You certainly right some page dont' need that. I try to everyone once in a (great) while concentrate on the journlaing. It's certainly not an every layout occurance for me.

Although I have to remember that not everyone will see in the pictures what I do.

if that makes any sense.

Kristie

I too have many hand scrapped pages with very little journalling, I hadn't thought about it that way until Becky mentioned it. It must be the influence of all the SBB members who do beautiful journalling that make me want to succeed in this area. I know what Kristie is saying about not everyone seeing what you see in the pages unless the journalling tells the story . That then causes another problem, do you make the journalling as if you are telling the story?? Or just put in the basic facts? So many ifs and buts and so much to learn - thank goodness for input of SBB members!!

Jules

I tend to vary my journaling style to suit the purpose of the page or album I'm doing. I've printed out copies of layouts for several people and used a little different journaling on each copy to suit the individual it's intended for. I usually leave out details I don't feel others might like being posted on the internet before submitting my pages here and on other sites.

I've always felt there are no hard and fast rules to scrapping or journaling. Some do it for the artistic experience, others as a record for their decendents. Whatever. I try not to be too hung up on doing things "just right." Mostly I want to enjoy the experience. But I do try to include enough journaling to help me (or the intended recipient) remember what the pages are about.

I just wanted to stick in a brief comment here, especially for those of you who feel the picture stands for itself. IF you are printing, or otherwise putting these in a book, and there is the REMOTEST possibility that someone will "inherit" them in the future, PLEASE put:

Who, What, Where, When and Why on the back of the page, if nowhere else.

My husband has inherited thousands of photographs, many of which are in "albums". They date back to the late 1800 and are of his relatives (mostly) on his mother's side. We've spent more than a year trying to identify as much of the 5 W's as possible for each photo. In many cases, these were in "albums" or "scrapbooks" with captions like "Me and Buddy"... well, Buddy is a nickname and we have NO clue who "Me" is.

Keep in mind (God forbid) that it's possible in an instant for circumstances to change. Would your spouse or other relatives know who that was? or why you made that page? Or should they even keep it... or will they trash something you worked so hard to create because they have no clue what it was about?

The photographs we rescued were due to be thrown in the trash because the owner had NO CLUE who most of the people were...

Tandika *

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Good point. I too have a few photographs and have no clue who the people are in them. In most of my handscrapped pages I have who the people are and the dates at least, though a lot of my digitally scrapped pages don't... oops! I WILL remember the 5 W's in future. You are so lucky to have all those old photos even if you don't know a lot about the people in them. I find heritage photos and layouts the most enjoyable to do - they fascinate me.

Great tips, thanks, Jules

We also have some old photos that we can't identify. The 5 W's are very important.

I have a couple of pages that I'm hand scrapping that have a "story behind the picture" both literally and figuratively. They're 8 x 10 photos so there's no room to include the lengthy story on the page. I chose not to do a 2-page spread so I'm working on a pull out tab for the layouts with the instruction "Don't miss the story behind the picture." I think this could be incorporated into a digital layout. Just include a note, arrow, or other indication that it's there and insert the journaling behind the page. How fun it will be to find these hidden treasures!

Carole

Sometimes if I can't figure out where to put the journaling then I try to think of a simple quote or title and leave it at that. Some pages just don't need journaling.

I've done some pages though where the journaling was most important and the photos a bit less important although very necessary... ( ex: http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/galle...at=9354&page=5 )

I find journaling sometimes the hardest part of my layout simply because I either want to put too much down and it won't fit or I just can't figure out where it would look the best...

Don't feel at a loss! I think it is normal. If you need advice on placement I know that people have posted their LO's before in the gallery asking for ideas for where to place elements/journaling and even photos! So, just ask!

Good luck!

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Kristi McFadden
Proud to be a Design Team Member at SBB!
Looking for a Tutorial in DIP? PM me and I'll try to help!
"A creative mess is better than tidy idleness." -unknown.
Click here to view my LO attempts

Journaling really can be a pain, can't it? I have friends who have never journaled on a page and feel like journaling is more of a homework assignment than anything else!

For me, though, the journaling is really important. I'm a sappy person by nature and I want to make sure that if something should happen to me my family will always know how I felt about them. Now, that doesn't mean that every page I do drips with sentiment. But when I do want to include extra journaling, I do make sure I leave space. I treat my journaling like any other element on my pages - photos, accents, titles - and place it to give the page balance. We have monthly features about journaling in the Tid-Bytes Ezines to help with journaling, too.

It is important to note that you don't have to write an essay in order to have journaled your feelings. Sometimes a sentence or two is all that it takes. I have lots of journaling on my layouts and you're welcome to check them out: http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/galle...=646&password=

And I have to whole-heartedly agree with Tandika about identifying important elements in your photos. I spent eight months with my grandmother and great-aunt identifying people in family photographs and getting the information recorded. It would have been so nice had that been done at the time the albums were created!

Journaling is a challenge but one that I hope you take on. Think of the treasures you are leaving for future generations!

Jenn

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