Supplies
Types Of Albums
There are two standard sizes of albums: 8.5”x11” and 12”x12”. The choice is up to you. Many scrappers I know will use a 12”x12” album for the family scrapbook and smaller books for themed albums, like vacation or home remodeling. A 5”x7” album is also popular as a gift book or very specific theme. I personally use a 12”x12” three-ring binder for my scrapbook.
Post-bound albums: These albums come with black or white cardstock pages covered by sheet protectors; the pages are bound into the album with three posts that can easily be taken out and more pages added in or removed. This also makes it easy to move pages around. You can pull the cardstock out of the sheet protector and slide in a page made with patterned paper. Pioneer is a brand of post-bound albums I like.
Strap-hinge albums: These albums have flexible plastic straps in the cover that run through wire loops embedded in each page. Binding is expandable. Westrim is one source.
3-ring binders or D-ring binders: These are just like the binders you used in school—a simple 3-ring center means you can add or switch around pages easily. A D-ring allows pages to lie flat. The best thing is that you can fit a lot of pages into a 3-ring binder. Hiller is my favorite for 3-ring albums.
