Do We Really Need All These Scrapbooking Tools?

It is a question that most scrapbookers find themselves asking at some point. Why do we buy all those scrapbooking tools? Is it because everyone is buying them? Is it because it is the latest and greatest scrapbooking tool? Is it because we have a compulsive need to shop?

Can you remember when scrapbooking consisted of a pair of scissors, paper and photographs? The completed layouts were placed in a three ring binder and you were done and you moved on to the next page. If you were an advanced scrapbooker back then, your tool of choice was usually decorative scissors - most commonly deckle edge or pinking. A rather short time later, stickers were added to give the page some color.

It was not long before scrapbooking tools expanded. It was then that punches became "the thing" and using your local scrapbook stores' huge Ellison die cut machine was difficult because everyone was lining up to use it too. There were suddenly an abundance of templates that came in shapes, sizes and fonts. You needed a special knife to cut them out, another scrapbooking tool. And let us not forget the paper trimmers. You had to have one of those, and they never actually fit the big 12×12 piece of cardstock, however it was imperative that lines were cut perfectly straight. That was what scrapbooking was about.

Remember next? When the scrapbooking industry released even more tools, including new and improved models of the exact same scrapbooking tools that were released in previous years. The scrapbooking world suddenly exploded with tiny embellishments and suddenly ever scrapbooker had to have a hammer to scrapbook. Why? Because it went with that eyelet setter that every scrapbooker needed to include in their scrapbooking toolbox. The Colluzle Template system was also introduced, and you couldn't just purchase the starter kit. Scrapbooker's found themselves desperate to also have all the different templates to go with it.