I saw a similar messsage on another site:

Getting Started with Scrapping

Decide which size album you are going to use. Personally, I use 8.5 x 11 for my everyday stuff, and 12 x 12 for special occassions. Buy your album and refill pages. (I use 8.5 x 11 because it was cheaper for me. I use a plain white binder and then I buy the sheet protectors from the office supply store or BJs wholesale club.)

Buy an assortment of cardstock= 2 or three of each color that you like. (Some people like brights, others like pastels- I generally stick to primary colors and natural colors for some reason.)

Buy a few sheets of patterned paper, according to your tastes.

Adhesive- either the photo squares, double sided tape, or acid free glue.

Good scissors. Some people buy the decorative edge scissors. I own every pair ever made, and I hardly ever use them. I wish I hadn't wasted my money on them, but that's just me.

I have a small paper cutter. It was $14.00 at Michael's, but I love it because I like using sqaures and rectangles in my scrapping.

Maybe one stencil of gemetric figures.

My advice would be, don't spend a lot of money at first. I spent SO much money on the hobby, and I swear, I don't use most of the stuff I bought, and I feel guilty. I finally gave most of it to other friends who scrap, because I cringed every time I saw how much stuff I bought at first! I wish I had bought just a little, then gotten started and added as I needed more stuff.

Here are things I have also learned-

Be careful how much you crop. When I first started, I cropped a LOT of the backgrounds from my pictures, and now I really regret it, because a LOT of the memories are in the surroundings.

Be conservative with shapes. For me, I did a few stupid things, which I am almost ashamed to admit. I cut a picture into the shape of a sailboat. Now I look at it and say, "What the heck was I thinking???"

Oh, and for me, the BEST thing I did was to subscribe to a scrapbooking magazine. I get creatingkeepsakes, which you can order through www.creatingkeepsakes.com

I cut out the layouts that I like and put them in a little brag book. Then, when I am about to do a new page and can't think of an idea, I flip through the layouts to get some inspiration.

(I guess you could do the same by looking at two peas or dmarie.com, but I like having the magazine pick out the good layouts instead of wading through the thousands of ideas that are on line.)

Good suggestions. I'd have to add HermaFix as a must-have adhesive. It's repositionable, easy to clean up after, and quick. It seems pricey, but I definitely think it's worth it.

I just bought the 'paper roller' paper cutter at Michael's a few weeks ago, along with the scoring blade and a couple of decorative blades. It's my favorite tool, along with my lettering templates and Empressor.

My best advice for a newbie is to create titles from your PC. There are lots of neat free fonts available online to download. When I look at my earliest work and see everything in my lame-looking handwriting, I cringe.