Angelyn's Photo Blog: Scrapbook page and Journaling Ideas that are Out of the Ordinary

Last week I taught a class to some ladies about saving "pearls of wisdom" for future generations. I started out by talking about my Grandmother who left us with all kinds of fun stuff. She wrote down all her spiritual experiences. She wrote poems and epistles to her posterity. Some of them are hilarious, but all of them are pure gems. I have taken them and turned them into a photo book for all my family.
The class was basically a journaling class and I have taught it before. This handout Journaling Ideas was one I used years ago and has some good ideas for journaling. I also gave out this one for children Journaling Ideas for Children. This year I changed the class a little and gave some ideas for journaling that are out of the ordinary. I just sat down and wrote up this list Ideas to Journal Beyond the Ordinary. This one is much shorter but helps with recording things that you wouldn't otherwise think of. I'm sure I will be adding to the list for years to come as I think of them. Just remember the most important thing is to write it down. It doesn't matter how you do it.

Here is what I do: I do Project Life which is basically taking a picture every day for the entire year. See Becky Higgins here for more information. I do scrapbooks the old fashioned way for extra pictures. And I do Photo Books for special events. Most of my books are now Costco books. They have the sewn bindings that don't pop out like the glued ones and can do up to 100 pages. I like the simplicity and I like the cost. Please excuse some of the page designs since I did them many years ago. Also I worked for Lisa Bearnson who sold scrapbook products on QVC and she used many of these pages for her shows. Here are some scrap book page ideas that I have done that are out of the ordinary:

List of likes and dislikes- they are constantly changing

I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish in my life and a list of things I wanted to teach my children. If I don't succeed on some, at least they will know I wanted to

Let someone else tell the story

Is there a reason behind someone's name? Tell about it

Lists of things you are grateful for- in this case I did the ABC's which you can use in just about any context

Get different views of the same event from multiple people

I like to make extra flaps sometimes. I just sew it on and fold it over

Write a letter of tribute to someone who has blessed your life, even if they may have passed on

Save published stories or any stories at all

I found some information in a book about my Great Grandfather and Mother. I saved it on a scrapbook page so it would be more accessible to my children

Record random services that your family renders to each other

Write about you favorite places- even your favorite rooms

Record any kind of tradition

I listed out all the attributes of my husband and had my children act them out for a picture. I loved how they turned out!

Have everyone in your family write down all the things they love about each person. That will give you as many pages as people

Use time lines for a day...

Or a year...

Or span multiple years

Does someone say funny things in your family? Record them

Don't forget your own childhood memories

Record milestones in your life- Clothes or baby items that made it through all your children

Funny stories- This chicken had many different uses while I was growing up. The first one was a gravy bowl but since my mother thought it seemed like it was throwing up the gravy she decided to use it for something else. I recorded all the things it was used for and then got online and found out this chicken is an antique and worth some money. My mom was floored

Do you love reading books aloud? We do and I recorded all the books we read together and had my kids choose their favorite from each year. Then I would take their picture with it. 2000-2001