I did It.. I got a Circut Last night.. About This Page:

[Hugmonster]

The one I found at Walmart had two cartridges.. Keystone and George.
So now that I have used up most of my Christmas money what accessories should I get and what is a waste of my money?

I know I want a trimmer for pictures, any thing else?

What do you consider a necessity? I have paper, a corner trimmer and some shape cutters from Creative Memories.

I am trying to decide if I want a wavy trimmer or just get a trimmer that I can put a wavy blade in like the fiskars one?

Can you tell I am just starting out?

[LilMarcieMouse]

I vote to get a trimmer that you can add differnt blades to. Sis and I have about 5 12x12 trimmers beteewn us and 2 or 3 smaller ones. We do have the creative Memorries wavy cutter witch is pretty nice but we don't use it much. If you start going to crops someone will have one you can borrow I sure.

I concider my Xyron "X" sticker maker a necessity, also my scrapbook tweezers. We also have 2 other Xyron sticker makers. Pens for scrapbooking too. They are acid free. I'm sure there is more but I can't think of them right now.

[Carousel96]

Great find on the Cricut -- you'll probably want extra mats for it
I use my 12 x 12 "guilotine" cutter all the time -- I like it better than the slide style cutter for big papers and pictures.
I also love my scissors with the tiny point -- good for cropping in tight spots
I went overboard buying pens at the beginning -- I have tons of colors, but in reality use black for 95% of my journalling!

[Barbara Bennett]

Originally Posted by Hugmonster

What do you consider a necessity?

Well, now that you have a Cricut, you'll find that finding great deals on more cartridges can quickly turn into an addiction.

Aside from that, my vote for must haves would include:

Tiny pointed, very sharp scissors - Ek Success makes a great line of them
Squeeze and Roll Glue pen for tiny pieces
Fastenator Stapler - the large one (This is a love it or hate it tool for most scrapbookers. I love it, and use it all the time. I use it to adhere ribbons, vellum, etc., and love the fact that it adds the decorative staple bars to the project. They're available in lots of themes. The large one is much better than the small because it has a moveable guide that allows you to line up your staple bar exactly where you want it on any 12 x 12 page.)
Ribbon, ribbon, and - did I mention....ribbon!
Clip It Up organizer - We use 3 in our design studio and find them to be soooo handy!

[Nala]

I second the advise of a good trimmer. I love my 12" x 12" Fiskars trimmer and have used it for years. I would be lost without it. I would go for one that you can change the blades on. A wavy blade would be great for some things, but you will want one that has a straight edge too.

And Barbara's suggestion of ribbon, ribbon and more ribbon? I can't argue with that. I love ribbon!

I would also be lost without my Ranger "Vintage Photo" ink pad. But I love to make my pages look distressed.

[happyhedgehogs]

As far as cutters go, I like to keep two on hand: one big one (with the sliding blade) that cuts 12" papers and has the pull-out ruler guide, and a smaller 4x6 one that travels well. In fact, the small one I like best is the Creative Memories personal trimmer which even has a little drawer underneath and small cutting pad on top. Very handy for taking to my kids' doctor appointments, in the hotel on trips, etc. I can carry some basic tools in my cropper (corner rounder, scissors, tape runner, a pen), add an envelope of pictures, and have an instant crop-on-the-go kit!

Adhesive is a must. I prefer the tape runner style that has the little bitty rectangles that come off in a continuous line. Creative Memories has a version, and I also find them at craft shops like Hobby Lobby.

I second the thought that black is really the most necessary color. Maybe have one set of 8 other than that, just in case.

Paper! Watch Hobby Lobby (etc) sales for their paper to be 50%. Buy a pack of cardstock in different colors, and pick up some patterned papers also. I usually get these as individual sheets since I don't use as many. However, I found a great pad of 12x12 Die Cuts With a View brand cardstock the other day for 40% off, with nice thick paper and great patterns for Cricut shapes. My favorite is to use my new paper to make gift boxes with Tags, Bags, and Boxes!

I really don't use the specialized cutting tools much, and it seems to be a love-em-or-hate-em kind of thing with my friends. I wouldn't worry about buying the wavy cutters and patterned scissors and circle cutters and a billion punches until you've gotten a feel for your scrapbooking style. I find that using such things often just makes my pages too busy. If I need something for one page, I can almost always find what I need among my scrap-buddies' stuff.

Happy scrapping!!!

[elizabeth shannon]

Congratulations of getting your Cricut - sounds like you found a great deal.

I would echo those that said precision scissors and adhesive tape runners - those things are in constant use when I am crafting.

I also use a lot of ribbon and brads - I have both in lots of colours.

Finally I would say - think about storage! Buy it as you go and plan how you are going to store and use your stash. There is no point having lots of lovely embellishments and papers and not being able to find them. Can you tell I speak from experience LOL