American Crafts D-ring Albums...where have you been all my life?

Remember THIS post yesterday about how I had a huge pile of layouts stacked up and that I once said I could NEVER imagine myself doing it?  I counted them.  Guess how many there were?  52.  Crazy, huh?  That's like a layout a week for a year. 

I decided to drag out a couple of new albums to somewhat "categorize" my pages and managed to put up all but 15 of them.  Of those, most just need a date or journaling and a couple just need to be reworked so I can stand to look at them.  Hopefully they will be ready for the albums soon.

When deciding on which albums to use, I pulled out an American Crafts Modern D-ring Album and...

Oh. My. Stinkin'. Word!

Really?  Why haven't I tried these before now?  I got this little 12x12 number at Tuesday Morning quite a while back for $6.99 I think and it's almost full now: 

I'll start by saying, the raw edge is not my fave, but I love what THIS lady did with her album using Cosmo Cricket's Mr. Campy collection.  THIS album is really cute as well and may be more along the lines of what I might do with some Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday:

*(note: this is not my album)*

I have to say that the album seems to hold SO much more.  Since my pages have grown to be a lot bulkier than the way I used to scrap, the reinforced page protectors seem to easily accomodate the lumpy pages well.  I noticed my K and Company albums weren't holding up so great, and their brand of page protectors seemed to be ripping mostly at the tops. 

I also love that AC makes divided page protectors for speedy scrapping as well as variety within albums.  Who said 12x12 albums should ONLY contain 12x12 pages? ;)  Don't be afraid to think outside the box and mix in a little 8x8, 8 1/2 x 11, or 6x12 page into your album.

Hopefully I can find some more of the AC albums at Tuesday Morning, but if not, Hobby Lobby has several to choose from including this one (at 50% off quite often): 

I also have 2 12x12 Making Memories Passport D-ring Albums to use for my vacation pages and an 8 1/2 x 11 one that I hope work as great as these do.

What kind of albums do you like best?  If you find that you like the D-ring best, did you switch over all of your old ones or just only put your new creations into them?

Never say never...

Wanna know what that pic is besides a big mess? 

Yep, you guessed it. 

A stack of scrapbook pages.  People used to amaze me by saying they had iris containers full of pages or stacks of them waiting to go in albums. 

I never understood why they didn't put them away...

until now. 

A couple of mine need journaling or a date or some glossy accents to make sure something is stuck down. I have several empty albums, I just need to commit to one and load it up. 

Decisions, decisions.

After spending the morning cleaning up my scrappy corner a bit, I feel ready to tackle these last minute completions and then plan to add them to albums.  Wish me luck! 

Soooo....are you a stacker or do you put them away after finishing?

I'm thinking about seeing if I have one of those tiny, long shelves that has the little notch in it where I can prop up recent layouts and change them out periodically. 

What do you think?

Junkin' Finds...and a nippy dog

Over a month ago, I contacted someone on craigslist who said she had some craft items she was clearing out and I asked about pictures & pricing.  I had since forgotten about the email until I finally received a response last weekend.  I talked with the lady and set up a time to dig through her stash,

and this is what I came home with:

Love the old air mail letter box and aren't those images on these items awesome?

I'm not quite sure what I'll be using these hooks, eyelets, loops, and snaps for, but the packaging just amazing on them that I couldn't pass them up. 

Buttons on the original, vintage cards.  Aren't they lovely?  I love how weathered and worn some of them are.  The little envelopes held odd buttons, but I mostly got them because I liked how they looked, too.

Lots of little trinkets, beads, sequins, and other goodies she "made" me take with me.

And this picture, along with the others below, contains my favorite things of the batch.  Look at those pearl pins and buttons.  The tin needs a coat of something on it so it won't rub paint off my hands every time I open it, but I'm keeping it the same way I found it other than that.

I love the little button I found, and I think it looks almost exactly like the little green buttons in the new Girls' Paperie Christmas line HERE.  Don't you agree?  I wish I had a whole slew of them.

See the weathering on the air mail letter box?  What about the sweet little Judy Lee pin box?  A little old lady I used to work with called me "Judy" every time I saw her.  My nametag clearly said "Abby" on it, but I would just smile and tell her hello every time.  I'm thinking the black coat hook would be a unique closure for a mini album of some sort.

Another close-up of buttons...Loving the little clear ones with the silver edge. 

Now onto the nippy dog.  The lady had a little dog that was on a leash that managed to not only bite my leg, but also my hand.  It didn't break the skin, but it hurt like heck.  I'll just say between the price and the dog bites, I feel like I had to fight for this junkin' haul, lol!  What do you think?  Anything you think is just FABULOUS?  I may be putting some of these goodies in my Etsy shop soon.  I'll let you know if I do.

I'd also love to hear what THIS LADY, who cringes at the word "button," thinks of my haul. ;)

Oh my!

Between road trips and the holiday, I have been a bad blogger!  It has been SO hot here, and I pretty much hate hot weather.  I'm more of a fall, winter, spring sorta gal.  I was lucky enough to have a block of creative time and created a couple of layouts, but mostly I taught my little sister and her friend how to make handmade flowers and cards.  I think they are addicted to papercrafting now.

Since I think most blog posts without pics are useless, here is a picture of some of my new punches.  I picked them up on a few different trips to TJ Maxx and Marshalls.  Judging by the color, I think they originally came from Walmart.  Since I had been wanting some of them for a while, I snagged them at a great price.  When it comes to punches (or cute paper or ribbon or Thickers or....), I have little self-control.  What supply do you have a hard time passing up?