A Scrap Over Scrapbooks
If scrapbooking conjures up images of kindly suburban women passing pictures around the kitchen table, then you don't know the modern hobby. Outraged scrapbookers recently forced the industry's top magazine, Creating Keepsakes, to strip a New York woman of its coveted Hall of Fame title after readers noticed a photo credit on one of her layouts. The rules require all entries to be the "sole work" of contestants. But while Kristina Contes admits that she made a mistake, she blames "petty, jealous women" for bullying contest officials into disqualifying her work. "I mean, it's not like I stole someone's boyfriend," says the 28-year-old restaurateur. "This isn't high school."
But it is a cutthroat business. Scrappers spent $2.6 billion on supplies last year, according to the Craft & Hobby Association, and one in four households contains a scrapbooker, making it more popular than golf. The Hall of Fame award can bring celebrity status, TV appearances and teaching jobs. After Contes declined to return her title voluntarily, irate hobbyists smeared her on blogs and threatened to flood her restaurant with fake reservations. "The b–––h doesn't have a moral bone in her body," wrote a commenter on the Scrap Smack blog. Over on the Creating Keepsakes Web site, angry readers cried cover-up and threatened boycotts when editors deleted unkind comments about the company from the site's discussion boards. "I wanted an explanation," says Noell Hyman, who was among the first to question Contes's work. She got more than that: Contes and another woman whose work was questioned have been replaced in the 25-member Hall of Fame class for 2007. "Women prove time and again that they are ridiculous, vile creatures," says Contes. She plans to retreat from the scissors-and-glue game—but she'll always have the memories.
© 2007
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Member Comments
Posted By: michelleinFlorida @ 11/19/2007 10:01:38 PM
Comment: rules of the contest aside, People who have nothing better to do then to trash talk are wrong. The women who have bad mouthed CK, and Contes, are also tearing into the industry. It is just a reminder that the world is full of cruel people who just go through life looking for a reason to tear down another human being. Mistake, on purpose, etc. whatever it is, forgive, forget, and move on with your life. Go back to your scrapbook, and leave hers alone for goodness sake!
Posted By: jpscraps @ 11/16/2007 2:56:16 AM
Comment: This article just reminded me of the reasons why I don't subscribe to Newsweek or CK. I would have liked to see someone other than the Scrap Smack blog represent the scrappers' and other contestants' points of view. I think Scrap Smack is a disgrace, Contes is a disgrace, and this article makes us all look like we've taken up scrapping to fill the void left by daytime soaps. Sadly, the manner in which women chose to address this issue has made all scrappers look catty. Want to be respected? Act in a way that earns it. Whether you're a blogger, a scrapper, or a contestant.
Posted By: Mary Mary @ 11/15/2007 4:01:26 PM
Comment: How sad that Newsweek has been duped and lied to by Ms. Contes. Ms Contes cheated and was caught and now it's sour grape time. The rules clearly stated that all work must be sole work of the enterant. Ms. Contes used photography that another scrapper and professional photographer created. She used these photos even after signing an affidavit that all the work was her own. She cheated and was called to task when the book for HOF came out and other scrappers recognized the photography. A cheater is a cheater and it really makes me wonder how Newsweek would look at this whole situation if it was a reporter who plagerized instead of a dishonest young womean?