The Scrapbooking Phenomena

The average scrapbooker is a married woman with children in her 30s.

So why would a Harley Davidson riding man want to do make a documentary about Scrapbooking?

WCCO found out.

When Wes Thomsen started working on his documentary about scrapbooking, he didn’t understand it.

“It is an oddity that was really different than the world I live in,” said Thomsen. “You really get to know someone in like 15 seconds, and that was uncomfortable for me, and I thought well maybe there’s a story here.”

But since releasing his documentary, “Scrapped,” in September he’s found the hobby is a worldwide obsession.

Scrapbooking is a phenomena with conventions held all over the country. This weekend, the Midwest Scrapbook Association is holding one in St. Paul.

“People like to put their family history down on paper,” said Lynn Lundberg president of the Midwest Scrapbook Association.

Dee Dee Dreier started scrapbooking before scrapbooking was big.

“It’s not just a boring old photo album to look through — it tells a story all the way through,” said Dreier.

Drier and her mother have made it a family affair.

Sharon Swenson says she has so much scrap booking supplies she converted a room in home for the hobby.

“I’m a little addicted,” said Swenson.

While scrap booking can take hours, digital scrapbooking is becoming big for those who don’t have a lot of time.

“I would say an average page for me takes a few minutes,” said Katrina Lassegard of Heritage Makers.

Scrapbooking is a $2.5 billion industry. There’s scrapbooking for greeting cards, retreats and scrapbooking getaways, you can order specialized magazines — and chances are one out of every five of you reading this article is a scrapbooker.

And that figure now includes a filmmaker.

“I’m just really simple — with just a few colors, and some basic things. I love black in my albums,” said Thomsen.

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