Most companies offer options for the beginner or for quick-and-easy scrapper. SEI, for example, has Scrapbook in a Bag kits that include everything needed for an 8-inch-by-8-inch memory book. "You can sit down and do it in an hour," said Lynette Anderson. The company also has simple 10-page, 6-inch-by-6-inch books. "They are great for beginners, but they also are popular for gifts. They are inexpensive and don't have to take a lot of time."

According to You, a division of Keepsake Corner in Sandy, also has a collection of themed accordion mini-albums. "You paste in your pictures, and they're on their way," said Sandi Howard. "They're great to send as greeting cards to grandma or friends."

Another time-saving option for those who love all those fancy little embellishments but don't want to make them is Just Jinger's JingerBread Shoppe: Embellishments that come complete with tags, ribbons, pockets, brads and more. You can put them on your own pages or on their coordinating pages.

8. Cards. Making cards is one of the hottest new trends, said Chad Harvie, publisher of Scrapbook Trends magazine in Orem. It is so popular that the magazine has launched an every-other-month publication titled Cards that is devoted to card-making. "It's flying off the shelves," said Harvie.

People are not necessarily making cards to save money. "You can easily spend as much on a card as on a scrapbook page," he said. But the appeal is in the artistry and creativity that it allows.

9. Innovations. Scrappers are always looking for new ways to add more to their books. One of the cleverest items we saw comes from Dave Sharp, of North Salt Lake, who has designed a shadow-box page that fits inside a 12-inch-by-12-inch album. Made of archival-quality plastic, it will hold memorabilia that is too thick for a regular scrapbook page — including keepsakes such as old watches, baby clothes, programs, jewelry — anything up to three-fourths of an inchin thickness. Everyone who saw it at the show loved it, said Sharp. It's a way to get things out of a drawer into a place where it can be seen and appreciated, he said. "It also lets you put in things, such as leather, that are not acid-free and might damage other pictures and pages."

10. Going global. While many of the leading scrapbooking companies are from Utah, this has become an international pastime. The show included booths and products from Germany, England and Hong Kong, among others, and among those walking the floor were importers from Asia and Europe looking for ideas to take back home.

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com