International Scrapbooker of the Year

Thanks to many on UKScrappers for providing information on this one. It’s an interesting thing, the term “international”. I’ve seen similar international contest winners coming out in the U.S.A for instance - where the competition was only ever held in the U.S. and no one from outside the country had a chance of a. knowing about it or b. being able to enter it.

Same over here though. Down the road from me, outside our little village, sits a farm which annually runs the International Teddy Bear Freefall competition. Local people get to sponsor a teddy bear, which are thrown out of a small aeroplane wearing a little parachute. The one which hits the bullseye target on the ground by the closest distance, is crowned the international champion. Some teddy bears do manage to pick up international sponsorship, however. A lot of local businesses and indeed people have contacts, or Headquarters, or sub-companies based all over the world.

Then there’s the international water melon eating contests and the like, held in somewhere like Maine, U.S.A. You occasionally get some antipodean or British person travelling over there to compete.

Announced recently, this year’s International Scrapbooker of the Year goes to Rosemary Merry. Rosemary will possibly be little known amongst international scrapbooking circles, as she does scrapbooking programmes on the U.K.’s QVC television channel, predominantly (taking over this rudder from Dawn Bibby).

The competition is annually organised by Origin Publishing  - who own a wide range of UK crafting magazines. Origin’s magazine stable of thousands of readers vote for an international scrapbooker each year. In that sense the votes are coming from a predominantly U.K. audience, but they can vote for anyone - including international scrapbookers.  The awards are at a champagne reception at Birmingham each year - and feature Europe and the U.K.’s top craft wholesalers.

Previously the International Scrapbooker of the Year award has been won by Anna Griffen, from an international perspective. It has also been won by Dawn Bibby - the person who many scrapbookers in the U.K. remember as the very first crafter / scrapper to feature selling products on U.K. QVC.  

I wonder if there are other such international awards out there that the rest of us are oblivious towards also? Isn’t the world an interesting place?