1. A paper trimmer
2. A stash of patterned paper
3. Doublesided tape
4. A brown inkpad (for inking edges - it's less harsh than black so will go with more papers.
5. A pack of blank cards. (buy them in bulk so you don't have to be precious with them)

That's my top 5 essentials anyway You can have a treasure hunt round your home for more bits too, got a button box? Sandpaper for ageing and rubbing back paper edges? Bits of packaging you can diecut shapes from or emboss etc.

You can always join in with Crafty Templates too! We're doing wedding and baby cards this month and there's a yummy kit full of goodies to get you started. .