I did 2 albums for my parents and I used all sorts of papers , embellishment and colors . just because they were heritage doesn't mean they can't be fun to work on . I used a lot of distressing as well . Journaling was also a big "have to "I loved working on the albums and would love to get my hands on more of my parents photos . Some day those are going to be my albums so I wanted as much written down as I could remember and being they were a surprise for my parents , I had to go on what I remembered and what I could get out of my siblings .