The Most Practical Crafting Materials to Stock Up On

What’s in your crafting drawer? Every crafter needs to have a holiday and occasional items in their well-stocked crafting drawers that can be used for scrapbooking, journaling and to build a collection of one-offs and rare finds. Do you have any of these?

Special Stamps

One of the most practical things to have in your stock supply are stamps that are seasonal. As these stamps are often released only once, they often become collector items. These stamps are deemed to have intrinsic value, which increases over time, and these are only available for a certain period.

Though there are productions of unique stamps every year, there are designs that have the potential to gain value over time for its design and year of release. So if you’re a collector and a crafter, these stamps are perfect to have in your stash of supplies.

Other stamps that are a good addition to your collection would be stamps from places you’ve visited and traveled to. Not only are these perfect for scrapbooking, but they’re also great for making memory books and decorating your traveler’s notebooks. These stamps are sold in sheets or in collections.

Special Inks

Not all dyes are the same. But if you’re going to stock up on any type, have the quick-drying, intense colored, and vintage marking ones, as these are extremely useful and yield excellent results in terms of how it looks once it dries. If you love layering your colors, archival waterproof ink is the best stamping ink to use.

For coloring with alcohol-based markers, intense ink pads work well and won’t blot. A superfine ink works well for more detailed stamping and produces crips, cleaner lines. It’s also quick drying and works exceedingly well with water coloring.

And last but not least, distress inks to get the right amount of smudge and smear when layering colors, using water color. Pigment-based inks have longer to forever stay-on power but take longer to dry. But once it’s dry, the deep, vibrant color stays on and won’t ever fade.

This is ideal for scrapbooking and journaling. If you’re big on making personalized cards and stationery, these inks are a must-have in your stamp supply stocks.

Limited Edition Writing Instruments

Last but not least, writing instruments, particularly fountain pens. These writing tools increase in value over time, especially the ones from special edition lines. The cost depends on its rarity, the design edition, brand reputation, as well as the materials used to make the pen.

A pen made with a gold nib proves a worthy investment. And as gold is quite malleable, using it for the nib allows the pen to conform to the weight of your hand, which gives you a more comfortable pen that smoothly glides as you write with it.

The nib bends according to the weight of your hand when you press on it to write. It retains its form for the rest of its time, making it a pen that is genuinely yours an in a way, unique to your writing and usage.

These crafting tools aren’t just pretty things to have in your drawer but are also very useful and are practical investments. This is true for anyone who turns to their well-stocked arts and crafts drawer whenever an occasion calls for sending thank you notes, greeting cards and seasonal greetings using personalized materials.

These three items are must-haves for any practical DIY-er and crafter out there.