Are you looking to start your own scrapbook journal? Have you heard a whole load of contrary information and want to get the lowdown on what the official consensus is? What is scrapbooking? What does that mean for a journal?
All this and more today as we explore seven top tips for getting started constructing and pasting together your very own scrapbook journal.
1. Daily Prompts
If you really have no clue how to begin your scrapbook journal or what to do to get started, then you can always start with some daily prompts. Whether you are inclined toward shallower or deeper realms of inquiry, there is no doubt something for you to begin populating your scrapbook pages with.
You might, for example, start by asking yourself what your meals were like today, using scraps from menus and magazines to help you paint a more vivid picture of the proceedings.
Equally, you might be more inclined to capture something deeper by, say, asking yourself whether there were any decisions that you made today that you would change or that you otherwise regret.
Indeed, a junk journal doesn't have to just be about precious memories. Simple stories go a long way, as do bullet points, and if you are to include your penchant for collage journaling into the mix, well, that's a whole other matter.
2. Quotes
Do you have any favorite quotes? If you can't imagine them visually, then you will no doubt be able to hear them as part of the behemoth collage of voices that make up your inner monologue.
We are all samplers at heart, taking from here and there, and absorbing what we feel we need to know to survive. Thus, even if we can't see or hear a favorite quote, we can surely feel its effects on our daily lives.
With this in mind, if you can't visualize or hear a favorite quote, try to use mixed media to capture how it makes you feel inside. Make a story of it, beginning with when you first felt the influence of this mantra on your live and where you are now, how its meaning has changed for you (if at all).
3. Photos
Of course, one of the main things that a user is likely to include in a scrapbook journal is photos. This is one of the key things that really sets it apart from other journals which are more content to strike a divide between the writing elements and the visual elements of expression.
Here, anything is fair game, and you can tell just as potent a story through a series of curated pictures as you can with the written word. Why split them apart, though, when you can use both to paint an even deeper picture overall?
Pick a photo, stick it in, and then try to elucidate what it is and what it means to you. Start by explaining what, where, when, and who, or get creative and have more fun with it, describing the location, weather, focal point of the camera, etc. The options are limitless, so make them your own.
4. Memories
While it is possible to make your own version of a scrapbook journal that is more akin to a regular journal in the scrapbook style, the main draw of a scrapbook journal is to capture special memories. This can be in the present moment, it can be retrospective, and it can even be in the future tense.
What would a birthday, wedding, graduation, new job, or baby's first steps be without an accompanying scrapbook to instill those memories deeply into the subconscious? Don't forget to evoke as many of the details as possible. Any that you don't include will surely be lost to the sands of time. Anything that you really want to remember should be set in stone.
While a picture is purported to say a thousand or so words, a few additional words to capture the sway of the time wouldn't go amiss either.
5. Poems
If you are the kind of person that's into poetry then now might be a good chance to bring this aspect of yourself into your scrapbook journaling experience. Pick a bunch of your favorite poems and slap them in.
You can go about this in a number of ways. You might, for example, like to write them out in the journal yourself if you are fond enough of your own handwriting. Alternatively, you could print out a version from online and paste this into the journal. Or, better yet, you could cull the poem from a physical version of the collection from which it comes and paste that into your journal.
The choice really is yours. Some people are rather protective of their things, so it makes sense that such people wouldn't be as willing to cut an entire page out of their favorite poet's collection of poems to paste it into some jumped-up scrapbook journal.
6. Goals
One of the main reasons anyone is likely to start a journal is so they can better themselves in some walk of life. This might very well have to do with a specific facet of themselves, though generally, this has to do with setting goals, both long-term and short-term, and working out how to go about doing it.
In this way, many are inclined to not include a place for setting long-term and short-term goals, but also a place in which to track these goals until their ultimate conclusion.
For this reason, scrapbook journals (and others) can last an incredibly long time, until the conclusion of the last long-term goal that you set. So, instead of forcing yourself to return to a cosmic eyesore every time you open up your journal, might we suggest you make it look welcoming enough that you want to come back.
7. Motivating
Are you the kind of person who is easily spurred on by motivational quotes and affirmations? Then why not try filling a page or two with a few quotes that help you get through the day?
Another idea might be to dedicate an entire page to a quote and then surround this quote with all the things it means to you, including visual and textual representations of the things this quote helps you through as well as what you would like it to help you with in the future.
Final Words
So, there you have it! Hopefully, you are now feeling ready and able to start your own scrapbook journal by following some, none, or all of the tips outlined above!
FAQs Scrapbook Journal
WHAT IS A SCRAPBOOK JOURNAL?
A scrapbook journal is a journal that can be used anyway but which primarily attempts to use scrapbooking as its common currency. This means that it is primarily used for capturing special memories in more ways than just words or pictures separately and exclusively.
WHAT DO I NEED TO START SCRAPBOOK JOURNALING?
To start scrapbook journaling, all you really need is a journal and an open mind. This journal should ideally be blank so that it offers a better blank canvas for introducing other mixed media elements. If you have a printer, then perfect, as you might like to pick out some photos to stick in, so you will also need a glue stick.
HOW DO YOU USE SCRAPBOOK PAPER IN A JOURNAL?
Using scrapbook paper in a journal need be no more difficult than simply waiting for inspiration or idea to strike. A scrapbook journal can be treated however you like, so whether you are more partial to the capturing of fond memories or simply using it as a daily diary, your preferences will be more than catered to.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A JOURNAL AND A SCRAPBOOK?
For some, there is genuinely no difference whatsoever. For others, though, the difference is a little more clear-cut. The choice is really yours - you can erect as many or as few barriers between journaling and scrapbooking as you like when you craft your own one of the two (or both combined).
