Ornate, perfectly preserved memories in a colour co-ordinated book — sounds like a job for Martha Stewart.

But here in Bermuda writer Sara Westhead is offering her services as expert scrapbooker to those of us who just don't have time to do it ourselves.

Supply her with photos of your child, an event, or 'the good old days' then tick a few boxes on her survey and she'll whip you up a detailed book matching the theme of and colours of the boxes you ticked.

She'll preserve your precious memories — that first step or wedding kiss — in a manner befitting it, instead of the pictures sitting in a box waiting for someone to get around to sorting them.

For scrapbooking is an art form these days. Clubs and classes have sprung up across the world. Craft stores now dedicate entire sections to the pastime.

But what is it you ask?

The popular online encyclopaedia Wikipedia describes scrapbooking as "a method for preserving a legacy of written history in the form of photographs, printed media, and memorabilia contained in decorated albums, or scrapbooks.

"Historically, scrapbooking was a tradition similar to storytelling but with a visual and tactile, rather than oral, focus".

Basically it's adding the flourish that takes the book from a regular photo album to an item which can be "oohed" and "ahhed" at while you smugly show it off to friends and family.

It's the ribbons, sparkles, calligraphy and expensive paper to name just a few of the items used to make a super scrapbook.

But it's not for the frivolous, indeed some of the most famous scrapbookers in history were Thomas Jefferson and Mark Twain.

Mrs. Westhead began the art form ten years ago when it was just in its infancy. Since then she has made over 600 pages in scores of books.

She said: "I'm basically my family's photographer, genealogist and historian.

"Scrapbooking appeals to people for different reasons, some find it soothing while others see it as a great gift for friends.

"I'm currently teaching a class on scrapbooking at the Bermuda College and everyone is really enjoying it. I've even been asked to teach an advanced class for people who want to take the designs of their books to the next level."

As well as the classes Mrs. Westhead, who is a mother of two, is making scrapbooks for others and clients can choose between books or digital scrapbooks.

She said: "We've become a society obsessed with photos thanks to digital photography so the next step in scrapbooking has been digital too. I make those as well so that people can keep the CDs of photos and also pass them on to friends and family."

Mrs. Westhead, from Southampton, buys her product from overseas in bulk and charges between $120-$200, depending on the size of the book and the amount of pages requested. She currently works on design projects for three scrapbooking websites to keep up to date with the latest trends.

She can also make duplicate books, though no two will be identical, and can repair old photos.

For more information on her company, Bermuda Scrapper, you can e-mail her at keling@logic.bm or call 238-0648