Scrapbooking has become a popular pastime in the Teche Area. It is way for people to document the rich histories and heritages that exist here and can even make a unique, thoughtful and personalized Christmas gift.

Jeanne Pellerin of New Iberia has been scrapbooking for almost 10 years and said for her, it’s a passion. She would scrapbook every day of the week if she could, but with four young children she said she can only squeeze in three or four sessions a week.

Pellerin has a room in her home filled with all the little bits and buttons one could dream of to embellish photographs and clippings in a scrapbook. She said it was her hobby of photography that initially got her interested in the creative ways to preserve photographs, since many scrapbooks are made with special paper and free of harsh chemicals that can harm photographs over time.

Bill Smith / The Daily Iberian Jeanne Pellerin studies her handiwork in a scrapbook for her youngest child she just completed. Advertisement

Miranda Landry, also of New Iberia, said she enjoys making themed scrapbooks for her children, Morgan, 6, and Michael, 4. She said her family has more than 50 albums and both her children enjoy looking at them.

“My children look at them all the time,” Landry said. “In fact, when people come to our house for the first time that is the first place they will bring them to show all of their books.”

Landry said her daughter even has her own scrapbook to work on alongside her mother. The books, she said, can get expensive depending on how elaborate you make them.

“The books can get pricey but the memories are priceless,” Landry said.

Scrapbooking has also become a lucrative home-based business for many women in the Teche Area.

Gina Bourque of Youngsville said she was introduced to the hobby and the business after attending a home show 10 years ago.

She had in her mind that she wanted to do a sports scrapbook for her son and once she started, she said she was hooked. Bourque has been making scrapbooks and selling supplies ever since. She said it’s about preserving her family’s history.

“The documenting of people and pictures is so important,” Bourque said. “Life goes by way too fast. Memories have to be captured and when an old person dies it’s like a library of information burning down.”

As a consultant for a scrapbooking company, Bourque is well aware of the advantages of this hobby.

“There is a difference in the magnetic style albums that people used to use and scrapbooks on the market (today),” Bourque said.

“The older style albums emit a gas onto your pictures and you can start seeing some discoloration after seven to 11 years. Many scrapbooks actually help to preserve your photos, as opposed to just keeping them organized.”

Nicole Tyler of New Iberia said she started scrapbooking seven years ago when she was introduced to the products through her cousin, who was selling them.

A newlywed at the time, Tyler said she wanted to start by making a wedding album. Now the mother of two young children, Tyler said she is lucky to work on her scrapbooks once a month, but she has managed to make her children several scrapbooks each.

The camaraderie involved in the hobby is also something that Tyler said she enjoys.

“I think it’s fun to meet other women who have the same interest as you,” Tyler said. “Looking back through photos and organizing them is fun and it’s neat to see the story unfold.”

Simone Buys of Youngsville said she started her scrapbooking hobby more than a decade ago, when she realized her pictures were in unsafe albums.

Buys said she has worked hard and now has a collection of 40 albums, some very simple scrapbooks and some very elaborate. She said if someone is interested in starting the hobby, guidance by someone who has been doing if for a while pays off.

“People tend to over buy supplies that they might not need or use,” Buys said.

Many of these women have already experienced giving their scrapbooks as gifts. Pellerin made a scrapbook for her great-grandmother.

“It’s a great gift for someone not directly in your home every day,” she said. “My great-grandmother just loves the scrapbooks I make for her. For her, it’s like a peek into our daily lives since she doesn’t get to see us every day.”

Landry is in the process of working on a heritage album for her in-laws, although she said she is unsure as to whether it will be ready in time for Christmas. She has, Landry said, given scrapbooks as gifts before.

“People are in awe of it as a gift,” Landry said.

Bourque said she sees a lot of scrapbooks given as gifts and has given a few herself.

“Scrapbooks make awesome gifts,” she said. “They are handmade, from your heart. One of a kind and a personalized, priceless gift.”

Last Christmas, Buys said she made a digital scrapbook. She said her father bought eight copies of it �” for herself and her siblings.

“It was the hit of the holidays,” she said. “Everyone enjoyed it tremendously.”

Tyler made a scrapbook as a gift for her Mother-in-law. She said she was amazed when she opened it.

“Its a priceless gift,” Tyler said.

“People spend hundreds of dollars to get their professional pictures done and they often times sit in a box. This is one way of getting those pictures out of the boxes and no price tag could be put on this as a gift.”