Everybody has pictures.
Everybody has memories.
What separates scrapbookers from the rest of the world is what they do with them.
Scrapbookers take those pictures and memories and preserve them in clever, creative, colorful ways. The rest of us fill boxes and drawers in jumbled, unorganized fashion and pretend we could find stuff again if we needed to.
Who has more fun? Who suffers from less guilt?
Well, if you're one of the growing number of scrapbookers out there, you'll say there's no contest. And if you're not, maybe you'd be interested to know that the Hobby Industry Association calls scrapbooking the fastest growing hobby in the country. And that Americans spent about $500 million on scrapbooking supplies in 2000.
And that behind those numbers is a legion of manufacturers and retailers who produce everything from paper and packaging to stickers, typefaces, pens, inks, scissors, punchers, templates, idea books and magazines and a whole lot more.
Lisa Bearnson and Don Lambson can tell you all about those trends. For the past five years, as co-founders and editor and art director of Creating Keepsakes magazine, they have been immersed in this world. The magazine, with 250,000 subscribers, is published out of Bluffdale and was not only the first scrapbooking magazine but is still considered the leader in the field.
Scrapbooking is hot, says Bearnson. And it can be addicting. "You put that first page together. And you see your memories there, and you just want to keep going."
Their experience with the magazine attests to the popularity of this pastime. They were both working in the computer magazine business when they came up with the idea of a scrapbooking magazine.
A consultant told them that before launching a new magazine they should do a yearlong market research plan and have at least $1 million in assets.
"We had $100,000, and we didn't want to spend a year doing market research," says Bearnson. They knew it was an idea whose time had come.
She was a scrapbooker, and she knew there was nothing out there. "I would go home, put my two children to bed and hit the scrapbooks. I was having such a good time. I got to the point where I was dreaming about diecuts and stickers. But I would get frustrated because I needed new ideas, and I didn't have time for classes."
So they decided to jump in with both feet, and they've never looked back. "We have been profitable since day one," she says. They started out publishing six times a year, but that has increased to 10 issues a year, plus six special-subject issues on topics such as babies, vacations, teens and other ideas each year. They have subscribers all over the world. And they do a two-hour show on TV's QVC channel every month.
Bearnson credits a Spanish Fork woman named Marielen Christensen with launching scrapbooking as we know it today. "About 20 years ago, she was given a church assignment to come up with a way of preserving family photos. She wrote a book. And people picked up on that and started doing home parties." (Christensen has gone on to start her own scrapbook supply company called Keeping Memories Alive.)
Then about eight years ago, manufacturers began realizing the market potential and started producing more acid-free papers and other supplies, and it has taken off from there, she says.
Four years ago, says Lambson, they would go to big hobby and craft shows, and there was nothing scrapbook-related there. "At the recent HIA show, a third of the show involved scrapbooking. Thousands of people are doing it."
Why is scrapbooking so popular? In addition to the fact that there are more and better supplies out there, Bearnson lists five reasons.
1. It's a creative outlet. "It's fun. It's like putting puzzles together," she says. Although the magazine offers lots of ideas and themes, no two scrapbooks are ever alike. And there are endless possibilities.
2. It gets rid of guilt. "People who have hated having all those shoeboxes full of pictures under the bed find that it feels really good to start putting them in scrapbooks."
3. It is very social. It lends itself to group activity. Scrapbookers love to get together and share ideas and supplies. "And they accomplish two things at once. They get work done, while they have a fun social experience."
4. It creates heirlooms. Scrapbooks are priceless, full of the story of your family, your life. And because today's quality materials will last, they can be passed on to the next generation.
5. It builds self-esteem in family members. "Kids become the stars of their own books. My kids love to drag them down and look through them. It lets them know they belong to a family that loves them," Bearnson says.
Another thing that is exciting about scrapbooking, says Lambson, is that it can be done on any level. You can do elaborate or you can do simple. "There's a huge trend toward more simple scrapbooks. Some people feel overwhelmed by what they see others doing. But you need to make it meaningful to you. And that may mean keeping it simple."
For example, Bearnson recently completed a spread that featured her varying hairstyles for the past 10 years. Basically, it was just 10 pictures with a few accessories, but think, she says, how fun it will be for her children and grandchildren to look at that.
Another very simple project involved having every family member write down his or her favorites in a number of different categories. "We wanted a record of what our life was like at the end of 1999." She added a few pictures and that was her page.
Whether you go for simple or elaborate, the important thing is to do something. Because the thing to remember, they say, is that if you don't do it, no one else can. "You are the only one that can preserve your memories," says Lambson.
And memories add so much richness to life. "They help preserve your history, help you know who you are," he says. "They help you remember good times. It's like they say, memories give you roses in winter."
Especially if they're in a scrapbook.
E-mail: carma@desnews.com