Scrapbooking Albums

When I first started scrapbooking 10 years ago, I was introduced to the craft by a good friend of mine. She took me to a Creative Memories party and I was excited and overwhelmed at the same time. There were so many products to use and learn about! The first thing I had to do was to look at all of the different scrapbooking albums and choose what I wanted to use.

This might seem like a simple process, but have you seen all the scrapbooking albums available? I'm the type of person who likes symmetry, so I knew that whatever size album I purchased would be my scrapbooking template for life. Since my friend used a 12 x 12 album, I decided that I would go with that size. I LOVE the 12 x 12 albums! I have tried other sizes, such as the 8 ½ x 11 scrapbooking albums, but they just don't work for me. I have a friend who swears by the 8 ½ x 11 albums and doesn't like the larger albums.

If you are in the process of starting scrapbooking, I would suggest that you take the time to research albums and album sizes before you purchase one. There are hundreds of scrapbooking sites online with a variety of albums to choose from. Another thing you can do is to take a few blank sheets of 8 ½ x 11 paper and 12 x 12 paper. Try doing different layouts on both sheets of paper. I take a lot of pictures and prefer the larger scrapbooking albums because I can add more pictures. If you take fewer pictures and prefer to do a lot of journaling, then a smaller album might work for you. There are scrapbooking albums that are even smaller than the 8 ½ x 11 albums that work good for gifts or to scrapbook a special event such as a vacation, graduation or baby shower.

Once you decide on the size of your scrapbooking album, there are still other choices to make. Pages in albums are bound in different ways to the book. Album binding styles include spiral bound, post-bound or three ring binders. It is a matter of personal preference. I do not like the spiral bound albums because you can not add or remove pages. How many times have you scrapbooked a theme and moved on to another event only to discover or receive pictures related to the first event. If you can't add or remove pages you have to decide whether you want to not use the pictures or have them out of order in your scrapbook. I prefer the Creative Memories scrapbooks because the pages are removable and the binding is expandable so that you can add pages easily.

You may think that you are done making decisions regarding scrapbooking albums at this point, but there are still decisions to be made. Albums come in every color of the rainbow. You can also find albums with designs on the outside, albums that you can have engraved and albums for which you can design a cover. Some albums have a hole cut on the cover so that you can see through to the first page, making your first page the highlight of the album. This is just a few of the many choices you will have to make when choosing your album.

Choosing scrapbooking albums can be an overwhelming task in itself. Some of you might jump right in and choose the first album you see. Others might decide to research and find the perfect album for you. With so many sizes, shapes, colors and styles available, you should have no trouble find scrapbooking albums that fit your style.