Last Updated Monday March 17, 2008, EDT 5:10 AM
[Image below: Scrapbook page, courtesy of Maryellen Hoffman.]
The first rule of scrapping: You do not talk about retreats.The second rule of scrapping: You DO NOT talk about retreats.
Oh, and the third rule: You can go crazy with the layout, but always label each page with time and place.
Scrapbooking retreats in North Jersey may not be as secretive as author Chuck Palahniuk's fictional underground organization in "Fight Club," but they are a release from the pressures of the world.
Taking over hotel conference rooms and ballrooms from the Homewood Suites Hilton in Mahwah to the Seaview Marriott just outside of Atlantic City, the retreats can involve hundreds of avid scrapbookers — mostly women — organizing their memories on 3 feet of table space with stickers, stencils and designer paper.
These weekend retreats can turn into serious business for some attendees, who work feverishly through the night and go to sleep at 10 or 11 in the morning, said veteran scrapper Beth Sparozic of Wyckoff.
"One time, one of my girlfriends worked for nine hours straight without talking to anyone," said Sparozic. "When it was almost time to leave, she looked up and said, 'What? It's over? I thought I still had time to go over and talk to you!' "
Rule 4: No open beverage containers. Spills are a disaster.
Rule 5: Nothing is over the top. Custom glazed cardboard letters? Of course. Flattened snow globes? No problem. Sports medals and ribbons? You better believe it. Everything is fair game in a scrapbook, and serious scrappers revel in the details.
Avoiding overload
Because participants throw themselves headlong into their hobby, event organizers make sure to schedule non-scrapping activities — such as mini-contests, technique classes and surprise singalongs (reenacting the "Tell Me More" scene from "Grease") to break up the time.
"It's like a mini-wedding every month," said Stephanie Mandato, owner of Ramsey-based business Scrap-a-Doodle-Doo. Mandato has been running themed retreats out of Homewood Suites since late last year.
The accoutrements, including souvenir gifts, add to the value of the retreat, which can cost scrappers a few hundred dollars for the hotel room, the food and the use of facilities.
But it's all worth it to hobbyists, many of whom find it difficult to keep up with their craft on a regular basis. Even if you're scrapbooking for the sake of preserving family memories, that same family can distract you from working.
Rule 6: Concentrate.
"When you're at home, if your child comes over and says, 'Mommy, I need you for a minute,' you're going to stop," said Sparozic. "You're constantly stopping."
Added Maryellen Hoffman of Oakland, another longtime scrapper: "If you're able to go away on a scrapbook weekend, you have no other commitment."
Scrapbooking is, at its core, the creation of a decorated photo album, but it has developed into a consuming hobby. Serious scrappers spend hours creating layered or three-dimensional pages, stocking up on various supplies and poring over scrapbook magazines for the newest trends and patterns.
Trade organization Craft and Hobby Association, based in Elmwood Park, estimates that scrapbooking was a $2.6 billion industry in 2007. But it wasn't always a trend in North Jersey.
"When I started 12 years ago ... there was just nothing," said Sparozic.
Sparozic and Hoffman, who has been scrapping for eight years, both got into the activity when they attended Creative Memories parties held by their friends. Like Tupperware or Pampered Chef cookware parties, Creative Memories gatherings involve a presentation of products — scrapbooking supplies, in this case — and direct catalog sales.
"It's really evolved," said Hoffman. "There's been a lot of stores that have opened and closed. But now, there are many, many stores online that sell tools. There are scrapbook magazines," she said. "It's really starting to come over to the East Coast."
Business is booming
Chain craft stores like Michaels and A.C. Moore are flourishing, and scrapbooking businesses like Scrap-a-Doodle-Doo are finding footing. Mandato also got her start at a Creative Memories event and became so involved in the scrapbook world that she began selling materials. She left her original job and put all her time in her new business, traveling up and down the East Coast as a vendor at scrapbooking retreats. Eventually, she realized that the best place for a retreat was Bergen County.
"Scrapbookers in our area are more affluent," said Mandato. "They want that whole experience — not just schlepping down the stairs to work in a church basement."
The social aspect is certainly important to Sparozic, who goes to retreats with friends.
"We plan months in advance what to bring to these events!" she said. At recent retreats, Sparozic has brought five to six rolling tote cases of her own materials, plus her own shelving to maximize her work space.
It's important for the retreat to feel like a getaway — but it's nice not to have to go too far, said Hoffman, who has two daughters, 11 and 15.
"It's good being around the corner if anybody needs you," she explained. At one Scrap-a-Doodle-Doo retreat, she even received her husband and daughters as guests.
"They have a sense of what it's all about now," she said.
Getting on the same page
Not everyone understands the scrapbooking impulse. "There are a lot of closet scrapbookers," said Mandato.
"At first it was like, 'Is there an end to this?' " said Sparozic of her husband's reaction to her scrapping fanaticism. "We were putting aside money for me to go to retreats."
Since then, Sparozic has turned her hobby into a moneymaking proposition by scrapbooking for other people. As a stay-at-home mom, she can make time to scrap. Plus, she earns a pretty penny: At $500 per book, she's able to cover the retreat fees. It was only a matter of time before her husband came around.
"And what father doesn't like pictures of his children?" she said.
Which brings us to the seventh and final rule of scrapping: When you're done, share.
Scrappers like Hoffman and Sparozic regularly make books as gifts for friends and family, celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and bat mitzvahs. Sparozic gets misty thinking about a small volume that her younger daughter Macie, now 8, called "the book of me."
"I want to leave them something when I'm gone," she said.
E-mail: shih@northjersey.com
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