Page protecters, to use them or not?

Hey all you wonderful scrappers out there. I am finding so many works of art here with so much depth and layering that it makes me wonder....do you use the protective page covers or not? Some of my favorite LO's appear to be too thick to fit into one of them. I am fairly new to the craft and so far have used the plastic protectors....Please give me your feed back as far as pros and cons on using them. Thanks a bunch! Brenda

Sometimes yes. Sometimes no.

Helpful wasn't that LOL!!

Alot of times lately I seem to be making mini albums from scratch using my Bind It All. They do have some page protectors and I'm thinking of getting them.

If I'm not making the album from scratch then yes, I do use page protectors.

Some people have made home decor out of their pages by putting them in a shadow box or displaying on an easel. Would that be an option for the thick ones?

HTH Andrea

Hey, Brenda. I use the page protectors. It's sometimes hard to get my thicker LOs into them, but I manage. I'm too worried about sticky fingers, liquids, etc to go without a page protector! My LOs stay in a box until I am ready to put them into the protectors, though. On occasion, I've had to put a LO without a ton of thick embellies behind one of the "fatter" LOs to make them both fit into the protector.

I always use page protectors. I've heard of people trimming just a bit off the sides of the page to make it easier to fit a thick LO into a page protector. I haven't had to do that yet but I'll keep it in mind.

I only use pp in store bought albums, the standard scrapbooking albums. I just slide my pages into them.

If I make the book from scratch then I rarely use pp unless they are made specially in the size I made the book. I like BoBunny pp for their chipboard books, they work really well.

I dont tend to use them unless it's something really important. Otherwise, I find myself forever trying to find the right page protector.

I am a protector girl. Actually, I use a top load page. Don't trust the dust and tiny little fingers that look through the albums. So far I haven't come into a situation where the pages won't fit. However, I don't layer too thick either. (I might if I could afford it...LOL).

Why use page protectors: what if you or someone accidently sneezes while looking at your album? What if someone looking at your album is holding a baby and it drools; I have never known everyone to have clean hands all the time; What if there is an accidental spill around the area you are working at (may or may not be your fault).

It just takes one time for a page to be ruined. Is it worth the risk???

I always use page protectors. I'm just too worried they'll get messed up!

I always use page protectors...I'd hate it if a page got dirty or if something spilled on it. Also they display the layouts wonderfully well in my albums.I don't want my layouts to get dusty and nowadays we use so much stuff on our pages that are potential dust magnets.
I just bought my first 12x12 D-ring binder at Michaels..our Michaels just redid their scrap section and have loads of new and restocked items arranged by theme AND they have lots of new albums. Anyway I'd heard the D-ring albums were good for the fat or thick layouts and lately I've done a lot of those. The brand I got is American Crafts. It seems to me the actual page protector is the teeniest bit bigger than in my other albums and because they kind of hang loose, they're perfect for the fat layouts. They're not all squeezed together. I love mine. There is an inch of margin so some of the 2 page layouts that you'd want side by side as one long 12x24 may not work for some folks...but it's great for the single page los.
I also have a 12x12 frame for thicker layouts from Ms that I have not tried out yet but I will as soon as I figure out which layout to put in it.
But page protectors yes yes yes. All my little chipboard and specialty books are beginning to get dusty and dingy.

I always use my page protectors. Too afraid something I worked so hard on will get ruined. They are definatly a good idea.

the only time I do NOT use page protectors is if it's a 6x6 or an 8x8 handmade mini album,,,,,and if they had em for those, I'd buy em!!!!!

otherwise,,,,,,,,,God forbid,,,,,,,ALWAYS!!!!!! !!!

I always use page protectors (top-loading) for all of the reasons stated above. I have never had a problem with the page being too thick with embellies.

I've had problems with the page being too thick,,,,Ive got about 6 LO's at home right now that are too thick to go in page protectors,,,,

however, I knew that when I made them,,,,,most of them are large silk flower arrangements,,,,roses and the like,,,,,one has a good size shell on it,,,,,,I intend to use shadow boxes,,,,,

No one here who I give scrapbooks to have babies and are generally really clean so I don't think page protectors are really that necessary. Seems I'm the only one with that opinion though.

I noticed when signing up for the workshops at scrapfest, they offer a lot of interactive layouts. Lift the flap doors and multiple folds to open up the page.

I assume they leave those out of page protectors, or they wouldn't be interactive anymore.

always, always, always

i had a friend who had a CM album with los all in protectors. she was moving and left it in her car overnight. it rained and leaked thru the sun roof, the album as soaked and bubbled and warped, but because of page protectors, the lo were all alright. so, protect or not to protect, no question. Protect!

I always use them! I'm too afraid of something getting messed up. Plus, I've found that some of my embellishments from older pages can come loose. If you have it in a page protector, at least it won't get lost.

I am working on my DD Newborn 8x8 book now and when I am done with the page,I put it in the page protector. I am going to be working on my DD ultrasound pictures / baby shower and that will be a 12x12 but I brought a 12x12 pocket folder to hold them in-till I can get page protectors and a album to put them in.

I always use them. I have one layout that won't fit into a page protector. I'll wind up getting a shadowbox or something for it. Right now it's just in a pile with the rest of the layouts I need to sort and put away (this whole redoing album organization thing isn't what it's cracked up to be!).

There were a while back, and I have no clue where to find them, but someone had shared in one of the forums I'm on this deep shadowbox-like protector that you could put right into your album. But I have no clue who makes it, what it was called, etc. etc.

• 4tgrfans Said:

I still use a page protector. I just use a hole punch to make holes at the ends(to stop the page protector from running) and then make slits where the interactive part to make a flap (or whatever is needed) is to allow for it too still be interactive and protected at the same time!

i always use them. way to many sticky fingers in our house. Plus i have worked way too hard for too many years for someone to mess that up. if i didn't have them i probably wouldn't let anyone look at the albums

Thanks to you all for all the input you gave me....I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out. Page protectors it will be for me!! Happy Scrappin! Brenda

Love the top loading pages. Once in a while and old page loses it adhesive strength and something comes off. It is easy to glue back on with the top loader. I wonder how long these adhesives will really work.

I have wondered about the life span of some of those adhesives too... boy am I going to be ticked if 10 years from now all my stuff is coming unglued... like me!