Scrap It. (Scrap Books)

Member Name: Emmald

Product:	Scrap Books
Date:	01/11/09 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An inexpensive hobby.

Disadvantages: None.

It just goes to show how wrong you can be - I had always had it in my mind that the Victorians were responsible for starting off the craze for collecting personal memorabilia and sticking it into books to preserve for future generations but I have been `Googling` and have found that the first scrapbooks were put together centuries ago.
Some famous `scrapbookers` include Thomas Jefferson and Mark Twain.

Scrapbooks can be as personal or as impersonal as you care to make them, I love going off to the local auctions and can often be found drooling over some of the beautiful scrapbooks of yesteryear.
These scrapbooks are often a journal of the creators life and they can include locks of hair, postcards, hand written poems and essays, gift tags, wedding invitation, travel passes, favourite quotes, recipes and war memorabilia.
I have often been sorely tempted to bid for some scrapbooks, sadly at auction many of them fetch very little nowadays but I have always managed to talk myself out of it by the time the auctioneer reaches that particular lot.
It is not because I don't want to own them but the vintage scrapbooks are personal journals or friendship books and apart from being extremely beautiful they have little relevance to anyone except for the person who put them together.

I enjoyed scrapbooking when the children in my extended family were small, I would rush off and buy a sugar paper scrapbook in which I would stick all manner of different things. The children made greetings cards, there were school trips, plays, choir evenings, sports days and there was always a million and one precious bits and pieces that needed to be kept.
When they were born the `Baby books` were about but they were considered to be something that could be done without, instead the parents went off and bought a scrapbook.
I have a couple of scrapbooks that were put together by my Father, these are filled with my school reports, poetry that I wrote, invitations that we received, lots of family photographs and when I open them it brings back lots of lovely memories.

I also have three of my Grandmother's scrapbooks, these are older and the contents are different from the scrapbooks of my childhood, these books are chock a block with cut outs. Cut outs from greetings cards that had been sent by the family, cut outs from magazines and old books and they are a credit to her patience. Some of the fiddly pieces must have taken ages to snip out.
Scrapbooks can be as simple or as complicated as you want them to be, if you love the highly decorated look then you can trim the edges of the pages with smaller cut outs. Personalise them as you wish.

Apparently the art of scrapbooking began to fade during the late 1940s, this was due to the introduction of the photograph album. But in the late 1970's the popularity of the scrapbook rose again and today you can find all kinds of magazines that are ready to offer you help and advice on the art of scrapbooking.
I have looked at the magazines but I have never yet purchased one, surely a scrapbook is what you want it to be ? You stick what you want on those sugar paper pages.

Scrapbooking is a relatively inexpensive hobby and it is also one that young children can enjoy. Yes, scissors may be needed but they can always used the scissors that are especially designed for them. The scrapbooks themselves can be bought pretty cheaply, I know that my £1 store stocks them, they may not have as many pages in as they did when I was a child but they still offer good value for money.
As a child I used to use flour and water glue but nowadays you can buy Pritt sticks and PVA glue .Scrapbooking is a great winter hobby, the children can spend time in the holidays creating their own personal journal and as they get new things to add they can build on the book.
I would imagine that the biggest drawback for any parent of younger children would be setting aside the time to supervise the scrapbooking session, if there are scissors and glue entering into the equation then supervision is obviously going to be the keyword. Or maybe you can rope Granny or Aunty in to help out !

I hope that scrapbooking is not a dying art, lets face it it has been a hobby since the 15th century so surely it will stick around for a good few years yet.
When there is a special family occasion on the horizon it is good to know that those scrapbooks are there, you can bring them out for an airing and they are always well received. I know that my crew love to sit and have a gander through the old books.

Summary: A good way to while away an hour or three.