Shared stories

Scrapbooking is an increasingly popular craft, but for Joy McPhail and Nicole Brittain, it has also become a profitable business. Kieren Charteris reports.

The women talk easily as they work; soft voices and laughter float above the busy rhythm of agile fingers; eyes rise and meet in time with the gentle swell of conversation before returning intent once more to the task at hand. The room is warm with sisterly camaraderie and shared purpose.

It could be a scene from a medieval palace or Victorian parlour; the workers weaving a tapestry or embroidering a piece of needlework. But instead of a shuttle and loom or needle and thread, these women are working with high-quality paper and scissors, pretty ribbon and fabric and, most importantly, treasured photographs. They’re attending a scrapbooking class in the village of Eltham on the outskirts of Melbourne.

“It’s a very social craft,” explains Joy McPhail, co-owner of Simply Scrapbooking, the venue for tonight’s class. “We have 10 to 12 women around the table here most nights for classes with our scrapbooking teachers. It’s great fun. We turn up the music, exchange ideas, share a laugh and drink coffee all night. You see people’s photographs and hear their stories so you get to know them pretty well. Sometimes it can be very therapeutic; we’ve had more than one class where we’ve needed a box of tissues in the middle of the table.”

Her business partner Nicole Brittain believes the storytelling component of scrapbooking is another important factor in its meteoric rise in popularity. “One of the reasons it appealed to me – and I think many others feel the same – is that scrapbooking is more than just putting photographs in a pretty album,” she says. “It’s telling a story; your life and your family’s. That’s what motivated me to start, to make sure I recorded precious moments for my children and grandchildren before they’re all just distant memories.”

While most ‘scrappers’ are female, the pair have noticed an increase in the number of boys using scrapbooking for school projects and year books, as well as older men using it for archiving genealogy information and war memorabilia.

“It’s the fastest growing craft in Australia today, with its own specialist shops, magazines and online groups,” says Nicole. “Even mainstream retailers such as Kmart, Target and Lincraft are allocating floor space in their outlets for scrapbooking. It’s huge!”

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