Paper & Album Question from a Newbie

First of all WELCOME TO RCS there Cherie!!

No one is ignoraant or clueess or whatever whenever it comes to this ADDICTION as you have already discovered!!!

About your albums. Those are called strap hinge and they are common as well as post bound. There is both types available at outside soures from CM. Pioneer is one of the top brands that you can even get at WalMart.

The protective sleeves can be gotten atHobby Lobby nad Michael's as well as the lss. (cheaper than CM!) They have both top slide in or side slide in ones.

If you bought all your paper at a lss (Local Scrapboob Store or Supply Store) that specializes in scatppin, it will be ok. The same is true at other places you WIL FIND paper and scrappin stuff. As long as it is in the sb area it will be ok.

Themed albums are up to the creator!! they are yours but you have a fantastic handle on what YOU WANT or need. There is no wrong way. If you have questions, there is n such a thing as a dumb one in here.

Just be warned WE ARE ALL ENABLERS!! LOL!

Oh as far as placing pictures on a background paper,that is the best way for creativity. If you do all your layouts on a separate paper then slide in it your protective sleeve ON top of the white album page. That allows you to move them around also or take them out to photograph or copy too.

So that is what I can offer up from what you asked nad so have fu and looking forward to seeing yo in action - I am sure will be something with two youngsters full of energy!!

North of Dallas, must be clse to another one in the group, Carolyn!! Which, BTW, dave does not DO DALLAS!!!

OKC Dave

Welcome, Cherie. Sounds like you are starting out in much the same way many of us did, with CM. You are right about the white background. I also quickly moved away from that. I am not an album creator - I do LO's (layouts) and one of these days I will get them together in some sort of order and create albums. I keep the LO's in special boxes for each child. I want them to eventually have their own album. I will always remember the fighting over pictures when my grandmother died. I do have a family Christmas album which has several years of Christmas's in order. Dave's right - if you go into a LSS and buy your cardstock and paper you usually don't have to worry. Just watch out for the clearance/bargans at places like the Dollar Store - look for the acid free stamp or label somewhere to be safe. Sandy

Hi Cherie! Welcome to the group! I am also new to scrapbooking. I started maybe a month ago and I'm completely addicted! The album I'm working on is a Pet/Animal album. Since I don't have children my cat is my baby. I think I'm going to also do a "These are a few of my favorite things" album since I have a bunch of ideas, but don't necessarily know what to do with some pages. I'm also addicted to buy the various Scrapbooking magazines. They're great for ideas and introductions to new products.

I look forward to reading more of your posts and learning right along with you!

-Kathy

Cherie,

Congratulations on your discovery of the most rewarding addiction on planet Earth. I prefer the CM albums to the pioneer albums -- can't tell you why, trust in the name perhaps. And as for papers, I HAVE bought "bad" papers at paper stores or craft stores that have scrapbooking supplies, so I suggest educating yourself on which paper makers to stay away from. Although, I think those makers are probably a dying breed. The more we educate ourselves on their products, the better quality they most provide. Don't be afraid of it though, damage takes years to discover and works slowly so don't worry to much about it. You've already discovered the best way to protect and value your pictures for generations to come. Have fun and enjoy!

Melissa in Seattle pages in 2005=119

Welcome to our little part of the world Cherie! I know you'll get lots of answers to your questions.

Welcome Cherie!! You are in the best company you could ask for. We do understand the compulsion well! I think a great many of us started out by attending CM crops and have all used the albums. They are wonderful and I think worth the kinda high price. But there are other books in scrapbook stores just as lovely and more affordable. It just depends on what you like. I prefer CM but have others as well. Visit our website and check us out. M-C does a greaat job of keeping it current and most of us regulars have a bio on there.I won't go any deeper into an answer to your post because I know you will have lots of helpful info from all of these avid scrappers. We ae a very friendly bunch!:-)

Hugs, Sabrina in Kentucky

a good friend is a life long treasure

You've already gotten some great responses, so I'll just add another, WELCOME to both scrapbooking and the group!! Lori Shay Louisville

Cherie, I'm sure you had a lot of responses allready from this helpful group! A warm welcome from my side aswell to RCS!

Judy, SA

Welcome to the group.

Welcome to RCS Cherie.

Teresa in MD

Thanks everyone for the warm welcomes & for answering my questions. I have already taken advantage of the Hobby Lobby & Joann sales mentioned here & stocked up on supplies.

Welcome to RCS Cherie! You've already gotten lots of suggestions, just like you should. :-)

Cherie -

I'll add another WELCOME - to RCS and scrapbooking in general! It is an addiction, but I beleive, as I think all do here, that is worthy! We are storytellers!

Basic answers to your questions - Like Melissa, I am a CM fan, especially their albums - although I know they can be pricey. So - I try to use them for the more important/special things, and for smaller projects I'll go a little cheaper.

As far as the paper, I think your probably OK - and one advantage to the Cm album - their pages are "buffered" to help protect your photos from products that are not acid free.

And, as far as themes - I have a huge list too! I am an album person, some people are layout people. You'll discover which you are soon enough. The impotant thing - have fun!

Again, welcome to the group!

Jessica