Scrapbooking Materials

The most important scrapbooking supply is the album itself, which can be permanently bound, or allow for the insertion of pages. There are other formats, such as mini albums and accordion-style fold-out albums. Some of these are adhered to various containers, such as matchbooks, CD cases, paint cans or other small holders.

Modern scrapbooking is done largely on 12 inch square or 8½×11 inch pages. The most popular size is 12" x 12" but more recently smaller albums have become very popular for individual one day memories as a gift. The most common new formats are 6, 7, or 8-inch square. It is very important to many scrappers to protect their pages with clear page protectors.
Basic materials include background papers (including printed and cardstock paper) photo corner mounts (or other means of mounting photos such as adhesive dots, photo mounting tape, or acid-free glue), scissors, a paper trimmer, art pens, archival pens for journalling, and mounting glues. More elaborate designs require more specialized tools such as die cut templates, rubber stamps, craft punches, stencils, inking tools, eyelet setters, heat embossing tools and personal die cut machines.

Various accessories, referred to as "embellishments," are used to decorate scrapbook pages. Embellishments include stickers, rub-ons, stamps, eyelets, brads, chipboard elements in various shapes, alphabet letters and ribbon. The use of die cut machines is also increasingly popular; in recent years an electronic die-cutting machine, similar to a printer, can be connected to one's computer to cut any shape or font. I personally use my Cricut machine and I love it.

One of the key components of modern scrapbooking is the archival quality of the supplies. Designed to preserve photographs and journalling 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 waterproof embossing powder, and pigment based inks, which are fade resistant, colorfast, and often waterproof. Many scrappers also use buffered paper, which will protect photos from acid in memorabilia used in the scrapbook, as well as acid from the oil on hands. Older "magnetic" albums are not acid-free and thus cause damage to the photos and memorabilia included in them. Anyone who has used these type of albums has since changed to the safer ways of to-day.

Modern Scrapbooking

Marielen Christensen of Spanish Fork, Utah, U.S.A. is often credited with reviving interest in scrapbooking in the United States. She began designing creative pages for her family's photo memories, inserting the completed pages into sheet protectors and then placing them in order in three ring binders. By 1980, she had assembled over fifty volumes like this and was invited to display them at the World Conference on Records in Salt Lake City. Marielen and her husband AJ authored and published a how-to-book, Keeping Memories Alive, and opened a scrapbook store in 1981 that still remains open today.

In addition to preserving memories, the hobby is popular for the strong social network that scrapbooking can provide. Hobbyists, known as "scrappers" or "scrapbookers," get together and scrapbook at each other's homes, local scrapbook stores, scrapbooking conventions, retreat centers, and even now on cruises. The attendees share tips and tricks as well as enjoying a social outlet. The term "crop," a reference to cropping or trimming printed photographs, was coined to describe these events. Nowadays we "crop" until we "drop".

In the late 1990s, many scrappers in the US opened stores to turn their hobby into a business. Within approximately 5 years, many of those stores were forced to close due to a downturn in the economy and the fact that many store owners mistakenly assumed that loving to scrap was enough to run a retail store. Many owners simply didn't know how to run their stores. During this time, more multi-level direct sales companies were formed. Several were closed due to mismanagement, while others weathered the tough times. It also gave rise to a new breed of business: the home-based retailer. Companies arrived to provide information for individuals who wanted to break out of the direct sales mold and go out on their own. While vendors had traditionally stayed away from the home-based market due to fraud, they began to warm to the idea of the non-traditional sales channels as a way to get their products in front of more consumers through home parties and workshops. Working with a company like this enabled them to tap into legitimate home-based retailers.

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. This hobby has in the US surpassed golf in popularity: one in four households has someone playing golf; one in three has someone involved in scrapbooking.

Butterflies are Forever