Beginning Scrapbooking for the Frugal Shopper

Scrapbooking does not need to be an expensive hobby. There are many ways that you can aquire some freebies, or at least some cheap supplies. The paper itself comes in many shapes, sizes, weights, and prints. Depending on how creative you are, your paper can be your largest expense. And if you have tons of scrapping to do, it can really tie up some cash. I would start off by determining just how much time you are willing to spend, and what type of book you are looking at (8x10 or 12x12). Most people choose the 12x12 simply because they can fit more pictures on the larger papers. If you like to do elaborate lay-outs this would probably be your best bet. However if you are just doing simple scrapbooks, say for a gift, I would go with the 8x10, simply because if the recipient decides later on to add pages to the book it won't put them in the poor house either. Your largest expense should be the binder you choose for your album. It needs to be large enough to put numerous pages into, and functional enough that you wont need to rent a bull dozer to cart it with you to crops and such.