Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is a hobby where people compile newspaper clippings, magazine articles, photos, or other memorabilia into decorated albums, or scrapbooks. The craft has grown tremendously in recent years. Across the world, "scrappers" or "scrapbookers" get together and scrapbook at each other's homes, local scrapbook stores, scrapbooking conventions, retreat centers, and even on cruises. Scrappers share tips and ideas as well as enjoying a social outlet. These events are commonly referred to as "crops," because scrapbookers often crop photos at them.

The hobby of scrapbooking has taken off largely due to multi-level marketing enterprises such as Creative Memories. It is now a multi-billion dollar industry with a large number of companies creating scrapbooking products. This hobby has surpassed golf in popularity: one in four households has someone playing golf; one in three has someone involved in scrapbooking.

Modern scrapbooking is done largely on 12"×12" or 8½×11" pages. More recently smaller albums have become very popular. The most common new formats are 6"×6" or 8"×8".

Various accessories, referred to as "embellishments," are used to decorate scrapbook pages. Embellishments include stickers, die cuts, fancy lettering and trinkets to decorate and personalize each page.

As an industry, it is young, with many new players entering the market to serve various niches. There are several scrapbooking magazines, and even entire shows and infomercials dedicated to selling products related to the hobby.

Originally, it was hard to find scrapbooking supplies, but now most major discount stores and almost all major craft supply stores stock them. Local scrapbook stores (LSSs) are considered the heart and soul of the hobby of scrapbooking by some enthusiasts. It is at LSSs where one can attend classes and find out where the best "crops" are. Supplies can also be ordered online. Scrapbooking is not only a hobby to create a place for one's keepsakes, but also has become a popular way to make gifts for weddings and other special occasions.

Scrapbooking materials

The most important scrapbooking supply is the album itself, which can be permanently bound, or allow for insertion of pages. There are other formats, such as mini albums and accordian-style fold-out albums. Some of these are adhered to various containers, such as matchbooks, CD cases, or other small holders. Basic materials include background papers, photo corner mounts, scissors, stickers, die cut templates, rub-on letters, rubber stamps, craft punches, art pens, vellum, decorative eyelets and brads, ribbons, tags, glitter, various embellishments such as chalk and ribbon, and mounting glues. Specialized scrapbooking tools include eyelet setters, heat embossing tools and personal die cut machines like QuicKutz. Creativity in materials is encouraged, so many common craft supplies can be and are used for scrapbooking.

One of the key components of modern scrapbooking is the archival quality of the supplies. Designed to preserve photographs and journaling in their original state, materials encouraged by most serious scrapbookers are of a higher quality than those of many typical photo albums commercially available. Scrappers insist on acid-free, lignin-free papers, stamp ink, and embossing powder, and pigment based inks, which are fade resistant, colorfast, and often waterproof. Older "magnetic" albums were not acid-free and thus caused damage to the photos and memorabilia included in them.

In addition to the collection of photographs, tickets, postcards, and other memorabilia, journaling is an essential element in modern scrapbooks. More than just dating photographs, contemporary journaling is often reflective and story-like, or can take on a more reportive tone. Whatever the style of journaling that the scrapbooker chooses to implement, journaling is considered a priority in the completion of a scrapbook layout, second only to the photographs themselves.

(We would love to give you a journaling-tip to help you along.....) Journals are a great way to keep track of dates, places, and events that you wish to include in your scrapbooks. You can use a special notebook, PDA, or a calendar to keep track of your scrapbooking ideas. A journal is also a wonderful way to remember special times in the lives of your friends and family. Amusing thoughts and sentimental feelings can be recorded in your journal to give you ideas for captioning and titles in your scrapbooks. It is important to keep your journal current. This
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