Scrapbook Journaling Techniques

written by Sherry DiPaolo

Here are some great ways to add your journaling to your scrapbook pages.

Tell the whole story. Write out or type on your computer the entire story of an event that happened in the pictures you are scrapbooking. I did this with photos I had of my 2nd son after my 3rd son was born. When my 3rd son was born I got him a baby doll so he could care for his baby while I cared for mine. I thought this would be a great learning experience for him. So each time I cared for my baby he did the same for his. We bathed our babies, fed our babies and swaddled them to sleep together. This time in our lives was so precious and meaningful I had to capture it in his scrapbook. I almost always use my own handwriting so here I painted the area white and wrote away.

Interview members of your family to create an album that will be cherished by all. In this layout I asked my son Dominic why he loves his big brother and then wrote down his responses and scrapped various pics of the 2 of them together. I also did if for my oldest Primo and asked him the same question about his little brother. It's a great memory and I know they will cherish each other's responses forever.

Senses are good attribute to remember about the day. What were the sounds of the events, What did you eat? Was it a warm summer night, or a cool winter day? What's the most exciting or funny thing that happened that day?

Begin an ABC journal in which you journal about your life in ABC form. Relate each letter of the alphabet to a certain time and date in your life your child’s life.

Consider predictions for a child's future. You can create a letter written to your child on her birthday, the first day of school, middle school or high school graduation, and wedding day. Then when she has her first child they can view them together.

Let your subject know what is happening in the world around you. What are the news topics? Write a letter explaining about your child's world including:

Who the President it? * What is the cost of gas, milk, and bread? * What are their Favorite movies, TV shows, toys, songs, etc.?

Add the newspaper to your album, and use archival mist for preservation.

Add things that your subject likes to do such as pictures they loved to draw as a child.

Add poems or quotes that fit the theme of a page or the idea of a photo.

For a page with photos of someone at a particular age add info relating to that person during that time. E.g., on a baby page of 6 mths include what he was able to do such as crawl, LOL, or stand up.

Write down words to a favorite song, prayer or poem and use them in a decorative border around a page. I did this with the song "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack. I typed up all of the words and put a decorative border around it because the words are so meaningful to what I wanted my son to always think about in life.

Collect memories from friends, relatives, family members, neighbors, etc. to give more dimension to an album.

Be sure to journal everyday things from your life. They may seem ordinary but the biggest part of your life is the day-to-day activities and they should be remembered. I do this a lot. I love scrapbooking the everyday events and funny photos I have of my kids.

Create a list of favorites. Our preferences change as we grow up, so do this once a year with each family member. Use this technique on a birthday page.

Create a list of bullets of what your child was able to do during his first year. I did this with all of my boys. Their first 2 albums have a page for each month. Here is one of Gino's pages when he was 1 month old.

Create a dictionary style definition with the words used to describe the photo.

Sometimes you don't want your journaling to be the focus of your page. Use hidden journaling to provide extra room on your layout, allow your photos to be the focal point, and conceal sentiments you don’t want to share with everyone. Use pockets, mini file folders, small cards, or hinged flaps to achieve this hidden look.

Journal around your photos. This is a nice design technique to make your journaling flow with the design of your page.

Scrapbook Journaling

written by Sherry DiPaolo

Do you journal on your scrapbook pages? If so, do you do it when the page is complete or before you even start the layout? Scrapaholix offered a Journaling Kit in 2007 and it was a big hit with club members and instructors. Journaling is so important and this was a great way to get scrapbookers thinking about how and what to journal.

Journaling is one of the most diffibult thing for many scrapbookers. It’s one of the hardest parts about scrapbooking. It's difficult for all levels of scrapbookers to decide where to place the journaling, how to write it, what to write, what font to use, your handwriting vs. the computer, and so on.

Journaling, however, is the most important component of scrapbooking. It’s what sets it apart from a plain photo album and tells the story, the emotions, and the feeling that goes along with your photos. This is how future generations will remember who you are both by how you physically look and how you feel life.

Many scrapbookers often say “I can’t write.” or “I’m not creative enough.” or even that “I don’t journal because I’ll do it wrong or make a mistake.” You need to know that you can write and YOU are the only one who can tell the story. Always know that there is no wrong way to journal. Just write what you feel and that will always be right. Find your own style and go with it.

Once you get going and start writing you always do a fine job. It’s the content of the words that is most important, not the look or the mistakes you may make, or the font and color you choose. It’s your feelings that shine and that is what I know scrapbookers alike want to convey from their journaling.

Here are some really cool ideas on how to journal.

Journaling can be simple, and it all depends on how involved you want to get with it. You can simply list bulleted items, a single sentence, or perhaps tell the entire long, but interesting, story.
I take a lot of photos of my kids. While I’m taking them I’m visualizing how I will scrap them later. I think of what I want to say and how I’m feeling at that moment. When I pull the photos out to scrap them I remember those thoughts. They make me smile and I want to share that with my boys and all who read them. I want my boys to know what their lives were like when they were growing up and how much I love them.

The best way to make journaling simple is to keep good records of your photos. Keep them in order either by date, name, theme, etc. It’s a good idea to include the Five W’s, which are:

1. Who: Who is in the pictures? Who is taking the pictures?
   
2. What: What is happening in the pictures? Is it your child's first birthday, a wedding or an Easter egg hunt?
   
3. When: When was the photo taken? Try to include the month and year, but if it is detailing a birthday, include the specific date. You'd be surprised how the details get lost over the years.
   
4. Where: Where is the event?
   
5. Why: Why is this happening?

It's also important to convey your feelings when scrapbooking. How did you feel when your husband proposed?, When your children were born?, or When your child graduated?

Lastly, use your handwriting as much as possible. This makes it more intimate and true to your feelings.

Be sure to check out my next post on Scrapbook Journaling Techniques, Ideas on How to do it.