Newbie and need help/advice please.

[Dee-saster]

Hi everyone, just found this site and hope that some of you would be kind enough to help me with my dilemma.

I decided to start scrapbooking but soon got overwhelmed by what to buy etc....

Long story short, I purchased a 12x12 spiral bound scrapbook from Hobbycraft, 40 pages. The actual description said that it was perfect for scrapbooking and adding embellishments to pages as it could accommodate thick pages.....being an idiot beginner I just cracked on.....now having completed the album which I love the contents but the it is just too fat and the spiral bound is not holding up.

I now know that I should have just stopped when I was half way through but being an idiot I didn’t. After a lot of stressing and trawling the internet it seems that I would probably have been better with a D Ring Album so I considered getting one, tearing my pages out of the spiral bound, cutting down the edges and putting in a D Ring. However, they seem so hard to get in the UK and soooo expensive. I think I would need at least two at £25 ish each, which seems ludicrous. They seem to be everywhere in the USA and so cheap!

I could only find a few choices on Amazon and EBay. Is there anywhere obvious I have missed?

What would you do if you were me?

Thank you so much in advance.

[g61]

Welcome to UKS!

D-rings are certainly easy to use, but I agree, they are not that easy to find in the UK, and £25ish seems to be the price. There is another style of album which is cheaper and has a different type of fastening, but still allows you to make the pages on a piece of 12x12 cardstock and slip them into page protectors. Look for ones with a "snapload" fastening. They can be found online and in some shops too.

Have you checked with any of the sponsors?

[alison 2]

Hi. It has indeed become more difficult to get 12x12 D ring albums recently. You used to be able to find a bargain here and there.
I think project life has stopped doing albums which has been a pain and it’s now difficult to get one for less than £20. You’re right, it is frustrating when you can get bargains in the USA
As stated There are also post bound Or snap load albums which are not quite as expensive

Another solution, not so expensive, would be to carefully take out half the pages from your spiral bound, and adhere them to the pages in another Spiral bound, having first removed several of the pages in it. It Won’t be perfect but it would save all your hard work. Maybe you could get a second book with different colour pages and trim your made pages a little smaller so that you have a border round each page In your new album and it will look more deliberate

When I have used spiral bound albums I have tried to use only flat embellishments, and often use only one side of the page to stop it getting too bulky, and Then torn out surplus pages when it starts getting bulky, which may help if you are thinking of using them again

[Dee-saster]

Thank you both for taking the time to reply to my post, you have helped me sort some of the jumble in my head

[g61]

Alison, that's a really inspirational idea, one I would never have thought of doing.
Dee-saster , glad our suggestions have helped. Keep checking in on the site, and especially the gallery, for more ideas.

[alison 2]

I have my moments
TBH, I’m moving towards A4 so I can use standard ring binders and archival page pockets as the 12x12 albums have got so expensive, and I haven’t been to the states for a while to pick up a bargain.

[irrida4]

After a lot of stressing and trawling the internet it seems that I would probably have been better with a D Ring Album so I considered getting one, tearing my pages out of the spiral bound, cutting down the edges and putting in a D Ring. However, they seem so hard to get in the UK and soooo expensive. I think I would need at least two at £25 ish each, which seems ludicrous. They seem to be everywhere in the USA and so cheap!

[Susie.A]

First of all "Hi and welcome to UKS" and secondly you're not an idiot beginner you're just learning and well done on getting so much done. We all make mistakes and continue to do so and we all continue to learn as we go along, it's part of the fun.

I think Alison's advice is great and when you begin there is so much choice and probably so many photo's you want to scrap too you probably got carried away. Have a think about what's been suggested and please don't knock yourself. Looking forward to hearing how you sort this and I've just checked and American Crafts D ring albums are £20 on Amazon, if you can't find anything with the sponsors although I'd ask them, they will soon tell you if they have them in stock.

I just had a quick check on some of the sponsor's sites and D-ring albums do seem to have sold out but always worth asking them when they are getting them back in again. Post bound would work too, I find them a bit fiddly but that is when I'm putting 50 pages in, that hasn't happened for a while I can tell you.

[elainevking]

Often sponsors don’t advertise the fact they have them..or at least they can get them, so do message the sponsors.

[bramblepie]

When I 1st started scrapbooking I use to love the 12x12 K&C and all the albums with pretty patterns on the front and often chose one to go with what I was going go scrap and fill it with
They werent cheap
But after years and many albums tbe ring ones now popular which is better as as limiting to pages to fill though tbe others you could add to too
But supplies over the years have come down in price
I just bought a live love laugh decorated album at a good price though I saw the d ring the covers where plain just plain
I think the A4 format idea great as got to the stage of album pages just random and lying around piling up