Journaling: Write it Myself?? JUST DO IT!

The best advice that I can give you is just to plunge in and try it! I think with a little practice, you will find you really like to journal this way. Now, really, which would you rather have? a typed letter from your Mom or Grandmother, or a handwritten one? Which really shows their personality? Sure, the computer has its place in journaling, but don’t overlook how important your own handwriting is to the next generation(s) looking at your scrapbook pages.

So, we are going to keep it pretty simple the first time around. I like to have a black and a white journaling pen as my basics. I use the dark color on light backgrounds and it is probably the one I use the most. But, I really love the look of white writing on a dark background.

I have found one of the simplest ways to journal is to write my ideas in a list. Think about the look you want: you can number the items, use bullets (or brads) or boxes that you check off.

Here are 3 easy ideas, so choose one to practice with:

• My Top 10 List
• 10 things You Never Knew About Me
• My 10 Favorite Things to do With You
• 
  

Here are a couple of other ideas to try out:

• Write around a photo on your layout. It adds a neat graphic element to your design, and again, you can keep the journaling short and simple.
• Journal a paragraph, and then put a box around a few key words. You can leave it like that, or highlight the word with color pencil or chalk by filling in the word box.

If you are interested in developing your journaling further, here are some resources that you might find helpful.

• Craftbits
• Scraps of Mind
• ArticlesBase.com
• Treasures to Memories
• Christina Renee Designs
• Life Art Media
• Love your Handwriting by Heidi Swapp
• The Journaler's Handbook by Tracy White

I hope you have fun exploring journaling using your own handwriting.