Album size?!

So this may seem like a silly question, but whats the most practical album size to both fit all the typical scrapbooking goodies in, and be something that can be displayed on a bookshelf?

For example, I just realized that the main bookcase in my home with all our knick-knacks, photos, etc. isnt deep enough to fit a traditional 12x12 album and of course this is where I planned to house the scrapbook.

I have lots of cards from family and friends for graduations, birthdays, and anniversaries that I plan on putting in it using waterfall pockets to minimize how many pages I actually use for the cards, so I know the thickness of the scrapbook is going to get pretty wide when its all said and done. But Im afraid that an album any smaller than 12x12 would triple the overall size

So please, any thoughts or suggestions would be mucho appreciated!!
Victoria

12x12 is my go-to size but 8.5x11is probably the next best thing. Have you thought of a separate album for the cards?

You can also make your own albums. 10x10, 8x8 and then any version smaller are common. YT has tons of ideas for that, and I've made three now myself. If you're planning on commercially premade, you're pretty much left with 12", 8 1/2x11 or 8x8 and smaller.

Maybe you can consider displaying the scrapbook on a shelf, rather than simply put it on the shelf like any other book? If you have room to do that, you can put it at an angle on one shelf that way it fits the depth of the shelf.

To be completely honest, I hadn't really thought about separating some of the cards out, but that would definitely work for my project, and would actually probably make much more sense considering my topics/content. And I had considered making more than one scrapbook, but I didn't want to commit before I was able to prove to myself that I could finish the first one hahah

I'll have to look into this option because I was thinking commercial pre-made simply because it's one less thing I have to make haha

Actually displaying the scrapbook would be totally doable for me, we have the IKEA billy bookcase system and I'm 99% sure our unit is wide enough to do this. But now that both you and Jess have suggested making my own, I'm going to have to do some research on this because it seems like it may be the solution to all my problems haha Thank you for giving me a starting point!!

oh be careful, YT might suck you right in! I highly suggest Rosa Kelly Scrapbooking, for her album making... this is her playlist page.... she has her videos all catagorized. https://www.youtube.com/c/RosaKellyScrapbooking/playlists

Rosa Kelly is amazing on YT.

A 9x9 inch scrapbook album would likely be a good compromise. It's larger than the typical 8.5x11 inch size, providing more space for your cards and other items, but still compact enough to fit on a standard bookshelf without taking up too much depth. This size should accommodate your scrapbooking goodies and keep the album manageable in terms of thickness.