Journaling Inspiration

Journaling is an important part of documenting memories and there are several different ways to include your written words on a scrapbook layout. There’s an entire category here on The Daily Digi site all about journaling. If you find yourself struggling to find ways to tell the stories that you want to share, be sure to check out this wonderful journaling how-to post by Janet.

Personally, I (Katie) love the process of journaling on my scrapbook pages. It’s not always easy, but it is very satisfying to know that I took the time to share my thoughts and feelings. I love that these words can live on in a format that can be enjoyed by my family and friends.

I always enjoy reading other people’s journaled pages. It is one of the ways I get inspiration to do my own story telling. I appreciate it when someone takes the time to include their journaled words in the credits of a layout. The experiences of others will often spark a memory that I would like to share. I feel motivated to document our lives in words when I see how other scrappers are doing the same thing.

I realize that it isn’t always possible to share the journaling details online due to space constraints (it would be impossible for us to do that here in our posts or they would go on for pages!). I also am aware that it isn’t always wise to share some personal writings on the internet. There are times that I choose not to share my journaling on the web for personal reasons, but I try to include it whenever it is safe and appropriate to do so. It is my hope that others will see that it is easy to take a casual approach to sharing the full experience of a memory through both pictures and words.

So instead of TELLING you how to journal, today I would like to SHOW you how I do it. I have several pages to share as examples and I will include the journaling for each one.

Template by CSchneider. Kit is “Brrrr” by Shabby Princess.

journaling reads:

Ginger is an old dog and she has a hard time walking down stairs now. Yet, somehow when it snows outside, she finds her inner puppy. She loves to play in the snow! Often she will come back inside with her whole face covered in snowflakes because she has been burying her head in the snowy drifts. Sometimes she just sits right down in it and makes herself comfortable. It must feel good to her with her thick & furry coat. It is fun to see her enjoy it so much.

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Template by Janet Philipps, Amanda Rockwell Crazy Beautiful kit, Catherine Designs Pele Mele Memory Keeper kit, Tekton font

journaling reads:

My laptop is one of my favorite things right now. I don’t really think of myself as a materialistic person, but this computer is more than just an object. When I open up the laptop, I have my own personal gateway to the outside world. I can visit blogs, forums, galleries, and online shops with a few clicks of the mouse and bring the world right to me. This has become especially important now that we use an online academy for our homeschooling. The computer is a part of our everyday life in many ways so having my very own laptop is a lifesaver!
I saved up the money to buy my first laptop back in 2006 and it was a wonderful computer. Because I use my laptop to do so many things (including designing digital scrapbooking supplies), I needed a bit of an upgrade. I’m very lucky that Jeff wanted to “spoil me” by doing something really nice for a Christmas gift for me. He let me pick out a fantastic Dell XPS laptop that really meets my needs. Every day when I sit down to log on, I feel so blessed to have this little machine that brings me so much joy!

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Template No. 6 by Ali Edwards, Aaron Solid Papers by Michelle Martin, Basic Paper Alpha Beige Caps by Katie Pertiet, journaling font is Calibri

Journaling reads:

Once when we were staying in a vacation home with our family, Jeff made the bed. It was thrown together and nothing was lined up or tucked in properly. Now, I know I should have just kept my mouth shut (since he really hates to make beds), but for some reason I told him that he did it wrong. He told me to show him how I would do it and I proceeded to whip that bed into shape. I informed him that it looked so good that it could be in a magazine. He said “I didn’t know we lived in a magazine!” He has teased me about that ever since. I admit that it’s an unrealistic standard. Our home is rarely “magazine-ready” and I guess I really wouldn’t want to live that way all the time. I could probably handle living in the Pottery Barn Catalog though. I love everything in there! But no one else would ever be able to make the beds, so I will settle for real life living instead!

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Weeds n Wildflowers Life 365, Scrap System Solids by Katie the Scrapbook Lady, Template by Tiffany Tillman, Font is Myriad Pro

Journaling reads:

The years are different and so are the styles, but both of these girls are on their way to a church basketball game. Even the backdrops are quite different. The house I grew up in was filled with wallpaper and after years of enduring wallpaper removal duty, I have made a pact to never have wallpaper on the walls of our home. My home at this age was old, the house we live in now is nice and new. I think the biggest contrast though is in the girls themselves. I was unsure of myself as an athlete and never felt very confident in my skills. You, on the other hand, are a good basketball player and you love to play. It doesn’t matter that the clothes have changed over the years, I’m just glad the attitude and skills are better!

2009 Riley age 12
no uniform, they wear team vests
long shorts, short socks, adidas shoes

1981 Katie age 12
team uniform required
short shorts, long socks, nike shoes

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As you can see, I vary the styles and methods I use for journaling. I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about if I’m doing it “right” or not, it’s more important to me that I’m sharing the details that I know about the memory.

Next time your browsing the galleries for some “eye candy” take some time to look for journaling “gems” instead. Take notice of the layouts that do a good job sharing the story and think about what made you want to continue reading the details of that page. As you bookmark favorite journaled layouts, you will gain a better appreciation and understanding of what really makes a scrapbook page memorable.

Make a commitment to dig a little deeper within yourself to bring the stories you have inside of you to life. You will find that your layouts will become more than pages, they will be masterpieces!

P.S. Hannah K is today’s GIFTaway winner and was randomly selected from the comments on yesterday’s post (we are so glad that you are so excited to learn this stuff )Here’s what Hannah said: “yippee ~ looking forward to the lessons and improving my layouts”/  Thanks to everyone for giving Rachael such a warm reception on her first post!  Hannah won a $10 GC to Paislee Press!

P.S.S  There are only a few more days to grab THE DIGI FILES 11 and qualify yourself to win a BUNCH-O-GIFTS including one lucky person that will win $120 of gift certificates to past sponsors stores!!