I never realized there was that much of a clash between scrapbookers and stampers. Granted, I’m mostly a scrapbooker, though I do some stamping for card making. Anyhow I though this article was kind of interesting – hearing from the “other” side!

Want to start an argument? Get a room full of die-hard rubber stampers together–and mention scrapbooking. The fur will fly and it will get ugly pretty quick. And typically for me, I’ve been right there in the thick of things, wondering how this world of ducks-with-hats and letters-with-dots-on-the-ends got to be so dang popular. So I thought I’d take a hard look at scrapbooking and see what all the fuss is about.

Round One – I started with my scrapbooking friend. I attended her late crop-party at her home that she advertised on the Internet. Similar to my experiences with stampers, scrapbookers are eager to open their homes and share their knowledge with complete strangers.

Also similar to stampers, scrapbookers arrive with stuff. It’s pretty much all stuff we recognize: scissors, punches, papers (tons of papers!) and more. It seems to me that the scrapbookers are a tad more organized. Those little cropper-hoppers have a place for everything and everything is most-assuredly in its place.

Where’s a stamper to put the Barbie shoes, eucalyptus tree bark, the jar of wheat paste for making paste paper and the ball of twine? Our hopper is really more of a junk trunk.

We spent the evening experimenting with different pages and talking. I found it interesting one woman wanted to duplicate the pages in one of the magazines, right down to the colors. Her friend, though, just wanted to get her pictures in an album before her kid graduated from college. She wasn’t worried if her cutting was a bit lopsided or her pages lacked embellishment. It was fun seeing two totally different approaches to creating.

The Jab – The first scrapbook I ever saw was a Creative Memories wedding album–I was enthralled. The creator had done such clever things with stickers (this was pre-punch days), and it was a seamless presentation of a special event. It was elegantly simple, with the photographs being central to each page and nicely accentuated with embellishments.

I was a little disappointed to know this album was from a “kit.” I thought the ideas in the wedding album came from the person in front of me–who was now giving me a sales pitch. And it was a pricey pitch, too — $60 here, $20 there. To do a comparable album would cost over $200!

I politely gave my “thanks, but no thanks” line and moved on. Give me some paper, book board and two screw posts and I can make an album in less than half hour for around $5. Until then, the Crate & Barrel shopping bag had seemed to be holding my photos quite nicely, thank you very much.

Counterpunch – From the scrapbooking side of the story I see the appeal of it all. A journal chronicling your important life events is a great thing for future generations. I remember going through old scrapbooks of my relatives; yellowed newspaper clippings, spelling-bee ribbons, Valentine’s cards and pictures of people we couldn’t identify. It was a biographical treasure chest–or should I say treasure mess. Now, rather than old cellophane tape or unreliable photo corners there are bright colors, cute accessories and coordinated papers to showcase and label our memories. The opportunity to personalize your photographs has double usefulness–you are preserving part of your past and getting that very important creative outlet.

Break – One of my main issues with the scrapbook industry had been the inferior pre-packaged items that cost a fortune but could easily be done at home. The meteoric popularity of scrapbooking prompted many a company to jump on the bandwagon. Improperly cut papers, alphabet stickers with only one set of vowels (ever try to write “Happy Birthday” with only one “a”?) and punches that didn’t work on card stock were presented to the consumer in mass quantities. It made me very distrustful of the market. In fact, until a scrapbook store opened up along my route home, I didn’t venture into a scrapbook store for years.

When I did go in, it was exciting to see all the new papers, 3-D stickers, rub-ons and even bookmaking kits! And the quality has definitely changed for the better. They’re even starting to carry some stamps and handmade papers. Don’t even get me started on all of the cool little doo-dads and thingamajigs. I almost got misty-eyed right there, next to the die-cut machine.

Final Bell – The industry has evolved and is beginning to incorporate even more goodies–like vellum, eyelets and ribbon (oh my!). This is a trend that continues today with a somewhat tenuous footbridge spanning the gap between scrapping and stamping. Every once in a while, we meet in the middle to shake hands and sign a new peace treaty. (“You like origami? We like origami! Shake!”)

There are things we can learn from each other. We both have a shared obsession with paper. We both use a copious variety of adhesives. Some of us prefer to keep things simple, while others simply cannot have enough detail.

Scrapbooking, like stamping, is both a social and individual activity. In a social setting with other stampers or scrapbookers, you can get new ideas and see what other people are doing. Individually, there is the freedom to explore and make mistakes. I think we stampers were a bit late in embracing our scrapbooking comrades. Had we seen our similarities rather than our differences, perhaps we would be more harmonious together.

Split Decision – I wonder why I have met very few people who scrapbook and stamp. Is it because when you combine the two you end up with an altered-book artist? I’m joking a little here, but I just visited a large scrapbook store and noticed that a lot of the upcoming classes were for handmade books, albums and journals. They all had more than the usual bit of rubber stamping involved. Can the two worlds be colliding at last? How far away are we from singing Kum-Ba-Ya around the paper-arts campfire?

Perhaps this discord, between the scrapbookers and the stampers, is the result of our taking our eyes off the focal point: our art. We should remember although our paths through life are different, we all feel the need to chronicle the journey.

That’s it. I’m done. Gather up your pitchforks. I’ll be waiting in the town square. I’ll be the one with the “I break for scrapbook stores” bumper sticker.

Expression, Nov-Dec, 2005 by Hilari Ford

COPYRIGHT 2005 Publishers’ Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group