Scrapbooking 101

Timeless Treasures.

The wrinkled hands softly turned the pages in the over-sized book and a small smile came across the woman's face as she reminisced over the old treasures. The scrapbook included dates and names and ticket stubs from shows she had been to with her husband, photos of her children and their weddings and photos of the woman and her parents. All were neatly arranged in a scrapbook made for her by her oldest daughter. The scrapbook became the woman's most prized possession. 

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Scrapbooking has become quite the attraction lately among women of all ages and backgrounds. While the idea of scrapbooking is not new, the market on trinkets and gadgets and stickers to embellish one's scrapbook is just now taking off. There are whole sections in stores like Hobby Lobby, Michael's and A.C. Moore that are completely dedicated to hosting scrapbooking paraphernalia. Additionally, whole stores are being dedicated to just scrapbooking. And Creative Memories, a home-business similar to Pampered Chef, is booming. 

What is the Attraction to Scrapbooking?

Some of that attraction must be attributed to science. The development of acid-free pages, glue and tapes have enabled scrapbookers to preserve their treasures better than these treasures would be preserved in a simple photo album. The availability of some scrapbook enhancements, such as buttons, grommets and stickers has inspired the less artistic population to create their own personal masterpieces. 

The ease with which some looks can be achieved also holds great appeal. There are scissors that cut various borders, paper cutters that cut perfectly straight lines, cutting systems that allow a person to trim a photo into a perfect circle, star or square, and punches that can trim your photo or paper to just about any shape you can imagine.