Please feel free to contribute your own tips - I'll post the best ones so everyone can see them.

 

Get these things to get started and work from there.

 

ALBUM - I use top loading, acid free albums.

 

PAPER - plain, patterned, co-ordinates, use it for backgrounds, borders and to mat photos, paper piecing.

 

CARDSTOCK - great for mounting photos.

 

SCISSORS - Go for 2 pairs - a good quality pair of normal size for cutting papers,etc and a smaller pair with precision tips for cutting teeny tiny things out.  Decorative scissors are neat, my friends use mine alot!

 

ADHESIVES - Double sided photo mounts and a good glue stick.

 

STICKERS - Buy stickers that a relevant to your layout or if you are like me you will buy them because they are so cute and you have to have them!

 

TRIMMER - I bought my trimmer from The Warehouse for $12.99 and it is just the greatest investment.  Straight edges every time.  I use it all the time for trimming photos, mats, papers.

 

JUST REMEMBER - WE ARE PRESERVING OUR PHOTO'S - MAKE SURE THE PAPER, CARDSTOCK, ALBUM, STICKERS, ETC ARE ACID AND LIGNIN FREE.

 

Tags can be ones you bought from the store, cut with a template or simply cut yourself with a ruler and trimmer.

Use them for Journal Blocks

                    Photo Mounts

                    Borders

                    Decorations.

Tags are also great for adding to a gift instead of a card!

It comes is so many colours and patterns, and words!

I've use printed vellum on pages where a photo hasn't been the best but I've still wanted to use (out of focus, to dark, mistake with red-eye pen - cringe) The vellum allows the photo to still be seen but in a nice muted way.

Most printers print really well onto vellum - print your journalling on some.

 

Because vellum is transparent a double-sided piece of photo tape looks really awful under it, if you can use vellum tape.  I like using eyelets and brads to attach my vellum to a page.

 

Make your own embellishments with vellum:

- a dress

- snowflakes

- lenses on glasses

- water

- waves

- raindrops

- clouds

 - hearts

 - ghosts

- vases for flowers

- christmas lights.