If you have ever created a beautiful scrapbook page, but found yourself at a loss of words when it comes to journaling, you are not alone. Sometimes getting started on your journaling is hard work! But don’t worry, I’m here to help! My feature, “Write Away!” in the March/April issue of Simple Scrapbooks provides you with eight journaling tips that, along with the three additional ideas below, will make journaling stress-free and provide inspiration to get you writing right away.
Write Away with Extra Journaling Tips
Materials: patterned papers, stickers (Doodlebug Design) + rub-ons (Making Memories) + 8 x 11 page by Maria Macalincag, Holt, MI
Pretend You’re Writing in a Diary.
Just because you’re no longer using a diary with a cute, gold lock doesn’t mean you can’t pretend. “I do my best journaling on my scrapbook pages when I write as I would in my diary,” Maria explains. “I describe what spurred me to make the page and the emotions I want to remember. It also helps when I write just words or phrases that capture my thoughts, however fleeting they may be.” Maria’s no-pressure approach produces genuine pages filled with emotion.
Pretend You're Writing in a Diary.
Materials: patterned papers (Crate Paper, Creative Imaginations) + chipboard accents (Deluxe Designs) + letter stickers (cherryArte, CK Media) + ribbon + letter rub-ons + 12 x 12 page by Becky Kent, Hilliard, OH
Look Beyond the Obvious, and Dig Deeper.
Becky visits the zoo often with her boys and can’t imagine scrapbooking every single zoo photo she takes. To keep things interesting, she deliberately looks for other themes to journal about. “I didn’t want to just scribble ‘Rylan at the Zoo.’ I thought back to the day I took these photos and remembered how big I thought he was that day, trying to keep up with his big brother. That led me to thinking about how we are almost past the baby years, and I journaled about that.” A different angle can provide many opportunities for creativity.
Look Beyond the Obvious, and Dig Deeper.
Digital Tools: Photoshop (Adobe Systems) + patterned papers by Jessica Sprague and Lauren Reid, chipboard alphas by Amber Clegg, office label by Kim Christensen, glitter stroke by Two Sisters Designs (scrapartist.com) + border (Shabbyprincess.com) + flower border by Rhonna Farrer + Traveling Typewriter and Helvetica fonts + 12 x 12 page by Lisa Cohen, Washington, D.C.
Use a Document to Catch All Your Thoughts.
Over time, Lisa has developed a system to simplify her journaling: “I keep a plain old Word document on the computer that I write (okay, type) in whenever I have something funny or interesting to say. This is where I record my everyday thoughts, routines, and events.” Because she takes care to date her writing, she can easily find excerpts to include on a scrapbook page when she is organizing her photos.
Tags: Journaling
