Scrapbooking industry more than $2.5 billion

Women make general family albums and special albums as gifts on special occasions.  Scrapbooking is the third most popular craft hobby in the nation amounting to $2.55 billion in 2004, up 28% over 2001.

Here's the profile of scrapbookers from a survey conducted by Simple Scrapbooks magazine.

Thirty-nine percent of scrapbookers have been involved in the hobby for five years or more.

Scrapbook enthusiasts are most likely to be females between the ages of 30 and 50. Eighty-two percent have a college education and nearly 50 percent are employed full-time.

Scrapbooking expenditures have increased significantly over the last three years. Now, about 75 percent of scrapbookers spend at least $25 on supplies in a month. On average, scrapbook enthusiasts own scrapbooking supplies valued at approximately $1,853, an 81 percent increase since 2001.

About three-quarters of scrapbookers have a room or space in their home dedicated to the hobby.