by Jane Pinder
 Scrapbooking not only preserves your photographs and memories, but it should also hols the story behind the pictures. Journaling is just as important as the photographs because without the journaling the memories in the photographs become mere pictures.
The difficulty comes in knowing what to write and how to include it on the page layout. When you start thinking about the journaling aspect you need to consider a few things.
First – who is in the picture? Obviously that needs recording clearly. Then – you need to make a note of what the occasion is, as it is all too easy to forget in years to come. It’s also a good idea to include where the picture was taken, along with the date. If there is space enough you can also record a bit about the emotions involved in the picture. This will not only explain more about the photograph, but it will give future generations an insight into you as a person. There are so many ways to add the words to a page. It can be done as a simple sentence or two or it can be written as a verse or a caption. Either way don’t forget that above all you are telling a story. If the person in the photograph is known for saying something in particular or for using a certain phrase, that can sometimes be used to portray that person. Don’t forget that the journaling needn’t be just about what is going on in the photograph. It can be the lead up to taking the photograph for example. Adding the Journaling When it comes to actually ‘doing’ the journaling the next dilemma is whether to handwrite it, print it on the computer or do it in some other way. If you are lucky enough to have beautiful handwriting, then you really should use that in most of your pages, as again this will tell more of yourself to whoever looks at it in years to come. However, mine is not brilliant so I needed to do the journaling on this page in a different way. My page depicts Cliff Richard’s 50th Anniversary concert – The Time Machine Tour - I went to in Manchester on 26th November 2008. I had also been to see him in Cardiff on the 18th November…..but who’s counting! As my handwriting is pretty illegible to anyone but me, I thought I’d use some of the printed bits from the tour. I photocopied them so as not to use the originals and then printed off some of the photographs I took.
Then came the decision as to how to make the journaling look more interesting and it was then that I hit on the idea of using some die cut shapes. So armed with some dies and my Big Shot machine I set about cutting the shapes. I chose card colours to fit in with both the background page and the various pictures and tickets.
 So, having cut out a few pieces, I then gathered everything together to double check that all the colours worked together. I found it much easier to check this if I almost dropped the pieces on the background paper. Some of the pieces were rejected, others were kept and used.
 The lovely commemorative ticket was far too nice to actually use, so I copied it and used that instead. It fitted perfectly into the die cut holder! I decorated the front of the holder with a die cut ticket and a photocopied logo from the tour.
 I then wanted to show where all the concerts had taken place so I used a copy of this, from a tour flyer, and attached it to a die cut clip board – perfect! The title for the page was taken from one of the tour flyers and features a facsimile of Cliff’s signature.
 A little bit of journaling from the man himself, summed up the whole tour and my page! All that remained now was to stick everything in place, along with some of the photographs that I took at the concert. The last bit, to tie it all together, was the stamping of some stars here and there as, after all, Cliff is a huge star! So if you are put off by the journaling aspect of scrapbooking, don’t be. There are always ways to do it and you can do as much or as little as you want. Give it a go. I can guarantee that once you get started, you will really enjoy making the page. I know I did! Here’s to October this year when I am off to see Cliff and the Shadows on tour! I can feel another scrapbooking page coming on already! 
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Japanese Lace Paper Set
