The Gift of Scrapbooking

It's finally Friday, and I'm relieved to wrap up a really crappy week.

My boyfriend's dog and faithful companion of over 15 years passed away on Wednesday after several days of seizures and constant care. Kiltie meant the world to Eddie, and I am humbled to be the one to comfort him in his deep loss. I plan to print off the many pictures I have of Kiltie and make a simple album so he can remember her and record his feelings for her. As a scrapbooker, I take lots of photos.

This week my child support case was elevated to a custody case and now involves lawyers. So far I have fought this battle alone. I have journaled my thoughts and fears as a way to express my frustrations. Journaling encourages me to search for the meaning of what’s happening in my life and to record my feelings at the time. As a scrapbooker, I journal.

I teach that scrapbooking is the creative preservation of memories using mainly photos, journaling and memorabilia. I truly feel that scrapbooking will help get me through the struggles of this week, just as it helps preserve the joys and celebrations of my life.

You know what I think? I think scrapbooking makes me a better person. Not a better person in comparison to other people, but better than I would be if I didn't scrapbook. It is times like these that I am so thankful for the gift of scrapbooking.

The week of "the call"; RIP Irv Rubens

Today is the day scrapbookers around the world (at least in the United States, Canada (excluding Quebec), England and Wales) who entered the Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame contest anxiously await a call from founding editor Lisa Bearnson. She makes "the call" to all 25 winners. If you get "the call," it most likely will change your life forever.

Scrapbookers that make the Hall of Fame go on to contribute to the magazine on a consistent basis, design the hot products we will lust for a year from now, and get book deals that feature their special style or approach. Some accept the HOF as a pinnacle and go on to reach other life goals, scrapbooking-related or not.

There will be the drama...of waiting for the call, watching the boards, counting the number of secret toots, hearing the disappointments, then the jealousies. It's the same every year.

And every year I am blown away by the winners - and the honorable mentions - and their ability to inspire and touch scrapbookers of all levels. Their pages are very powerful. And everyone who enters a competition such as the Hall of Fame pours forth their best and newest work. Just entering the contest and meeting the required assignments can be self-satisfying.

Congratulations to everyone who entered, and especially to those who get "the call."

P.S. I just received notification that the founder of Pioneer Photo Albums, Jason ("Irv") Ruebens, passed away at the age of 99. Born in New York, he started Ruko Camera Cases in the early 1940's and then moved on to California in 1960, eventually creating the nucleus of what is today Pioneer Photo Albums. Pioneer Photo Albums continues on strongly with his work ethic, and is still run as a privately-owned company by the family members who will greatly miss his presence.

ScrapbookING, yes!

Here's an article that warns us that we --as a market/industry-- have gone overboard and scrapbooking is now alienating consumers. Perception has crossed from overwhelming to down-right frightening. From the author:

Scrapbooking is everywhere...There is even a television show about it, which I watched one time simply out of sheer disbelief.

Upon leaving the store, I had the urge to down a whiskey to counterbalance the act of purchasing scrapbooking supplies on a Friday night. But since I don't drink whiskey, I settled for a raspberry martini, which took the edge right off my uncomfortable foray into the world of scrapbooking.

It seems my old method of sitting down biannually with five photo albums and a shoe box full of pictures no longer cuts it.

...scrapbooking highlights my inadequacies in the craft department, takes too long, and makes my fingers and my neck ache.

It makes me sad, because there is only one rule in scrapbooking: If you're having fun, then you're doing it right. The author of the article was not having fun. And I don't know who looses more: that we loose a customer, or that she looses confidence in her capacity to creatively preserve her memories.

Scrapbooking is not about getting excited over the latest and greatest products. It's about finding and embracing a way to integrate memory preservation into our lifestyle so we become more passionate about our life.

Expanding the Passion @ Sea

I caught this article from the Detroit Free Press...

Some people's greatest legacy is the memories they bequeath their children and grandchildren.

That's one reason for scrapbooking, a hobby so popular that a Google search reveals more than 850,000 Web pages devoted to the pastime.

Identifying a niche, Princess Cruises recently launched a maritime first, Scrapbooking@Sea. The scrapbook curriculum offers a regular series of onboard classes and a specially created kit with themed pages. Currently available on select ships, scrapbooking had proved so popular in field tests, says Jan Swartz, Princess' senior vice president of customer service and sales, that the line now expects to roll out the program across its fleet of 15 vessels by early this year.

"In a cruise-ship setting, where passengers are on vacation and have spare time to try new things," says Princess spokeswoman Karen Tetherow, "scrapbooking is the perfect opportunity to pick up a new hobby."

Princess' Scrapbooking@Sea kit contains decorative papers, stickers and rub-on emblems along with instructions on how to build five vacation-themed pages. The pages can be used to create decorative backdrops for photos from typical cruise activities such as welcome aboard events, days at sea, shore excursions or formal evenings.

Fiction story tells the truth about scrapbooking

Author Rebeca Seitz provided an interview on GoDeKalb.com about her new scrapbooking fiction book due out in early March. Prints Charming (WestBow Press) is about four women with very different life paths bound together by their love of scrapbooking. The book will be available at book stores everywhere and on Amazon.com. Rebecca is doing an extensive tour to scrapbooking shows and local scrapbooking stores to promote the book.

I had the privilege to pre-read the book and provide a quote for the cover. Prints Charming demonstrates the "power scrapbooking has to develop and strengthen relationships," and that story -- even in fiction form -- needs to be told. Prints Charming's distribution will be wide-spread, and many readers, who have never been exposed to scrapbooking, will have a positive and non-threatening introduction to our passion: fiction lovers, Christian book readers, crafters, etc.

So you can see

Here's a list of companies and products I reviewed on the Diva Craft Lounge from CHA:

Theme: Quality through rich, luxurious textures

Papers:
Paper Elements
Daisy Bucket
Luxe Designs

Embellishments:
Felt: Tinkering Ink, Queen & Co.
Velvet: De Ja Views, SEI, Imaginisce
Chipboard: My Mind's Eye embossed chipboard; Magistical Memories food quality chipboard
Film in the PageSage press kit

Journalling:
Karen Russell Journaler's Notebook (MT release)
Graph papers: Scenic Route, Dream Street

Color:
Black & White
Aqua
Plums

Tools:
7 Gypsies punch
Bind It All
The Slice
Karen Foster's Scraparatus
*Purple Cow's Freestyle

Organization:
Clip It Up
Arccivo
*KFD's Scrap Apron
*ScrapEze vertical paper holder (MT release)

Give the Gift of Scrapbooking:
Love Books
My Book
Speaking Up
*Photopoly
*SEI's Minute Memories (MT release)

The asterisk indicates the companies/products that deserve mention but I didn't talk about because of time or because Diva Danielle and Jan covered them.

Of course, there are many other wonderful finds at CHA, and I would love to hear about your favorites!

CHA: I felt the felt!

I'm recovering from CHA, so here's a quick summary. For a more detailed report, listen to my segment on the Diva Craft Lounge.

The theme of this year's show was Quality -- my guess, a tactile reaction to the fast-growing digital market. Look for lots of luxurious textures in paper and embellishments like 80 pound text double sided patterned papers, embossed chipboard, and textiles like velvet, felt and corduroy. Reoccurring color themes were in black & white, teal with everything, and rich plums, burgundies and ivories.

Think outside the box

EK Success announced its launch strategy for the new Martha Stewart Crafts™ line of paper crafting, scrapbooking, and storage products, begining with limited retail distribution in May to all Michaels stores, followed by distribution to EK Elite independent craft and scrapbooking stores later this year.

Today...I highlighted this tidbit of advice offered to independents by Rob Krieger, president of Checker Distributors, in the January 2007 issue of Craftrends, page 34:

The strengths independent shops can use to their advantage...are their unique product selection, classes, and individual attention (emphasis
mine).

and he advises retailers to...

"Find suppliers who are directing their total sales and marketing efforts to make independents successful. Why depend on a supplier who is doing all they can to help chains be successful at your expense?"

Krieger goes on to encourage independents to "think outside the box" and lists suggestions like using the Internet to attract younger customers, choosing the right supplier ("Make every attempt to buy products and brand names that are not in the chains."), keeping up with trends, and offering unique classes.

I can't help but think that EK Success released word of the launch schedule as a way to avoid a communications fiasco a la Provo Craft and the Cricut. They're making sure everyone knows that the box stores will have Martha's product before they attempt to ship it to their "elite" customers. Thanks for the warning, EK, especially before you have thousands of independent reltailers decend upon you at CHA.

Independents need to think outside the box or the only place to shop for scrapbooking supplies will be inside the box stores.

Wanna see what I'm wearing to the Momus Ball?

:-)

Ho-Ho-Ho!

Here are some photos from some of our holiday festivities...

Out on the town in a dress that's been in the closet for some time. Something E picked up for me at Syms, I think.

For the Junior League Holiday Ball, I wore the BCBG silk black halter dress that I wore to Momus.


Eddie's parents hosted a party with yummy pork tenderloin. The eight-foot flocked tree in the background was decorated with all gold.



Here I am Christmas Eve wearing one of my gifts from Eddie...a beautiful white sweater from Cache...we refer to as the Bjork top.