The traditional, no-tech art of scrapbooking is back in vogue - with the help of the internet, writes Sylvia Thompson.
A kick against technology. An exercise in slowing down. Call it what you will, but scrapbooking - the age-old way of keeping a memories book of family times together and adventurous solo trips is enjoying a comeback. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, the internet is playing a part.
Scrapbooking clubs and newsgroups are becoming popular in various parts of the world as online stores offer the latest in 3D decorations, stickers, metal-rimmed paper tags and scrapbook albums of various shapes and sizes. Scrapbooking magazines are also hitting the shelves to help people get more creative.
Tina Piper is the editor of Do Craft Scrapbook, a English scrapbooking magazine now in its second issue.
"We brought it to life because we saw the trend beginning to happen here. We all have pictures in our bottom drawers and we do forget who the people in them are and when the pictures were taken. Scrapbooking allows you to give all the information with the photos which will jog your memory in years to come."
Piper says that the interactive dimension of scrapbooking is a big part of the hobby.
"People love to swap ideas and share techniques. We have more than 200 people who advertise their "crop" classes on our website, www.docrafts.co.uk. These classes are a great way for people to get together and exchange ideas."
In Ireland, art and craft stores are getting in on the act. For instance, the Art and Hobby shop in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin held a scrapbooking demonstration last month.
"A representative from our UK suppliers of scrapbooking material showed people how to make up pages using photos, buttons, stickers," explains Richéal Keogh, who works in the shop. "It's more like making a collage of every page."
"It's an old American traditional craft really. It's big in the United States and came to the UK a couple of years ago. Here, it's only taking off in the past few months, following on from card-making which has been popular for a few years," she continues.
Travel is a popular scrapbook theme among families, as children love to collect bus, train and museum tickets from their holidays. Embellished with maps, flags, country names and symbols and you're on your way. Budding graphic designers will have lots of fun creating quirky writing with cut-out letters and photomontages.
One parent who has a child with a learning disability says that it is a fun way to help her understand the nature of travel. "We are just about to go on holidays to the Continent and we intend to keep our train, museum and bus tickets and mark the places we've been on a local map.
She continues, "We'll put all these things in her scrapbook with stickers and flags and get her to write things in herself to show her school friends when she goes back to school."
Another popular reason to make a scrapbook is to give to a loved one for a birthday present. Some families go so far as to make a scrapbook of the person's life with various newspaper cuttings, photos with funny captions and other personal bits and pieces.
But, beware, as soon as any new craze starts, there's sure to be a business offering to do the whole thing for you. So, for those who like the idea but just can't get it together (or simply get together) to make the scrapbook themselves, there will be an online business ready to do it for you. How's that for a back-to-the future trend?