Today we bring you our final installment in our month-long Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge. I hope you’ve enjoyed doing these challenges as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing them with you…

To recap, this month we’ve tackled lists, ABC, conversations, fairy tales, compare & contrast, show & tell, letter, interview, stream of consciousness, by the numbers, diagram, play-by-play commentary, and repetition forms of journaling. In our final challenge, we have the chance to apply a bit of organization and structure to one or more of these methods.

Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge #14

Several of the journaling methods we’ve described lend themselves to a chart format. In essence, a chart is simply a way of organizing your information. It is especially helpful when you have multiple categories, such as the characteristics of several family members or a series of stories to share on a single page.

One of the most common uses of a chart format is to incorporate multiple lists into a page. Other options could include groupings of images, comments, descriptions or whatever else you need to tell your story.

The fun thing about scrapbooking with a chart (as opposed to creating a chart for your child’s science project) is the opportunity to be creative with your choice of category labels and style of presentation for each section of information.

Here are some wonderful examples of pages which incorporate a chart-like format to help organize their stories…

"What They Taught Me" by Amy L @ Designer Digitals

"Vancouver Olympic Favorites" by gchristyng @ Sweet Shoppe Designs

"Project 2010" by jend

The Rules:

1. Pick a topic and create a new scrapbook page that shares your story through the use of a chart.
2. Post that page in this album in our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge Gallery. The deadline for all Sweet Talk Challenge Layouts is midnight (MTN) on Wednesday, March 31st, 2010.
3. Visit this thread in our Community Forum and link us up to your layout.
4. Once your link is verified, the above Sweet Talk award will appear in your profile and in your signature.
5. Keep an eye on this page to track our Log Your Memory Sweet Talkers!
6. You can also download and print this handy PDF to help track your challenge layouts and points earned.

Looking for a quick & easy way to find the links to all of the different Sweet Talk Journaling Challenges? It’s right here!

Get the inside scoop, be the first to know about new product releases & get special discounts by subscribing to our new weekly newsletter, the Log Your Memory INSIDER. Delivered directly to your INBOX every Sunday afternoon.

Please share your thoughts in a comment below …

We’ve nearly reached the end of February and that means we have just a couple more installments of our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge. Today we’ll play around with a little technique that I think you’ll want to repeat once you get the hang of it…

Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge #13

They say there’s no sense re-inventing the wheel when someone before you has already created a great solution to your problem. The same holds true for today’s journaling technique … once you figure out a great way to start a sentence or phrase, you simply need to repeat yourself as many times as necessary to get your story told. The same concept could apply to a design element or the way you use photos, embellishments or other images.

For instance, check out the following layout I created last spring…

"Why I Scrapbook" by Kristin Rutten @ Log Your Memory

You’ll notice every line begins with the same phrase … “I scrapbook because…” This provides an easy jumping off point for the journaling that helps make this more than just a list, but far easier to compose and read than a full paragraph. The repeated words, particularly when they are set apart through the use of color, font, size, elements or other techniques, also help lead your eye through the page and pull it all together with a unifying theme.

Instead of starting every sentence with the same word or phrase, you could try repeating a single word throughout your story. Or perhaps you’d like to end every sentence with the same thought or phrase. You could even take a more abstract approach and simply use a repeating type of sentence, such as a string of questions, or a repeating design element, such as a particular color or embellishment.

Need some ideas for sentence starters? Try…

• It makes me {crazy, happy, furious, etc…} when …
• I wish …
• If only I could …
• Love is …
• How many times have I …
• I’ll never forget …
• I {love, hate, hope, etc…}
• What happened to …

Here’s one more example to help get your creative juices flowing…

"Me Right Now" by jesshunt @ Designer Digitals

The Rules:

1. Pick a topic and create a new scrapbook page that shares your story through repetition.
2. Post that page in this album in our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge Gallery. The deadline for all Sweet Talk Challenge Layouts is midnight (MTN) on Wednesday, March 31st, 2010.
3. Visit this thread in our Community Forum and link us up to your layout.
4. Once your link is verified, the above Sweet Talk award will appear in your profile and in your signature.
5. Keep an eye on this page to track our Log Your Memory Sweet Talkers!
6. Watch for our final Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge topic … make sure you don’t miss a post by subscribing to our Blog!

Looking for a quick & easy way to find the links to all of the different Sweet Talk Journaling Challenges? It’s right here!

Get the inside scoop, be the first to know about new product releases & get special discounts by subscribing to our new weekly newsletter, the Log Your Memory INSIDER. Delivered directly to your INBOX every Sunday afternoon.

Please share your thoughts in a comment below …

Our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge continues today with a journaling method that can really help you tell the behind-the-scenes details of the stories you scrapbook.

Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge #12

Your challenge today is to tell your story through play-by-play commentary. On the surface, this is simply telling the story of what is happening in whatever photos you choose. But done well, it can be so much more. A great play-by-play page will share details that aren’t obvious in the photos, such as what you were thinking or how you were feeling during a particular string of events, or perhaps the background information leading up to that particular scene.

Think about what makes a great sports commentary … if the announcer simply told you what was happening in front of your eyes, you’d quickly get bored. It’s the little extras added in to that monologue – the inside information - that make it worth listening to.

As you are planning your journaling, think about the photo, event or story you want to share. Ask yourself … if I were sharing this story with a good friend or close relative, what details would I include? What is it about this particular story that makes me want to both remember and share it? If someone looked at this photo or event through my eyes, what would they see and how would they feel? The answers to these questions should help you decide how to approach your writing.

Here are some examples of play-by-play commentary in action …

"TR{Y}ATHLON" by Kimbe @ Designer Digitals

"In An Instant" by Christy @ My Scrapbook Art

"My 3 Little Monkeys" by LolaLovesLife @ My Scrapbook Art

Remember, you now have until midnight (Mountain Time) on Wednesday, March 31st to complete & post your pages and qualify for our Sweet Talker prize.

The Rules:

1. Pick a topic and create a new scrapbook page that shares your story through play-by-play commentary.
2. Post that page in this album in our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge Gallery. The deadline for all Sweet Talk Challenge Layouts is midnight (MTN) on Wednesday, March 31st, 2010.
3. Visit this thread in our Community Forum and link us up to your layout.
4. Once your link is verified, the above Sweet Talk award will appear in your profile and in your signature.
5. Keep an eye on this page to track our Log Your Memory Sweet Talkers!
6. Watch for the next Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge topic … make sure you don’t miss a post by subscribing to our Blog!

Get the inside scoop, be the first to know about new product releases & get special discounts by subscribing to our new weekly newsletter, the Log Your Memory INSIDER. Delivered directly to your INBOX every Sunday afternoon.

Please share your thoughts in a comment below …

Today marks the beginning of the last scheduled week in our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge. When I started this series, I made a deal with myself … I would play along with the challenges and make sure that I wasn’t asking anyone to do something I couldn’t do myself in order to earn our special Sweet Talker prize.

Well, as I’m sure many of you can agree, it turns out that it’s a bit overwhelming to try to get 14 challenges done in just 28 days. A handful of participants are close, but I don’t think there is anyone – myself included – that is totally caught up right now.

So here’s the deal … I’m still going to do all 14 challenges myself.  And I’m going to save the prizes for others who do the same. But I’m going to extend the deadline for completing and posting your pages. Rather than the original March 3rd deadline, you now have until midnight (Mountain Time) on Wednesday, March 31st to complete & post your pages and qualify for our Sweet Talker prize.

I will stick to the original schedule for introducing the final handful of challenges, which means it’s time today to share our next journaling method to help you get your “real life” scrapbooked.

Are you ready?

Today’s journaling method is one of my absolute favorites, though I must admit – it wasn’t until I started working on my page for this challenge that I’ve ever actually completed one. I could probably fill an entire album, however, with the pages planned in my head. Anytime I catch my kids or my husband doing something that is just so characteristically THEM, I try to snap a photo so I can create one of these pages.

Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge #11

Your challenge today is to tell your story through the use of a diagram, reminiscent of the type of thing you’d see in a high school biology book. The basic format is fairly straightforward – an image with labels and pointers describing the features of that image. Though simplistic, this could apply to just about any object or scene that shares details you want to remember about that particular subject.

If the textbook approach doesn’t appeal to you, use your imagination … just about anything could serve as a pointer, there are all kinds of labels that would work, and there is no limit to the creativity you could apply to the actual wording or choice of subject.

To help get you started, here is one of my favorite examples of using a diagram to tell a story …

"Trey Deconstructed" by R. Steinbeck @ Designer Digitals

If you’d like to see another example before getting started, check out the page I posted in the challenge gallery.

The Rules:

1. Pick a topic and create a new scrapbook page uses uses a diagram to share your story.
2. Post that page in this album in our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge Gallery. The deadline for all Sweet Talk Challenge Layouts is midnight (MTN) on Wednesday, March 31st, 2010.
3. Visit this thread in our Community Forum and link us up to your layout.
4. Once your link is verified, the above Sweet Talk award will appear in your profile and in your signature.
5. Keep an eye on this page to track our Log Your Memory Sweet Talkers!
6. Watch for the next Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge topic … make sure you don’t miss a post by subscribing to our Blog!

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Get the inside scoop, be the first to know about new product releases & get special discounts by subscribing to our new weekly newsletter, the Log Your Memory INSIDER. Delivered directly to your INBOX every Sunday afternoon.

Please share your thoughts in a comment below …

If there’s one thing I’ve discovered putting together our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge, it’s how much fun it is to see how many different ways scrapbookers can interpret and use each one of the 14 journaling methods presented.

So far we’ve tackled nine different types of journaling … 1. lists, 2. ABC, 3. conversational, 4. fairy tale, 5. compare/contrast, 6. show & tell, 7. letter, 8. interview and 9. stream of consciousness methods. And in case you haven’t figured it out already, our 10th method is all about how our lives add up.

Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge #10

You don’t have to be a mathematician to notice just how often numbers play a role in our real life. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a part of life where you could NOT apply numbers in some way. So today’s challenge is to share your story through the use of those numbers. The easy way out is to simply create a numbered list. That’s fine, if that’s what you’d like to do. But consider the many other ways you could use numbers to tell your story.

Just for starters, think about how much you spend on groceries in a month. Or how many days it’s been since you started that exercise program, quit smoking or gave up carbs. Do you have a lucky number? Are you counting down to a special occasion? How do all the little details of your life add up right now? Do you have someone you can count on? Do you ever have to count to 10 to regain composure? Can you name the last 5 books you read?

You get the idea. But in case you could use a little more inspiration, check out this page I put together last spring that uses numbers to paint the picture of one typical month in my life.

"Typical Month" by Kristin Rutten @ Log Your Memory

And here are a few other examples to help bring out the mathematician in you … (I know she’s in there!) …

"A Few Little Things" by JALong @ Designer Digitals

"27 Random Facts for my 27th Birthday" by renee82 @ My Scrapbook Art

"1+2" by t_a_l_i @ Oscraps

The Rules:

1. Pick a topic and create a new scrapbook page uses numbers to share your story.
2. Post that page in this album in our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge Gallery. The deadline for all Sweet Talk Challenge Layouts is midnight (MTN) on Wednesday, March 3, 2010.
3. Visit this thread in our Community Forum and link us up to your layout.
4. Once your link is verified, the above Sweet Talk award will appear in your profile and in your signature.
5. Keep an eye on this page to track our Log Your Memory Sweet Talkers!
6. Watch for the next Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge topic … make sure you don’t miss a post by subscribing to our Blog!

Subscribe in a Reader
Subscribe by Email
Subscribe by Kindle

Get the inside scoop, be the first to know about new product releases & get special discounts by subscribing to our new weekly newsletter, the Log Your Memory INSIDER. Delivered directly to your INBOX every Sunday afternoon.

Please share your thoughts in a comment below …

It was a busy weekend for our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge, with several new layouts added to our challenge gallery in the past few days. We’ve now officially passed the half-way mark in our quest to complete 14 challenges & earn the special prize that comes with it.

So far, we’ve told our stories using lists, ABCs, conversations, fairy tales, compare/contrast, show & tell and letter-writing journaling methods. Now we’re going to use another favorite tactic that reminds me of my journalism days… the Q&A style interview.

Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge #8

An interview is little more than a series of questions and answers. This could take the form of a questionnaire, with pre-determined questions followed by corresponding answers. There are entire books filled with such questionnaires created especially for this purpose, which could be used to interview your child, partner, parent … or even completed by yourself. Some have even gone so far as to “interview” inanimate objects!

An interview doesn’t have to come from a ready-made questionnaire to qualify, however. A single question could suffice … or even a conversation that followed a question/answer type format. Your application of this challenge is completely up to you. You might even consider scrapbooking your answers to one of the Memory Logbook’s questionnaires, such as the monthly check-up or a holiday, birthday or celebration worksheet.

Let’s get started with a few interesting examples …

"Conversation with my Grandpas I Barely Knew" by alice @ My Scrapbook Art

"Exclusive Interview with Livia" by paperboutique @ My Scrapbook Art

"An Interview with My Dirty Dishes" by ~Julie~ @ My Scrapbook Art

"What's Real" by Myra @ Designer Digitals

The Rules:

1. Pick a topic and create a new scrapbook page that shares your story through an interview.
2. Post that page in this album in our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge Gallery. The deadline for all Sweet Talk Challenge Layouts is midnight (MTN) on Wednesday, March 3, 2010.
3. Visit this thread in our Community Forum and link us up to your layout.
4. Once your link is verified, the above Sweet Talk award will appear in your profile and in your signature.
5. Keep an eye on this page to track our Log Your Memory Sweet Talkers!
6. Watch for the next Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge topic … make sure you don’t miss a post by subscribing to our Blog!

Subscribe in a Reader
Subscribe by Email
Subscribe by Kindle

Get the inside scoop, be the first to know about new product releases & get special discounts by subscribing to our new weekly newsletter, the Log Your Memory INSIDER. Delivered directly to your INBOX every Sunday afternoon.

Please share your thoughts in a comment below …

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend … the perfect time to share your love for scrapping through the Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge!

Now that we’ve covered lists, ABCs, conversations, fairy tales, compare/contrast and show & tell journaling, we’re going to try an approach using a skill learned long ago, but sometimes forgotten in today’s age of cell phones, Twitter, emailing and texting.

Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge #7

For this challenge, we are going to go back to the basics and quite simply, tell your story by writing a letter. This could be a letter to a spouse, your children, your parents …even to yourself. In light of Valentine’s Day, this might be the perfect excuse to write out all of those loving thoughts to your beloved. Or if you’re not in the mood, maybe you just have something to get off your chest. You might even have a letter someone has written to YOU that you’d like to remember in a scrapbook page.

By the way, if you like this style of journaling, you might want to check out this cool blog. There you’ll find a new prompt every Friday to inspire you to do more personal letter-writing, particularly if you have children.

To get yourself in the letter-writing mode, check out these bits of inspiration …

"Baby Love Letters" by nikkiARNGwife @ Sweet Shoppe Designs

"Dear Sam..." by nun69 @ Sweet Shoppe Designs

"Love Letter" by taracotta7 @ My Scrapbook Art

"A's Love Letter No. 17" by dana @ My Scrapbook Art

The Rules:

1. Pick a topic and create a new scrapbook page that shares your story through a letter.
2. Post that page in this album in our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge Gallery. The deadline for all Sweet Talk Challenge Layouts is midnight (MTN) on Wednesday, March 3, 2010.
3. Visit this thread in our Community Forum and link us up to your layout.
4. Once your link is verified, the above Sweet Talk award will appear in your profile and in your signature.
5. Keep an eye on this page to track our Log Your Memory Sweet Talkers!
6. Watch for the next Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge topic … make sure you don’t miss a post by subscribing to our Blog!

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{Pssst… You don’t want to miss this weekend’s edition of the INSIDER! There you’ll find news about our first round of 2010 Yearbook winners, a sneak peek at what’s coming up next week and an extra special coupon in honor of Valentine’s Day.}

Get the inside scoop, be the first to know about new product releases & get special discounts by subscribing to our new weekly newsletter, the Log Your Memory INSIDER. Delivered directly to your INBOX every Sunday afternoon.

Please share your thoughts in a comment below …

We’re approaching the half-way mark in our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge and our challenge gallery is just bursting with fantastic examples of scrapbook journaling methods in action! If you haven’t done so already, be sure to check it out … it will definitely inspire you to jump in and join in the fun.

We’ve tackled five types of journaling so far – lists, ABCs, conversations, fairy tales, and compare/contrast. Next we’re going to go back to our elementary school days with a little show & tell.

Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge #6

For this challenge, we are going to combine several slightly different yet very similar approaches under the umbrella of “show & tell“. This includes how-to instructions, directions, recipes and similar approaches that aim to explain how something is done.

This could be serious or sarcastic, fact or fiction, even just plain silly. You could include lots of detail, such as step-by-step instructions, or keep it simple, maybe even just using a series of photos to guide us along. As long as you use some form of “show & tell” to share your story, you’re following along with this challenge.

Here are a few examples to get you started…

"How to Be {almost} 3" by Kristin Rutten @ Log Your Memory

"Washers" by sarahbhb @ My Scrapbook Art

"Recipe for Love" by MommaTrish @ Sweet Shoppe Designs

The Rules:

1. Pick a topic and create a new scrapbook page that shares your story by telling us how .
2. Post that page in this album in our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge Gallery. The deadline for all Sweet Talk Challenge Layouts is midnight (MTN) on Wednesday, March 3, 2010.
3. Visit this thread in our Community Forum and link us up to your layout.
4. Once your link is verified, the above Sweet Talk award will appear in your profile and in your signature.
5. Keep an eye on this page to track our Log Your Memory Sweet Talkers!
6. Watch for the next Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge topic … make sure you don’t miss a post by subscribing to our Blog!

Subscribe in a Reader
Subscribe by Email
Subscribe by Kindle

Get the inside scoop, be the first to know about new product releases & get special discounts by subscribing to our new weekly newsletter, the Log Your Memory INSIDER. Delivered directly to your INBOX every Sunday afternoon.

Please share your thoughts in a comment below …

Our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge moves right along today with yet another method of journaling to test out on your scrapbook pages.

If you haven’t completed the first four challenges yet – creating a list, using the ABCs, sharing a conversation and incorporating a fairy tale – don’t worry. You have until March 3rd to get all of your layouts posted and qualify for our special prize. Just keep scrapping right along and you’ll get there!

Today we’re going to work with a method that can be interpreted many ways…

Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge #5

To compare and contrast is really just showing how two or more things relate to one another, potentially including both their similarities and their differences.

On a scrapbook page, this could take several formats. For instance, you could share the pros and cons of a particular event, circumstance, behavior, relationship or feeling. Another angle would be to take a look at two or more time periods, such as a “then and now” type scenario or a “through the years” type of comparison. The timespan could be decades … or even just minutes. Or maybe your story illustrates two sides of the same coin, so to speak.

Here are a few great examples to help get you started…

"Just Me" by clmisener @ Weeds and Wildflowers

"100 Things" by neeceebee @ My Scrapbook Art

"Traveler" by Ali Edwards @ Designer Digitals

"Then and Now" by colleenstearns @ Designer Digitals

The Rules:

1. Pick a topic and create a new scrapbook page that uses the method of compare & contrast to tell your story .
2. Post that page in this album in our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge Gallery. The deadline for all Sweet Talk Challenge Layouts is midnight (MTN) on Wednesday, March 3, 2010.
3. Visit this thread in our Community Forum and link us up to your layout.
4. Once your link is verified, the above Sweet Talk award will appear in your profile and in your signature.
5. Keep an eye on this page to track our Log Your Memory Sweet Talkers!
6. Watch for the next Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge topic … make sure you don’t miss a post by subscribing to our Blog!

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Once upon a time, there was a month full of opportunities to brush up on scrapbook journaling known as the Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge. Scrapbookers came from far and wide to try their hand at telling their stories, first using lists, then attempting the alphabet, later sharing conversations, until finally, one day, the perfect solution presented itself.

In case you hadn’t guessed, fairy tales are the name of the game today …

Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge #4

For this challenge, tell your story through the use of a fairy tale. The traditional method would be “Once upon a time…”, but any third-person storytelling will do. The story can be funny or serious, sweet or sarcastic. There can be a happy ending and a moral to the story … or not. Anything goes, as long as your page is inspired in some way by the fairy tale genre.

To get your imagination fired up, check out these fun examples of fairy tale journaling at its best…

"Two Fairies" by eryn @ Log Your Memory

"Once Upon a Time" by Dawneephay @ Designer Digitals

"Fairy Tale" by Elena @ Designer Digitals

"The Emergency Band-Aid" by quilter422 @ Designer Digitals

The Rules:

1. Pick a topic and create a new scrapbook page that tells your story through the use of a fairy tale.
2. Post that page in this album in our Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge Gallery. The deadline for all Sweet Talk Challenge Layouts is midnight (MTN) on Wednesday, March 3, 2010.
3. Visit this thread in our Community Forum and link us up to your layout.
4. Once your link is verified, the above Sweet Talk award will appear in your profile and in your signature.
5. Keep an eye on this page to track our Log Your Memory Sweet Talkers!
6. Watch for the next Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge topic … make sure you don’t miss a post by subscribing to our Blog!

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Please share your comments through our community forum…