By ROB WEILER
Binder: $14.49. Gelly Pens: $1.19. Colonial Scissors: $5.99. Scrapbooking: Priceless.
In the past four years, women of all ages have turned albums of high school dance pictures, play ticket stubs and baby showers into a billion-dollar industry, and Utah has led the way.
Rachel Weatherly, an assistant receiver for Roberts Crafts in Provo, said, 'We went from one or two aisles to half the store three or four years ago.'
An increase in shelf space was only the beginning to the boom that started four years ago, Weatherly said.
Specialty stores specific to scrapbooking also began springing up across the nation. In Utah Valley, 22 scrapbook stores are listed in the 2004 Yellow Pages, with stores like Memory Lane Paper Company, Keeping Memories Alive and Pebbles in My Pocket.
'They are everywhere,' said Mary Anne Clements, 21, from Salt Lake City. 'There are always tons of people in them, and they are making tons of money.'
And just like any large industry, scrapbooking is overtaking hobby conventions and forming expos of its own.
Ginger Johnson, assistant manager at Memory Lane Paper, attends conventions and expos on scrapbooking that confirm the Hobby Industry Association's estimate of $2 billion in sales.
Annalee Maloney, receiving manager and specialist at Roberts Crafts, said $2 billion is an understatement.
'I know ladies who will spend over $2,000 to go to conventions in Florida and not even blink an eye,' Maloney said. 'People will spend anywhere from $20 to $400 in one trip .'
Aletta Berghoff, corporate bookkeeper for Pebbles in My Pocket, which owns and operates three stores in Utah, including one in Orem, said the company falls in the $4 million sales bracket.
She said the Pebbles branch in Orem averages about 4,000 sales per day.
Clements, who started scrapbooking in high school, said she has spent at least $2,000 in scrapbook supplies.
'When Jeff and I got home from our honeymoon, I probably spent $60 on scrapbook stuff for just five pages,' Clements said.
Just getting started requires an investment.
Maloney said a beginner should spend about $100 for the basics to get started.
Considering the largest scrapbook seller is card stock paper, ranging in price from 10 cents to $1.99, scrapbookers don't find the numbers surprising.
Karyn Nicoll, a die cut designer for QuicKutz, a local company that creates and produces scrapbook accessories, said paper is the biggest seller, but the accessories and decorations are where the big dollars come in.
QuicKutz' die cuts of shapes such as trains and sporting equipment for as much as $10 a piece. Alphabet letters in different fonts are priced from $99-250.
Nicoll said a big trend is the 'heritage' theme, which gives an antique appearance to scrapbook pages.
'People will dye the paper with wood finish and use trinkets and keys to make it look vintage,' she said.
Though trends and fads may change, the industry expects to be around for a while.
'Scrapbooking is the fun way to do journaling,' Nicoll said. 'It's the new quilting activity and becoming a community social event for women and mothers.'