I actually have never tried the CM way, just looked in the catalog. From what it looks like to me, CM pages start off with the actual blank white or black paper page in the album, you put your stuff on it. Then you put a clear sleeve on it. Please, correct me if I'm wrong. That is just the way it looks to me. I've never gone to a CM party or crop, because I am never without at least one child (literally) and usually all four, and while the lady I buy CM stuff doesn't mind children around (she is a friend of mine), she has told me that the other folks she does her crops with use them as a way to get away from children and probably wouldn't appreciate mine being there.

The way I scrapbook is this. Start off with a piece of cardstock or paper(and I have many, many colors, patterns, themes of these) just sitting all alone on your desk, add photos and matting, journaling, stickers, etc. THEN slip it into a clear sleeve in the album. You can move the pages around, take them out of the sleeves, whatever. It just seems more flexible to me. I use different brands of albums, but I have found that the cheap Hobby Lobby ones are just that. Cheap. Mine are falling apart already. K&Company are better, but more expensive (A 12x12 album runs about $25, plus you can usually get them on sale at Hobby Lobby for 1/3 to 1/2 off). I used one of these for Drew's baby album, and it is CUTE!

If you want to see some of the pages I have done, I put a few photos of some on my web site:
http://www.jandjessary.com/scrapbooking2