The one “women’s lifestyle” magazine that I subscribe to (and try to find the time to actually read every month) is Real Simple. It’s the magazine that seems the most in tune with my life and interests. I’ve even used their recipes on occasion (and if you knew how often I actually cooked you’d know what a huge compliment to them that is).
The December 2008 issue of Real Simple showed up in my mailbox a few days ago and I turned almost straight to an article titled “Memory Keepers”. The subtitle read “How many times have you noticed a heap of old snapshots or letters and promised yourself -this time, finally – you’d do something special with them? Meet five women who went beyond dating and filing; they found inspired and heartfelt ways of preserving their family histories.”
“Yippee!” I thought, “my favorite magazine is going to cover scrapbooking.” Then I took a closer look and realized…no, they weren’t.
There wasn’t a scrapbook in sight in Real Simple’s ideas for doing something special with your snapshots and letters. The projects were a coffee table photo book, a wall display box (shadow box?), a written book of stories, a cookbook, and a quilt.
These projects aren’t presented as an alternative to scrapbooking – they are presented as an alternative to “dating and filing” your photos and mementos. Is scrapbooking so irrelevant, so over-the-hill as a hobby and trend, that it doesn’t even warrant a mention? Real Simple seems to think so. Which, given their demographic, isn’t a good sign for our industry if they are right.
About Nancy Nally
Maybe they think scrapbooking isn’t “simple” enough for their readers. I prefer to not think it’s a sign for our industry. Debbie Raymond, editor, Adornit
It could be as simple as Debbie mentioned; scrapbooking can be intimidating to the uninitiated.
Perhaps one can look at such projects as infusing the hobby with new POVs or, at the very least, initiate someone who has not picked up scissors and glue since fifth grade.
Personally, I feel that such projects (as they sound in your blog – I have not seen them) seem detailed on their own. But that’s my perception. While I have yard upon yard of cotton fabrics and a super machine, right now it sounds way too much to document my photos in a quilt.
If, like most businesses in this hostile climate, scrapbooking is receding then it’s my opinion that the hobby may benefit from that.
Change is healthy. I think scrapbooking is evolving (after devolving) or morphing to meet the needs of those who want challenge or a new angle of keeping photos.
The act of taking photos of one’s family will never, ever go away; what will always, always change is how they are preserved and appreciated. I can only imagine the hard work it takes to be a retailer or manufacturer or designer tasked with keeping up with her demographic’s ever-changing needs. Hats off to those who try!
Mary Ann