By Emily Chan
The first scrapbooks were popularized as “friendship journals” in the late 1800s and have been taking over the lives of creatives ever since.
That being said, the biggest years for the scrapbook were from 2001 to 2004. At the height of the scrapbooking craze, seas of stickers, washing tape and colorful paper seemed to flood every middle-school to middle-aged woman’s kitchen tables turned craft tables. Joinable scrapbooking clubs were being posted and craft stores were thriving. In fact, in 2004, scrapbooking was a $2.5 billion industry with 25 million scrapbookers in the United States alone. Furthermore, in order to meet the needs of all of these scrapbookers, 3,000 scrapbooking-specific stores opened across the country.
But why was buying a book full of blank paper and sticking even more paper and stickers onto it so popular? Well, when scrapbooking was at its peak, the target demographic at the time was educated, working women from the ages of 30 to 50 years old. This is because many of these women were looking for a creative outlet that allowed them to share memories and escape the stress of work. In essence, scrapbooking was such a hit because it gave women the opportunity to express themselves and their creativity through something tangible.
It’s not as if stressed-out women have ceased to exist, so why is scrapbooking simply not as popular as it was 20 years ago? The answer to this question lies in technology. Pens and paper have become obsolete in a world of typing and social media. I mean, why would you take the time, effort and money to scrapbook when Instagram is aesthetically pleasing and FREE? Social media doesn’t just provide the same experience scrapbooking does, it heightens it.
You don’t have to go to your friend’s house to see their scrapbook, you just have to swipe left on their profile and your friend’s photos are right there. You don’t have to print out photos to trade with your friends, you just have to AirDrop it to someone. You don’t have to purchase any sort of stationary because apps like Canva have your back.
Technically, you don’t have to scrapbook. You scrapbook because you want to.
You scrapbook because you get to create a collection of pictures, paper and pens. You scrapbook because you get to meet up with your friends and share fond memories amongst yourselves. You scrapbook because you get to be present and intentional with your time.
There’s nothing wrong with the convenience technology provides us, but there’s no denying that the way we communicate has changed. The only issue with this is that physical scrapbooking simply hasn’t been able to keep up.
As a result of this, the scrapbooking craze has reached a solemn conclusion. That is … until now! The year is 2024, and it’s time for scrapbooking to make a scrapback!
A leader of the comeback of the scrapbook and creative hobbies, in general, is crafting enthusiast @martinamartian on Instagram. Martina Calvi is a popular crafter who’s known for her unique journal spreads, self-designed stickers and travel zines. As I scoured Pinterest for a general idea of what scrapbooking looks like as of late, I couldn’t help but find that Martina was everywhere, to say the least. With her bubbly personality and sparkly spirit, Martina exemplifies what 2024 scrapbooking and journaling is all about.
It’s creating your stickers, drawing inspiration from little moments in life and collecting, collecting, collecting. 2024 scrapbooking includes so much collecting that it’s common to see scrapbooks with pretty displays of old labels, receipts and candy wrappers. All of these would otherwise be considered garbage, but that’s the beauty of it.
Scrapbooking is an art that is tangible, textured and social. Sure, you could hop onto a design app and create a digital scrapbook. However, nothing beats physically scraping together pieces of travel and day-to-day life. So, I urge you to hop offline, invite some friends over and make a day out of gluing memories onto paper! You don’t have to scrapbook, you get to.
