Over the years, the one thing I have struggled with a lot is including meaningful journaling on my pages. It’s not that I don’t want to share my memories, or that I don’t want them preserved or shared. Often I feel a little silly writing journaling. Who am I supposed to be talking to? Do I use the third person? How much do I share? I know that the answers to these questions don’t really matter, so I’ve started using a few tricks to basically MAKE me include more journaling on my layouts. Today, I want to share with you these tricks and some layouts from the awesome gallery here at TLP as examples.
Participate in the Journaling Challenge here at TLP – The Journaling Challenge is one of the awesome challenges offered here at TLP and I have found it to be really inspirational in putting more journaling on my pages. Sometimes having a prompt really helps to get my juices flowing and get some words on the page. This layout from this month’s Journaling Challenge by bjc shows how the prompt really start your thinking so that you can put some quality journaling on the page.
Use journal cards – I’ve used this trick a lot with my Project Life layouts. If I include more journal cards or journaling spots on my pages, I am more likely to fill them up with journaling if they are already on the page. On this PL page, I included a lot of journal spots, including a photo with a lot of white space, so that I would have to journal in those spots.
Make journaling part of the design of the page – Sometimes, when I want to make sure I include a lot of journaling, a treat the journaling as part of the design of the page. I often use journaling to balance a layout, or to make a design look more complete. In this layout by klee73010, the journaling is used to balance the page. With the large photo and elements on top and the over-sized title in the middle, the large block of journaling on the bottom serves to create visual balance on the page.
Use a template – I have found that the best way to make the journaling the focus of my pages is to use a template where journaling is the focus. In the past, I have even used templates with only journaling on them. These templates from Sara Gleason are GREAT for including more journaling on your pages. These templates have specifically helped me in the past. I really like how they all include a considerable amount of journaling, and how the journaling is treated as a design element on the page.
I still shy away from journaling. Some of my favorite pages don’t include any journaling at all. However, I have been trying to get better at adding more journaling to my pages using these tricks. Do you have any tricks for how you include more journaling on your pages?
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