Lets Start The Story

It so difficult sometimes to start to tell the story of your layout. We can get blocked and just move on thinking that I will figure it out later. If you are like me, later is not good. I have forgotten dates and those on the pictures are either cropped off or nicely adhered to the back of the photo. I have started to use my stick notes to remind me of date and years, which is extremely necessary if you crop those dates off your photos.
There are a few ways that I can get my creative journaling juices flowing.
One I look at some books. I look at only the titles. Sometimes this works wonders for trying to come up with a title or even a beginning sentence for your journaling. Magazines are another great source for journaling, and no they don't have to be craft ones. Look through them for lots of different ideas, after all they have writers creating all the articles and sometimes a title or a first sentence might pop out at you to get you moving on your journaling dilemma. Another great idea is not to forget about songs! Love songs, poems etc. Use one phrase or part of it. You got to admit there are millions out there to chose from and one just might fit the feel of your layout.
Remember that its not what you write but that you write about your layouts. Believe me you will be happy later when you look back at a completly finished layout and it looks MARVELOUS.

Article by

Debbie Ruggles

Save some room

I know that its difficult to sit and write down everything about a layout when your pressed for time, or you just can't seem to put it into words. I have done a couple things to help myself when I can't get it right. If I am blocked or pressed with time, I use sticky notes to jot down a few things about the layout, like date and where etc. Then I put it aside. I will eventually come back to the layout and do the journaling. Those sticky notes come in handy. Last year I was putting together my sons scrapbook for his Open house and found a page that I had totally let the journaling go. What I should say is I never took the time to finish the journaling. On top was my yellow sticky note with all the details. I just sat down and typed it up. Done and I didn't even have to research a date or what the event was. For me sticky notes do a lot for the busy person who has some time but not enough to finish the job all at once.
Another thought that I have about journaling is to just save space for it. Sometimes you just can't get the words or title for the layout. It does no good to sit in front of it and stare at it until something comes to you. It truly is better just to set it aside and come back to it another day. The layout will be there and I will be you will have a better perspective on what it should say by then. Sometimes just walking away will do a lot for writers block. Its been my case that if I get to where I am having trouble thinking about what the layout should say then its time I just put the thing away and come back to it another day.

If you have any comments, we love to hear them, so just pass them along to us and we will be sure to share them with our readers!
Mail your ideas, comments etc to debbie@accents2scrapbooking.com

Article by
Debbie Ruggles

Creative Jounaling

We tell you that its important to journal on your layouts, add poems, quotes etc to make your pages more interesting. There are many ways to incorporated journaling into your layouts without the traditional white space with writing on it. I thought that I would give you a few ideas to get you started on getting creative with new ways to add your journaling.

Lets start with journaling around the edges of the layout page. Dark paper is no excuse a good white writing pen will solve that problem. I like to repeat a quote around the edges of the page or if the name of a person or even the event. A poem is great, but make sure you have enough to finish around the edges or can repeat it if you are looking to put it all the way around the edge. Use a edge when you are writing to ensure straightness and also be neat! Its a cool decorative edge to your pages and you can make it part of your journaling as well.

How about High lighting part of your journaling. Use a photo square or do the first word of your journaling with a decorative die cut letter. I like to sometimes use a altered stencil for my first letter of my journaling just to add a little interest.

Just a couple of ideas to think about when your trying to make your journaling interesting. If you are like me the more glitz the better!

Article by
Debbie Ruggles

Signing your work

So Picasso always signed his and so did Rembrandt. So why not you?
Yes your pages are a piece of art and so it deserves your signature. After all you put all that work into it and the pages shine with your creativity. I bet a piece of your personality went into each and every page. Some scrappers are framing their work and hanging on them on their walls instead of pictures.

So how to sign your work.
It should be with a scrapbook safe pen. You can sign them on the front somewhere if you prefer or on the back. I personally sign mine on the back. Mine are signed just as I write my name. Debbie Ruggles. I even sign the back of my kids layouts that way. That way when someone finds my books in about a few hundred years they will be able to know who signed them.

Yep I can see these books tucked away in some Attic somewhere because family couldn't get rid of them. After all they are family history and you can't just throw that away.
Then again what do we do with them all. So nicely tucked away for safe keeping they will be. Someday someone will find them and see how interesting they are and wonder who made the books. If they happen to take them out they will find my signature nicely on the back of them.

Please sign those layouts, they are yours, you spent the time to make them for yourself, or someone special, so why not let the future know how talented their relatives were.
Not to mention you are giving them a sample of your handwritting, which is always important!
Article by:
Debbie Ruggles

Scary times ahead

Now its time for those little devils, ghost and gouls to come out and play! Time will soon be here when we hand out all that candy and send them home to their mothers. I thought this month I would hand you a bunch of saying and quotes for your halloween layouts that I think you might be making here in the next little while!

Here are a few quotes:
-Eat, drink and be scary
-Where there is no imagination there is no horror. ~Arthur Conan Doyle, Sr.
-Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story. ~Mason Cooley
A couple Poems:
On Halloween the thing you must do
Is pretend that nothing can frighten you
And if somethin' scares you and you want to run
Just let on like it's Hallowe'en fun.~Author Unknown

May Jack-o-lanterns burning bright
Of soft and golden hue
Pierce through the future’s veil and show
What fate now holds for you.~Author Unknown



Some Phrases:
-Monster Mash
-Eat Drink and be SCARY
-Just Scaring up some fun
-Chills and Thrills
-Ghosts have real spirit
-Whitchful Thinking

Have fun with this fun time.
Oh and Happy Haunted Scrapping

Its about Family and Friends

Titles are important for our layouts. Sometimes it pretty hard to come up with a great title for your layout. So this month I thought that we would just give you some of our favorite quotes and titles to help out with those layouts you are about to tackle during the winter months.

Here they are
Family Moments
Family Ties
Family Friends
Family Life
Thankful for Family
Special Times
Forever Family
Full House
Forever Friends
Friends Turned Family
Family Friends
One Big Happy Family
Family Gathering
Recipe for Family
Grandma Knows Best
Grandpa Knows Best
Cousins
Cozy Cousins
Kissing Cousins
Kindred Spirits
Yours Mine and Ours
Brother Like No Other
Sisters by Chance, Friends by Choice
Part of the Clan
Fathers And Sons
Mothers and Daughters
Generations
Circle of Love

Some of our Favorite Quotes:
A family is like a warm quilt wrapped around your heart
Having some place to go is home. Having someone to love is family. Having both is a blessing
Friends are our chosen family.
A Family is a Work of Heart.
Other things may change us, but we start and end with Family.
Happiness is being with Family
Best Buddies are We, My Brother and Me!
Sisters, like stars in the sky, shine a light on each other's hopes and dreams.

Hopefully these will give you some inspiration for your pages.

Happy Winter Scrapping

Journaling Prescription

A prescription for journaling. What are we talking about?
We have heard it many times, "Journaling is hard for me, I really don't know what to write"
It can be hard to start, but once you get a handle on it, your pictures just seems to write the journaling all by themselves.

Lets look at the whole journaling issue.
We are told to journal the pages according to the pictures. What about the before the picture and even after the picture. Or the trip to get the picture? Lots of the story can be wasted if we just write about that one little picture. Say you have a picture of your child sitting on a rock by the lake and you put a title that says something like, a beautiful day, memories etc. So lets say that this was part of a great day, a spur of the moment outing that ended with a picture taken a dusk by the lake. How about the rest of the story behind the picture.

Now for Debbie's prescription for Journaling. I thought about this for a while.
There is definately the Who, What, When and Where journaling rule, but there is also other things that apply with the whole journaling idea. Things that you can use to make the journaling part much easier. So lets see if I can try and map them out, or give you my prescription to heal your journaling slump!

1. Memoriabila: Yep keep those theatre tickets or amusement park passes, programs. They make a great ways to add journaling to your layout. Remember the where and when. They usually have a date and a time and a place, and the event you went to. These things are awesome to work into a layout.

2. Use a list or calendar. Timeline once again. Its great to list out the places you seen or the things you did on your vacation etc.

3. Reciepts, certificates, etc. Remember the first drivers license? So you got the real thing, the permit is a great thing to put in your scrapbook, or how about the trip to get your license, driving test receipts etc. These things are all perfect ideas to add to your pages to help define the journaling crunch.

Camping trips can include the receipt from the campgrounds. They usually have a logo on them. Water parks the same, so keep a look out for things you can use.

4.Keep those Christmas lists, or Birthday lists your children create: These are the best things to look back on when doing a Holiday layout. Don't throw these away, incorporate them in your scrapbooking. They ususally have their name on them, a list of the presents they want and their own handwritting. These are great!

There it is a my prescription to make journaling easier. Don't forget to include the basics, but look around and see what else there is that you can incorporate into a layout.

Its great to put some of these things on your layouts. Don't be afraid of a crumpled up note your child gave to you or even one of those cards they create just because. Believe me in 20 years will be so glad you kept them and safely stored them in your scrapbooks.

Journal, Journal and More Journaling. The more you do it the better you become!

Article by:

Debbie Ruggles