Scrapbooking enthusiasts are notorious for collecting the tools of the trade — colored paper, stencils, stickers, glitter — then failing to put them to use.

"Now, not only are they overwhelmed with their pictures, they are overwhelmed with stuff. They're overwhelmed by the whole hobby," said Paula Wessells, the Vancouver-based CEO of Big Picture Scrapbooking, "What really sets us apart is that we are about the process. We're not about the end product."

That business strategy of helping people connect with what's meaningful in their lives, along with classes priced as low as $10, has enabled Big Picture Scrapbooking to thrive, even in the economic downturn.

The privately held company does not disclose financial information. But Wessells said other than a dip in sales in February, the company's revenue has held steady.

Big Picture Scrapbooking, founded in 2005, was first to offer online classes. Now 31,000 students download classes.

Wessells first met company founder Stacy Julian, a Spokane resident, at a Portland scrapbooking store. She was founding editor of Simple Scrapbooks magazine.

"A year later, she called with a wild business idea," Wessells said. "She wanted to spread her passion for documenting life."

Julian had already been teaching live, in-person classes, which gave the students 90 minutes of inspiration.

"We had to come up with a way — a new delivery method — to continually inspire women," Wessells said. The Web provided that new method.

Julian is the business' creative force. A third partner, Kayce Rehn, also of Spokane, keeps the Web site running smoothly. That's leaves Wessells to handle the business side from her office in the Vancouver home she shares with her husband and three miniature dachshunds.

In addition, the company employs four people — all stay-at-home moms, Wessells said. The company's 58 contract teachers are scattered around the country.

Personal goals
Big Picture Scrapbooking classes include "Wellness Journey," an eight-week course to create a scrapbook to help people achieve personal health goals, and "Everyone Can Write A Little," which incorporates Twitter and Facebook entries.

Wessells, 40, said she has always relished scrapbooking. Before the hobby became her business, the 1987 graduate of Mountain View High School worked for marketing and events agencies in Portland.

Although digital scrapbooking is a trend the company is heeding by securing a partnership with Shutterfly, most classes focus on traditional methods involving photos, not digital files.

Wessells said that's her preference for her own scrapbooks.

"I spend 10 hours a day on the computer. The last thing I want to do is go online," she said.

But the business is very much entwined with the online world, and plans to push that further.

"We're going real deep into social media," Wessells said.

Before, the company worried class content might end up scattering across the Web for free, but now the partners feel confident the class experience cannot be replicated. Big Picture Scrapbooking is working on creating an online community among the students, who are 90 percent female; 83 percent are from the United States, with the rest from more than 161 other countries.

"The women — and men — who scrapbook really want community and social networking," Wessells said. "Everything that's happening in your life, someone across the pond is experiencing the same thing."

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This kit was made with men in mind when choosing colors and patterns to start the design. With a color scheme of blue, green, mustard and red and masculine textures of denim, plaid, and argyle, the items in this kit will allow for a scrapbook page to be designed for that special man in your life--for Father's Day, a birthday, or any occasion!  


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Overall, there are many methods of scrapbooking that a person can utilize to document their memories. Each depends upon how creative or organized the scrapbook maker wants to be. It really doesn’t matter if you are creative or ‘artsy’, anyone can create a scrapbook of memories. Each scrapbook is reflective of the personality of the person who created it.

1. Standard Scrapbooking – Creating pages and placing them in a scrapbook album with page protectors. Scrapbooks used to only come in two sizes 8x10 and 12x12. Check out your local scrapbook store to see the many different sizes of scrapbooks available now.

2. Book-making Scrapbooking – Using a binding system, creating covers and pages with cardboard and embellishing the pages with paper, ribbons, stickers, pictures and other keepsakes. The binding can be done using a three ring binder, binding rings, ribbons, brackets, staples or spiral binders. Really the options for binding are only limited by the creativity of the scrapbooker.

3. Digital Scrapbooking – Creating pages online using digital images and software rather than purchasing individual embellishments. Many people use these to create pages to upload to their blogs or to print and place in a book. Many software packages are also compatible with online websites like Shutterfly.com and Snapfish.com and allow you to upload your pages and create a printed book of your creations.

4. Creating Picture Books Online – There are many different websites that allow you to use their templates to create a picture book of memories. You upload your pictures to their website, paste them into the prepared templates available based on the number of pictures you would like on the page and then add text to your page to personalize. There are many different photo and self-publishing websites available that offer this service.

5. Blogging or Scrapblogging – There are many people who utilize web logs to maintain a journal or to document the happenings of their family. These blogs are highly personalized. Starting out you can use a standardized template, but once you are comfortable with the services provided, you can upload your own creation to make your blog more personal.

6. Creating presentations – Using presentation software to create personal presentations on the computer is very easy. You can use templates included with the software or go online and find more individualized templates for creating presentations. The nice thing about using presentation software is you can add videos, and you can add sound and transitions between your pages. You can even automate a presentation to scroll through the entire presentation ‘hands-free’ once the file is accessed. When choosing a presentation software, be sure to choose one that creates presentations that don’t require those viewing to necessarily own the software you used to create it.

7. Picture slide shows – There are websites online that allow you upload your pictures and organize them into slide shows. Many of these sites provide the service free of charge and provide links so that you can post your slide shows to your blog or even to post them on social networking websites.

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