The moment I mentioned the word photos, my friends let out a big cry.
"Why can’t we bring five or eight?" they asked.
The first to arrive was Lita, the leader of the "rebel" group.
Lita explained, "Ahhh, my little Cupcake, I couldn’t decide which two photos to bring so I brought one, er, uhm, (swallow), ah, maleta." (Flashed her toothpaste smile at me as she winked and made sexy eyes).
Maurita and Elsie brought, well, one manila envelope each.
Next was Celia. She brought two photos. (Ah, at last, someone complied.)
With Remy, she showed me no photos.
"Where are your photos?" I asked.
"Don’t panic. I have them, " she answered.
"Where?" I ask again.
"Outside," she replied.
"Show me," I quipped
She pulled out an old album. Remy brought vintage photos that were damaged by storage and time. Melanie arrived with Tina. They are long-time scrapbookers and knew just what to do.
The doorbell rang and five ladies stood outside beaming at me.
"We’re here to assist you," they chorused. They were Susan Chupungco, Carmel Carpio, Sarah Genato, Maia Melencio and Guia Santiago.
Wendy was running late. "I’ll be there in an hour. Can Audrey tag along?"
Would I be able to fit a dozen plus, plus ladies in my library? I thought to myself.
Bahala na.
I made a brief announcement, "Ladies, I asked you here today to do one thing. Scrapbook."
"Good, good, good," exclaimed Lita while Elsie clapped and cheered.
"There are only two basic rules you need to follow: each photo must be matted with your own personal journaling and no other rule follows."
With that, madness, mess, noise and laughter took over.
Lita brandished her prized photos of celebrities she met during her travels abroad: Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, Patrick Swayze of Ghost and Dirty Dancing, Pope Paul II, and more. "Are you going to scrapbook them?" I asked. "Not yet. I want to make a collage of their faces first," she chuckled.
With Rita, it was her photo taken with Spanish balladeer Julio Iglesias, while for Wendy, it was her photo with Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, recently in the news for giving his personal billions of dollars away to charity. Maurita chose an orange card stock to combine with olive green for her photo of her children, Mauritz and Katrina. She embellished her page with gold stars and shimmering beads that resembled little diamantes.
Elsie didn’t want to cut her series of photos of her grandson, Luc; she used tiny colored beads and foam alphabets to adorn her page. Celia worked quietly and chose a spring-inspired color for her page of her daughter, Coco, with a set of miniature cell phones to decorate it. Remy chose candy stripes and flowerettes for her page.
After three hours, I stared in disbelief. I clearly underestimated this bunch. I thought that they would be so busy chatting and munching that they wouldn’t be able to concentrate on their pages (that’s why I limited them to two photos each).
They sat hunched over a round table while they were all-ears and all-eyes on Susan’s framing techniques, on colorful ribbons, labels, stickers and little trinkets. The chattering, munching, laughing, copying and comparing of pages continued and wunderbar of surprises, they actually finished their pages. This kind of multi-tasking was simply amazing and contagious.
Scrapbooking is a widespread addiction for preserving photos that has swept and won over womenfolk from the major countries of the world like America, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France, England, and Asia.
New York Times reported that in a survey conducted in 2004 by Creating Keepsakes, a magazine about scrapbooking, about 25 percent of American households include someone who participated in scrapbooking, supporting a $2.5 billion industry that supplies acid-free paper, durable adhesives, tools and all manner of decorative accessories.
On a recent visit to America, I noticed that the craft and stationery stores have several aisles and sections exclusively devoted to scrapbooking. I felt like a kid in a candy store with full access to photo-safe (or acid-free) goodies. Even lifestyle trendsetters and home designers like Martha Stewart and Laura Ashley, and fun groups like the Red Hat Society, have come up with a line of scrapbook products under their brand names, the same with cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse, Barbie and Winnie the Pooh.
A close friend, Mary Jonas, has conducted scrapbooking afternoon teas in her house in San Diego and the hours have gone past tea time.
Mary said, "When ladies work on their books, it’s difficult to send them home."
My niece, Imelda Lopez-Vidal, has similar scrapbooking parties in Adelaide, South Australia. "Gosh, Tita, these ladies can’t stop once they start a page."
New York Times says: Scrapbookers are nearly always women – the grandmothers, the mothers, the aunties and the sisters of the world – who describe the crafting of their books as a creative outlet, a stress reliever and a gift to their families and loved ones. It is also a social activity, fueled by the camaraderie of classes and workshops.
And now, the mania has reached Manila by way of the All About Scrapbooking line at National Book Store. Filipinas of all ages are preserving their valuable photos and showing them off in a unique and personalized manner. I discovered scrapbooking when I became a "nonna" (lola/grandma). Being so thrilled over my new grandson, I wanted a personal diary that highlighted every milestone, every special moment in his life using photographs and documenting them as I saw fit. The plus factor in this hobby is the assurance that the pages I worked on would outlive me and the loving memories that came with them (the paper is acid-free, which protects my photos from deteriorating or fading). It is like a personal time capsule, an autobiography that would increase in (sentimental) value as these are passed on to future generations.
Isn’t that a hip, groovy way of preserving your memories? Someone said, "It’s cheaper than pyramids and monuments, and they’re portable too."
So far, I’ve completed four books on my grandson, and counting. I’ve also started another scrapbook to restore damaged photographs taken in my youth and that of my siblings and clan. Another one is a tribute to my friends and another to my children. Looking at these pages as my magna opera in progress, it looks like it would take me another lifetime to complete them. Imagine, a second lifetime of fun, laughter and satisfaction over photos preserved the best and the most fabulous way? Why not?
Is there a downside to scrapbooking? Well, maybe, just one. It will encourage you to take more pictures to start more scrapbooks. Madly and happily, there’s no end in sight. Just today my friend Lita called and asked, "Cupcake, can we scrapbook in your library for another 8,000 hours?"
Ahhh, bahala na.