I Am a Paper Pusher

The first forms of paper appeared thousands of years ago. Made out of plant fibers and labor-intensive, the resulting paper was expensive and reserved for the most important functions: legal records.

But now, paper is ubiquitous. There is a paper for every use, and a use for every paper. But the newest is perhaps the best: acid-free, lignan-free, colorful, sometimes two-sided, with a number of weights, and nearly infinite patterns. Scrapbooking has provided the common person with a resource not previously available.

So, what's the big deal?

Size: scrapbooking papers are currently available 3 basic sizes: 12 by 12 inches, 11 by 8 1/2 inches, 6 by 6 inches and 6 by 4 inches. The largest size fits the oversize albums promoted by the scrapbooking industry, or can be cut down to fit smaller albums and notebooks. For the paper artist/crafter, the 12 by 12 inch sheet provides a lot of acreage for projects. Even the smaller sizes provide a lot of any given pattern or color.

Color: all the colors of the rainbow, and other ones besides. The scrapbooking paper is frequently sold in coordinated packages with solid and patterned papers together. Sometimes the patterned sheets of the set are as basic as gingham plaid in white and one other color, small flowers of various kinds in a dozen colors, or incredible arabesques in white on white to form a subtle background for wedding pictures.

Pattern: special patterns are printed for every season and occasion. Sports motifs, animal motifs, Christmas, Easter, school days, vacations, and hobbies are all featured on paper for scrapbooking. The designers of these papers are good and the designs run from funny to stately, homey to elegant. Even trying to collect a sheet of each design would break the bank, and involve renting a warehouse.

Weight: this paper can be as lightweight as tissue (although it is more durable) to medium card stock, which can be used as mats for photographs on scrapbook pages.

Types: most of the paper is like that we use everyday in school and office, opaque. The "vellum" paper is different. Usually smooth on one side and more textured on the other, it is also semi-transparent. It is used on top of colored paper to tone down the color and pattern and to lend it some elegance.

Paper crafts used to be limited to tearing, straight-edge scissors, round hole-punches and a guillotine paper cutter.

Now there are dozens of scissors with various edges to make the cut more decorative. There are even scissors that make narrow strips with curly patterns by cutting both sides at once, making curly borders easy.

Punches of various motifs like balloons, fish, stars, paw prints, and others are available. Corner punches allow the crafter to cut the corners of papers in various shapes as simple as a rounded corner to arabesques. Long punches can punch vines or other shapes along the full length of the sheet of paper.

Cutting a straight edge can still be performed by straight scissors, but there are also sheet cutters with a grid on the cutting table to allow precision cuts. These cutters may also have wavy options or other edge types in addition to straight. By cutting one sheet of paper at a time, very precise sizes of papers can be made for your project.

Crinklers are now available which crinkle the paper like the center part of cardboard.

Embossing stencils can be used with thinner or pulpy paper to emboss a figure in the paper itself.

Acid-free adhesives are now available to keep your scrapbook pages and paper projects pristine with time. They come in glues, pastes and tape forms, and emphasize easy application like never before. Craft stores are likely places to find these.

Die cuts: You can get your own die cut machine (no electricity required) or buy the die cuts. A die cut machine will allow you to add more templates as you need them, and you can always go back to the ones you used before at will. If you buy the die cuts themselves, you will be able to get more die cuts for your initial investment, but getting one you had before may be more problematic. The availability of die cuts, previously hard to come by, is a great boon, as is the availability of crafter-level die cut machines. The professional models are expensive and not cost-effective for most people.

Embellishments: scrapbooking stores and craft stores have such an abundance of embellishments available now. These include stickers, bows, brads, pre-cut flower shapes, etc. These also come in sets for specific occasions, like weddings, vacations, school, sports, etc.

Buy this stuff while is it available. Some will probably always be around, but the vast amount currently here now may taper off over time, and who knows when the next explosion will occur. Storage can be a problem, but not having what you want when you need it can be very frustrating. These considerations need to be balanced against each other. I, personally, endeavor to minimize frustration, and have learned to store more in less space. So my advice is to buy while you can.