Using Your Words with Shannon

 

Hey there, Citrus Twist friends! We are just days from Christmas (if you celebrate) so I wanted to share a story from my December Details album. I opted to use a Life Crafted album to house my project. Actually, if I'm being honest, my project has grown into two albums. And that's just fine with me! Whatever it takes to get my stories told. As a matter of fact, that's what I want to talk to you about today. Stories.

We all scrapbook for different reasons. Some like making pretty things. Some like playing with mixed media. Some like writing all the words. Some are a mix. I find myself leaning more toward writing all the words more often than not. I like a good balance of creative play and writing. I enjoy finding fun ways to write my journaling. Otherwise, it can just feel like a chore, and who wants that?

If you read my journaling above you'll see how I turned it into a fun story. I infused some of my sarcastic personality into the writing and made sure to make it something that would be fun for the kids to read. Since I have a 6-year-old who is an avid reader and a lover of my scrapbooks I have to be mindful of what I write and keep the magic of Christmas alive. Plus, I think you'll agree that journaling in this way is much more engaging to the reader! When I have a lot to say, like I did here, I love using the TN Basics from Citrus Twist. The one I used here is from the December TN Basics pack. I bring it into Photoshop to type out my journaling. Since I enjoy the typewriter look I use Remington Noiseless (8 point size) for my font.

Looking for other ways to vary your journaling? Here are a few ideas:

• Write out a list (kind of like I'm doing right now!)
• Format it as a letter. It doesn't need to be to a person. I've seen people address their letters to a favorite store, drink, ornament, etc.
• Write it as a "breaking news" story. How fun would this be for Santa's arrival?!
• Write it out interview-style.

And now, since I enjoy the creative part of scrapbooking as much as I enjoy the writing part, let's take a quick look at the rest of this layout.

I used a mix of the Sparkle & Joy kit, Comfort & Joy Digital Journaling Cards, December TN Basics, and Comfort & Joy Digital Elements to bring everything together. That card in the lower left corner? That's a TN Basics page shrunk down to size. And the card in the upper right is a 4x3 card from Sparkle & Joy kit that I cut down to fit the Instax-size page protectors. In fact, I used the back of that card for the opposite side of the layout. Double-sided cards for the win!

See that ruler card? That's the B side of the "25" card. And the "holiday cheer" card? That's a December TN Basics. The beauty of using digital/hybrid items is that you can repurpose them in so many different ways! Also - if you're looking to add the Instax look to your photos without an Instax camera, you can download a free Photoshop template in the Citrus Twist Kits Fan Page group on Facebook.

Finally, the title page. If you could call it that. I had a few scraps from the paper pack in the Sparkle & Joy kit that I wanted to use but none were long enough to be a full page. I didn't love the look of the seam so I added a line of labels to cover it up. I used the Sparkle & Joy Christmas Stamp to add a sentiment to each label (and then accidentally punched a hole through part of a sentiment - whoops!). I used the candy apple red puffy alpha for a monotone look of my "she's here." Then I decided that the page still needed a little something, which is where the large "this" die cut came in. After that, I had to make myself stop!

I hope that I've given you some new ideas for ways to breathe new life into your journaling. What one are you going to try first? I hope you'll share when you're done!