3 ring binder question?

Ok, I am curious if anyone uses just a regular school 3 ring binder for an 8.5x11 album. I am currently thinking of switching to this size of layout. I just seem to be liking it better lately. I do have one album. However, it seemed that it would be just as easy and cheaper to get a regular school 3 ring binder. I wondered if anyone has done this and thier thoughts. I know I would have to find page protectors that fit it. Also, it may not be as "safe" like acid free and what not. However, my home and the shelf it is on and everything else is not totally safe so I would think as long as it is in a safe page protector the actual notebook should not matter. Hopefully it would be easy to switch to another 3 ring binder if it had issues too.

Anyway, I wanted to know peoples thoughts or experiences with this.

I also like the idea that I can get a giganticly thick 3 ring binder to hold a huge number of layouts. I am not sure why this seems appealing lately, but it does...

Thanks!

I haventused the regular 3-ring binders, but I have quite a few of the 3-3ring memory albums I got from M's when I was doing 8-1/2 x 11 los. They work very well, especially when your are doing work out of order - the los are easily re-organized - one problem is that as the album fills, the page protectors tend to slip thru the rings - or at least mine do. I don't know about the regular albums being acid free - and I think that's pretty important. Also, the regular 3-ring albums are not quite large enough - the page protectors come right up to the edge of the binder - if that's ok with you for your purpose then that would not be a hold back. I think they would be ok for temporary holding while your are putting an album together, but in my opinion, I'd not use them for long term storage.

I only use 3 ring. I use the 12X12 We R Memory Works albums with the Scrapworks page protectors . I have 2 black linen one's. I have a brown baybox and a green one.

I use the 12X12 pocket page protectors from Scrapworks .

Andrea

I use the Scrapworks baybox, smartscrap, archive books. They are all 3-d-ring binders. Here's why I mention this.
I know for fact that you can get archive page protectors from the office supply stores for the 8.5x11 sheets along with large 3 ring binders. When I made an album for my husband's fencing collection, (try living with a guy who has 40 pairs of short pants & 150 swords! He never gripes about my sb stuff though) he needed a book that he could tote around and show off his stuff.
It was mostly old magazine ads, olympic fliers, post cards and the like. The 12x12 was too big for the stuff unless I mounted it. I didn't want to take away from the integrity of the collection. I found the office stores offered me a solution. Archival page protectors and large binders that he could carry around like a notebook. Great, except that the round ring books got a bit hard to fill and the pages were sometime bulky. The Scrapworks inspired me because of their 3-d-ring set-up to look for those. They lay flat and are very easy to fill, even with bulky items. The only draw back is the that 2-page lo's have a large space between them. btw, hubby loves his collection books and always brings me his stuff to add for him! Men! he plays with swords, but can't put a darn thing in a page protector without bending it!

I've used 3-ring binders (D-Ring) and plastic page protectors from the office supply store. Works just the same as the expensive albums only at half the cost.

Yes, they work. I started out with 8 1/2 x 11 layouts and that is exactly what I used. It is easy to find cute ones on sale too. (Gee, if I think about it too much, I'll change back....)
SJM

I use them and they work great for me! I just use regular page protectors and they fit everything! I get the once with the pocket on the cover and make like a cover page, so I can tell what is inside-endless possibilities!

• scrappingjaycee Said:

Thanks, those are the same albums I use for 12x12. However, I want to switch to 8.5x11 and it seems they make them so much cheaper in office supply stores...just wondered about using them.

• scrappinjockmom Said:

lol! Isn't funny how we sway with our scrapbooking. I started out cheaper and went way more expensive too. I am now finding I don't think it is worth the money just because it says sb on it. lol!

I actually found some really cute scrapbook 3 ring binders at Kohls (which means they're always on sale...) They're by Burnes of Boston, and they're a lot more sturdy than a regular binder. It's almost like a box once it's closed, and it ties with a ribbon. I used one for a recipe scrapbook I made for my cousin's wedding a few month's ago.

I use them for my 8 1/2 x 11 LOs as well. Just the regular 3D ring binder. I think I will have to agree with Mother Goose. It's not advisable for long-term storage.