Hello! I am so glad to have you in the craft room with me today! Today, I thought we'd talk about card making, specifically … what exactly do you NEED to start.

Firstly, let's consider a card you might buy at the newsagent, or even at the dollar store. Essentially, you have a folded piece of heavy weight cardstock, with an image, and usually a sentiment, on the front … a matching envelope, and possibly a sentiment or longer verse inside. It might be funny, pretty, whimsical, macho, minimalist, arty … there really is something for all ages, occasions and tastes in all sorts of colours, themes and sizes.

If you're considering taking up card making as a hobby, you may be wondering what you really need. If you're already a card maker, you've probably seen this asked in card making groups on Facebook A LOT. Here are my top 6 must haves for card making.

1. CARDSTOCK
2. TRIMMER
3. BONE FOLDER
4. PATTERN PAPER
5. SENTIMENT
6. ADHESIVE

When it comes to the must-haves … that's it! Of course, there are other fun things you can use to make your cards beautiful, but I always say this … a simple card made well, beats a complicated card made badly. In other words … good workmanship is the most important thing in your toolbox. The most simple card, like I talked about today, can look amazing when you take the time to do great workmanship.

Now, if you're just dipping your toe into card making, and are unsure if you're going to be into it, there are a few ways you can do so without breaking the budget or investing in a lot of expensive tools.

1. Kits

1. Pre-cut card base & envelope packs

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1. Ask a card making friend

1. Party Plan

Can card making take over your life and your house? Absolutely! There are so many awesome tools and pretty papers, and gorgeous embellishments … it's really easy to go nuts in the early days and just buy everything! But if you start by buying small amounts, and making sure you use them, you won't find yourself a year down the track realising that you bought a bunch of useless stuff that doesn't work, you don't really like, and that doesn't do what you thought it would. I've been making cards for over 25 years, and in the beginning I made do. When I picked up Scrapbooking about 17 years ago, I accumulated a lot of stuff that is still sitting unused in boxes … so I know what I'm talking about here! LOL But then I got smart, and I added to my tool box in stages, as I could afford things, and after doing my research. I think we can go into that in another episode though, because there's been lots of information here already today, and I don't want to overwhelm those who are just starting out.

Don't forget to check the blog post for photos, a transcript, and links to a whole lot of things I mentioned today. Remember … people will tell you that you need a whoooooooole lot of things, but one persons need is another person's budget-buster or want-list item … so ease in at first, and if you get hooked, then you can start investing in the new toys.