Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve already shared various ways of how you can make your journaling shine on patterned papers. Today, I have another installment – I want to focus on the use of labels or journaling mats.   Using Labels to Draw Attention to Your Journaling   Lots of scrapbooking kits already come with pre-made blank labels and journal mats. So all you have to do, really, is just make good use of them. Journal mats are great for focusing attention on your journaling. They give the eye a place to rest on an a page that may be quite busy otherwise. They are great for various different uses. Lists You can use journal mats to create lists. Take the following page, for example: To draw attention to an otherwise boring list, I used lots of various labels to talk about my monthly favorites.   Titles & Word Art Journal mats are also great for creating titles and other word art elements. For this page, I used journal mats for both, my journaling and …

In my little mini-series of working with journaling on patterned papers, I’ve already mentioned a few strategies. But there are even more ways of how you can make your journaling stand out on  patterned papers. Another method I’ll discuss today: Creating Journaling Strips   The magic word for this solution – and one that I’ve started to use over and over on my own pages – is: Journaling Strips. You can have the wildest patterns going on on your pages, but if you use journaling strips, none of that matters. Take a look at some sample pages of mine, where I used journaling strips on patterned background papers: And this, of course, was a more recent P2D feature: The plus side of journaling strips is: They usually are really easy to create, you can use them on all sort of pages, and they usually do a really good job at drawing attention to your journaling (even on solid backgrounds).   How to Create a Journaling Strip   STEP 1 | Use the Shape Tool to …