The Five W's of Scrapbook Journaling

Scrapbook journaling is one of the primary components that sets a scrapbook apart from a plain photo album. Pictures by themselves tell a certain amount of the "story" behind the pictures, but journaling can bring the pictures to life.

What is journaling?...

It's very simple actually. Depending on how involved you want to get, it can be a simple statement of facts about an event or as heartfelt as a love letter.

When you think about it, the true purpose of scrapbooking is to serve as a sort of family history and while books full of pictures are nice, it's even nicer to have the memories to go along with them. Plus, how are your great, great grandchildren going to know how much you enjoyed your trip to the Grand Canyon, if you don't provide them with the nitty-gritty details?

The key to successful scrapbook journaling is to keep a good record of your events.

It doesn't have to be fancy, but it does have to be somewhat contained, so you don't lose any pages. For example, I have a stack of single subject notebooks that I picked up at Target when they were on sale for $.10. I write to my hearts content and when one is full I just pick up another. I could journal on the computer, but I like to write the "old-fashioned" way first - the words just seem to flow better.

Keep in mind... You don't just have to use these notebooks for scrapbook journaling alone. If you want to have all of your sketches and journaling in the same notebook, just get a multi-subject notebook instead.

So, next time you go to a birthday party or a family reunion, keep the Five W's in mind and jot down a few notes to keep the memories fresh in your mind.

Who: Who is in the pictures? Who is taking the pictures? How are they related to each other?

What: What is happening in the pictures? Is it your child's first birthday, a wedding or an Easter egg hunt?

When: When was the photo taken? At the very least, try to include the month and the year, but if it is detailing a birthday celebration, include the specific date. You'd be surprised how the details get lost in the shuffle 100 years down the road.

Where: Where is the event taking place?

Why: Why is this event taking place?

Now, scrapbook journaling is not always about "just the facts". It's also important to convey your feelings about the event when scrapbooking…

How did you feel when your husband proposed?

How you felt when you children were born?

How proud you felt when your son/daughter graduated?

These are just a few examples, if you need help getting started on a particular subject, check out our ever-growing scrapbook journaling tips below. If you're willing to pour your heart out onto paper, you can use your scrapbook as a bonafide journal/diary.

Need some advice on the best tools to use for journaling? Check out our page on scrapbook writing tools.

Happy Scrapping!

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