Album recommendations?

Hi I've just decided I would like to begin scrapbooking. So, I'd love a little help getting started. I've had a look at the types of albums you can buy and there seems to be a wide variety. Acid free pages seems to be a good idea but this is just a guess. Is it better to buy a pre-bound album, an album which you can add pages to, make your own (if so, how)??????? Are page protectors a must? help! Thanks to anyone and everyone that can help me out

Acid-free is a must. I like the postbound albums and page protectors. I started on the prebound, but I'm not organized enough to have all my pictures in the order I want them in the books. Needless to say those aren't finished.

I started with a binder and page protectors, but now prefer the post bound albums. I like being able to move things around and keep them protected behind the plastic so when people look at my albums, they stay clean! There are so many different albums. Creative Memory albums are strap-hinge and I don't like how they come apart, but the colors and covers are nice. I really like the Colorbok albums with the faux suede finishes.

Good luck! It becomes an addiction!

Jen

I wouldn't buy a pre-bound album unless you are making a thematic book and know exactly what is going on each page. Like other people said, you can't move your pages around with those and most people need a little more flexibility.

I would say page-protectors are a must, especially for albums you're going to be sharing with kids. Keep everyone's grubby hands off your pictures and hard work LOL.

I use two kinds: post-bound and 3-ring.

3-ring are definitely the easiest to use. Just pop in, pop out. Unfortunately, there is also a huge gap between your pages, which sometimes looks weird. And if you use the album a lot the page protector holes sometimes rip, which is obviously a problem. We R Memory Keepers offers a nice line of 3-ring albums and C-Line carries 3-ring page protectors that are big enough for bulky pages. Both are available at Michael's.

Post-bound are my personal favorite. They aren't as easy to add pages to as a 3-ring, but still much easier than strap-hinge. They offer you the flexibility of going back to add pages if you forget. I just found a brand I really like of 12x12 albums-- American Traditional Designs. They are really nice looking and the page protectors are nice and roomy. I found these at my LSS and I really like them.

One thing you should be aware of is that page protectors come in all different sizes. They might say 12x12, but that doesn't mean they will necessarily fit every sheet of paper or cardstock that also says 12x12. When you buy your page protectors, measure the paper that comes in them. That is the size of page that will best fit in there. Some page protectors are small enough that every page needs to be trimmed down to 11 1/2 x 11 1/2. You will want to trim your paper down BEFORE you start scrapping on it, b/c trust me it's not easy to trim a page after it's done!

Hope this helps!

I think Erins post is great.I agree with all. I just treated myself to a leather album from HL and the page protectors are not true 12x12 and so i will have to remember to trim the paper a little,rats.

I had that same problem last night when I was SBing. The cardstock included wasn't true 8x8. So I had to trim some, and I'm so glad that thought occurred to me to check the measurements *before* I started my work...

My personal favorite is Post-Bound Albums. I like how you can move the pages around, or add more later if you forget. I also like how you can expand the album, fairly easily. I also like Strap-Hinge Albums, like Creative Memories' Albums. I still haven't completely figured out how to get the pages to all lay correctly though, so they're a bit tricky. I don't like 3-Ring. I think it looks to much like a Trapper Keeper... I'm still in school so I'm trying to stay away from anything that looks like school supplies. Lol.

It's all about preference, really. But page protectors are a must! They keep fingerprints off of your photos and if someone spills a drink, it's not really that big of a deal... or food, kids' hands... anything really. It's totally worth the money.

I can't stress enough how important Acid-Free and Lingin-Free products are. If paper contains Acid in it, then it will yellow overtime and has the potential to run if it gets wet (like Construction Paper, for example). You can purchase Aerosol Sprays that buffers paper so it's not acidic anymore, but I'm not sure where you would find that...

- Laura -

I love post-bound...totally agree with Erin's post!

Post bound all the way! They are easy enough to expand, though I find that I like to keep my books down to 40 page protectors max...otherwise the book is too bulky and overwhelming...so I hit my max and declare the book "finished" and buy a new one!

I have one CM strap hinge album and although it is one of my favorite album covers and is one of the best made, it does not fit my scap style...I don't like having those edges on there and I scrap way out of order and need the option to rearrange easily!

I think three ring are nice, but I do a lot of two page layouts and do not want a large gap between the two pages.

Thanks so much for all of this information! You guys rock

CM albums are great, and I often scrapbook out of order too. I usually use a two page spread, so that helps with out of order cropping. CM has what they call Perfect Fit paper, so if you do one page layouts, you can essentially do what many croppers do with postbound albums. It fits CM's 12x12 pages exactly, so you can do a layout on the Perfect Fit paper and then stick it on the scrapbook page.

page protectors are a must for me!



Aneesa

i dont think i could scrap without page protectors. as well as keeping things clean as other have stated... i move things around a lot. i also use 3d embellishments a lot, so this way it keeps things from getting tangeled together on opposite pages.