Start with the stamps. You can buy bags of them, looking at the colors and researching origins. Buy a stamp guide book to start analyzing them.
You can also go to shops or the internet to find stamps associated with a certain subject you like.
Tools: You'll need blunt-end tweezers to pick up stamps to you don't bend them or get oil from your fingers on them. You'll need an album to mount stamps. You can get slide-in sheets that hold a number of stamps. The sheet can go in a 3-ring binder. You don't want any creases or tears in your stamps and you don't want to paste them into an album.
A good magnifying glass will help you examine stamps and a catalogue such as the Scott catalogue will help you identify and value your stamps.
