FAQ - How Many Albums Have You Filled?

I’m often asked how this question and I sheepishly answer that I have averaged five albums a year since 2007 – the year I became a mommy! Every major milestone, cute story, and precious memory of my boys' and now step daughter’s life is lovingly chronicled. This is what happened when you have an absolutely addicted scrapbooker who gets much enjoyment and therapeutic rest from paper crafting!

My album system is simple – after much trial and error! I prefer to use three-ring albums for the ease of adding pages. I pick a color for the year, and then order five or six albums in that color when Jo-Ann’s has a 30% off sale and I have a coupon code for free shipping. I use We R Memory Keepers Albums to keep a consistent look, and they also are a reputable company that has endured the test of time and make quality products. Another feature of these albums I like is the tab on the spine where you can add information.

When I go to pick the next year's color I try to coordinate with the previous year.
No one but Alyssia and I have opinions on the matter, but it is something we take very seriously! :)

Once the albums arrive, I stamp the year on the tab insert and add a sticker to represent the season. I’ve found that this system helps me keep my albums in chronological order. However, I quickly found that I overflowed the four albums by the time I added all the fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas photos. So I added a fifth album devoted to holidays / holiday preparations. 

The year we went to the Cure SMA Conference in Disney World I filled two albums!

What about vacation albums, you ask? For some reason, I typically scrap out of order which makes having albums kept chronologically so important. This way when I find adorable pictures of Zach from 2011, I can make the layout and easily slide it into place, but when I scrapbook our vacations I like to finish the album start to finish to keep some continuity. Lately, our vacation pictures fill two albums so I might mark the vacation album 1 & 2.

Jim had these shelves specially made to hold the weight of the scrapbooks. This was taken in 2017 and I've added many albums to them since! I figured, with the space I have left, and at my current scrapbooking rate, I have enough shelf space left to go through 2026 - but you never know!

I know, I’m crazy. I’m obsessed, but this hobby is important to me. It shows me smiling children in spite of the horrific pain they’ve lived through at young ages. It shows me the smiles outnumber the tears. It reminds me that God has a good plan for our lives. It helps me count my blessings and say with confidence, “God is good all the time!”

So how many 12x12 albums have I filled? As of August 2018 the count is 91 albums!