Everybody is different when it comes to journaling on their scrapbook pages. For some, it comes very easily; for others, not so much. Some write what seem like short novels to tell their stories. While other artists like a briefer approach, sticking mainly to the facts (adhering to the, who, what, where and when) of the story.
While there is certainly no right or wrong way to journal, lists can be a very helpful tool in telling a story. We all make lists. Shopping lists, packing lists, inventory lists. Now let’s think beyond practical lists....how about a list of things that make you smile? Or lists of best memories from summer break? What are your favorite foods? And what about that bucket list? As we approach the end of the year (already???), think about composing a top 12 of 2012 list. Wouldn’t it have been fun to see a list of favorite modern conveniences from your grandmother when she was a young mom?
Creating lists (believe it or not) make memories and require little ingenuity. Lists help to organize and condense our thoughts into simple statements. Lists also allow us to include many details in a quick and easy format, bypassing the need to form complete sentences.
The possibilities for list topics are endless. If you would like a few suggestions, the internet is full of prompts to help you. One of our favorite sources can be found here:
Kelli Crowe: List of Lists for Journaling
Lists can be displayed in many creative ways. Here are some ideas:
- Bullet points---directly on the layout or on separate strips (see Steffanie’s example above)
- Bullets do not need to be just black dots either. You can use embellishments such as brads, buttons, flowers, stickers, staples, etc.
- Use numbers to keep items sequential and guide your viewer through your list
- Pre-made journaling cards often are designed with list journaling in mind
- List items all around the layout in various spots---items don’t have to be in a row to be a list! (see Joni’s example below)
- Point list items back to focal points in your photos using arrows, twine or pen lines
The Thoughtful Girls have been hard at work to bring you some great ideas to incorporate in your next list journaling. Let's take a few minutes to get their thoughts
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Steffanie thoughts: I am a procrastinator when it comes to journaling. I would even go so far as to say that on all but maybe a handful of pages, the journaling is the last thing I do. I even have a tray in my craft room for layouts that just need journaling. They are complete in every other way---sans journaling. Don't get me wrong...I see the value in it. But not every layout needs a lot of words. Sometimes, less is more. That's where list journaling comes in. For this particular layout, I didn't have a lot to say. The photos are just cute...and I wanted to scrap them. Really nothing more than that. The title came to me as I was creating the page and I let that lead me to making a list of what was found in that drawer. Simple. Done. Out of my needs journaling tray...and ready to be shared! Isn't that what we all want?
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Sally’s thought: Lists are a fun way of journaling and I love to use pre-designed lists to encourage me to record unique information that at times I forget to put on my pages. My daughter graduated from High School last year and instead of putting all of her senior photos on one layout I have chosen to create unique layouts for each one (even if the photos are similar) and use that chance to journal different traits or characteristics about her. So with this pre-designed random facts list I knew it would be perfect to just jot down a few things about her. I tried to create a visual triangle with my embellishments to balance it out to keep the eye moving. I need to remember more to look through the many journaling cards I have and use them more to record the fun, little details of our life.
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Andrea’s thought: I love lists! I use lists all the time in everyday life as well as on my layouts. I have multiple layouts of my fiancé in which I list reasons why I love him or why we are good together. To mix it up, this time I decided to list some of my favorite things from this summer! I used Elle's Studio tags to list the event and Prima alphas to number them. It was nice to fit so many pictures on the page. I love working with lists!
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Amanda’s thought: Lists. Lists are a part of everyday life for me. I’m sometimes really forgetful (okay, most of the time), so I often write lists for everything. Of course, I then am very efficient at forgetting to use or take my list with me….but that’s a topic for another day.
While I normally try to be more, um, poetic, if you will, with my journaling and tell an emotional story, I do often use lists when I want to be factual. I love facts. I love useless knowledge and random trivia. Yes, I love lists with numbers and silly tidbits. I am *that* nerd. So to use a list on a scrapbook page does in a way seem more natural to me. I can leave behind the emotion that I’ve had to learn to use, and write in a more factual way. For this page, I wanted to use some promises from Scripture that I am meditating on. And because are factual, one line statements, I thought a list format was the perfect way to use them! But I didn’t feel like one block of bulleted items would work with the slightly more whimsy feel of the page, so I broke them up on individual strips of paper and made my list in that format. I inked the edges and mounted them on the patterned block to give them a feel of being anchored.
So go for it, make a list! Make it bulleted, or broken apart. Just make sure you don’t forget to include it on your page ;)
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Beth’s thought: I am definitely a list maker! Now that I'm getting "older", even the seemingly simple trips to the store require a list. When I sat down to decide what direction to take, I was thinking about my daughter and how she makes me want to be a good Mom. The layered embellishment made a perfect title and prompt for my list of inspiration. I was also inspired by a list of prompts on the internet to create several more lists, just waiting to be turned into layouts!
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Heather’s thought: I started out by sketching my layout in my handy little sketchbook I carry around in my purse. I used the NEW collection from October Afternoon, Woodland Park. I used the technique of layering to add some interest to my page. I liked the thought of layers because otherwise there would not have been many patterns to add some "oomph" to the page. I printed my journaling and then matted each journaling strip with washi tape! How fun, right? With washi being so popular in the scrapbook world today, I thought it would add some trend to the layout. Listing is such a fun way to journal. I used little things I thought of as being part of Silver Dollar City for the journaling strips. The last thing I did on my page was the title. I printed a mirrored image on a piece of patterned paper and cut the letters out by hand. Then I noticed that the pattern of the paper I used for the lettering was too busy, so I colored each of the letters with a marker. Enjoy this week's thought!
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Joni’s thought: I love using lists to “put things in order”…in my life and in my scrapbook pages. I actually started with this floral paper and found this “not so good” photo of my son in some wildflowers but OH NO….his eyes are closed (from the sun)…so I decided to “list” the events that made that photo turn out that way…it’s fun and funny and I got to use up a “not so good” photo by just talking about what happened.
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So let’s make that list...then check it twice. Soon you will be on your way to a new work of he{art}. Be sure to share your thoughts and creations with us. We’d love to see them!
As always, we really want to hear your thoughts! Please leave some comments or join us on facebook!
Be Blessed friends!
Love the newest "thought" and layouts, very creative!
Posted by: csewy | Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 08:05 PM