My workroom is a real mess and while tidying it up I came across some folders filled with pages from magazines that I had pulled out about Scrpabooking.
I have collected these over the years and haven’t even looked at them for almost 10 years. Some of them even dated back to 2001!!! Quickly going through them and discarding most to the recycle bin I came across a couple of pages that were really interesting.
The pages I found were on JOURNALING. Since I have been Demonstrating Project Life, I thought they might be useful. Here’s what I found.

What is journaling???
“In Scrapbooking Terms Journaling is writing down who, what, where, when and why that goes with your photos. An important part of scrapbooking that is often never done for fear of ruining a page with bad handwriting or a mistake or putting it off for later which never comes. Journaling in your scrapbook should always be done using permanent, fade and water proof writing tools. Using the computer to journal makes it easier for some to keep up with this important task.”
(taken from http://scrapbook.lifetips.com//cat/10249/glossary-of-scrapbook-terms/index.html)

Why should I journal?
If you were given an album with only photo’s and the person who put it together wasn’t there. How would you know what it was about. The photos are lovely but where were they taken and when. Who is in them?
This is what makes journaling important it tells your story without you being there. It brings the photos alive, it makes them into a moving story.

Who, what, where, when and why?
When Journaling you want to write about WHO is in your photos, WHAT they are all about, WHERE they were taken and WHY it was happening. Imagine you are telling someone about your photos face to face and this is the same information you can write about.

Types of Journaling
• Bullet Point – Point form e.g. Feeding giraffes at the Zoo.
• Story Telling – this can be long or short. Full of facts using facts and Adverbs. Going more into depth of the story.
Pros and cons of each type of journaling.
Bullet point:
Pros
• It’s great for Project Life where you don’t have much room.
• It makes a small amount of information look bigger to fill up space.
• Easier to read.
Cons
• Not a lot of information
• Can leave a lot of questions unanswered
Story telling:
Pros
• Telling the complete story, it can bring people in and make them feel like they are part of it.
Cons
• A lot more time and thought needs to go into it. You may need to write and re-write until you are happy

Journaling tips
• When Journaling use a good pen, you want one that won’t fade over time.
• It’s great to use your own hand writing as in the future your family may cherish the fact that you hand wrote in the albums.
• Draw lines on your page so then you don’t end up writing up hill. Use a soft pencil that can be easily rubbed out or use cardstock that already has lines e.g Stampin’ Up! Grid cards for Project Life
• Do your Journaling on the computer if you are worried about making a mistake or bad hand writing.

Keep your Journaling simple, don’t be afraid to tell your story
Journaling doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated. It’s now your time to choose how you want to journal, why you want to journal and what you want to journal. To get started with your Project Life and start practicing the tips you have been shown today click here  to get all your Project Life products. Also don’t forget to subscribe to the blog for email updates Stampin’Up! Tips, new projects, products and event. And as always don’t forget to keep on Stampin’Up!