Scrapbooking continues to increase in popularity

SIKESTON - Take one album, acid-free adhesive and pens, a sharp pair of scissors, some card stock, printed papers and embellishments. Mix with love and a dash of creativity.

The final result? A home for pictures of notable events that tells a story, instead of the photos just sitting in cardboard boxes.

"The long-term benefit is what I enjoy about it more than anything," said Erin Alcorn of Sikeston. She has been scrapbooking for about four years, beginning with her engagement.

"Your pictures have a home and they aren't scattered - they're easy to locate. I don't have to search other than flip a few pages," said Christy Greenlee of Jackson, formerly of Sikeston. She has been scrapbooking for almost 10 years and has worked on close to 20 albums.

"It's all about preserving memories - that's the key," agreed Vicki Burdin, owner of Scrapbookin' at the Sikeston Factory Outlet Mall.

Scrapbooking is growing in popularity. Fun Facts Publishing called it a $3-

plus billion industry. And earlier this year, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia announced a partnership with EK Success, a creative consumer products company with the leading market position in the scrapbooking segment of the U.S. craft industry. This relationship will produce scrapbooking merchandise under the Martha Stewart Crafts line.

"It's gotten to be such a popular thing that people like Martha Stewart are jumping on the bandwagon to be part of the tradition," Mrs. Burdin said.

Alcorn has two family scrapbooks, plus one for her daughter, Ava. With another baby on the way, she is starting a scrapbook for that child, too.

"They'll have that instead of a baby book," Alcorn said. Her daughter's scrapbook begins with sonograms and includes other major events, like when they learned the sex, the birth and birthday parties, among others.

While Alcorn is documenting events as they happen, others use scrapbooks to organize older photos. For instance, Shirley Warner of Sikeston's first album was a compilation of her wedding photos. She is currently working on a heritage album, among others, that includes older pictures of her great-

grandparents and other family members.

"I took a lot of my pictures out of albums and put them in to be preserved a bit better," Warner said.

Scrapbooks can tell a better story than photo albums because of journaling, she added. She often writes her thoughts and feelings on the page. "It just causes you to remember those things," Warner said.

"The more you journal in the scrapbook the better it becomes," agreed Mrs. Burdin's husband, Glenn.

Scrapbook themes can be practically anything, from one focusing on a family or child to one event, like a vacation. "It's really family-oriented," Mrs. Burdin said. And Greenlee, a Creative Memories consultant, recalled a "pageant mom" who created a book of her child's pageants.

Some may be hesitant to scrapbook because they don't think they are artistic enough. But, being an artist is not a requirement to creating a scrapbook.

"There's no rules," Burdin said. "Make yourself happy and don't worry about anything else. This has nothing to do with being artistic, it's about putting your feelings and memories on paper and preserving them for future generations of your family."

Scrapbookers can buy supplies where they basically just place the pictures in frames, Mrs. Burdin said. Plus, classes and magazines also give scrapbookers extra ideas.

Greenlee said perfection comes with experience. "Once you've done it this long and you've done so many pages you can kind of see the page in your head before you've done the event," she said.

Mrs. Burdin and Greenlee agreed they have gotten pickier about the pictures they take and imagine what that scrapbook page will look like prior to snapping the camera. "Instead of taking more pictures and deciding how I'm going to scrapbook those pictures, I set those pictures," Burdin said.

Scrapbooking can be done both individually and in groups. For instance, the First United Methodist Church has a 'Scrapbook and Scripture' group that gathers once a month. "We have a devotion and then we scrapbook," Warner said.

Church members also participate in a Friday night crop once a month, where Creative Memories consultant Christy Greenlee brings cutting tools and other supplies for the women to work with.

Last weekend, Alcorn hosted a Creative Memories gathering - there are usually three a month, she said. "You can work on your scrapbooks and (Christy) brings supplies you can buy," Alcorn said.

Teachers at Southeast Elementary work on their scrapbooks together, too, along with some teachers who have moved to other buildings and districts. Elaine Sever wrote in an e-mail: "we stay in touch by scheduling a time we can all meet and scrap together."

Scrapbookin' also offers classes and crops for scrapbookers. Crops are usually on Friday evenings, and last until everyone goes home, Mrs. Burdin said.