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Journaling is a vital part of scrapbooking. It is what makes it yours and what will make it so special to those who will be looking at it. This is how you will tell those memorable stories to your great, great, great grandchildren.
First of all, tell who was at the event. People change quickly, especially children, so it is very important to be sure to name the people in your photographs.
Then, you'll want to make note of when and where the occasion took place. Dating your photos is especially important so others can understand the chronological order of things and the trends of the time. Although, this process should start before you actually put your photographs into your scrapbooking album. Mark the backs of your pictures with dates as soon as you get them back from being developed.
Finally, tell why the occasion or photo was special or memorable. Was it a milestone such as your baby's first steps or your parent's 50th wedding anniversary? When you are journaling about your pictures, look at it from the view point of someone who wasn't there and had never met these people before. What would you tell them?
Some of your scrapbooking pages may not require much journaling. So you can choose to use other tidbits like quotes, poetry, or scripture.
Quotes are in abundance and easy to find. There are books of quotes and websites devoted to famous quotes. You can find a quote for every occasion and they interest people of all ages. Use quotes from the president of the United States of America or take Disney quotes from popular movies.
Scriptures are great to use for sentimental pages such as a baby's dedication or a wedding. The Psalms and Proverbs are especially popular. You can also find scripture stickers in your local scrapbooking store.
Poetry is another way to portray how that particular page makes you feel. Use Shakespeare love sonnets or Shel Sylverstein children's poems. To be especially creative, try writing your own poem. 'Anything goes' in your scrapbook.
Titling your page could also be a creative way of quickly telling people what was going on in the photographs. "Ole Paris!" "Rubber Ducky, You're the One!" "It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To!" You can use decorative alphabet stickers, alphabet punches, or your own computer fonts.
On the other hand, you may find that the story you want to tell to accompany a page is too long to write in among the photos and scraps. If this is the case, type up your story on the computer using the fonts that you like. Then, print it off on some decorative paper that compliments your page. Slide the pages into a pocket page and insert it into your scrapbooking album. Now, whoever wants to read your story can pull out the pages, read them, and slide them back, and your story will stay protected.
There are a variety of ways that you can choose to journal in your scrapbooking album. Some of it will depend on how much room is left on your page for journaling and how much of a story you want to tell.
One way to journal is to write a sentence or two for every photo on your page. This is easy for scrapbooking pages where the photos have a natural progression.
Another way to journal is to use a chunk of space on your page for a brief description of what was happening or why the occasion was special.
When you have a long story to tell about the photographs on your page, devote the next entire page for it. If it takes up one piece of paper, adhere it to your scrapbooking page and decorate around it with items that compliment your story. If it takes up more than one page, then use a pocket page for easy accessibility and conservation of space.
Black, colored, metallic, fine tip, wide tip
These will stencil out an area for you to journal in. They often provide strait lines for neat journaling.
There are a large variety of sticker quotes available to you. You can find famous quotes, scripture passages, common phrases and more.
Alphabet stickers come in many different colors and fonts. These are fun for titling your scrapbooking pages. If you cannot find stickers in fonts that you like, make your own by printing alphabets in fonts from your computer on scrapbooking safe adhesive paper.