Scrapbooking Downturn?

[Jimjams]

I blame George Osborne

Joy

What's his UKS name?

[Gingerscraps]

I enjoy many crafts but always go back to my first love of scrapbooking. I don't upload to the gallery anymore, just because of the same reasions others have given already. I do have a blog and this motivates me to keep crafting so I have something new to upload.

Saying that I come on here a few days a week at least to catch up, talk to my teamies, join in the swaps etc. But I try to limit the surfing or I wouldn't get any craftyness done. The best thing about UKS is the people it has intoduced me to/made friends with who 'get' the whole scrapping/craft stuff.

[soojay]

I still scrapbook mainly - upload to my blog ( as it is the easiest and quickest) Only upload here when it is a UKS challenge or cyber crop now as the images need to be resized and you only have so much space.

[sharron246]

I must admit to using my blog for pictures, as everytime I find something I like I make one and put a how-to on my blog, I can also link all my webs I like to read as it means I don't have to keep looking them up.

I like making mini-scrapbooks and buy bulk items that match, have listed as Cards because I just made 54 from a kit but buy my cardstock in bulf as blank A4 sheets.

[yvette]

I still want to scrapbook, but just have lost my mojo at the moment, I have been inspired to do a lot of sewing lately, so I guess I will go back to it at some point.

[MiniOwner]

I post less in the gallery now that I am blogging regularly.

[LaineyMay]

I do quite a bit of scrapbooking but tend to use old stuff as I can't justify the money for anything new. I visited my local craft store last week to have a look at their new Graphic 45 stuff and there's no way I could afford to spend 21 euros on a paper pad. Recently I've been making felt christmas tree decorations and cards as they use up scraps and are more economical.

[Syl]

I do not blog or use facebook for showing my lo's but I do show them to my group or if I do a weekly challenge I will put it there but that is quite rare.
I keep telling myself to stop buying and have won on the 12x12 pages but if I see a bargin on stash and I like/want it I will buy as I have a photo in mind for it.
I have been buying sizzix dies and others. I also made xmas cards for the 1st time which took me ages as I do not do cards at all.
Also blooms and bling and also with the way this country is I am trying hard not to buy, as things are tight...says she who just bought the big pack of copic markers...lol so papers are just not on my list anymore, embellies I have tons of along with brads, eyelets ribbons which I rarely use. Even the cd roms I bought for making cards could not inspire me to make them, although I have printed some bits for backing papers and to make embellies etc... it is cheaper than spending nearly £5 for a pack of embellies when I may not use them all.
I hope this helps

[JuliaMac]

I voted for scrapbooking as it is the only craft I do at the moment, but saying that, time doesnt allow for much of it. I should probably ban Facebook and then I might have more time! I dont upload to the gallery anymore as my team disbanded and I couldnt see the point for me anymore - I will when it comes to Cybercrops though. I dont have a crafty blog, I blog about my adventures in Treasure hunting (prophetic evangelism) and the healings we are seeing on the streets. All very exciting indeed .

[valj]

I love to scrapbook and that's my first choice but recently I have been making Christmas cards. I make a lot of mini books but still class that as scrapbooking. I never upload to the gallery.

[sutty]

Scrapbooking is still the main thing for me, still spending bits in shops, however I upload to my blog more, as I like it that you can do close ups etc on it easily. Also for some reason the photos I upload here never come out as clear as they do on my blog! The only disadvantage is having to hunt all across the internet to be able to see other peoples work, rather than just peruse everyones in the gallery!!

[yizzard]

Aside from having a blog to upload to now, one of the other reasons I stopped using the gallery here was because the limited space and the need to cull every now and then meant I was forever having to take stuff out before putting new stuff in it.

[pmk]

I'm about to go and vote for scrapbooking - I only extremely occasionally make cards and although I sew/knit etc they're not what I do most of.

I think uks as a whole (and other sites too) are quieter than they used to be, probably because of blogs/facebook etc. As someone has already said people are spread more thinly when there's other options. I confess to liking facebook because I can keep in touch with friends (scrapping ones and non scrapping) and family all over the globe who would never come on somewhere like uks!

I've always been quite frugal with stash shopping so nothing's really changed in my shopping habits, although I'm less likely to impulse buy a new line of paper, preferring to wait a little while and see if I really want it. I don't think I'd be much help with what to stock in a shop because I'm really a 'buy it if I like it/need it for particular projects' type of shopper! To be honest I tend to shop in the bigger shops which have more available and who will tend to have all of the things I want, rather than getting lots of little orders from lots of shops - saves me having to go to the sorting office repeatedly as I'm not usually in when the post comes! I'm also a creature of habit and will use the 2 or 3 shops I know I get good, reliable service from.

Forgot to answer about the gallery - like others I don't upload on here because of the time it takes to do it! I would much rather scrap than photograph layouts and then upload them. It's just not really my 'thing' and hasn't ever been. I think most of my rather pathetic gallery disappeared in the most recent cull!

[Marja]

I can't remember the last time I did any scrapbooking. Just totally lost interest and can't be bothered. I think a huge part of it is that I no longer have a craft room and have to use the dining room table that then needs to be cleared off so it's just too much of a hassle. So instead I knit. I can do that on the sofa and clearing up is easy I blog though in the hopes that one day I will get back to scrapping again and will at least have notes to look back on. Perhaps by the time I get back to it, my old stash will seem new again too

[ProudWickedFan]

I used to be a mad scrapbooker and then in 2007 I started my business and didn't have time for crafts, forums or anything else, in the last couple of months I've just found the time to squeeze forums and craft back in but I have noticed that UKS is a whole lot quieter than it was in 2007, I do think Social Media has played a big part in that as it's so immediate and easy to communicate on. When I started crafting back in 2003 if you wanted to find other crafters you had to be on a forum.

Partly though it has to be the economy, you only have to look at the US and the fact that there were so many publications which now don't even exist and even Creating Keepsakes doesn't publish as often as it used to.

Now that I've come back to craft I find myself making mini-books more than anything because I need a manageable project which is finished quickly or I make altered canvases for our walls.