Imported Celebrity

The first year I attended the CHA Winter Show, there was a lot of "buzz" at the show about a new line of Scrapbook Products. It was a line supposedly designed by Marie Osmond. I remember seeing it in the same booth selling her dolls. I think I had just missed Marie, herself. She had been there signing autographs.

The line was very "cutesy" and looked like her wide-eyed dolls. I wasn't impressed with it, and, apparenly, neither was anyone else. I never saw it in a store, although I heard that Hobby Lobby picked it up and was (is?) selling it. I don't know because I don't have a Hobby Lobby near me.

Then came the Liza Gibbons/Xyron thing. I can't even remember the name of her line but she was their official "spokesperson" for this new Xyron/Liza Gibbons line. Did people rush out to their local scrapbook store to get the Liza Gibbons line? Nope.

My "friend" Martha Stewart has even dabbled in scrapbook products. Again, nobody is rushing out for "Martha albums".

Now, in January of this year, Heidi Swapp, a scrapbook celebrity, introduced a line of products at the CHA show. Scrappers went beserk wanting to know where they could get it. When was it going to come out? Does anyone know where they could see it?

Celebrity is celebrity to most people. Many scrappers would wait in line to get Liza Gibbons' autograph, but, as a scrap celebrity, she's a lightweight. We have our OWN celebrities found within the pages of the many scrapbook magazines out there. Shoot, you can become a "Hall of Famer" and gain more fame in this industry just by jumping through those hoops than Kate Hudson could by teaching a class at your LSS (yes, I heard she scraps a little).

So, celebrities from one universe get "lost in translation" when you try to import them into the scrapbook universe. We apparently like our celebrity to be "home-grown" - which speaks to the fact that in order to navigate the scrapbook world, you really need to understand scrapbookers.

Now, if George Clooney or Brad Pitt designed a line of scrapbook products, I have a feeling they'd sell... :-)