I scrap 12x12 but print 8x8 to keep the cost and size down. I use the Paper Studio albums and refill pages. To be honest I hadn't thought about it when I started buying them, just that they were readily available at Hobby Lobby and often 50% off. Now I feel sad because they rarely get new 8x8 album styles in and I'm stuck with buying duplicate albums or plain ones. There are so many more choices for 12x12 albums! I could change brands but I like being able to grab from my stash of page inserts whenever I print and not worry about which album fits what kind.
My room is a bit dark so these don't show up that well but hopefully they help you a little bit! The first is just one of my albums opened. As you can see, it doesn't lay completely flat.
Here's a look at what the (matte) page looks like outside of the sleeve and then inside. The sleeves themselves are very clear and don't take away from the page at all imo. (again they do look a little better IRL than these photos)
And lastly b/c Amie shared hers.. haha.. here are my albums. Mine are not in order and are slowly being rearranged. I didn't have a plan when I started printing and I wish I had! I didn't date my pages either and so it's been a process figuring out where each of them goes. Now I always add a date to my pages even if it's after I hand it in for my CT requirement!
Each of these albums is a specific year but I still have to label them and the fatter ones are the years that are mostly completed. They hold up to the kids (the one that's beat up is because it came to me that way and it's not Paper Studio.. boooo) but I will say that the full ones with the expanded spines are harder to take out and hold b/c they're just too full. That's okay for my 9 and 11 year old but little ones probably wouldn't do well with them.
In answer to your question to Amie -- my pages stay snuggly inside their page protectors so I have no complaints there! Ok thanks for reading my novel, I tend to be a rambler! LOL!