{I}NSD - The Fabulous Forgers' Fantastic Favourites - It's words all the way for Susan

 

Hello - Susan here and when it comes to scrapbooking, I am definitely all about the story. Although I love to write and want most of my pages to have meaningful journaling, sometimes I just can't figure out what to say or how to say it. There are a few things I do when I come up against writer's block that usually help get me back on track and I'd like to share them here, along with some of the pages they helped me complete.

Focus on one detail. We all have groups of photos from events that happen every year. Birthdays and holidays can be challenging to write about just because of their repetitive nature. Think about the basics in the photos (who, what, where, when, why, how) and then try to expand on just one of those details. Out of all the photos I took one Easter, the photo I took of the colorful plastic eggs stood out to me more than any other. In the layout below, I used the "what" (the plastic eggs) to talk about our evolving family tradition:

Write a list. It's easy. It's quick. It gets the job done. And a list doesn't have to be limited to just words; sometimes numbers can tell a great story, too:

Get someone to do it for you. Although it might involve a teeny bribe, it's nice to have someone else's perspective on a scrapbook page. You can ask them for their memories of a particular day/occasion and use those words on your page. For this layout, I had my daughter complete a quiz I'd found online and then I just paired her answers (in her handwriting) with a her photo:

Here's a link to the survey I used for my page: Write.Click.Scrapbook Summer Survey.

Use a quote. I have a Pinterest board dedicated to quotes and sayings that eventually will make it onto a page. Quotes can be a title, the journaling or both.

And if your quote is long enough, you can put a nice dent in your letter stickers as well!

Relax. Not every page has to have Pulitzer Prize-worthy journaling on it. You can't force it - sometimes it's best to just let it go. Take a break. Try working with other photos or do something else entirely. The inspiration may eventually hit you but if it doesn't, just record the basics and move on. As I said above, I like most of my pages to have meaningful journaling. I have plenty of pages that list just the facts and that's perfectly fine with me.

Happy {I}NSD!

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