Each Wednesday, I usually write a post from my dissertation.

For some scrapbookers, physically spending time with a specific person is just as, if not more important than actually accomplishing the scrapbooking. Some crop with religious groups strengthening their involvement with both their religion and their hobby in the process. Cropping to also socialize is often compared to quilting bees.

Attending crops is a chance:

to share. It reminds me of the old quilting bees of years ago where women would get together and work on a joint project and when it was done they had something that they did that they could share and the experience of it and also share in the outcome of it. Scrapbooking is the same way even though you are working on your own book; people share leftover papers and scraps of this or techniques of ideas. So that in the end of it, you’ve got something beautiful that a community of people have had input in.

Scrapbookers cropping together share ideas, materials, and tools. They also motivate one another so that they believe they are more productive. Respondents mention cropping at a store was a way to make friends. One respondent uses meetup.org to find scrapbooking friends to crop with.

Scrapbookers are not the first, nor the last to do their craft (or work) in groups. Other crafters, such as knitters (Potts 2006), practice their craft in groups, too. The Oneida Community did many of their tasks “by the ordinance of bees” (Robertson 1970:48). Doing tasks such as shelling peas or paring apples as a group makes the work fun whereas to do it alone is monotonous. It is possible that some scrapbookers feel the same way about scrapbooking though this does not seem to be the case among my respondents. The Oneida Community find the bees to be “a good promoter of family spirit” (Robertson 1970:61). In other words bees are used to make tedious work fun and contribute to a sense of we-ness or group solidarity. Scrapbooking, too, can be tedious and people who otherwise have nothing in common find a sense of community among other scrapbookers, often through crops. Doing things together and at the same time—or temporal synchronicity—contributes to a sense of we-ness (Zerubavel 1981).

The same socializing that some find appealing, others find unappealing. For instance, one respondent only likes scrapbooking with her mother because she is shy and finds cropping with others to be too distracting. It seems that crops are a place where some scrapbookers are able to accomplish a lot of scrapbooking because it gives them space and time to devote to the hobby. For others, it is a hassle (to bring all of their supplies) and too distracting to accomplish much scrapbooking. Some never considered cropping with others or do not know others who scrapbook. Others have not found a group they click with. Finally, some respondents once cropped with others and do not anymore.

What is the role of socializing in cropping for you?

References

Potts, C. Brady. 2006. “Knitting Together: Sociable Charity in a U.S. Voluntary Association.” Presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. Montréal, Québec.

Robertson, Constance Noyes. 1970. Oneida Community: An Autobiography, 1851-1876. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

Zerubavel, Eviatar. 1981. Hidden Rhythms: Schedules and Calendars in Social Life. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

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Stephanie

Each Wednesday, I usually write a post from my dissertation.

Cropping space may be temporary or permanent. Temporary cropping spaces may be within the scrapbooker’s home, another person’s home, or a more public place like a scrapbook store or a Church basement.

Most of my respondents crop in the home. Some of these spaces are permanently devoted to scrapbooking but most are not. Scrapbookers may commandeer the dining room table for scrapbooking to such an extent that it looks like a permanent space, but all of the scrapbooking supplies are stored away if company comes over for a meal. Scrapbookers may take over a space within the home for two or three weeks at a time before packing up their supplies for several months.

Some scrapbookers crop outside of the home all of the time or some of the time. The ability to crop outside the home depends on having a place outside the home to crop, having the funds to cover the cost of renting the space (i.e., crop fees) or belonging to a community (i.e., a church) that provides free table time, and feeling welcome at a public crop. Being able to crop outside the home assumes the scrapbooker has transportation, childcare, and scrapbooking luggage of some sort so that he or she can transport scrapbook supplies to the cropping space.

Some of my respondents report not always feeling welcome at store crops or have never attended a store crop for fear of being unwelcomed. Scrapbookers who are already marginalized due to race, class, or sexual identity report not feeling especially welcomed if the vast majority of scrapbookers cropping are white, heterosexual, and middle class.

Scrapbookers may crop at a friend’s house, but this means the scrapbooker has a person who both scrapbooks and has the space to invite others to scrapbook at her or his house. Cropping at a friend’s house may mean that children are also welcome, which may make it easier for mothers to scrapbook with other people. In this case, home comes with the scrapbooker, making it even more difficult to draw a line between home and hobby. Even if a person is able to crop outside the home, the hobby still is part of the home because supplies and finished products are stored in the home.

Scrapbookers crop outside the home not only because they do not have the space in their home to do it or because they are trying to draw lines between home and hobby but also because of the availability of materials at crops and socializing that takes place at crops.

One respondent has been to crops at people’s homes and also at the store where she worked. She finds cropping at the home of someone who is more affluent to be more fun because they often share their supplies. If the person is not so affluent, then it is not as fun because she has to make sure she brings all of her own supplies which she says can be a hassle. Cropping at a scrapbook store, then, is advantageous because a scrapbooker can simply buy whatever item he or she needs rather than having to bring it with her or him or relying on the generosity of the host. If the at-home crop is hosted by a direct-selling consultant, the consultant typically has inventory to purchase but still not as much as one would find in a brick and mortar store.

Next week, I’ll address socializing at crops.

Do you attend crops? Why or why not? Does the availability of supplies at crops draw you to them? Have you ever felt unwelcomed at a crop?

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Stephanie