All About Scrapbooking

by Jamie Johnson

What is Scrapbooking?

Scrapbooking is the simple act of recording memories in scrapbooks.Scrapbook pages typically contain photos, written words (“journaling”), memorabilia, ephemera and/or design accents (“embellishments”.Scrapbooking can be simple photos, solid paper and concise journaling, elaborate artistic work, clean and modern graphic designs, and everything in between.Scrapbookers often cross over into other crafts such as card making, paper crafting, and home décor projects.Topics of scrapbooks include anything from baby’s first smile to travel adventures to family reunions to dealing with sorrow and loss.

History of Scrapbooking

Notebooks, journals and diaries for recording experiences, thoughts and memories have been kept since the times of ancient Greece.The first permanent photograph was created in 1826 and as they became widespread, photographs became a part of memory books and scrapbooking truly began.Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, and several other famous Americans are known to have kept scrapbooks.In recent history, scrapbooking gained in popularity after 1980 when Marielen Christensen of Utah created over fifty 3-ring binder scrapbooks of her family’s photos and memories and displayed them at the World Conference on Records in Salt Lake City in the United States.

Current scrapbooking industry

According to wikipedia.com, the scrapbooking industry doubled in size between 2001 and 2004 to $2.5 billion with over 1,600 companies creating scrapbooking products by 2003. Creative Memories, a home-based retailer of scrapbooking supplies founded in 1987, saw $425 million in retail sales in 2004. In the US, this hobby has surpassed golf in popularity: one in four households has someone playing golf; one in three households has someone involved in scrapbooking.

Who are “scrapbookers”?

Though sometimes ridiculed as stereotypical young mothers obsessed with a silly craft, scrapbookers actually come from all walks of life.Mostly women but with a few male participants as well, scrapbookers range from teenagers, young adults, and new parents to seasoned citizens.As a hobby, an art-form, or a social activity, scrapbooking attracts people at every stage of life who have memories and photos to preserve and protect.