let’s hop to it:
#10. Coming in at #10 is: Clear Storage Envelopes. These come in various sizes, I have the 9″ x 11.5″ and 7″ x 10″ sizes from Scrapbook.com. As I’m always working on multiple card projects at the same time, these envelopes help me keep all my projects separate from each other and organized. I put everything in the envelope from the stamp set I’m using to the cardstock and any embellishments for that project.
#9. Next is: Craft Pick by Crafters Edge. I have 2 of these in my craft space and I bought them both at Dollar Tree. These are very similar to the tool by Cricut. These I use for poking out die cut pieces and I couldn’t craft without them!
#8 is: Bearly Art Glue. I’ve tried a number of liquid glues and I finally settled on Bearly Art Glue and that is because I can buy it with refills and it lasts a long time. Also, I love the precision tip it comes with so that I can control the amount of glue that comes out. It’s very strong, dries fast and clear.
#7 is: Accents 100 lb. White Cardstock. When I started cardmaking, I used only Neenah’s 110 cardstock and I love it. I still use it at times, however I heard about Accent’s 100 lb. and 271 GSM weight cardstock that’s also bright white, but much more affordable for my budget as the ream comes in 200 sheets. The quality is excellent and the weight is perfect for cardbases which is what I use it mostly for.
#6 is: T-square Ruler. I depend on this tool to of course measure but also to line up sentiments across my cards. The t portion keeps the ruler in place as I use it.
Coming now to the Top #5 !
#5. MISTI Stamping Tool. Without this, my crafty life would come to an end! I started out using acrylic blocks and I would always get mixed results. I tried many techniques for stamping with blocks but I was never satisfied. Sometimes I would smudge my sentiment or image and sometimes part of it wouldn’t stamp and there’s was no way to re-stamp it. Then, when I learned about the MISTI tool, I invested in it and now I own 4 of them! It changed my cardmaking forever. Now I can re-stamp and get my images perfect every time.
#4 is: Best Ever Craft Tape by Spellbinders. This tape is incredible! I’ve tried some other tapes for holding down stencils and cardstock but sometimes the tape would tear my paper when removing it and sometimes wouldn’t keep the stencil in place while I was ink blending. So, I tried Spellbinder’s tape and it never stuck to my paper when removing it and I’ve never bought any other tape since! There are several widths. AZ has the 5/8″ here. Grab the 0.25″ at Scrapbook.com here or the 1.25″ here.
#3 is Sizzix Sidekick Die Cutting Machine or here. This little machine is not only the cutest thing ever, but it is a beast! I’ve had mine since 2019 and it works like a charm. I keep it on my craft table because it doesn’t take up much room and I grab a lot for cutting small dies but also when I need to do quick die cutting. Also, I craft at night so being quiet is essential and this little guy never disappoints! This is one of the my favorite die cutting machines, check out that page here.
#2. Is my Gemini Jr. Electric Die Cutting Machine. This machine is my primary die cutting machine for larger die sets or for intricate die cutting. Because I have pain in my shoulder and arms, I had to have an electric machine. I do own 2 other manual die cutters that I love as well. It’s just nice to be able to take a break and have a machine that can cut for me. It’s not very noisy, but I don’t use it at night. I lean to my Sidekick instead. Check out my favorite die cutting machines here.
my #1 most used tool is…. drumroll !
Craft Reverse Tweezers by EK Tools! YES! I had no idea how useful this little tool is! It’s like having an extra pair of hands. I use this to pick up embellishments, holding pieces together that I’ve glued down. I use this tool more than any other supply in my craft space.
honorable mentions…
These tools I had to add to this post because they are indeed useful!
Spellbinders Platinum 6 Die Cutting/Embossing Machine here or here. Though I reach for the Gemini Jr. more, it’s only because of my shoulders and arms. However, I love using my Platinum 6 for dry embossing and with my BetterPress system.
EK Tools Precision Scissors. I am terrible at fussy cutting until I found these scissors. They are strong but the blade is awesome for cutting dies and I got a lot of practice in cutting faux leather for my handmade earrings. A definite useful tool for my cardmaking!
Scor-Pal double-sided tape. This is one of my favorite tapes for paper crafting. It’s strong. Comes in various widths too. Scrapbook.com also has their own brand with lots of different widths and I’ve purchased a lot of theirs too. Both are perfect solutions when I don’t want to use liquid glues.
Scor-buddy Scoring Tool. A must have for making my card bases but also any other 3D paper crafting project where I need score. I used this a lot to make my gift boxes. There’s also other variations that you can purchase here on Scrapbook.com.
Tim Holtz Paper Trimmer. There’s no way I can’t add this tool to my list! I love this guillitone trimmer and it gets used quite a lot in my crafting. Grab it here (Ranger), here (Scrapbook.com) or here (AZ).
Hope you enjoyed this list! It was fun putting this together :), and check out My Crafty Favs page that I have more items by category!
