Scrapbooking Journaling Journaling and scrapbooking works hand in hand. Learn easy scrapbooking journaling ways and tips to spruce up your pages with writing that takes only a few minutes! Facing the writer's block? Frozen in front of the computer screen or with a pen in hand? Wondering why aren't the magical words that weaved a good story coming to you? Take a deep breath and relax yourself. No one is watching you. And it's not even an exam, and your high school English teacher isn't standing behind you watching every grammar mistake you made. The truth is, you can afford to correct your mistakes in scrapbooking journaling... As long as you don't write with actual ink on the actual scrapbooking paper that you've so carefully selected... ;-) Even if it is, no big deal, really. You can just cover up your mistakes with another scrap of paper. And the thing is, there's a writer in you. Really. You can surely write.
Simply Start WritingTo get the writer out of you and get on with your scrapbooking journaling, just start writing or typing.There's no time better than now to start.
What? Not even a single word or doodle? Here's a last resort. Find a book or magazine, take a paragraph from anywhere and start copying it down without thinking. As long as you get your fingers moving, it'll somehow activate your left-brain activity and your own words on scrapbooking journaling will start arriving. Seriously, just start by writing little descriptions on scraps of paper or typing some words on the screen. Even though your initial writing might be a strain to read and probably not making much sense, write on. These simple techniques work. Start With What You KnowYour brain has a fantastic ability to mentally record down many stuff you've come across. It's a matter of accessing those mental files...Simply put down what you know first. Waiting for everything may keep you waiting for a long, long time and you may never even get started. Your brain will start digging into those files of memory and out of the blue, it may just locate the perfect piece of information that you've totally forgotten about. One consideration though. You might want to think about people who will read your scrapbooking journaling in future. They weren't there with you, so they might be oblivious to the facts. Making a habit of noting down as much details as you possibly can, will help paint a vivid story and picture for them. Bring them along with you in reliving those memories of yours. Basically, write straight from your heart. Set Space for Future JournalingYou don't have to restrict yourself to complete your layout and scrapbooking journaling all at once.In fact, many a times, I find that I'll be doing a layout for my page first, then allow space for my scrapbooking journaling and move on to the next page and then next. After I'm pretty done up with my layouts or I've gathered a neat pile of layouts, I'll go back and fill in my scrapbooking journaling for all the pages at one sitting. A good guideline is to leave about half a photo space per page for your scrapbooking journaling. Unless you're intending to do a full-blown story, that should be sufficient space. Creating layouts takes more of your right-brained activity while writing takes more of the left-brained. So dividing the two activities might work in your favor. It's your own call, whatever that helps you get things done most effectively.
Unstuck from a Rut You don't have to let yourself be stuck simply because you can't think of that perfect quote, saying or phrase to use at the moment. If you want to save time and like the idea of having one complete expression resource e-Book with over 5,000 phrases, titles and captions especially compiled for scrapbookers, you have to check out the "Lasting Expressions (e-Book)". If you're really stuck, just keep moving on and come back to it later on to make the addition. Just make sure you remember to do so. ;-) Who knows maybe just when you were doing another piece of scrapbooking journaling, or even something totally irrelevant, inspiration struck you and you went aha, "I finally got it!" Isn't that euphoria. Key point? Let's get moving on. Interviewing for MaterialEver been a reporter before?Many a times, you'll probably need to call someone to verify some facts, or to recall an event for your scrapbooking journaling. When interviewing others, jot down a short list of questions you'll need answers for. This will create a more structured and productive conversation, and get the answers you wanted. A timeless formula is the five Ws that get the gist of things: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY. Who - What are the names of the people present in the pictures? People change throughout the years, especially children. So helping the viewers to identify them will help trace the children's growth. And who took the pictures? What - What's the occasion, special event or memorable moments taking place? What happened at the event? Where - Where did the event take place? Background information will help paint a clearer picture. When - Obviously giving dates will help place the photo in proper context. And people like to know when things happened. Why - Why did you choose this photo and not another? Any special meaning to this photo? All this information will help tremendously in enriching your narrative story. Next time you're stuck, bring out this formula and work with it and get your scrapbooking journaling going. This formula works like a charm. An interviewing tip: Somehow repeating someone's words back to her will prompt her to naturally come up with additional information for you. Amazingly simple technique. Write a LetterAnother simple scrapbooking journaling idea is to pretend that you're writing a letter to your friend. Isn't this a lovely idea?Writing a letter is very personal and adds intimacy to your scrapbooking pages right away. Write in a way like you're chatting with a close friend. And yes, remember to add in the "Dear ..." and end it off with your signature to make it looks real. Little NotebookA good suggestion I've read somewhere before is to have a little notebook with you at all times.Keep one handy in your handbag, one in your glove compartment of your car and one on your bedside table or wherever that you find most convenient. Whenever inspiration strikes, quickly scribble down those little nuggets of words that popped into your mind or spilled out of someone's mouth. Perhaps a catchy quote you saw somewhere. A short, inspiring poem you read somewhere. Or it could be a quote, phrase or even a sentence fragment. It doesn't matter as long as it catches your fancy. You need not know exactly the use of it at that point. By putting it down in written form before you forget it, would allow you interesting writing material to work with later on. It's an amazing feeling when you needed a suitable description or phrase and you found it by flipping through your one of your notebooks. No sweat, just consistent recording here and there. Unless you are one of the rare ones with a powerful memory capacity, I would urge you to spend a minute of two writing the details down now. It will save you agonizing hours later trying to figure out some minute detail that you've forgotten to record. Stockpile Your InformationTo prevent from having to start from absolute zero, one way is to start your own resource file right away.Anything that you deem to be useful in future could likely be. Better to take up space than berating yourself later on, for not saving that piece of colorful brochure outlining your New Zealand trip itinerary. Postcards, pamphlets, publicity materials, brochures, flyers, magazine advertisements and sales literature, all these can all make ways into your resource folder. This way, you'll have tons of material to start you off with your scrapbooking journaling and erase away your writer's block. Plus point, these materials usually contain brief, terrific writings. Internet and EmailsWho says you'll be short of usable material?There's always the Internet to save the day. If you're doing scrapbooking journaling for a page on your hobby of card-making, you'll find loads of usable information on the Internet to pad up your writing. And save those emails your long-distance friends or relatives sent your way! Witty remarks, wacky stories or unbelievable happenings in those emails could contain paperless material for your next scrapbooking journaling exercise. With these resources, you don't have to start from scratch again. Bullets to Save the DayIf you wanna keep things short and sweet, and more to the point, use bullets.You don't have to be a story-teller giving a narration all the times. There are times where bullet points will bring your points across faster, directly to the main points. For example: Bullet points are easy to read, save you the headache of making smooth transitions from one sentence to the next, and highlight the most important information straight away. Be it dots, circle or asterisks, bullet points make strong statements in your scrapbooking journaling. Practice, Practice, PracticeScrapbooking journaling takes practice and you'll get better and better with each piece that you write.It's basically about: 1) Collecting the information you need. 2) Organizing those information in a logical sequence. 3) Polishing your written piece till you're happy with it. Quotes, Poems, SayingsThere'll be times when you simply run of out words, your own written words. Period.
There are other methods to fill up the empty box with words. Not your own words though. Just other people's words. Be it quotes, sayings, poems or titles, you have in mind, these will make your scrapbooking journaling journey more colorful and fun! Below are some journaling products that many scrapbookers rave about. You might like them too... Scrapbooking Pens and Markers
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