Hello, Friends! Are you someone who struggles with adding journaling to your memory-keeping layouts? Or maybe you love to journal but want so more inspiration on how to jazz up the white space around your journaling. Today, our Memory Keeping Team is sharing ways they like to highlight their journaling using elements from the Cocoa Daisy kits. An embellished journaling spot is April's favorite way to add her thoughts while memory keeping.¬† "I love to layer elements for journaling spots. Here, I started by mimicking the off-center piece of scrapbook paper from the Tranquility Classified: Memory Keeping Kit behind the photo. I love keeping the color theme the same across the page. Before adhering the card on the left page, I traced it and layered stamps + rub ons from the Tranquility Modern Memory Keeping Kit¬†in a way to have them dancing out behind the piece of black card stock. Once dry, I added alpha stickers from the Classified: Memory Keeping Kit and the notes sticker. I debated hand drawing journal lines (which I love and do often) but instead went with the ‚Äúfield notes‚Äù stamp from the Modern Memory Keeping Kit.¬† Lastly, added the stamps and run-ons to the top of the page. I love this spread with its green and black color combo and embellishment clusters." Evy embellished her journaling using the My Escape Collection to reflect on her recent written word adventures. "I'm so glad reading is featured in the My Escape Collection because reading is indeed one of my main sources of adventure! I decided to create a page about developing a habit of taking reading notes. I began with a piece of white paper with subtle notebook motifs on it to echo the kit elements related to reading and writing. My photo is layered over map imagery from the My Escape Memory Keeping Sticker Kit and a 4x6 card from the My Escape Modern Memory Keeping Kit. I love the tall, outline letter stamps in the Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit, and so I stamped them in the kit colors to spell out my title. I embellished the left side of the photo (love that little backpack sticker!) before working on the diagonal with additional embellishments (especially stamping) and a confetti of glitter dots and ink splatters. I grounded the page as a whole with a strip of the wonderful falling books paper and a narrower strip of the dark teal stripe, repeating both in smaller amounts under the photo. I placed a sticker about reading to the right of my photo. I then embellished my journaling area with lots of goodies from the My Escape Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit--puffy arrows, stickers, and chipboard--before handwriting the journaling. The finishing touch at the bottom was that cool open book patch included in the My Escape Classified: Memory Keeping Kit. Cocoa Daisy kit offers so many great ways to embellish journaling and create supporting story details through images and words that move across the page!" The My Escape Collection inspired this fantastic spread by Audrey. "Have you noticed that the Cocoa Daisy kits are full of journaling prompts to help jump-start your layout? When I am lost for a story I gravitate to my Cocoa Daisy kits for inspiration. Which is exactly what I did here. The die-cut "Reading List" was my starting point for this layout. I started with a simple stamped background using the stamps from the My Escape Collection and stamping them with light ink in a line down the center of my page. As a quick tip, I stamped the whole sheet multiple times as I knew it would make a perfect background. I also added strips of washi to break up the page a bit. I then focused on this cut file from my stash and used the My Escape Collection papers from the My Escape Classified: Memory Keeping Kit. and the My Escape Modern Memory Keeping Kit¬†to put it together. I specifically used the book paper as this is a story about my first quarter reading list. I just love that book paper! Finally, I ended this layout by putting my photos on the page. You will notice that my photos are black and white as I didn't want the colors to clash with the gorgeous papers! I added my title and a few enamel dots scattered around the page to make this layout pop! Books are my escape, so I know I will be using this collection over and over to document that. Cheers friends!"     We hope you are inspired to emphasize your written words with some well-placed decoration. If you are stumped on what to journal about, considering joining our Journal Challenge on Instagram! Share with us your embellished journaling by tagging @cocoa_daisy on social media or posting to the Cocoa Daisy Fan Page.

Best,

Rachel, Memory Keeping Team Blog Coordinator