Hi everyone, Happy Monday!

What matters most to me are my memories.  It is so important to me to have a record of what is going on in my life now because I don’t have a great long term memory.  I am so afraid that I won’t remember what the kids looked like and sounded like and what funny things they said and when they learned things.  So, this led me to two things, being an avid picture taker!  Not a professional one, I just take A LOT of pictures!  And getting into scrapbooking to preserve all those pictures and the memories and stories that go with them.  We all scrap these gorgeous pages with our most treasured memories and photos.  I usually journal on them, more often than not, I do recount the story or situation that was happening at the time I snapped the picture.  But I read a lot in forums about journaling and how hard it is for some people to write down the story.  It can get difficult to be creative or find new ideas and inspiration to keep it fresh and fun.  I do have some favorite pages that don’t have journaling on them because it seems to me now that the photo speaks for itself!  But it really is so important to document the details that we won’t remember years down the road.  My kids are only 6 and 4 and already there are moments about which I struggle to remember the details.  So, that’s what I am writing about today, ways to keep us journaling those memories on our pages!

Here are some journaling ideas that might spark some new inspiration for your pages:

1.  I know this sounds simple but, just start with a recount of what’s happening “behind the scenes” in the photo, sometimes it’s funny or interesting just to know what you were thinking when you took that picture and why it inspired you to save it as a memory.

2.  If you just don’t know where to start, think of the 5 W’s…Who, What, Where, When and Why.  Start there and add to it as you go!  At least it’s a place to begin when you have writer’s block.

3.  Use song lyrics, quotes, idioms, sayings, poems, etc. to help you summarize your thought for a page and then go from there.  Use that idea to draw attention to what you want those photos to be remembered for.  Is it the smile, where you were when you took it, what the person said right before you took the picture, an event to remember?  A quote or other saying can help focus the page on the memory to be preserved.

4.  Write a letter as the form for your journaling.  A letter to a child in a photo telling him/her how you were feeling at that moment, what was happening will be treasured later in their life.

5.  Make a list…if the photo(s) lend themselves well to a list, consider journaling a list!  List each item and its importance, that might say enough.  (example:  picture of you at your scrapbook desk and list the top ten things you can’t live without to digi-scrap)

6.  Shape of the journaling…using textpaths, bordering a page with your words, tagging each photo with a caption, etc. all add interest to the page while logging the memory not to be forgotten.

7.  Use a question as your title and then answer the question with your journaling.

8.  Consider your children reading your journaling in twenty or thirty years…what would you want them to know about the photo(s)?

9.  Don’t forget to talk about what doesn’t show in the photo(s) if it is relevant.  Sometimes we miss a shot but another photo can be representative of that day or event and you can fill in the gaps with your journaling.

10.  Ask someone who was in the photos or was there with you when the photo was taken to recount their take on the memory.  You can either journal their words, or it can get you going.

If all else fails, there are websites that just list writing prompts, (click here for example) maybe scanning them will help you think of a way to say what you are trying to say!

I hope these few ideas give you a little inspiration to get those memories out of your head and onto your pages.  And don’t forget to include your journaling in the photo description area when you upload so we can see what you wrote.  Thanks for reading and keep on writing!

Jen