A strip 4 inches wide. Otherwise they can cross without a problem

I have used both the glue pens (they are blue and can be found in Walmart, and they dry clear) they work pretty good, and I have used the tape runners. I like both and go between both of them for either pictures or paper. Vellum has to have a different glue since most glues show through it, I have used 3m photo spray and it works okay but here is a new glue stick at micheals that is supposed to work great for vellum. For reqular templates I draw the design and then cut the paper with scissors. For coluzzles you have to have a special coluzzle knife, or it ruins your templates. As for the magic matter, I have never tried one but have heard good and bad reviews on it, the coluzzle is a better system for a newbie. I like zig pens best, with the .o5 fine line being my favorite for journaling. HTH Good luck Love Penny

Well, I don't do alot of journaling on my pages actually. I wish I would have from the beginning and I'm starting to get into it more. When I do do journaling, I use my computer and print out what I want to say. I have a thing for neatness on my pages and don't want handwriting on my pages. My SIL used to use pens to journal and her pages looked great, but it's not my style. Everyone is different, and I think pens add a nice personal touch to a page and it would probably save you some time using pens, as opposed to printing everything; especially if you need to get the album completed in a limited timeframe. Yes, you should use Acid Free paper. It protects your picturess. I generally find a background paper, then figure out what pics I want on the page, then I figure out what embellisments I want (stickers, die cuts, etc), then I just lay them all out. Once I get them where I want them, I tack them down. If I have a little spot that needs something, I print out some journaling. If you email me, I can send you a few pics of some of my pages and maybe you can get some ideas. I'm more than happy to help.

Well, you can use a glue stick. Or you can use the double sided tape that comes on rolls and is cut into tiny squares. For special photos that I don't want to damage, but I might want to take out to scan or copy or something, I use photo corners. You know, those corners in traditional scrapbooks that you insert the photos into. I also use pretty stickers on the corners on some pictures to "nail" them to the pages. HTH Casper