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 the title. And still I was able to allow the beautifully patterned papers to shine.

 

Storytelling
And of course, you can use journal mats and labels for your general storytelling and journaling. For the following page, I created my own label, “stapled” it onto my page, and was ready to journal away.

Labels and journal mats are easy to create (if there’s none that come with a kit), and the good news is, you are not limited to any size. You can resize them to fill up a large space on your page, or reduce them so that they only take up a small portion of your page. Either way, when using journaling mats on patterned papers, you’re sure not to lose your story as they really help drawing attention to your journaling.

Stay tuned, because next I’m planning to talk you through how you can create your own labels (such as are in popular use for Project Life right now).

You can find Part 1 (Blending) HERE.
You can find Part 2 (Brushes) HERE.
You can find Part 3 (Journal Strips) HERE.