All of the memorykeeping supplies that I regularly use are listed below. In addition to physical products, this hobby requires practice, patience, humility, storage space, and time.
Album and page protectors
Albums
- Citrus Twist Kits Life-Crafted Album, assorted colors, 6″ x 8″
- Jamaica Makes Acrylic Albums, assorted colors and sizes
Full disclosure: I don’t yet own a Citrus Twist album. All of my albums are from Studio Calico and Ali Edwards (which falls under the Studio Calico brand). Studio Calico recently stopped selling albums and Ali’s shop doesn’t currently have any plain 6″ x 8″ albums in stock. I have one Studio Calico album left, which is what I’ll use to begin my 2025 Project Life album. Once it’s filled, Citrus Twist Kits is the shop I’ll be buying my albums from.
Page protectors
- Ali Edwards 2A Page Protectors (6-ring), 10 count, 6″ x 8″
- Ali Edwards 5A Page Protectors (6-ring), 10 count, 6″ x 8″
- Ali Edwards 1-Pocket Page Protectors (6-ring), 10 count, 6″ x 8″
- Simple Stories SNAP Photo Flips, 12 count, 3″ x 4″
Photos
Camera
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
Photo editing and formatting
I use Elements mostly to crop photos for printing and sometimes to adjust white balance, contrast, and/or brightness, or convert a photo to black and white. You can probably do any of these things with free or less expensive software. I don’t use (or have) any other photo editing software/apps.
At-home photo printing
- Epson PictureMate PM 400
- Epson 320 ink
- Epson Premium Photo Paper, glossy, 100 count, 4″ x 6″
- Recollections Cardstock Paper, white, 100 count, 5.5″ x 7.5″
The Epson PictureMate is an excellent investment. I bought mine in June 2016 and it’s still going strong, even after several moves and a couple of years in cold, dark storage.
I use the cardstock paper to print journaling and filler cards.
Professional photo printing
Photo prints, not press prints. Depending on the project, sometimes I select the white border option, sometimes I don’t.
Everything else
Adhesive
Binder rings
Date and time stamps
- Ali Edwards Time Roller Stamp
- Miseyo Self-Inking Date Stamp, green top, black ink
- StazOn Ink Pad, jet black
- Studio Calico Mega Roller Date Stamp
Digital journaling and filler cards
Hole punch
Paper cutter
Pens
- G2 Pilot Premium Gel Roller, fine point 0.7mm, black ink
- SAKURA Gelly Roll Gel Pen, medium (08), white ink
- Skilcraft U.S. Government Retractable Ball Point Pen, Fine Point, black ink
- Staedtler Lumocolor Permanent Marker, superfine, black ink
I use a G2 to write on journaling cards, a Gelly Roll (white ink) to write on darker photos, a Skilcraft to write on the backs of photos (on the back of (nearly) every photo I write the date it was taken and any extra details or context that I don’t include in the visible part of the spread. I like Skilcraft pens because they last forever and write better on the back of photo paper than other pens. Plus, they have an interesting history), and a Lumocolor (black ink) to write directly on lighter photos.
Stapler
Fun fact: Ellepi is a four-person Italian team and they make all of their products by hand.
Typewriter
- Brother Correctronic GX-6750 Electronic Typewriter
No longer in production. You can find used ones online. A fellow memorykeeper gifted me this typewriter about a decade ago. It’s not the most beautiful or compact typewriter. It is reliable and gets the job done.