Five Creative Ways to Hide Your Scrapbook Journaling

Maybe you really hate your handwriting, but know you should include it for your grandchildren to look at someday. Maybe you have a lot to say, and no room in your design to accommodate it. Maybe the story you're telling on your layout is private. Sometimes, we just don't want to let it all hang out on our scrapbook pages. If that's the case, here are five easy and clever solutions to hide your journaling, but still let it be accessible to those you deem worthy.

1) Hide it behind the page. To me, this can be an obvious place to start when hiding your journaling, and it is definitely one of the easiest! You don't have to do anything additional to the page protector in your albums. Simply slide an extra piece of 12" long cardstock behind your layout, and boom, you're done! If you want the top to be visible, add a strip of foam tape along the bottom to prevent the cardstock from slipping all the way down, or add a file tab or other embellishment to the top to show where it is located. I love doing this--it is easy, quick, and I can squeeze in extra pics, too!

2) Slide it behind a photo. This look is also easily accomplished. Simply mount your photo or photo mat on dimensional adhesive. Make sure the adhesive is on the very edges of the mat, on only three sides. Then, before writing any journaling, trim your journaling block to easily slide in and out from the pocket. Don't forget to add an embellishment (sort of an X marks the spot) that provides a place to pull on the journaling block to reveal it.

3) Tuck it behind knotted ribbon. This one came about simply because I had finished the layout and realized.. Oops, no journaling! I just wanted to add a little explanation, so I trimmed a tag to slide behind the ribbon, and voila! One of my cutest hidden journaling ideas ever, and I love how it just... happened! I've used it more intentionally a few times since then.

4) Write inside an embellishment. FIle folders are perfect for this sort of thing! (Library pockets and mini albums work perfectly for this as well.) I built my title on top of the folder, which folds down and reveals the story of the layout. Another super easy trick!

5) Write inside included memorabilia. Sometimes, you may not have a fitting embellishment in your stash, but look no further than the memorabilia from the actual event. The trifold program provided a perfect spot to stash my journaling about my friend's wedding. One whole fold inside the program was blank, giving me a great canvas on which to expand on the story that the pictures told. This is another quick and easy trick I use often--I love it because I get to include something meaningful from the day, don't have to use expensive product from my stash, and don't have to worry about incorporating my journaling into the design!

Now you're ready to scurry your journaling out of sight. One last note--if you're using methods 2-4, make sure you cut a little slit in your page protector so that the journaling is accessible after the layouts are in your albums. Slide your layout into your protector, and lightly mark where the journaling would need to pull away from the page with a pencil. Remove your layout, slide in a small cutting mat, and slice on the line. Remove the cutting mat, and replace your layout. Gently work the "pull-tab" portion of the journaling through the slit if you use methods #2 or #3. If it is a folded piece like #4 or #5, you would want the portion that unfolds to be sitting outside the protector, and your slit would be along the fold. Page protectors are cheap, and this only takes a minute! And then you'll have cute, interactive pages available for a lifetime.