What is the most important thing about capturing the story? Saying something real. It can be five words or five paragraphs, the important thing is to put something down worth reading. While I’m not against “cute girl: age 5” layouts, my favorites are those I can go back and find something that I forgot or haven’t thought about in a long time. Quotes, details, things we were into doing, routines… there is so much of both ordinary life and special events and we’re never in the same place twice.
Do you try to include all the details in your journaling? I believe that my stories work in combination with my photos. If we’re standing in front of a sign that says where we are I don’t feel the need to journal that too. I look at the photos to see what obvious details there are, and then I look for what details are not told. What bits of conversation or interesting stories there are that tells more about the photos than simply looking at them.
Does every layout you create contain journaling? Absolutely!! I can’t imagine not putting some words down. It might only be a few select words, or a simple sentence, but I am adding something. I’m also making sure the date is in there somewhere so I can remember when. If I don’t want journaling then I do some kind of home decor art with my photos – on a canvas, in a frame, or some other format that lets me get crafty and is meant for display.
How do you decide how much or little of the story to tell? There are so many factors here – if it’s a vacation and I’ll be making a dozen layouts about it, I pick what specific details or tale I want to weave for that particular page. If it’s more of a moment, then it might have a lot less words involved. Sometimes there are unhappy or unpleasant details. When deciding whether or not to share those I think about the story. Is it important? Or is adding (for example) the fact that Aunt Edna was being a raging drama queen important to my 4th of July story? Since I am a ‘look for the bright side’ type of person, I choose not to breathe more life into those kinds of tales when they aren’t really a part I want in my story.
Then again, if there is something unhappy or unpleasant that does take place (like the time we all got H1N1 on vacation!) then obviously I do include it – because it changed the whole story and was an event we’ll remember. Do I dwell on it? No, but I did mention it in a layout.
Finally, I think about my photos. What photos I have available and what story I’m trying to tell help me decide. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I tend to agree. A photo of my daughters under the Christmas tree says so much about their ages, looks, what they were wearing, what our tree looked like… there’s less I need to write.
Take us through your journaling process: My journaling process starts the moment I decide to make a layout. Either I’ve thought of a story to tell, or I’ve got photos in front of me and I’m thinking about the story. For me, the journaling + pictures determines everything about the page. What colors to use, what embellishments, what mood to set, how to design it – I wrap it all around the story told through words and photos.
Since I think out my journaling (at least in general terms) before I ever make a single cut or adhere anything that means that I plan where/how I will put my writing on the page in advance. Whether it’s in a pre-made tag or paper, on a stamp, or direct on my page I have my ‘how’ down before I get going too far.
I will think or say aloud my journaling and then I put pen to paper most of the time. If I have lengthy journaling with a story that I feel I’m going to need to revise I’ll turn to computer journaling. Otherwise, I just like to write. I love that my pages are very real, imperfect, and from the heart.
Any tips or techniques you’d like to share with us? Write often, just because, and practice all you can! I like to pretend “if I was writing what’s going on right now, how would I do that?” and then say it to myself in my head. Practicing what and how I’d journal things means that my journaling muscles are kept well practiced. Just like anything – it takes plenty of practice to get good at.
Write in your voice. Don’t try to write like someone else or copy a style that isn’t you – write in your voice so that when others look back at the pages they can hear you telling your life stories.
I was once told to write a pearl you must start with a grain of sand. In other words, take something very specific, small even, and weave your tale around it. Whether it’s a holiday or vacation or just an everyday moment, the more specific you get in the ‘why’ behind your layout, the more precious a treasure it will be.
Supply List: Candyshop Tags, Reading Tag, Summer circle journaling tag, pinwheel stamp, mini papers by Elle’s Studio; Patterned paper (Girls Paperie), title stickers (American Crafts), Butterfly rub-on (Jenni Bowlin), Tape (Tim Holtz), adhesive (scrapbook adhesives by 3L), unknown source for buttons, rhinestones, thread, and sequins
ABOUT MAY: Who is May Flaum? Well I wear a lot of hats from design team member to author to long time instructor for www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com and contributing writer for www.scrapbookupdate.com. I have been crafting my entire life and working in the scrapbook industry since 2003. I love being able to teach classes, share my ideas, and get to know fellow scrapbookers from all over the world. What am I outside of scrapbooking? I’m a mother, firefighter’s wife, scrapbooker, wanna-be sewer, set on auto-mode photographer, avid reader, animal loving, and one happy woman. I live in Northern California and try to find the bright spots in each day. When I’m not at the gym or chasing my two daughters around you might find me in my studio and sharing my adventures on my blog.
You can also check out May’s class that she is teaching at Big Picture Scrapbooking!
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