Are you interested in scrapbooking, but not sure where to begin? I would like to share some tips to hopefully make getting started easier.
There are a few basic tools that you will need. An album and cardstock are two of the most important items you will need to purchase when getting ready to make a scrapbook. Here are some things to look for when considering which album or cardstock to buy.
Album
While there are many types of albums to choose from, my favorite is a post bound album. You can add page protectors to the album and the when the pages are open they lay flat next to each other. A 3-ring binder works well because pages can be moved around and added very easily. Another popular type of album is a strap hinge album. Although I have not used this type of album, it seem that it is easily expandable. Most albums come with page protectors and then refills can be purchased separately if needed. Craft stores such as Michael’s or JoAnn are a good place to find albums.
Cardstock
The main thing to look for when buying cardstock is that the paper is acid-free, buffered, and lignin-free. The acid in paper can destroy you photos over time. I like to buy 12 X 12 cardstock so that it will fit any album size. I can just trim it down to whatever size I need and then use the leftover pieces for mounting photos or creating page boarders or embellishments. The most popular album sizes are 12 X12, 8 1/2 X 11, 8 X 8 and 6 X 6. The smaller sized albums work well for vacation or gift albums. I like to use the larger albums for my family’s chronological albums.
I recommend buying a couple of variety color packs of paper when you are starting out. That way you have several colors to choose from without purchasing 50 pack sheets of single colors.
I hope this starts to give you some help on what to look for when getting started in scrapbooking. I am going to be posting more information on basic scrapbooking tools.