One way to journal is through premade words and phrases. You can find stickers, diecuts and word cutouts, all with different phrases. You can also use alphabet sets to create words on your pages. One page I did has my daughter's four high school pictures, one from each year. Down the middle of the page I put the letters DPHS. In 50 years, when she looks at the page, she'll know those 4 pictures were her four high school pictures.



Other folks enjoy writing in their albums. If you are going to write on the pages, choose an ink color that matches the color theme of your page. You can write directly on the pages, or you can write on paper and then attach the paper right to your scrapbook page.

How much, or how little you journal is completely up to you. In some cases, I just wanted a year attached to my pages, so that my kids would have a general idea of how old they were at the time. In other cases I wanted a city name or building name to remind me of where I took the picture. In yet other instances I wanted to put people's names and a little bit about the people in the pictures.

I know some folks who included song lyrics or poems with their photos. They believe the song lyrics or poem truly tell the story of the photos on that particular page.

I have several photos of my own grandmother. On page one, I have just one photo of her, and then a lot of journaling, speaking of where she was born, what year she was born, where she grew up etc. On other pages, I put many photos of her, with very little journaling. It really depends on why you are making the album, who the album is for and what information you want to add with your photos that will determine how much journaling you'll do.

If your children are young, or your grandchildren are young, it's fun to ask them to write something each year and include that in the album so they can see their writing as they grow up.

Sometimes, if I have a lot to say, I'll type it on acid free paper and then cut out what I've typed and add it to the page. Typed words will allow me to say a lot more than if I write the words.

Often, we want to include a photo or article from a newspaper on our scrapbook pages. My suggestion is to copy the article onto acid free paper, as the newspaper will yellow and crack with time. One friend has a son who was on the high school football game during his 4 years in high school. He was often written up in the newspaper. She copied every picture and story written about him and he now shares those stories with his own son.

Another technique I use with journaling to cut shapes; ovals, hearts etc. and then journal on those pieces of paper and then attach to my scrapbook page.

If you are making a scrapbook for a friend, it can be fun to share your thoughts, versus just telling a story. For example, maybe you and a friend had a girl's night out and took some photos. You can share "I remember how much we laughed and laughed this night. My stomach hurt from us laughing so much". This shares not only photos but you are also sharing yourself with your friend.

Acid free index cards are great for journaling. They are just the right size to write on and then attach to your scrapbooking pages.

There is no right or wrong way to journal. The key is to have something in words to help tell the story of your photo.