CONVENTION CRASHING: SCRAPBOOKING

Wrap your memories in ribbon, stencil and glitter

By Brendan Buhler
Las Vegas Sun

Welcome to the seventh annual Memory Trends scrapbooking convention, last week at the Sands.

You know what scrapbooking is, right? You take a blameless photo album and then subject it to … ribbon, stencils, letters, paper (dolphin backgrounds: still in), embossed whatsits, embroidered thatsits, glitter, miniature plastic animals, miniature plastic cheerleading props, neon stick-on raindrops, buttons, beads, charms and various items that can only be described as embellishments …

We’re sure it’s very cute and registers highly on the scrapology precious/adorable scale, but 16 aisles and 286 booths of it is a bit much. One needs an insulin shot and a good lie-down in a sports bar.

And not just because of the kitsch. Nearly every booth had a dish of sweets - Hershey’s, Snickers, Skittles, Starburst, Smarties, etc . Yes, in miniature .

Bait. For whom? The Arch Scrapbooker, queen of her species. You can see her striding out of the mists of the lesser, domesticated hobbyists: a formidable collection of opinions on acid-free papers wearing purple Croc sandals with multicolored ribbons attached. A store owner. And under her proud scrapbookers haircut (permed mullet - business in the front, tea party in the back), her hard cold eyes glare out, judging.

But first she must judge the offering. Milk chocolate, with none of those modern nuts or white chocolate swirls. Recent batch. Creamy.

It will do. Perhaps there is room in her store after all for your stickers of puppy dogs.

But on the fringes of the convention floor sit some lonely booths with computers in them. They are harbingers of an unwelcome future, small mammals sneaking up to the dinosaurs’ watering hole. And someday, someday soon, they know it will be theirs.

Digital scrapbooking.

“They’re already doing digital things, taking digital pictures,” Linda Sattgast of Adobe Software says. “So it’s just a matter of time, of getting them into it for scrapbooking.”

Computers will let scrapbookers change and play with their designs without using glue or worrying about coffee stains. You can make CDs, too. Or you can send the whole thing out to an Internet outfit to have multiple books printed, enough for the whole family. Sattgast says store owners will want to bring the technology into their shops before scrapbookers start doing it at home.

“Retailers know digital is coming and needs to be addressed,” she says.

Rest your drink on a loved one

From Canada’s Tilano Fresco, finally a chance to put family photographs onto marble coasters, just like the Romans would have done if they had laser printers.

Simply print your photo onto a special paper, slather it in goop, stick it on the tile, wet the back of the paper and peel it off like you would for a temporary tattoo. Kits also available for wood, canvas, tile and glass.

Salesman Charles Brodeur says the kits, which retail for around $40 at places such as Bed, Bath & Beyond, were slow movers at the convention. Which may have jaundiced his and his fellow salesman’s view of it.

“It’s boring as hell,” Brodeur said.

“Oh, but I found a lot of great … paper,” Salesman No. 2 said. “And oh, the ribbon.”

Suffice to say that it was not the sales victory that the bridal expo was.

“We were a hit there,” Brodeur said. “There’s thousands of them, and they just come at you, you know?”

But does it have an off switch?

Spotted at the massage-offering “Wellness Center:” A man wearing an odd, semiconical hat (African? East Asian?) and a shirt with a tiger silk-screened on it, standing next to small stereo and performing karaoke.

Whistling karaoke.

A small sign offers CDs - $10 or $15 for two - by “The Human Flute Machine.”

Overheard

“It’s a learning experience … It’s very challenging.”

- Salesman at a deserted booth selling embossing kits, butane torches and soldering irons, all in a yellow-and-black construction site color scheme.
Brendan Buhler can be reached at 259-8817 or at buhler@lasvegassun.com.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/business/2006/oct/18/566646279.html