My Top 5 Paper Crafting Essentials

September 6, 2025

As we head into September, I’ve been reflecting on all the tools that find their way onto my craft table every single time I sit down to create. Whether you’re brand new to paper crafting or a seasoned stamper, having the right tools makes all the difference. It was hard to narrow down my top five paper crafting essentials, but these tools are guaranteed to make crafting easier (and a lot more fun!).

My Top 5 Paper Crafting Essentials

Paper Trimmer: An absolute essential for crisp, straight cuts—whether you’re making standard cards or something adventurous like a Back Fold Fun Fold. Bonus points if it has both a cutting and a scoring blade like the one made by Stampin’ Up!!
Adhesive Variety: You’ll need at least a tape runner and some dimensionals, but I also like having liquid glue for layering elements, and glue dots for adding embellishments and ribbon. The trick to smooth assembling is picking the right adhesive for the job.
Acrylic Blocks: They come in multiple sizes, and they’re used to hold photopolymer stamps while you ink and stamp your images or sentiments.
Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine: Almost every handmade card has me reaching for my Big ‘Boss aka Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine (Stampin’ Up! makes a Mini ‘Boss too). Paired with dies and embossing folders, it cuts and embosses cardstock or DSP to add instant pizzazz to any project.
Cleaning Products: It is very important to clean the ink off your rubber or photopolymer stamps once you are done stamping. Stampin’ Up! has two options, the Simply Shammy and the Stampin’ Scrub paired with Stampin’ Mist. I have not tried the Shammy, but you need to add water to it before cleaning ink off your stamps. Some people store it in a stamp case, but it will probably dry out between uses. I spritz Stampin’ Mist onto one side of the Stampin’ Scrub to wet it, then scrub the ink off. Then I use the other side of the Stampin’ Scrub to dry my stamp once it is clean.

More Tools I Don’t Want to Craft Without

In addition to my Top 5 Paper Crafting Essentials, here are more tools I reach for almost every time I craft.

High Quality Scissors (snips): A sharp, comfortable pair is essential for trimming cardstock, fussy-cutting, and ribbon. I keep two pairs—one just for ribbon, since paper dulls the blades. Stampin’ Up! no longer carries scissors due to a supplier issue but is looking for a new source.
Grid Paper: I use it to line up projects, test colors, and catching stray ink. It’s a lifesaver for keeping my workspace clean from glue and marker mishaps.
Tweezers: Incredibly useful in paper crafting for picking up and positioning small embellishments, die-cuts, or intricate pieces. They also keep glue from getting on my hands.
Isopropyl Alcohol: Great for cleaning your paper trimmer, glass mat, snips, and other tools by removing adhesive, glue residue, and grime.
Scotch Tape: Tape is great for securely attaching ribbon to the back of cardstock and keeping things in place without messy glue.
Glass Mat: Used to get crisp stamped images on the perfectly flat surface! It’s roomy, has grid lines and a ruler for measuring and alignment. The glass is heavy duty, heat-resistant, and super easy to wipe clean.
Adhesive/Glue Eraser: My must-have tool for quickly removing any extra glue or sticky edges from your cardstock or designer series paper.
Blending Brushes: These velvety brushes make soft shading and smooth backgrounds effortless by beautifully blending ink. Also available as small blending brushes for precise inking.
Take Your Pick Tool: I love the mini spatula end for scooping up adhesive-backed embellishments and gems. The paper piercer, mini spatula, small stylus, or large stylus are interchangeable.
Sponge Daubers: They fit on your finger and the sponge absorbs ink so I can use it to add soft shading, ink cardstock edges, or apply color to small details. An easy way to add depth and dimension to my projects.
Bone Folder: An optional item that I use sometimes to enhance score lines for nice crisp folds but sometimes I just use my hands.

Misc.

If you are new to paper crafting these lists can seem overwhelming. But you don’t have to buy everything all at once. Just start small with some ink, paper, stamps, adhesive and a paper trimmer. Then gradually add more things like designer series paper or embellishments to step it up. As time goes on and your skills improve, you can add more tools to advance your crafting. I’ve been at it for over 18 years and my supplies have definitely grown over time.

Thanks for visiting my website. I hope you come back again and again. I specialize in fun folds and shaker cards so there are lots of free tutorials to be found. Please tell your crafty friends about me and refer them to my social media links below. You can also share this post. I appreciate your time. Happy Stamping!

God bless,

-Tammy