SCRAPBOOKING HOBBY TURNS PAGE INTO FUN BUSINESS

Michaella Mallard, Ashley Mangels and Amanda King are "regulars" at Stamps & Scrapbooks.

What started as a hobby for Ronna Mallard, owner of Stamps & Scrapbooks, has turned into a business.

Stamps & Scrapbooks celebrated National Scrapbooking Day, May 5, with a special "crop party" on May 4 and giveaways, door prizes and specials on May 5.

Mallard has used her store at 105 E. Adams St. as a labor of love "to teach people" about scrapbooking "so they can do it on their own."

She said the memories of one person "are just too personal to be left to the discretion of another."

May, with Mother's Day and Memorial Day, offer a time to think about organizing and preserving memories in scrapbooks.

Mallard holds beginner classes and one-on-one instruction to help people get started in scrapbooking, and she can refer people to scrapbookers who do custom scrapbooks for those not interested in doing the actual work themselves.

Mallard offers encouragement, not only by helping people get started, but by offering a vast variety of supplies for personalizing pages.

In addition, she offers games, specials and auctions; all ways to allow customers to win supplies.

Stamps & Scrapbooks, which has been in business for almost two years, holds a crop party the first Friday of the month where scrapbookers bring their supplies, work on scrapbooks, enjoy camaraderie, partake in a little finger food and just plain have fun. A playroom is available for little ones.

At one table at a recent crop day, a couple of teen-agers and a preteen shared their accomplishments.

Amanda King of Oak Ridge said she had finished two scrapbooks, but mainly she comes for the friendship.

Ashley Mangels, who attends St. Paul Lutheran School, said the group "loves to laugh here."

She is in the process of completing her first scrapbook.

Michaella Mallard, 12, a Jackson Middle School student, likes "the stuff here and the people that come in."

They all agree that Stamps & Scrapbooks is a getaway from home and a safe place to hang out.

Each month a scrapbook theme is selected, and area scrapbookers can enter their pages in a store contest. Customers then vote for a winner who is awarded a gift certificate from the store.

The store is open from 9:30 to 6 p.m. during the week, except Wednesday, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The store is closed Sundays and Wednesdays.