Paper Scrapbook Albums

Written and Created by PaperCraftCentral Susan

Paper scrapbook albums come in many sizes, textures and colours. But what type is best for your project?

"Life is Simple...Eat, Sleep, and Scrapbook"
~Stickers 'N' Fun Scrapbooking Quotes

Did you know you can make your own scrapbook albums from cardstock, paper, designer series paper, paper bags and even old envelopes? You can! 

Sometimes you want an album to be given as a gift, sometimes it is for a special event that everyone wants to signm, sometimes you want to create something special with craft friends on the spot. 

It's fun to have some ideas for how to make paper scrapbook albums whenever you want, using your existing supplies and maybe not having to buy anything new, or buy only small items to make your project unique.

Questions to Ask Yourself when Making Paper Scrapbook Albums

Paper albums have probably been around for centuries. There are many varieties of them available to buy but let me encourage you can to custom make some  yourself.

The type of paper you choose for your scrapbook will be important. Consider such things as: 

• How heavy will the pages be altogether? This will determine the strength of the pages you might need, (the weight of the paper in other words). It will also help you choose a cover. For light, thin paper albums a cover can be correspondingly light and thin, and vice versa, though it is probably best to make a stronger cover for albums with thinner pages purely to protect them better.
• How long do I want this particular paper scrapbook album to last? If it is a temporary project, I can choose material that is not as durable as paper I would choose for a heritage album, for example.
  

Did you know? acid free, lignin free and buffered Archival quality paper can last for 100 years or more! Do you need your handmade album to last that long?

Also think about

• What size photos do I want to place in the album? This will help determine the size of the album I choose and the strength of its binding
• How much will my album be handled? Do I need to cover the pages with protectors?
• Do I need to mail this album? How bulky and heavy should it be if I post it?

Common Album Sizes

Albums can be custom made by you (or others) to suit the projects you have in mind. See how to make Paper Bag Albums, for example.

As another example, I made a Circle Journal by having heavy card cut to a 6" x 6" (15cm x 15cm) size. This was a good size for mailing the Circle Journal to all the participants in the project, though it was not a standard sized album. A stationer actually cut the pages to order for me.

The standard sizes of albums generally available are: 

• 8" x 8" (20.5 x 20.5cm)
• 10" x 12" (25.5 x 30.5cm) landscape
• 12" x 12" (30.5 x 30.5cm)
• "12" x 15" (30.5 x 38.5cm)

You will consequently find paper and embellishments made to fit the standard sizes. This makes it easier to create pages quickly and conveniently. On the other hand, you can make your own embellishments with a Die Cut and Emboss Machine and your dies. 

Of course, you will find albums that are both larger and smaller than the standard sizes I have listed. Some scrapbooks are made entirely of chipboard and are not paper at all. There are albums made of leather, fabric, polypropylene, and many other mediums.

As a creative papercrafter, you will find you can adjust pre-made embellishments and paper to fit albums that are not a standard size, and have a lot of fun doing so.

Idea for Making a Basic Album

First gather your supplies. Think about the theme of the album to help decide colours and embellishments. It is good to have three basic colours in mind, a light shade, a medium shade and a dark shade. 

Can't think of a nice colour combination? Use a Colour Wheel to find colours that contrast or harmonise well.

Next decide what size and colour to make your base pages. There's a reason why many standard albums have neutral black or white pages. They go with everything! You can always cover every bit of them up if it suits you, too.

Decide how you are going to bind your pages together and what type of covers it should have. Is heavy duty cardstock or chipboard going to suit your cover? Do you want rigid covers or soft ones made of fabric or leather? Are you going to want to use a sewing machine to stitch any embellishments or titles on? 

To bind pages, you can simply

• hole punch the edges of the pages and tie them together with ribbon or twine
• Use a large stapler 
• Glue folded paper joins in between each page
• Make a wrap around cover held together with a belly band

You can put together a story idea to decide how many pages to make or count the number of people who might want to make a page for your album. I recommend not putting your album together until the very end when you have collected all the pages together. Sometimes our thinking changes as we create a project and what made sense at the beginning is a little different at the end. 

Allow yourself enough time to get the album finished if there is a special event you are making it for, especially if you are relying on others to contribute pages. 

Show Off Your Handmade Albums

You may already have made albums of your own. If you have, I would love to see what you made!

Send me a photo or two of your paper scrapbook album (the cover and a page or two would be great!) and tell me why you made a photo album yourself. I think the stories behind our albums are so interesting and are part of the creative process.

You may help encourage another crafter to get started on a paper album project too.

Now you may loke to explore more about scrapbooking:

• Scrapbook Journaling
• More journaling ideas
• Pet scrapbooks

PS: If you like to use Stampin' Up! products in your scrapbooks, you may like to join Sharon Dalton's Scrapbooking Global group on Facebook. There is such great inspiration there!