Journaling...documenting your treasured memories

Journaling....documenting your treasured memories

 I have been keeping a diary and /or Journal since I was a young girl. When I was very young we had little one year diaries complete with a lock and key to keep our innermost secrets safe. It was terrific to record all the events and day to day happenings of the day. The disadvantage of those little diaries

were that they came with a page printed to each and every day of the year, so one felt obligated to writer EVERY day.  Sometimes this got a little ho-hum, and then there were days that you could have used 10 pages to describe a major event and ALL the emotions surrounding it. So we graduated to Journals, allowing us the freedom of expression and the freedom to document when and how much we wanted to.  To this day I still keep a personal journal, yes with pen and paper, and I love the freedom to write only once every few months...whenever the spirit moves me. In my life, the Journaling process has navigated over to my scrapbooking craft. It is so valuable to designate dates, events, names in your albums.  Years from now when looking back, it is so hard to remember details like that. There was a time that I felt all the documentation in my albums should be typed and neatly displayed by the picture. My attitude on that has changed...the originality of having the information and impressions of the moment be in your own handwriting is so much better.  I believe that you don't want your family travel pictures to look like a printed up brochure-you want them to look like your very own family album. Having notes in your own handwriting gives it a look that is distinctly yours.

Journaling: helping the pictures tell the story

There are many different ways you can Journal in conjunction with your Scrapbooking. Some take a fine pen and write directly on the page.  This is great if you have decided and already practiced what you are writing.  If you do it directly on the page, it is harder to correct if an error is made. I like using Journaling cards.  If you mess up, you can get a new card and not have to worry about fixing the entire page.

 The styles and colors on the market provide a very wide variety to reflect any theme. It is so fun to select complimentary papers, journaling cards and embellishments when telling the story with your photographs. In addition to pre-printed cards for journaling, you can also create your own with rubber stamps. I own several and have fun stamping out designs with several different colors to create journaling cards that fit my needs. Here is a picture of one of the stamps I own that I use alot...definitely got my money's worth.

Although Journaling seems like extra trouble when organizing your photographs, it is worth it in the long run.  Things that seem so obvious now, years from now you can confirm which cousin is which and which lake is which....and what year did we met Aunt Judy at Custer National Park? When did I buy that car?  The possibilities go on and on, so be sure to document it to help you answer those persistent  questions.  Keep Scrapping!