122. Scrapbooking
I received an email recently from the big arts and craft chain, Michael's, that May is National Scrapbook Month. I started thinking, "Why is that?" Who made this declaration anyway? Not only that, but May 1st is National Scrapbook Day.
A whole industry has been built around the art of scrapbooking so that now you can buy specialized papers, punches, stickers, pages and there are even Tupperware-like consultants that will come to your home and host a party and offer special promotions.
There are blogs devoted to it, websites that sell materials, offer instructions, YouTube how-to videos, groups that meet monthly in cities around the nation to share materials and techniques, printable themed pages and layouts off of websites, and getting started classes offered. Martha Stewart has her own line of scrapbook making materials, books and magazines. Michael"s has a 40% off coupon good on scrapbook materials from Martha.
Scrapbooks are a method for preserving personal and family history in the form of a scrapbook. Typical memorabilia
include photographs, printed media, and artwork. Scrapbook albums are
often decorated and frequently contain extensive journaling.
Scrapbooking is a widely practiced pastime in the United States. Various occasions are commemorated by scrapbooking: weddings, new baby, Valentine's Day, birthdays, graduations, military service, family vacations, reunions, and the list goes on.
Here are some statistics about scrapbooking that reveals the popularity of this craft. Over 4 million women in the United States alone consider themselves to be scrapbookers. Over 4% of all women in U.S. have done traditional scrapbooking.
With millions of others who do various aspects of photo books but who
are not scrapbookers. Scrapbooking is one of the largest categories within craft and hobby
industry and now considered to be the third most popular craft in the
nation.
From 1996 through 2004, sales of scrapbooking products increased
across the United States. Then in 2005 flatten at $2.5 billion in
annual sales for the first time after many back to back years of double
growth. From 2006 through 2010 traditional Scrapbooking sales have had a
decline while digital forms of scrapbooking have grown. Now enter digital scrapbooking with the advent of scanners, desktop publishing, page layout programs, and advanced printing options that make it relatively easy to create professional-looking layouts in digital form. The internet allows scrapbookers to self-publish their work. Scrapbooks may now exist completely in digital image form.
Just how did all this scrapbook frenzy start? Beginning in the 15th century, commonplace books,
popular in England, emerged as a way to compile information that
included recipes, quotations, letters, poems and more.
Each commonplace
book was unique to its creator's particular interests. Friendship albums
became popular in the 16th century. These albums were used much like
modern day yearbooks, where friends or patrons would enter their names,
titles and short texts or illustrations at the request of the album's
owner. These albums were often created as souvenirs of European tours
and would contain local memorabilia including coats of arms or works of art commissioned by local artisans.
Starting in 1570, it became fashionable to incorporate colored plates
depicting popular scenes such as Venetian costumes or Carnival scenes.
These provided affordable options as compared to original works and, as
such, these plates were not sold to commemorate or document a specific
event, but specifically as embellishments for albums. In 1775, James Granger
published a history of England with several blank pages at the end of
the book. The pages were designed to allow the book's owner to
personalize the book with his own memorabilia.
The practice of leaving pages to personalize at the end of books became known as grangerizing.
Additionally, friendship albums and school yearbooks afforded girls in
the 18th and 19th centuries an outlet through which to share their
literary skills and document a personalized historical records.
With the mass production of the Kodak Brownie in 1900, a camera designed to be simple (and inexpensive) enough for a child, the average person began to incorporate photographs into their scrapbooks. Old scrapbooks tended to have photos mounted with photo-mounting
corners and perhaps notations of who was in a photo or where and when it
was taken. They often included bits of memorabilia like newspaper
clippings, letters, etc.
From humble beginnings, the scrapbook has emerged as a stroke of marketing genius and a huge industry. Michael's is having a "Paper Event" where you can make a scrapbook page and take it with you for Mother's Day. So back to the thought of May as the designated National Scrapbooking Month. I think it is because we have Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Graduations and Summer Vacations coming up that all need to be commemorated. I have my scissors and glue at the ready and prepared for battle!
Where: Michael's in Wolf Ranch Shopping Center
1013 W University Ave, Ste 600
Georgetown, TX 78628
512-863-2773
When: Mon-Sat: 9:00 am- 9:00 pm Sun: 10:00 am- 7:00 pm
http://www.michaels.com/
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