Wednesday Sponsor Giveaway : Get It Scrapped, Transparent Touches, & Blue Moon Scrapbooking

To capture memories from the school year, I have a simple Word file on my desktop. I add short comments to it throughout the year - events, teacher comments, my son's comments, projects, etc. At the end of the year, I include this list as the journaling on the "Summary of the School Year" spread I do. It really cuts down on the stress of trying to remember all those details from the last nine months. [I also take photos of project/costumes/evetnts throughout the year and keep them in an Event in iPhoto to go on the spread.]

As I have been going through my stash of printed photos I've been writing what comes to mind on the backs so I have a "starter" for journaling. ALA Stacy Julian's LOM system, I've now keyword tagged and organized all of my digital photos. During this tagging process, I used the caption feature on PSE to jot the same notes for my digital photos. I may or may not use this "What, where, when, why, who" type info, but it sure is handy for putting me back into the frame of mind and emotion I was in when the photo was snapped.

When my husband & I travel, I carry a small notebook with me. As we sit waiting for our next flight, the train, or before I go to sleep, I write down what happened during the day in as much detail as I remember; not only where we were, what we did, or what we saw, but also what we felt being in that moment. Then, when I eventually scrapbook photos from the trip, I have the story telling part mostly done.

It is great to jot down things as they happen - especially on vacation so that you can refer back to the journaling when scrapping the trip.

I keep a journaling calendar next to the computer. I use it to record non-calendar items, such as a quote from my dd or "day in the life" things. Life is so busy and hectic from day to day that I don't want to forget those basic things. I also blog weekly about topics of interest to me.

Being that my scrapbooking time is so limited, I have a 'journaling system' for my journaling (because seriously, who can remember all of the details when it is time to journal?). : ) Here's what I do:
1) write daily activities/adventures/events on my personal calendar
2) note in my calendar the 'download date' event photos are filed under (since I only download weekly it's helpful in finding my photos)
3) **Most important** I keep a running journal loaded with detailed stories, quotes & memories. . .This way when it comes time to actually 'journal' on my scrapbook pages. . .It will all be there. : )

My tip is a simple one but a must for me. I used to do ALL of my journaling on the computer. You know how it goes...if I didn't have time to type it up on the computer & print it out, the page would go in the sheet prot. till I had time to journal. So, many years later & many pages are still w/out journaling. That makes me sad. My solution to this problem was to journal right away with my own handwriting-GASP :-)! I make sure to write my thoughts down on scratch paper before writing on my actual layout. I can check for spelling errors & feel confident when using my own writing on on comleted layouts.
Have a happy Wednesday!

Ok, that totally just went into my "ideas to use" notebook! There are so many times I have more I want to say, but knowing that anyone who asks to look at our books might read it somewhat held me back from saying what I fully intended. Thanks for that!

...write it from the heart, write it down as soon as you can, and always write it out first on a scrap of paper or better yet keep a journaling/idea notebook like I do...thanks for the fantastic stuff Ali!

This is a hard one.
I don't really journal. But i do have a to-do list, somewhat like a journal. I write down thoughts, songs, items I need to buy and other various things. I keep it in my purse at all times. If I don't write it down, I will forget it!

I find preparing the whole LO with the journalling and then leaving it to kind of "incubate" overnight before permanently adhering and finishing is a huge help to getting the journalling just right.

My DS just graduated from HS and I saved most of his papers and have added them to his scrapbook pages ( the original) and I am planning on making copies of the others that are too big and put the copy in his pages.
Otherwise I will keep a notebook on me to journal or when I get the pictures developed I will journal on a sticky note and attach to the back of the picture so I can remember what I intended to say regarding that moment.

I keep a little notebook where I will write down funny things my kids do or say. I usually date it & if I'm able to find a pic or get a pic during around that time, then I'll make a note with the little journaling for future scrapbooking use.

When I upload my digital photos to my computer and have an accompanying story that I want to preserve, I'll add a few keywords or short line of journaling to the file name (or if there are many photos I'll put them in a separate folder and add this info to the folder name). That way I preserve the important details and can jog my memory when it is time to print the photos. If I have more information than I can fit then I will save a word document highlighting all the details to the folder containing the photos.

when something is happen I try to write down my thoughts, feelings immediately at the moment in my skechbook :)
when I create a layout from that event, I have to read it only what I wrote down.
Thanks for this giveaway :)

write it down right away... that way you don't forget!

I think my tip would have to be just keeping small notebooks handy, so that you can write in them immediately when inspiration strikes. I have one in my purse, in my car, on my nightstand, various convenient places and when something happens that I don't want to forget (because I know I will!) I just jot down a quick note.

My best moments in journaling occur when I let go of control and just write. I write what I'm feeling, thinking, want to say but never had the chance to say it. I don't try to edit, make it concise, wonder what other people might think if they read it. It's raw and that's what makes it so real. I stop being a writer and just journal.

My tip is this: create a private blog for journaling, so everything and anything can be dumped into the blog, and later you can comb through for nuggets to include in scrapping pages, and others, can be read for future reference :)

I like to write down thoughts & phrases when I think of them for later use. I also like the kids to tell me what they remember about that day/trip/time/place/etc.