women in U.S. have done traditional scrapbooking. Millions of others do various aspects of photo books but are not scrapbookers. Scrapbooking is one of the largest categories within the craft and hobby industry and now considered to be the third most popular craft in the nation. From 1996 through 2004, sales of scrapbooking products increased across the United States. In 2005, annual sales flattened for the first time after many back to back years of double growth. From 2006 through 2010 traditional scrapbooking sales have declined, while digital forms of scrapbooking have grown. Traditional scrapbooking sales for 2010 have declined to about $1.6 billion in annual sales from a peak of about $2.5 billion in 2005. During that same time frame the number of independent scrapbooking stores declined from a high of 4,200 to about 1,200 independent storefronts. The number of scrapbooking manufacturers also declined in that same period from a high of 800 to under 250. Common idioms Journaling In addition to the collection of photographs, tickets, postcards, and other memorabilia, journaling is often a principal element in modern scrapbooks. Journaling is text that describes, explains, or accents the photographs on a scrapbook page. Contemporary journaling can take many forms. It can be reflective and story-like, take a reportive tone, or simply be a list of words. Journaling may also include song lyrics, quotations, and poems. The value of journaling lies in the fact that it provides an account of family histories that may otherwise not be preserved. Many consider journaling one of the most important elements of any scrapbook. Journaling is a personal choice and it can describe the event, the photographs, or relate feelings and emotions. Handwritten journaling is considered best by some scrapbookers who see handwriting as valuable for posterity, but many people journal on the computer and print it onto a variety of surfaces including vellum, tape, ribbon, and paper. Sketches Scrapbookers will sometimes refer to sketches for inspiration for their pages. Sketches are a hand-drawn layout showing where to position photos, titles, journaling and embellishments. It gives novice scrapbookers somewhere to begin if they are not experienced with balancing the layout correctly. Scrapbookers can interpret the sketch in any way they choose; it is a great starting point when you have scrappers-block. There have been many sketchbooks published and scrapbooking magazines always offer sketches as part of their content. See also Baby book, a