This is a continuation from last weeks post about journaling.
Now that we’ve talked about why it’s important to journal, let’s chat about the basics of how to journal. For starters, remember that there is no right or wrong way to journal. Even by just adding the basic information—like who, what, when, where, why, and how—is more information than just having pictures and cute accessories on a page. And, journaling doesn’t have to mean writing an essay. You can add a few details or feelings to capture the overall memory.
These six questions are the easiest things to journal and probably the things we are most likely to put in our scrapbooks. I like to include all of them but I try my hardest to incorporate all the names of people involved—especially first and last names. Here’s why: I recently started to scrapbook my high school pictures. I knew those kids for many years and I never thought I would ever forget their names. To this day I can remember their faces and different things we did together, but I can’t remember their names. What I have learned is friends come and go. Even if we are close friends, in 20 years from now I might not even remember their name—so am I going to remember the details?
The other information like the what, when, where, why, etc is also important because years from now you’ll want to remember those details. Have you ever looked at a picture in a box and thought, “I know this was when Johnny was about six because he had a broken arm and we lived in the tan house”? If you’re like me, you have had similar thoughts. And, if you’re like me, unfortunately you can’t remember anything else about that picture other than Johnny had a broken arm and you lived in a tan house. What if that was the day he actually broke his arm? How did he break it? Was he a brave little boy at the hospital? Did he say anything adorable that you wanted to always remember? Were the nurses especially kind—what were their names? And so on.
See the difference? In ten years when you pull out that photo of Johnny, so many other life-changing events would have taken place since then, making this special memory less clear. So that you can remember how you felt as you watched your little boy be so brave, take some time to jot down the details and feelings when you scrapbook.
It really doesn’t take much time at all to jot down a few details and the end result will last throughout your lifetime and the lifetime of your posterity.
One trick that I have learned when I’m scrapbooking is to count my journaling section as another picture. For example, let’s say I have three photos to use. When I look through Cherish™ or Imagine™, I look for layouts that will accommodate four or five pictures, instead of three. Then I use the extra spaces for my journaling instead of the extra pictures! That way I make myself journal, and it is so easy because the pattern is already laid out for me! Oftentimes this is more than enough room to cover all the basic information and your feelings.
If you prefer not to have your feelings out in the open for others to see, try using hidden journaling. File Folders and Library Pockets work great for just that occasion. So whether you don’t like your handwriting or have private thoughts to journal, you can write down your story and then cover it up—for only you and your loved ones to see.
Another way I like to quickly and easily add journaling is to write or print it on My Stickease™ artwork. We have tools such as these at our disposal and they really do make journaling a snap!
re are some more easy ways to incorporate journaling in your scrapbooking.
Quotes are all the rage right now and you can find them everywhere. Quotes are a good way of portraying your feelings, especially during those times when you don’t know how to express your emotions about the event. A quote can make up for it! Our stamp sets have great quotes; you can use song titles or one-liners from family members, or you can even look up quotes online!
Titles are a great way to incorporate journaling. E-size alphabets, My Stickease alphabets and Dimensional Elements are perfect for titles. It gives your pages focus and it tells the viewer the most important information—right away!
I recently worked on pages for an “All about Us” album for my husband. I had these great pictures of our dogs that I definitely wanted to include. I could have said “Snow Fun” or “Barkley Playing” but that didn’t really fit in an “All about Us” album. So, my title became “We Are Dog People.” Doesn’t that perfectly capture what we are all about regarding the kinds of pets we have? Once I had the perfect title, I journaled about how much we love taking our dogs to different places, watching them enjoy life, and how much they are a part of our lives.
Another fun way to incorporate journaling into your layouts is to get your family and friends involved.
Why not try a “He Said/She Said” spin on your journaling? You could both answer the same set of questions and then journal the questions and answers. On one side of the layout you can have his spin on the event; while on the other side, you can have yours!
Another way to involve your family is to interview each other every year. Ask the same questions every year so you can see the differences over the years. As you each grow and develop, your tastes will change and over time the things that were once so important will be a fond memory. It will be so fun to see how you’ve changed! This is also a great way to remember everyday life—which sometimes we forget to scrapbook. Each year you can write down school, work, and extra curricular routines, too. This will be a fun resource to turn to as your kids grow up and leave for college, get married, or have children of their own!
Another fun thing to do to get some different perspectives and include friends and family is to do a baby shower, bridal shower, birthday party, or retirement album. You can have all the people at the event write down why the guest of honor is important to them on 3” x 5” pieces of cardstock. They could even include some advice! You could do this with your children’s class albums as well. At the end of a school event, such as a field trip, have every child write down what they liked most about it. This will also capture your child’s own handwriting!
Pictures may someday be just pictures without the story that goes along with them. That is why journaling is so important! Tomorrow will come, our memories will fade, and we may regret not jotting down who that pretty girl in the photo is. Journaling only takes a minute but it very well may be the most valuable part of your scrapbook album to your children and grandchildren. Scrapbook your photos and mementos but also scrapbook your memories while they’re vivid. It’s a lasting way to let everyone know who and what is significant to you and, most importantly, why!
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