This Isn’t Your Grandma’s Scrapbook

21st Century women celebrate their diversity and preserve their memories with a ‘new generation’ of scrapbooks

(PRWEB) September 11, 2005 — When I sat down to write this article, I was looking forward to sharing “good news” and letting you in on the best-kept secret of the decade: that scrapbooking has never been more fun, affordable, or popular.

This timeless ‘art’ has enjoyed an ‘extreme makeover’ recently that has transformed it from a quaint, old-fashioned pastime into a contemporary and cutting-edge creative craft.

But it would be impossible to talk about scrapbooking and about saving precious remembrances without first acknowledging the tragedy along the Gulf Coast. As we watched in horror, our neighbors — hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children — lost every tangible connection to their past. The devastation has underscored the incalculable value of our history and memories.

I’m sure you join me in wishing all who have been affected speedy recovery and restoration, and good luck in creating new memories.

Scrap-Happy
The days are growing shorter, the winds are getting cooler, and the dog days of the red-hot “Summer of 2005″ are over. And although December 31st is still a long way off, the un-official “New Year” (marked by the beginning of the back-to-school season) has begun…a new year that will be filled with one-of-a-kind events that you’ll want to remember for a lifetime.

Unfortunately, many people let precious memories slip through their fingers simply because they don’t know how to hold on to them. Have you thought about saving keepsakes and mementos…but can’t figure out how to display the program from your daughter’s first piano recital or the ticket stubs from the first showing of Star Wars in your area? Would you like to save the photos you’ve taken of life’s important, embarrassing, endearing, and memorable moments…but feel that a scrapbook is ‘old hat’?

Well, hold on to your hat because this ain’t your grandmother’s scrapbook! A scrapbook today is a chic craft and a perfect gift. Thanks to tremendous strides being made in products and supplies, scrapbooking is the perfect craft for women who want to express their individuality and style in an old-fashioned way that’s become wonderfully brand new!

What’s caused the seismic shift? The world of scrapbooking has gone from ‘dusty’ to ‘dynamic’ thanks to an explosion of customized products that are specially designed to reflect the rainbow of diversity that colors our world. Unlike Granny’s album, which probably had nothing more than pictures tucked into photo corners and an occasional handwritten notation, today’s scrapbooks are filled with artful embellishments that make them truly unique.

And like scrapbooks themselves, a scrapbooking “budget” can be totally customized. The average scrapbooking household spends less than $96 a year on supplies. There are also the “dedicated” hobbyists who spend up to $50 a month on materials and own a stockpile of $1,584 in scrapbook crafting supplies. For them, no sacrifice is too great for the “art” of scrapbooking.

Scrapbooking Nation
If you’re a seasoned scrapbooker like me, or someone who’s new to the hobby, you’re part of a growing phenomenon that is changing the way people preserve pictures and precious mementos. Scrapbooking is now the third most popular craft in the nation, and is slowly inching up on leaders “home décor painting” and “cross-stitching” (according to the Craft and Hobby Association).

26 Million Families Can’t Be Wrong!
More than 4.4 million households have gotten scrapbooking “fever” since 2002. That means the total number of families and individuals to 26 million and the total industry income to $2.5 billion! (Scrapbooking in America survey). Wow!

Some people find their way to the big, wide wonderful world of scrapbooking through books and magazines; others via television where an increasing number of programs feature ‘gurus’ with tips and ideas. But scrapbooking is expanding primarily through word of mouth as delighted hobbyists share the secrets (and the thrill) of creating imaginative keepsakes and memory books.

Self-Preservation Meets Self-Expression
What makes scrapbooking such a people magnet? It’s a creative outlet that can be shared with others or enjoyed completely solo. It’s entertaining, easy, and it doesn’t require a lot of time or effort for the casual crafter.

Simply put, scrapbooking is cut-and-paste for kids of all ages, from the young to the young at heart. Scrapbooks can take a wide variety of shapes and forms, from photo albums with simple embellishments that tell family histories to personal journals elaborately enhanced with three-dimensional mementos and ’scraps.’

The ultimate craft, scrapbooks are ‘instant heirlooms’ and destined to be cherished for generations. These memory treasure chests can be enjoyed year after year, taken out time and again for ’show and tell’ at family gatherings and to evoke ‘I remember when…’ stories and recollections alone or with friends.

Smile!
Why? Because according to the Photo Marketing Association, Americans take nearly 30 billion photos a year. (That’s a lot of “Say Cheese!”) And instead of heaping precious photos of “Baby’s First Year” or “Kitty’s First Year” into shoeboxes or tossing them into drawers, more and more photographers are carefully preserving their treasured “Kodak moments” in customized scrapbooks.

Hey That’s Me!
People are attracted to scrapbooking for many reasons. Like many appealing crafts, scrapbooking features a wide range of interesting supplies and products. There are all kinds of different albums and a wonderful assortment of album pages. There are decorations such as stencils, stickers, paints, markers, press-on letters and flowers, and even adhesive ribbons.

Customized crafting supplies (including new-and-improved adhesives, for example) are turning scrapbooks into ‘art books’ and scrapbookers into artists. All these extras make it easy and fun to create masterpieces…even if your last name isn’t Rembrandt!

Best of all, today’s scrapbook enthusiasts can find “just for me” scrapbook craft supplies that reflect their unique cultures, lives, ethnicities, and professions. No longer what I call a “homogenized” craft, scrapbooking now represents real people and celebrates the real differences that exist among us.

My company, Same Differences (www.same-differences.com) for example, was the first business to feature images of mixed race families and blended families as the norm, and not a rarity. You’ll also find people of all shapes and sizes, as well as all age groups throughout our product lines.

Scrapbooking products also exist which reflect special circumstances in life…and changes through the years. For military families, Memories in Uniform (www.memoriesinuniform.com offers replications of military ribbons, equipment, and soldiers in an accurate form. And, of course, images of both men and women in the service of their country are included.

Reminders of Faith (www.remindersoffaith.com) gears its products specifically for faith-based projects. With an eye towards ethnic diversity and inclusion, Distinctly Me (www.distinctlyme.com) and Spanish Memories (www.spanishmemories.com) feature depictions of African-American and Latino (respectively) cultural items and events accurately.

Cynics might refer to diversity as nothing more than a self-serving trend in scrapbooking…simply the ‘hook du jour’ designed to create a market. But diversity isn’t a trend; it’s a daily reality for most people in the 21st Century. As cultures collide and combine in a global melting pot made possible by the Internet, it has become very clear that the defining character of the human race is diversity!

Each of us is unique with our singular set of circumstances — different abilities and disabilities, different ethnic and economic backgrounds, different body types, religious backgrounds, and even different definitions of the word ‘family’. Today’s diversity-conscious products make it easier than ever to celebrate all the wonderful qualities that make you a one-of-a-kind original…with a one-of-a-kind, custom-designed scrapbook that says, “It’s all about me!”

The Woman Behind the Scrapbook
From her home base in Marlton, NJ, Kim Luty is the engine that powers Same Differences. A one-time IT professional with a background in software and engineering, she has always had an interest in scrapbooks. While it is far from her defining characteristic, Luty’s own disability — Epidermolysis Bullosa, a rare skin condition — was the catalyst in the creation of Same Differences. “My difference made me aware of other people who were outside the so-called norm,” she says, “and of how often we exclude different people without even thinking.”

Visit the Same Differences website at www.same-differences.com. For media information, please contact: Kim Luty at e-mail protected from spam bots or by phone at 856-816-5780.

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