Throwing out a topic...

I understand your point, Cecelia. For myself I have two different styles of scrapbooking. Everyday pages and special pages. I rarely post what I call everyday pages (and those pages are as special as the other ones) on the Internet due to the journaling on the page and the fear of identity theft if some of the personal info were to be copied by the wrong person. It is just as bad for someone to get personal info such as nicknames of your children, what they got for their birthday last year, what they call their gramdma, etc......the wrong person in the area you live in could get your child to go with them with that sort of info...... So mostly what you see from me on webshots is those special pages that fit in-between the others in their scrapbooks to make a whole life for the child to look back on years down the road. Some of my pages are artistic (I hope) and others are informational. Sandy

I think the reason why you see some layouts like this is because some Scrapbookers scrap for future generations and they journal. Others scrap for the fun of it and the artistic side of it. I have seen some scrappers call themselves artists. It's a creative outlet for them. So it's more about the cool layout than the journaling. Then there are the scrapbookers that are both and they create these awesome layouts but still use lots of journaling. Heidi Swapp comes to mind of someone that is artistic and journals.

I think with scrapbooking it's your album and you can do it any way you want. Some of my layouts have a whole story and others just the date, location and peoples names. It just depends on the layout.

Hi Cecelia....what an interesting topic! Knowing the fairness of this group, I don't think that peeps will see this in any other way than a genuine enquiry. :o) Being fairly new to the current trend in scrapbooking myself (Mid-December 2004) I have pondered this question and also wondered why there always seems to be so much emphasis on "quick pages" on discussions boards, in magazines and on TV proggies featuring scrapbooking. Isn't this meant to be a hobby where people "leisurely create" something with dedication and emotion, to be treasured by future generations? Well perhaps a little bit of YES and NO would fit...LOL

In attempting to answer your question what I came up with is the idea that perhaps scrapbooking is many things to many people. There are no hard and fast rules and scrapbookers develop their own personal styles, which may change over time! Today scrapbooking is put out there as an archival hobby, a heritage craft, and as an art form. I too have viewed many layouts in magazines and online that are good to look at but have little in the way of journalling. Some people enjoy scrapbooking but have no family photos to scrap, so they use scenery, animals or whatever to achieve their aims, which may be more artistically led. Does the fact that someone interprets things differently mean they make good/bad scrapbooking LO's or something else entirely? Personally.....I think not! It will be interesting to read what others think about the topic :o)

When I was a child (I'm 50+) "scrapbooks" where made up using paper scraps that we cut out and pasted in the A4 plain paper scrapbooks. They could be paper dolls, animals, Christmas scenes, angels, cherubs, crinoline ladies, historical scenes, whatever! Sometimes they were bought or sometimes cut from comics and magazines and enhanced with personal drawings. I suppose there is some similarity to decoupage, although they were not as dimensional. When someone kept a "journal" it would have consisted of handwritten notes of dates, events, emotions and feelings, etc. and may have been embellished with drawings or pressed flowers but they never included photos, that I am aware of. I would refer to this as a Diary, which would be private and personal, and not for public viewing! So you see the UK notion of scrapbooks started from a very different perspective than that of the US! Many of the people I have mentioned scrapbooking to still think that is what scrapbooking is all about....cutting out paper scraps....LOL They look at you weirdly thinking it is something children do on a wet afternoon....LOL

In addition I would also like to say I would be very reluctant to make private, family information so publicly available in a modern age and have even though about removing some LO's, my g/children for example. Any personal and emotional stuff would be added after LO's were put online, either under pictures or on tags slotted in behind the pictures/LO's.

We Scots are notoriously, emotionally reserved and although I would never intentionally hurt anyone's feelings and am a caring individual, I have to say that I sometimes cringe when people divulge personal information that would perhaps be better kept on a one to one basis. That, of course, is the choice for each individual to make and I am only giving my opinion here. My comments are not directed at anyone in particular...so I don't want anyone here to take offence at anything I have said. Sadly, it is all too easy for people to accrue personal info for malicious use and the internet is probably one of the least safe places. Sometimes in the comfort of our very caring, sharing group it is easy to forget that the whole world and his neighbour can read what you put on here.

Regards, Marilyn

I do both kinds. Artistic-with words like dream,inspire ect. and then I do athers with detailed journaling. It is my hope that my LO's stay together in an album and by looking at the whole album the person veawing it will know who's who by some of the other pages. But even on pages with less journaling I try to put the name and date tiny somewhere on the page. Barb:o)

I do the same thing Barb. Some where on the matting or else where on the page I write tiny names . I sometimes feel silly writing my own name down, but I have to remember how it is me looking back at old pictures and no one knows who the person is or what year even .. the picture was taken.

Lynne

Cecelia, I think that is one of the things that all of us have problems with....journaling. I have gotten into a habit of showing my LO to a friend or family member and then "listening' to myself tell them what everything is. If I am saying more than I have written...then I know I have to do some more journaling. I think part of the problem is we scrap in the NOW with an eye on the Future without remembering that some of the people that will see these books won't know or recognize these folks. I also think that we get into the mode that we think if we can't make every LO a masterpiece...we don't do it. That causes a bad case of "scrap block" I always identify,age ,year and who specifically the people in the pix are. Then I identify the occasion of the photos. I know all scrapbook "experts" say one should journal in their own handwriting but I find the ones I type are more aesthetically pleasing to me. I do both. I know how I cherish handwriting from my Mom,Grandmother and other beloved persons. Good thread,Cecelia

Hugs, Sabrina in Kentucky

a good friend is a life long treasure

Hi Cecelia

Thanks for this great topic! I was thinking about journaling this afternoon, actually. I am doing a vacation album which starts 10 years ago with me and DH's honeymoon, and therefor our first holiday together, and married. I made a title page - explaining what the album is about, which I figured would save me a lot of "explaining" further down the line. I saved a lot of memento's of the places we visited, for instance the slip for our honeymoon suit, which reflects the date, room number, hotel name and the first time our names reflectes as Mr and Mrs.... I did a LO of pictures taken outside the hotel, showing the hotel's name and then started wondering about the journaling. In the end I decided to just place the honeymoon suit slip on the page, as all the info is allready on there and it tells the story by itself. However I would never place this LO on webshots, because it's just too detailed and personal.

So, to answer the question - I do think journaling is important and it makes the album so much more interesting for anyone paging through it, but I also think that it depends on who gives "permission" for the album to be viewed. I think a lot of the LO's we see on the net or in mags are the more "general" type. I am glad tho that you raised the topic, because I do think we need to be reminded to be as comprehensive as possible. It's easy to leave something out because it's "common sense" to us, but we may forget that in generations to come, that "ordinary stuff" might very well that special something that makes the keepsake so "quaint" and dear! :)

Judy, SA

A lot of the spaces for journalling on my LO's are hidden. That's because I share so many of my layouts on line.

M-C

scrapbookers

I agree with you. While I'm working on the layout itself, I am putting the words together in my head, sometimes even writing a few sentences here and there on scratch paper while the layout comes to life.

I recently completed a heritage scrapbook containing photos ranging from

I journal everything and I also keep a regular journal that's written to my daughter. I began it when I was 6 months pregnant and I write in it monthly. (she will be three) I include tiny photos (one inch by one inch) to accentuate my words. These journaled thoughts are not in my normal scrapbooks. I hope they will mean something when she is older and to her children/grandchildren.

Brandi

I do the same. I actually have a separate scrapbook for my art photography where the journaling is only a line form a poem or something I make up. Another book is a family events one where there is a LOT of journaling, but I haven't posted any of those pages. When I get Easter done, maybe I'll post it and you can see what I mean.

To me, scrapbooking is an art form as well as a historical record. I mix the two. There are a couple of pages I've done that I think look more like something to frame and hang than a standard scrapbook page, but one of the best things about this hobby is that there are no rules. I've never been one for rules in art.

Hi Cecelia,

I use the technique hidden journalling, for a lot of my layouts. I also write really tiny the names of the people in the photos.

I also do every day scrapping where it is elementary in technique and nothing too fancy but I also don't share them really with this group. You can go see the cruise pictures in this link:

Kate

I rarely add much journaling, I like to do layouts for me to enjoy!

So far, I've added journaling to every layout. Since most of what I scrap is of my kids, I know that they probably won't remember all the little details of the memories. Of course, sometimes I go overboard with the journaling. LOL

Hi, I am new to the group an really haven't had a chance to introduce myself, but i wanted to add my two cents. I also like the scretive and artistic side of scrapbooking. layouts will come to me one after another while the words dont come so readily.

nic

Welcome to RCS Nichole! why don't you introduce yourself in a separate post! We all love meeting new people!

I like to dress up the pages for me, but do make sure that at least once in a layout people are identified and the date and place if necessary.

Teresa in MD

Welcome to RCS Nichole.

Teresa in MD

Hi Nichole and Welcome!

Judy, SA

Welcome to RCS Nichole! We love having newcomers here so we're very glad you've joined us. We would love to see some of your work, too. We all like to share our layouts as much as possible. Many times we'll scrap-lift off each other! How long have you been scrapping?