poll do you feel CM books are better than the high end you can buy at ACMoore?

[Spinning]

As some of you know I have just started getting into scrap booking and have been getting lots of stuff. I really have been trying to buy only what I really will use and need. (thanks to all the great info on here!)
anyway I was at Michael's looking at their high end scrap books and they feel and look the same as the CM books I bought and much cheaper especially with a 40% off coupon. What do you think?

 

[chessie]

I am really not familiar with the books that they carry at A.C.More but I like both the post bound and the 3 ring binder from a company called Dalee. I get them at my LSS. The company is probably not large enough to supply a chain like AC More. I prefer the type of album that the page protector rather then the page itself is attached to the binder.

I have 2 CM albums and they are of very high quality. My only complaint is that I end up wallpapering my pages and the album gets very heavy that way. I also think it is not cost effective for me, since I am paying for the page, the page protector, and the background paper that I have chosen for the page.

I have heard that the Westrim strap hinge album that is similar to the CM album style is a bit iffy. I have heard people say that the little staple things that the page is attached to the binder with, have pulled out. If that happens, your page is destroyed and all your beautiful work is gone. If this is the style you prefer, stick with the CM albums

 

[LisaTx]

I don't know about the quality these days. I really haven't looked at any others. When I started scrapping, CM was definitely worth the difference. Now that I have so many cm books, I want to stay with them for the continuity. I do think they are worth the extra money though.

 

[JudithM]

I'm working on my first scrapbooking project. I went to a CM party. I bought an 8.5 x 11 book at Michael's (I don't get a newspaper, so I don't get coupons ). It is held together with posts. I'm not sure I like the straps idea. This first book is for a friend, so I still have tim to decide what size & style I want to use for me.

 

[BevS97]

I also haven't been to AC Moore, but I also use the Dalee albums and I am very happy with them - they are also about the only one's available in the UK, other than CM, so it's a good thing I like them

bev

 

[Lesley]

There are a few advantages to the strap hinge albums (which actually have been patented by CM...there is a lawsuit against Westrim for infringement....though I've heard horror stories about the quality of the Westrim albums and anyone who has had both side by side can tell a big difference in quality...its really a cheap knock off of CM). I like that when the albums are open they lay flat without anything sticking up in the middle. I've had a 3 ring type album and the page protectors are beginning to tear at the rings already (after little more than a year) and I don't like that the top loading pages can slide right out! I think most of the better albums at the craft stores are post bound (?). These I just don't know anything about. Personally they seemed like they'd be hard to look through with the posts and all. But some folks love 'em, I guess.

So, anyway, I do feel that CM has the best quality albums without a doubt.

 

[BevS97]

Lesley - have you seen a post-bound album, in the flesh, so to speak? They are really lovely, the posts are hidden away in the binding, it's not at all like a 3 ring album (I have one of those, and I don't like it). The pages lie fairly close together, and although you can take the pages out of the top, they won't slide out, even if you were to hold the album upside down - they are very snug.

Personally, I didn't like the CM albums at all - but it is a very personal thing. I felt the page protectors that slide on from the side looked strange and didn't completely cover the page.

Spinning, I think you really need to go to a scrapbook store (if you have access to one), rather than ACMoore so you can really see what they look like.

Bev

 

[Spinning]

Thanks everyone. I really would love to find an actual scrap book store to wonder around in. They say there is one in Avondal PA which is about 45 minutes from here. So now I just have to actually get directions and look.

Lesley

Thanks for the info. I will look at the name of the Albums they had at Michael's (that was where I saw them but I am so programed to say ACMoore, Michael's is very new around here) because the albums had the same strapping as CM.
I have a feeling I will stick with CM but I have spent so much over the past month and I need one more album! I already earned my prize the mini sqaure cutter! So......

 

[Tiger Fan]

I started with CM and have searched the world over and can't find a better album. I was in my LSS recently and overhead the clerk telling someone on the phone, "yes, they are Westrim", "No, I don't think they have any warranty", "I can give you a number to call". Now I love my LSS and buy lots of goodies from there, but NO albums thank you!! It's just what I prefer.

Lisa

 

[Lesley]

Like I said, I'm not familiar at all with post bound albums. I'm sure they turn out lovely or everyone would be using CM! Actually I love my strap hinge albums...now that I've been using them for a while I'd never switch. It is such a personal thing, isn't it? My biggest thought, though I don't know if its true, is that a post bound book would not lie flat when opened. Is this the case? Sometimes I like to work right in my album and I journal that way too.

I'll admit I had my doubts about the straps when I first saw the CM albums. But now I love them.

I don't know where Spinning lives, but where I am there aren't any more LSS. We had two, neither one all that close to begin with, and now they are gone. I do hear there's one in Lancaster (PA) somewhere....but not having one around has kept me out of trouble. I don't like much of what the big craft stores carry and I exhausted myself always trying to find the perfect things to coordinate with one another at the LSS (while trying to keep my toddler out of things!).

But, well, now I got a Sizzix....so I can use my own paper to make die cuts and everything will coordinate!

 

[MerryPoppins]

I am a big believer in CM products. I've completed several of their albums and had no problems. I love the strap albums.

I recently bought a Westrim album at Michael's. It is for an album that I figured I wouldn't look at very often. I took a trip to Europe when I was in college with Scouts. I didn't take that many pictures and no one from my family was with me on the trip. I thought for a keepsake album that wouldn't get much use, the cheaper album would work fine. So far, I've been happy with the results, but I wouldn't buy one for one of my family albums. They get looked at too much and I don't think they are as well made.

My son did go out and buy one soon after I got mine. I think it would work well for a teen's album. They are sure reasonable with coupons!

 

[MinnieAnn]

I really love the Close To My Heart albums the best. You don't have to do your pages in order, so you don't have to worry about what is going to be on the back of each page. You can also mess up a page without destroying the layout on the back. The quality of the CTMH albums is fabulous, too. They are top-loading and post-bound with extender posts that can expand the albums up to 4 inches.

 

[MinnieAnn]

I really love the Close To My Heart albums the best. You don't have to do your pages in order, so you don't have to worry about what is going to be on the back of each page. You can also mess up a page without destroying the layout on the back. The quality of the CTMH albums is fabulous, too. They are top-loading and post-bound with extender posts that can expand the albums up to 4 inches - and yes, they do lie flat when they are open because of the width of the part of the page protector that goes into the spine.

 

[dizfamily]

I absolutely prefer CM albums. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a CMC. I had been "just a customer" for about 5 years before becoming a CMC. I tried different albums, all of which I HATED. I tried a postbound and hated it. I tried the Westrim albums (CM-knockoffs) thinking at the time I found them that "they look just like CM albums but they're cheaper...wow, what a find!" only to realize later that they did NOT look just like CM albums, they get dirty really easily, the page protectors kept ripping on me, there aren't as many pages in them and aren't as many pages in the refills. I just personally don't feel they're nearly as nice and the ones I do have are put out of sight. I plan on taking the pages out and putting them into CM albums with CM protectors (I'm not about to take the pages apart, though).

 

[DiznEeyore]

I'll throw in my .02, too!

I started out using CM albums, but have bought a few other brands off and on (esp. while I worked at a scrapbook store). I tried using a Pioneer post-bound for our first Disney album, and when my bil dropped it, the cover completely tore off the posts. I found out later that Pioneers are legendary for that happening!

I did try the CTMH albums but decided I don't care for post bound strictly because I prefer side-loading page protectors. I have 3 albums that are top-loading and dust is a constant battle. I don't have that problem with my CM books.

As far as the Westrim albums, I bought one to use for my godson's book and 1) I think the material isn't nearly as nice and 2) when I went to put the cover back on after having it embossed, I pulled the strap and the long "cardboard" strip that goes between the cover and first page totally split. I've put a dozen CM albums together and have never had that problem. I guess I got what I paid for.

I'm not trying to knock anyone else's choice of albums. This is just my personal experience. YMMV.

 

[Spinning]

Thanks everyone I have a feeling I will be sticking with CM. I do like the look at feel of them and since it is a lot of work I would hate to have pages ripe off...Plus I do like the page protectors.