My summer hiatus in 2014 became a three year hiatus! In three years, I’ve seen many of my favorite scrappy bloggers quit blogging or substantially reduce their blogging. The Paperclipping Roundtable podcast has ended. Two Peas has closed. And I … Continue reading
The topic of gender stereotyping in the scrapbook industry came up again on this week’s Paperclipping Roundtable. It was mentioned on the show that this topic isn’t considered much in the industry (I may be misremembering…), so I decided to … Continue reading
Dear readers, I need to take a planned hiatus from the blog. This summer I am moving to another state and starting a new job. I’m very excited about these changes, but it means that I need to focus more … Continue reading
My sister is about to have twins and is trying to figure out their scrapbooks. Rather than texting her my thoughts, I said I’d write a post on the topic. I scrapbook for myself. My priority is not to scrapbook for … Continue reading
Scrapbookers determine what is scrapworthy by sifting through the photographs they have taken or been given of moments from their life. Photographs are not taken continuously but are taken selectively. Scrapbookers then have to label a moment as scrapworthy in … Continue reading
Scrapbookers may play with boundaries through scrapbooking. Nippert-Eng (2005:304) argues that two conditions must be met in order for boundary play to occur: First, players must possess a shared, normative expectation for where one draws the line between two semiotically … Continue reading
Scrapbookers lump together items they consider scrapworthy and split them from the rest which they consider to be not scrapworthy (i.e., trashworthy or forgettable). Scrapworthiness is shaped by how scrapbookers classify their lives within their scrapbooks. For example, a scrapbooker … Continue reading
Respondents struggle with explaining why they make the choices they do as far as what is included in the scrapbook, especially after the photograph(s) and journaling were accounted for. Most commonly, respondents say they do not know why they chose … Continue reading
In my dissertation, I wrote: Scrapbookers “frame” memories to be remembered in scrapbooks, implying that all other memories can be discarded or ignored (see Zerubavel 1991; 1997; 2006). Scrapbookers are deciding which memories are scrapworthy—or are worth remembering. To be … Continue reading
One thing that I love about the scrapbook industry is that children are allowed. While I am critical of the child-centered, mom-guilt narrative that is often used as a marketing strategy, at least the industry is supportive of families, too. … Continue reading
Stephanie Medley-Rath is a sociologist and scrapbooker who studies scrapbooking and memory keeping. Scrapworthy Lives is a blog focused on her sociological analysis of scrapbooking, with a sprinkling of posts about Stephanie's own scrapbooking projects.
