Episode 10: 5 Tips for Journaling… So EASY it Feels like Cheating!

Welcome to the ScrapHappier podcast, where we share quick tips, tricks, and techniques to help you create scrapbooks you love and be happier while doing it. I’m your host, Alice Boll.

I’m so glad that you’re joining me for today’s episode, because I am going to help you solve one of the biggest problems that we have when scrapbooking and that is journaling. It is the number one complaint that I hear from all scrapbookers or almost all scrapbookers, I guess there’s a few wordsmiths out there. But so many scrapbookers struggle with journaling. But I’m here today to tell you it doesn’t have to be that bad. In fact, I will share five tips that work so good, they make journaling so easy it kind of feels like cheating. So if that sounds good to you let’s get started. But first don’t forget, you can get all the show notes with all the tips listed at scraphappy.org/episode10.

The first tip for easy journaling is to use lists. Now this is actually almost like two tips in one, because it also is a really great title maker. Whether you’re sharing 10 things you love about fall or three things you love about this photo, a list is a great way to get your journaling onto your page. And a list can remove some of that pressure so that you don’t have to have all deep thoughts. Some of the items on your list might be a deep thought, but some of them might be something really simple. Like, I think you look absolutely adorable.

Tip number two is about repetitive sentence starters. Start with a phrase like I love, or I remember, or currently, and then start every line of your journaling with that same phrase. I love sitting in the hot tub on a fall evening. I love going for walks in the crisp fall air. I love magnificent display of fall colors. I love crunchy leaves beneath my feet.

Another tip is that this is actually a really great way to use some of your journaling cards because a lot of journaling cards already have those sentence starters on them. I love, I remember, currently.

For tip number three, we’re going to steal it. Well, what I actually mean is we’re going to use journaling that we take from social media or from our text messages. I think it’s so funny the way when we post something on social media, sometimes it can be so easy to write a description down. We’re just telling our friends about the things that happened or the stories behind the photos. And we write this great social media post. And then later on when we’re sitting at our desk and we’re trying to make a scrapbook page, we’re like, “Oh gosh, I just don’t know what to say,” because literally we’ve already done the work. So now we just need to reap the rewards. Go back to your social media post and copy and paste that journaling.

And it’s not necessarily just your own social media. It might be your family or friends. I will advise you to err on the side of caution and be really careful about what you’re sharing and what you’re borrowing as far as that journaling goes. But it can still be a really great way to get a little different perspective on your pages or to get that journaling and just have it all done for you.

I made a layout that has a picture of my husband and my son shopping in Costco. And in that giant grocery cart, they have an even more giant Teddy bear. Do you guys remember this Teddy bear that they had at Costco? I think it’s like eight feet tall or something and just huge. It takes up like a whole room. I could have made the journaling quite elaborate. I could have gone into detail about it, but I simply took a picture of the text message that I sent to my sister-in-law.

It says, “Dear Laura, you’re welcome. Jonas was shopping for your kids in Costco. I told him no. You’re welcome.” Like I said, journaling doesn’t have to be complicated. It really can be easy. That was the shortest, sweetest journaling. But man, was it perfect. So far we’ve shared three tips. The first one was to use lists whether they’re deep thoughts or not. For number two, we talked about repetitive sentence starters like I love, I remember, or currently. And for number three, we’re going to steal some social media or text messages to get some made for you, all finished, already done journaling.

For tip number four, we’re going to go back to school for a sec and talk about adjectives. I know, I’m already groaning too. It’s okay. We’re not going to make this difficult. Remember, I did say that these five tips would make it so easy that it feels like cheating. So adjectives are the words that describe a noun and nouns are those words that are people, places or things. So adjectives are the words that are describing the people, places and things.

And that’s tip number four, get descriptive. Use all the words. Describe the sights, the sounds, the colors, the smells, the tastes. Adjectives are the words that make our writing come alive. And don’t worry if it feels fake or put on because sometimes that extra little bit of pizzaz and flair and drama that you’re adding to it actually adds to the element of the page. It makes it better. So go ahead and describe the crisp air, the cool breeze, the happy faces, the crunchy leaves. When you’re using all the words it makes for really fun journaling.

There’s nothing as good as a sunny day with blue skies to put me in a great mood. I always seem to think that I don’t like being outside. And then I spend some time in the beautiful sunshine and I glow with happiness. When will I learn to go out into the sun and soak up that happiness?

And now it’s time for our final tip. Tip number five. Tip number five is quote ’em. Using quotes from the people in your life are great ways to not only bring a little bit of their personality into your page, but to also make the journaling so much easier on yourself.

Here’s the journaling from a page called My Favorite Grandson. Grandma, your presence is been missed in our life. One thing that always made me smile was hearing you call Jonas your favorite grandson. He would pop over and help out with some small task, changing a light bulb or setting up your computer. And you would be sure to mention, “Jonas, you are my favorite grandson.” And he would reply, “I know,” with a knowing smile, as he had overheard you saying the same thing to his brothers. Even though you said the same thing to others, I knew that when you said it to Jonas, it was true.

So there you have it. Five tips that are so easy, that journaling is going to feel like cheating now. Tip number one was to use lists. And as a reminder, it’s also a great way to build a title for your page. Titles with numbers are so catchy and while you’re taking advantage of this awesome, easy journaling, you’re also going to have the advantage of an awesome easy title. Tip number two, had us using repetitive sentence starters, use phrases like I love, I remember, or currently to start each sentence of your journaling. Tip number three will have you stealing, or if you want to feel a little less naughty, borrowing your journaling from your social media. For whatever reason, we do really good journaling on a social media post, probably because we’re telling our friends. So why would we not want to use that on our scrapbook pages?

And don’t forget to look in your text messages for awesome journaling that you can use on pages too. Tip number four has you getting descriptive. We went back to school, we revisited the idea of adjectives and we looked at how much fun and how much color they will add to your scrapbook page.

And finally tip number five, quote ’em. Quotes are the perfect way to capture those funny sayings, those sweet little moments, or the things that made you laugh, sigh or cry. And that’s it. Five easy tips that will make your journaling feel so easy, it’s going to feel like cheating. Journaling won’t have to be a struggle any more with these tips up your sleeve. For your prompt for today I’d love for you to take one of these five tips and make a page with some quick and easy journaling.

And now I have a quick request for you. Have you subscribed to this podcast yet? If not, take a moment and hit that subscribe button so that you get next week’s episode automatically downloaded. I’ll be bringing some special guests onto the podcast in the near future. So you’re not going to want to miss these special episodes. If you use today’s tips and share it on Instagram, be sure to tag me at Alice Boll and use the hashtag [#scraphappier podcast 00:10:24] .

I can’t wait to see what this does for your journaling. And if you want to see the layouts that I featured in today’s episode, pop over to the show notes at scraphappy.org/episode10. Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. I can’t believe we’re already celebrating episode 10. It feels like such an accomplishment and there is so much more to come. So I’m really excited that you’re here with me. I hope that today’s tips help you create scrapbook pages that you love and be happier while doing it. Happy scrapping.

Oh PS, did you know that I actually run a membership group for scrapbookers? It’s called the ScrapHappy membership group, or as we like to call it the ScrapHappy family. And we’d love for you to come and check out all of the fun things that we do every month as part of our membership. I really think that scrapbooking is so much more than a hobby and it’s such a great way to connect with friends. And that has just been one of the greatest things that I’ve discovered as a member of ScrapHappy. You can find out more at scraphappy.org.