Here in Peterborough, we have a Michaels, Ashburnham Crafts, a scrapbooking store, 2 Dollaramas, a Dollar Giant, a Buck or Two, Walmart, Zellers, Staples, all the usual suspects. Each of these places sell scrapbook supplies and ... get this...now so does Home Hardware! I don't get that but whatever. Obviously, the hobby is paying off for retailers.
My point is, it pays to do your homework and some comparative shopping before you start your scrapbook. While, of course, the dollar stores always seem like the best place to start, their album selection could use an upgrade and your choices are limited. You can find perfectly adequate 12x12 albums for $10.00 or less though at Bargain Shop or a Buck or Two. And, of course, you can always use 3 ring binders and page protectors from an office supply store. This is so obvious, that I can't believe how brainwashed I was by the whole 12x12 culture of scrapbooking, into not realizing it sooner! Duh! But, yeah, you can save yourself alot of money by going 8.5 x 11!
Most 12x12 albums start with 10 pages with 2 sides so you'll need 20 sheets of paper, preferably cardstock, for your backgrounds. You'll want at least one contrasting colour for matting your photos and it would be nice to have some matching theme paper, right? Okay, that's 3 sheets of paper right there, for one page.
Elements per Page:
1. Background paper (usually cardstock)
2. Matting paper
3. Theme paper
4. Vellum/solid colour paper for titles and journalling
5. Titles-computer/printer/ink/paper, handwritten/pen/paper, sticker, chipboard
6. Journalling-computer, handwritten
7. Photos-cropped, enlarged, enhanced, special effects
8. Embellishments-brads, fibre, ribbon, tags, bling, rub-ons, chipboard, flowers, eyelets, stickers, die cut shapes, frames, photo corners etc.
9. Techniques-chalking/inking, crimping, punching, stamping
10. Adhesives-glue dots, 3D foam mounts, glue stick, etc.
11. Something to cut/crop with...scissors, craft knife, 12x12 trimmer....
12. 1 page protector
Did I forget anything? Now, this is for one page remember! This doesn't take into account the price of photo development or printing them out on your printer. Or how much your time is worth.
So, if for the sake of simplicity, let's say we could get each item for a dollar. Again, to keep it so that I can understand it (lol) let's say we are only going to use one choice per number, i.e. #8. We'll pick brads. ONE embellishment. #9, we pick 'chalk', one technique. You'll probably get enough brads so that you can use them on more than one page. Same with chalk and glue. So about .50 per page for the stuff you can use on more than one page. Still with me?
Well then, working with an $8.50 per page price, (oops, not counting tax!) x 20 pages = $170 for materials/supplies. Even if you estimate your materials at $5 per page it comes to $100 or $50 if you reduce it to 10 pages!!!
And we haven't counted the price of the album yet!
What about your time?
Say you do 2 pages per hour and give yourself $10. an hour...20 pages would take 10 hours=$100.00. Even if you give yourself $5.00 an hour, it's still $50.
Bare bones price then?
20 pages @ $5.00 per page for everything
$10.00 for album
Free labour
$110.00
There you have it! Can this be right?! Seems like alot.
lol Oh Wendy, you're so funny and witty! Thanks for the details. Useful for me, who's not familiar with scrapbooking culture. When I was a kid I did it, but today it's so different. So many rules. Eek.
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