Mr Mark Lim and his wife Sue (above) enjoy scrapbooking together - he is holding an album of their childhood pictures and she a clock that she made. |
| In this age of Facebook and blogs, some people are returning to scrapbooks to store their precious pictures. |
By Isabel Ong |
On weekends, Mr Loh Mun Loong turns on the music to set the right mood and dedicates two to three hours to his passion: scrapbooking. Mr Loh, 44, a communications consultant, picked up the hobby a few months ago and has since done 10 to 15 layouts, which are pieces of paper slightly larger than A4 size adorned with embellishments and photographs accompanied by short journal entries. 'I never realised it could be so therapeutic,' the self-professed gym rat says. 'As an adult, you have 101 things on your mind, but once you do this, you are able to destress.' Singaporeans, from mothers and retirees to schoolgirls and men, are picking up this hobby. Ms Elaine Ong, 34, owner of Laine's Papeterie, says that when the shop first opened in 2005, its customers were mainly American tourists and expatriates. Now, she says, 'we have a more local customer base, with an age range of 25 to 45 years old'. Many people think that scrapbooking simply means cutting and pasting. But it requires more than just scissors and glue. Scrappers - a term for those who have adopted scrapbooking as their hobby - learn various techniques such as inking and embossing, and jazz up their layouts with ribbons, buttons and other decorations. They also own specialised tools and machines such as the Silhouette Digital Craft Cutter, which cuts out different fonts or images, making scissors obsolete. Stores that offer scrapbooking supplies and conduct workshops have also mushroomed across the island since the first one, Made With Love at Plaza Singapura, opened in 2003. Art Frenzy's Craft Chateau was set up in Anchorpoint four years ago and moved to VivoCity last year while Laine's Papeterie in Wheelock Place opened in 2005. Craft and homewares shop Spotlight has also widened its selection of scrapbooking materials, and Creative Escape, a walk-in arts and crafts studio, opened in January last year to offer large spaces where customers can choose from a selection of paper and embellishments available in the scrapbooking room. Full-time swimming coach Val Ng, 31, picked up scrapbooking six months ago to the amazement of her family members. The mother of a four-year-old daughter says: 'I'm into outdoor sports such as swimming and rollerblading. I'm not a desk-bound person at all, but scrapbooking can keep me at the table for hours.' Retiree Tan Li Koon, 56, has made three scrapbook albums of her three children. She does scrapbooking three times a week and has spent between $3,000 and $4,000 on this hobby over a span of three years. 'A picture in an album is very plain, but after adding embellishments like butterflies, it looks more attractive,' she says. Madam Tan is not alone in splurging on scrapbooking. Student Yen Wu Ling, 22, has spent $6,000 since she started this hobby in May. She splashed out on class fees, scrapbook materials and online purchases, spending money which she earned from giving tuition. Mrs Sue Lim, 33, a counsellor, and her husband Mark Lim, 31, a lecturer, stumbled onto the craft when they made a guestbook for their wedding last December that included 400 photographs and well-wishes from their guests. 'A lot of couples have differing hobbies and I think it's a blessing to find something to do together,' says Mrs Lim. 'The other women in the class we attended together were very impressed with Mark's work, and wished their husbands could be like him too.' Forget the notion that scrapbooking is a girly affair. Mr Loh says: 'It's just like how many guys now are into decorating their homes and that isn't seen as a girly thing at all.' Mr Eugene Tay, 37, an accountant and father of two who has done 20 layouts of his children's pictures, concedes that scrapbooking materials are still quite feminine. Still, he says: 'No one's insisting that you have to put flowers and such on your layout. You can put your own slant to it.' For Mrs Tan Guat Kim, 75, a retired principal and arts education teacher with the National Arts Council, scrapbooking has also become a shared family hobby. She attended workshops and classes with her daughter Jennifer Chan, a homemaker and volunteer in her 40s, and two granddaughters Nicole, 13, and Natasha, 18. The lure of the hobby is in the fact that people tend to make scrapbooks of people, pets and things dear to them. Family holidays, births and weddings are also popular subjects for scrapbooks. As Mr Lim says: 'Scrapbooking is about life, sharing memories and time spent together.' Devoted scrappers also participate in online layout competitions and cropping sessions held in stores where groups of people gather to make layouts and exchange ideas. Scrapbooking is not limited just to paper crafts. Scrappers can apply techniques to create altered art objects such as notebooks, boxes, clipboards, namecard holders and even clocks, to personalise such items as gifts. For devotees, this is the beauty of scrapbooking. It is, as Mrs Lim puts it, 'a way of celebrating people whom we love'. |
