Thoughts on Scrapbooks
Scrapbooks are big business in Utah. The pursuit of creating scrapbooks is so common that the noun has become a verb. “I need to scrapbook that.” Or “I need to get caught up on my scrapbooking.” Around here the term scrapbooking implies large sheets of colored paper, photographs, paper cut into shapes, stickers, stamps, and other small decorative bits. This is not just sticking pictures to pages, it is an art form unto itself. There are whole companies devoted to scrapbooking supplies. The way it is done here, scrapbooking becomes a creative pursuit. But it often has guilt attached because these scrapbooking women (there may be men scrapbookers, but I don’t know any) tell themselves that the reason they are scrapbooking is to record family history. But the effort put into each beautiful page is far more than necessary to record the events of a family’s trip, or birthday, or day. Somehow hobby and requirement are all mixed up to the extent that I know women who confess the fact that they don’t scrapbook with guilt. In the local culture scrapbooking is somehow expected. Implied is that to be a scrapbooker, and particularly to be caught up on your scrapbooking, is a mark of excellence as a mother. I can’t say for certain where the implication comes from. It is just in the air, around the neighborhood, at church. Only the implication is wrong. Being a caught-up scrapbooker is the mark of someone who has found a hobby that fulfills her creativity. This is a wonderful thing, but not something others should feel guilty for failing to do.
My first experience with scrapbooking Utah style came when Kiki was a baby. I was invited to a scrapbooking party ala tupperware parties. And I bought into the company. I bought the books and some paper and some pens. I planned albums and pages. I took a photo of Kiki each month so I could create a page about how she grew. I enjoyed it for years, although the album plans became simpler as I added children. What I discovered was that I was not interested in pages as art. I was interested in the pages as a format for storytelling. Most of my pages became filled with handwritten text. Pictures were sometimes an after thought. The colored papers and stickers began to interfere with the stories about our family, so I stopped using them. Then we got a digital camera, and I learned how to use InDesign, and suddenly I realized that the papers and stencils and stickers were no longer useful to me at all. They sit in a box waiting for me to decide to get rid of them. Now my “scrapbooks” resemble layout projects. I combine the pictures with segments from my blog and other informational text. I use the resulting pdf file to print the book at lulu.com. Then I hand it to my kids, know if they destroy the book, I can print another one. The scrapbooks from earlier years are kept carefully on a shelf, defended from the children because their abuse could undo hours of my work. My electronically created family books are not beautiful, but I like that the kids can enjoy them.
I am thinking on scrapbooking today because I opened up my file of pictures from last year. I began sorting through and organizing them to put together a new family book. It has been more than a year since I last worked on family book creation. But it is time to put this back into my schedule. Looking at the pictures and telling the stories of our family life grounds me. It reminds me why I bustle around to get the work done. I do the work, to bring in the money, so that I can afford to buy experiences for myself and my children. These experiences are the point. The act of remembering and writing inspires me to do things that will be worth remembering and writing next year. I need the family books not for the book, but for the inspiration.
I am not the only one who benefits from these books. The kids love to read them. They read these stories about our family and remember the fun times they had. They love to see how they’ve changed and grown. I send copies of the books to my parents and to other relatives. The books give these folks a chance to see my kids and feel connected to our lives. There is value in that. Someday I think that grandchildren will enjoy looking at them too.
I am not opposed to the idea of scrapbooking Utah style. I see why it is perfect for some women. But it is not the only way to record the life of a family. I know people who remember their vacations by the souvenirs they bring home. I know a quilter who can tell you where each swatch of fabric came from, with stories. Words and photographs are only one way of remembering what has gone before. It will be interesting to see what new forms emerge out of this video-driven era. And truth be told, not everything needs to be recorded for posterity. I write about our family because I am a writer. This is what I do. The family books I create are emotionally filling to me, and I am aware that they are more for me than for anyone else. Scrapbookers should create because they love it, not because they feel obligated.