Tutorial: When You've Got Way Too Much to Say

I know a lot of people have trouble adding journaling to their scrapbook pages. It's easy enough to add the 'who, what, where, when' details, but difficult to know what else to say. However, there are some topics that get your mind racing, your heart pounding and your emotions whirling right? And in those circumstances you find that you've got so much to say that you don't know where to start, and you certainly don't know where you'll fit it all on your layout.

 

Just this month I sat and passed my final exam in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. I've been studying for 12 years since leaving high-school and this was the last exam I'll ever have to sit. A pretty momentous occasion and I had a thousand things I wanted to record about it. 



My thoughts weren't necessarily coherent though. I wanted to journal about what the exam was like itself, all the support I was getting at the time and of course, what it felt like to hear I'd passed. I also wanted to include the letter of congratulations I received from my Professor as a keepsake, and tie it all together with a quote from a friend who said, "Wow, it seemed like you just breezed through that exam" when I felt anything but!



So I had a few choices. I could make a series of different pages on the topic (pretty boring... and made pretty difficult by the fact I don't have any relevant photos of the occasion either), fill the entire layout with everything I wanted to say (it can be done, but not what I wanted on this topic), or whittle down what I wanted to journal about so it was your standard paragraph in length.

My solution? Layer upon layer of hidden journaling! Think of it like a mini-book attached to a layout. Let me show you what I mean.

First layer: the photo flips down. I've typed my friends quote on a vellum speech bubble and stuck it to the back so people understand where I got my title from. My first topic of journaling is recorded on a card and briefly embellished.

Second layer: (no photo I'm afraid) the yellow polka dot paper is attached to the folded letter of congratulations from Prof.

Third layer: the black & white paper then folds to the left where I've included another journaling tag and even left space for some prettiness as well.

Each of the layers was sewn directly onto my layout in turn, making sure they could still be opened. The red clip holds it all together at the end so they don't flap around. With all these pages adding some decent bulk to my page, I kept my embellishments simple and flat, using mainly stickers and stamps.

I put this layout together using the "Roller Rink" kit from Studio Calico. The colours were perfect for this breezy and carefree theme. So what do you think? Good solution or not? What other ideas have you got for lots of journaling? I'd love to hear your thoughts.



PS. This post first appeared on the Scrapbook Creations Magazine blog. You can read it in situ here!