Education is the answer

I literally just heard that phrase quoted on the news as I logged on to write a blog entry. And that is my thought for the day.

There has been a lot of debate just lately on UK Scrappers about the reasons why several scrapbooking magazines and bricks-and-mortar shops are pulling down the shutters on their businesses this year. It's been a really thoughtful discussion, and one I'm very interested in as someone who runs a scrapbooking business in this country.

I really feel that teaching this fab hobby of ours is at the root of the answer. People can say that they don't make enough money to stay in business, but if there were more scrapbookers around (1 in 5 households in America has a scrapbooker living in it!), then the market would be sustainable. However, most of the women (or men!) I speak to here don't have the first clue what scrapbooking is. When they ask what I do for a living, I always have to weigh up how much time I have to invest in a conversation at that moment, because I know it's not going to be a short answer and I'll have to explain scrapbooking as a design craft and not newspaper clippings in sugar-paper books.

In my experience, if I think of the women I know through school, my daughter's ballet class, at church, whatever... only some of them will naturally be interested in scrapbooking (we're all different...I wouldn't want to go kayaking every weekend, but some people love that :D ). However, once those who DO have a bent towards cutting and sticking see my scrapbooks and then (which I think is the crux) do it for themselves, they are so delighted with the finished product (because it has THEIR photo of THEIR family on the page which THEY created), they get hooked and want to do more for themselves. They also realise how DOABLE it is, even for a beginner (you don't have to be able to draw or paint for example).

I had a lady come to our last retreat in Gloucester who was a friend from church. She only came because she fancied a weekend away (her husband is physically disabled and she wanted a break) and she knew she'd be somewhere pleasant, friendly and safe because I would be there. She was planning to do 1 or 2 classes as "something a bit different" but by no means was she coming to attend as a scrapbooker. She bought a few bits and pieces so she could take part in her chosen classes, but on the whole she was just going to chill out, do a bit of sight-seeing and enjoy the lovely food!

Well, by the end of the first day she was completely hooked. The next morning she went off into Gloucester to do her sight-seeing (which is what she'd planned to do all of Friday) but she was back by lunchtime and participating in more classes. The Sunday after the retreat she said to me, "I didn't realise I NEEDED this!" To her it is a relaxing creative outlet, and a way of recording her personal and family history, which is very important to her. She LOVES it! And she's now attending the Swansea Crop and is planning to bring members of her family in the New Year.

However, I've known her for years and she's never been interested in scrapbooking before. It was only when she did it for herself she realised how fun it was.

My point is that for scrapbooking to grow and therefore magazines to succeed and shops to flourish, women (let's face it...mostly women!) need to be given the opportunity and impetus to attend well taught, interesting classes that are sensibly priced (price is very important). These classes need to be aimed not just at more experienced, 'in-the-know' scrapbookers who are attracted by so-called 'celebrity' events, as new scrapbookers have not the faintest clue who these people are. I've also learnt through my own experience that simply advertising classes in the local area doesn't work either, because if people haven't got a clue what scrapbooking is, they're not likely to go to a class in it are they? That would be like me seeing a poster in the Co-Op to come "Flooblepopping" at the village hall on Thursdays from 6-9pm!

What does work is a lot of word-of-mouth and showing my work off and then encouraging people to attend a crop or a class.

I have heard all the remarks before about the British not being a nation of crafters (which I actually don't believe because a great number of my non-scrapbooking friends and acquaintances have or do enjoy sewing, painting, card-making, knitting, beading, tapestry, cross-stitch, etc.). I've also heard the theory that because the British are less 'emotional' than Americans, they won't be so keen on pouring out their love for their children/husband/friends/cat on keepsake pages (again, I'm entirely unconvinced by that theory as well...the British feel emotion just the same as other nations...and we express it differently...but we DO express it!).

Despite these theories, I still think there's a lot more potential for growth out there. And also, I know an absolute TON of scrapbookers who don't visit UK Scrappers (some of them don't even come online ever! Imagine that!! LOL) and they only have one shop near them if they're very lucky. These women therefore don't know about events around the country, or 'who's hot' or what the latest must-have products are. Magazines are probably their main resource unless they attend a local crop or a class. I think there are a lot more ladies like that out there. Lots of lone scrappers who don't know what's available out there for them to attend.

British scrapbooking magazines are very important for pulling in new blood, but of course they have to be widely available (which they aren't, I hear). Magazines should also teach the craft to newbies, but should also show more advanced scrapbookers new skills as well. That's why a range of magazines with different objectives (like Creating Keepsakes and Simple Scrapbooks and Scrapbook Answers* in the States) would be the ideal in the UK. But people need to buy these magazines to keep them in business. As it stands at the moment, it looks like we only have two magazines in this country still in publication, which is getting into 'monopoly' territory and that is never ever a good thing.

* An American magazine that focused on teaching and I loved it. And it's recently folded - boooooo!

However, nothing will ever replace hands-on, face-to-face teaching.

Educating the whole country IS a slow burner, funnily enough - LOL - but education (as with many other areas in life) is the answer IMHO :) I have seen ENORMOUS growth in the UK in the last 3 years and I actually do feel positive about this growth continuing.

So what do you guys think? What do you see as important for you to progress in this hobby? How do you think scrapping magazines and shops will survive?