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Open Road
Find Your Voice!
Stacey Michaud
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When thinking about the open road, images of driving in a convertible with the top down pop into my head. Picture the wind blowing in your hair and having that moment where you take a deep breath and just feel! In that moment, you reflect, allowing your mind to wander free. If you listen intently, you can hear your inner voice. The Open Road was chosen as the name of this column purposefully and symbolically. The goal is to help you bring feeling and description onto your pages through the art of journaling. Wouldn’t it be great to use a voice that is uniquely yours to capture and record the stories behind the photos?
Most follow basic steps when designing a layout. You have the right photographs, choose colors and embellishments, and brainstorm the perfect title. Many people stop right there, leaving the journaling out. Writing can be scary as you flashback to your college essay days! So how can you journal with enthusiasm? The first step may be to recognize the importance of journaling. Let’s face it: our long-term memory will start to fail us one day. Journaling allows you to record the little details and feelings that you may forget over time. The words and story give a layout a context and allows others to understand why you documented that particular moment. By journaling, you can record the time, place, purpose and meaning shown in your pictures. In essence, your words will make your photographs come to life!
Janneke’s layout is a perfect example of giving a photograph context. Without the story, you would just see a very adorable photo. With it, the layout becomes powerful and inspirational.
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Design notes: I kept the
layout of this page very simple (even for me)
because I think the photo tells who my son is and I
did not want to take anything away from it. I love
it that while I was taking photos he kept playing
with the rocks and sand.
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Content by Janneke Smit. Supplies: Paper: Mind's Eye, Scenic Route, Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, Stamps: My Sentiments Exactly, Ink: Rubber Stampede, Pen: ZIG, Font: Blink Janneke Style, Other:
staples.
Journaling: The moment
we go outside to play you run to the hillside and
start "breaking the mountain" as you call it, hours
at a time if we let you. You use your fingers or
things like small branches or sand toys to dig into
the layered rock, causing it to break into small
pieces which rain onto the ground. Some people tell
me you do that because you are stimulating your
senses or soothing yourself, but I just shrug my
shoulders. You do it because you LIKE it. Some
people ask if I read every book, article and website
about autism, so I can understand you better. But I
don't. I do not feel the need to label all your
behaviors and place them in the correct "boxes". It
does not matter to me if you do something because
you have autism or not. You do it because you are
YOU. My dear Darren, I hope you will always do
things that make you happy and refuse to let people
put you or your behavior in a "box" because that is
more convenient for them. Be YOU.
Most of us create scrapbooks as keepsakes for our family members. The hope is that the albums will be enjoyed long after we are gone. Journaling, whether fact-based or heartfelt, allows family members to enjoy your pages for generations to come. Because the writing is in your voice, friends and family members will gain insight into you, knowing what you considered to be important, funny, upsetting, and interesting. If you capture your subjects’ personalities with journaling, you are communicating your feelings about them. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful gift to leave to the ones you love?
When people look at this layout without reading the words, it seems random that I would capture these images. But when you read, it makes sense. Others will gain an inside view at what is important to me.
Reflecting on Me by Stacey Michaud. Supplies: Paper: My Mind’s Eye, Creative Imaginations, Chipboard Swirl: Fancy Pants, Acrylic Border: My Mind’s Eye, Transparency: Hambly, Stickers: BasicGrey, Chipboard Letters: Heidi Swapp, Paint: Delta, Glitter: Tim Ranger.
Journaling: What is my
passion in life? My first answer--family. Everything
I do is for my family. Everything including making
sure that I am in a good place. See, I am a person
with many sides and some issues. A person with
changing emotions, particularly when stressed. With
that, I need to work on me to be the best I can for
my family. How do I accomplish this? I hold tight to
my other passion. I journal, I reflect, I write. It
used to be that those little notebooks with the
pretty covers were the vehicle. I filled up volumes
and it was my therapy during a rough time. I am
grateful for all the words I wrote. Those words &
that journey helped prepare me to be a wife and
mother. At least once a year, I read and remember.
Then I accept, forgive & appreciate. Today life is
good. I don’t keep a traditional journal now. All
the happiness keeps me busy. But there is still work
to be done on me (there’s the reflective side
again). Instead of filling up a new journal, I
scrapbook. I use pictures, embellishments, and
patterned paper as my vehicle. Mostly I record and I
reflect, find the right title and words. Words
remain powerful & writing stills makes me grow &
learn. It is an act I will never go without. These
days, that 12 X 12 album is my journal, my place to
accept, forgive & forget my missteps. My place to
appreciate.
Design notes: I
left the entire vertical space on the right open
knowing that I wanted expand my writing through
details and examples. I drew inspiration for my text
by considering the photos I chose to use.
After having an appreciation
for the need for journaling, we get to the hard
part--getting started. Head on to the next
page for some helpful hints.
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