Three Things : Lines (and a Designer Digitals giveaway)

The best thing for me is to start with my story first. Thanks to you & Stacy J, I'm getting better at doing this. I now have a notebook that I jot down "my future pages" , and then when I'm ready to work with the paper, glue, photos & stamps, I have my journaling started (or done).

Hi, Ali! For me, I use my scraps from my scrap file, grab my pen and journal as if I'm talking to my audience - usually my sons. I can write really small so making them fit is no problem.
P.S. I love your work!

I scrap digitally and struggle with journaling, but what helps is writing when I'm away from the computer. I carry a small Moleskine notebook with me and write layout ideas and journaling bits in it when I'm away from the computer and better able to reflect. When I add it to a layout, all personal journaling goes in with my handwriting font so I leave the legacy of my handwriting behind as well as my thoughts.

Just write it down!!!!! There is nothing cheaper easier and more valuable in the future than your own handwritten words.
Thanks

I'm not good with words, so I tend to be more about the facts, date, etc. and just a few lines of personal thought. My kids are teens right now so its less openly loving right now even though the feelings are there-all around. So maybe that creates my hesitation, worrying what "others" mostly the kids, will think. I like to use stamps for the date, circles with a few words here and there, and then tend to handwrite around the outer edges of a grouping most often. I use journaling spots (HS) and library cards often also. Looking forward to your creations. Love your work and thought process.

I have a little MP3 player that is also a voice recorder. When something memorable happens and I want to remember it, i whip that little puppy out and record the date, time and what happened. Most of the time a picture has been taken, so I know I'll have one to go along with the words. But sometimes, I just scrap the words. :-)

"don't be a perfectionist" who cares if my hand-writing looks like chicken scrawl, who cares that the grammar isn't correct, who cares i have misplaced commas... just write it down, the future will thank you. There's a lot of old photos my mom has and it's always a guessing game on who the people are and where they are! Important info. we often forget.
Mary
(pick me picke me!!!)

i write things down as they happen or right after. i jot them on paper or in the notes section of my phone...whatever is handy. that way i don't have to spend time remembering exactly what happened or what was said later.
thank you for all the creativity and inspiration you share!!
charity

For "in the moment" journaling, I either grab a post-it note & write it or send myself a text message on my phone, with the thought, whatever was said or remembered. If it's a post-it note - DATE it, including the year. Great for being constantly on-the-go!

I write the words first! Or, if it's short I punch out a little circle and write in that. I love all that lined paper too!

To make sure I get words on my page...I now make sure to do the journaling at the same time I pick the photos. Having everything ready to go BEFORE I start my page makes sure I don't forget anything and no more "oops, not enough room". Treating the journaling as an element that is as important as the photo makes all the difference!

I speak-write.
When gathering photos for a page, I think to myself what would I say if I were sitting down with my kids or grandkids and sharing memories about the photos.
Then I write what I would say.
Susan

One strategy is to write down what I want to say first and then to play with the paper.

When I scrapbook a page, I simply make the jouranling a must.
But otherwise. . . I do have a blog and a notebook where I can journal. I want to start using the "Description" field on my photos for journaling ahead of time as well. This will work especially well in Picasa.

I keep a little tag notebook in my purse that I made with my Bind-It-All and write down notes or quotes that my 5-year-old says. I recently wrote down the details of his kindergarten screening tasks so I wouldn't forget. I would have never remembered the quote and date of one time when he said "Pigs eat mud. When they run out of mud, the farmer buys more. It comes in little cans." I made a really cute page with that quote on it, only because I had it written down!

The best way I have found to get words down on my layout is digital scrapbooking. Before I would have layouts that would go a year or longer before I would finally get around to it. Along with the pictures, I think the words are the most important part. I hated this method. Now that I have found digi scrapping, my words get done while I'm working on a layout. This is why I am stoked you are teaming up with DD! I can't wait!

Can I say I love my handwriting ? ;-) isn't it too narcissic ??! For my journaling I adore to use stickers cardstock or chipboard tag or label that have lines printed ! Or if I can't fnd one that suit with my creation I use my stamp round or square or oval label ! I can repeat the pattern so my journaling can be more long or not ;-)
Have a wonderful day ! Smooch ;-)

I'm always writing things down, since I started journaling in high school being part of the year book staff. I love that the words add to the entire picture display on my pages. I love how they add to the photo's story and if you take one of my classes at the store , I have been called the journaling nazi ( make sure you write it down so people in future generations will actually know more about what happened than just the picture )- I also have a notebook that I just write in , not really a journal but a "thoughts" book....this is a great source to refresh my memory !!

I'm a digital scrapper so I can never say I don't have the right product to put on a project. Even if I use the same journal spot or lined stamp a million times, I find a spot for it on my layout. Sometimes it's only a one sentence quip... sometimes it's a long story from my blog that fits the moment, but I always look at the page as I'm making it and wonder to myself if I stranger picked up this book would there be enough on the page for them to get the mood I'm trying to project? Sometimes that doesn't require words, but more often than not I find myself writing just a little something to mark the moment.
PS... Can't wait to see your DD stuff!!!
www.gitzengirl.blogspot.com

I pretend I'm telling someone about it. It's true, I talk to myself over and over until it somehow gets poetic and concise. Sometimes I even record it on my phone so i don't forget what I've said. Then I scribble it all down before I forget and call it good!