Handwriting vs. Printed Journaling: Which Tells Your Story Best?

 

At Scrappingclearly we know journalling is at the heart of every scrapbook, mini album, or memory-keeping project. But when it comes to putting your thoughts on the page, there’s often a question: should you handwrite your journalling, or print it? The truth is both have their own kind of magic and knowing when to use each can make your pages truly shine.

The Charm of Handwritten Journaling

Handwriting carries personality. Every loop, slant, and imperfection tells part of your story. When you pick up a pen and write by hand, you’re adding emotion and a personal touch that no font can replicate. Handwritten journalling works especially well for:

• Emotional moments or memories that are close to your heart

• Quotes, reflections, or personal anecdotes

• Pages where you want to create a warm, intimate feel

Even if your handwriting isn’t perfect, don’t worry — it’s the authenticity that counts. Your penmanship becomes part of the design, giving your pages a unique, human touch.

The Power of Printed Journaling

Printed journalling, whether typed on a computer or using a digital template, offers a clean, crisp look. It’s perfect for:

• Long passages of text that need to be easily readable

• Layered designs, where neatness is essential

• Digital or hybrid scrapbook layouts

With printed journalling, you can experiment with fonts, colors, and sizes, giving your pages a polished, professional feel. It also allows you to mix in graphics or icons seamlessly.

Why Not Combine Both?

One of the best ways to elevate your scrapbook pages is to mix handwriting and printed journaling. For example:

• Use handwritten notes to capture intimate, heartfelt moments.

• Add printed snippets for clarity, structure, or decorative balance.

The result? Pages that are visually dynamic, authentic, and full of personality.

Final Tip: Make It Your Own

There’s no wrong way to journal. Your style should reflect you. Some days you might love the freedom of handwriting, other days the precision of printed text will win out. By combining both, you get the best of both worlds — neat design, personal touch, and a scrapbook that truly tells your story.

So grab your pens, dust off your printer, and start experimenting. Your story deserves to be told your way. 

“Girl, You already Have What it Takes” - by Lisa Oxley Curated Collective Creator 2025

This striking and unapologetically bold art journal page delivers a fierce dose of empowerment wrapped in energetic colour, pop-art motifs, and layered symbolism. Featuring a powerful central figure framed by dynamic mixed media elements, it’s a visual anthem for self-belief, confidence, and owning your brilliance.

Key Visual Elements

1. The Central Muse – Modern Power Portrait

At the heart of the composition is a sharply lit portrait of a confident, poised woman with rich skin tones and high contrast shadows. Her gaze is piercing, her style polished, and her presence undeniable.

   •   Hair & Makeup: Styled with poise and presence, enhancing her bold aura.

   •   Expression: Confident and commanding — she owns the page.

2. Rainbow Energy Circle

Encircling the figure is a radiant, messy rainbow swirl — created with vibrant paint strokes and intentional drips in electric pinks, yellows, aquas, and blues. This rainbow ring acts as both a visual halo and energetic aura, highlighting the subject’s radiance.

   •   Black drips intensify the raw emotion of the piece, grounding the color.

   •   The rainbow symbolizes strength in diversity, vibrance, and power in emotion.

3. Collage & Mixed-Media Embellishments

   •   Butterfly (Top Right): Light and symbolic of transformation — a delicate contrast to the bold palette.

   •   Glossy Lips (Bottom Right): Multiple collage-style lips hint at identity, femininity, self-expression, and voice.

   •   Gingham Washi Tape Accents: Black-and-white patterned tape adds structure and modern texture, reinforcing the graphic styling.

4. Typography & Affirmation

A red arrow points directly to the empowering quote:

This affirmation reinforces the theme of self-worth, confidence, and inner power, delivered in typewriter font for a raw, authentic feel.

Mood & Message

This page radiates self-assurance. The central figure isn’t looking for validation — she’s declaring it. Every element — from the rainbow vortex to the lips and butterfly — whispers of personal evolution and the power of self-recognition.

It’s bold. It’s beautiful. It’s about owning your worth out loud.

NOVEMBER challenges

  Welcome to our NOVEMBER 2025 Challenges!

More new challenges and new inspiration each month.

Remember, one lucky monthly winner will receive an exclusive Scrapping Clearly Prize Box, that will be filled with premium crafting supplies that will fuel their creative journey.

NOVEMBER CHALLENGES

1. Our NOVEMBER Moodboard:

This visual mood board  - be inspired by these colours, textures and themes.

For NOVEMBER, think: glamorous, geometric, sleek, linear designs, ornate

2. NOVEMBER Sketch:

A Sketch - please use the Sketch as your base design, but interpret it freely into your projects - any paper craft project can apply!

3. Weekly ATC Prompts

Every Monday, we will release a unique ATC prompt. This is a NO-SWAP ATC project. This allows you to create your own mini artworks to keep as your own project. By the end of 2025, you will have your own collection of 52 ATCs that incorporated the weekly theme or technique.

Check out this BLOG, to see the current list of  weekly ATC prompts.

SUBMISSION PROCESS

Participants must upload their completed projects into the November Prize Draw Album  in the Scrapping Clearly Share and Inspire Facebook Group.

Please load your entries to this album by the end of the month to be in the running for the Prize box. Please note: Please edit your photo caption in Facebook to give us information about your project and inspiration.

At the end of each month, one overall winner will be chosen across all three challenges, based on creativity, adherence to the challenge brief and effort and originality.

We are inspiring and creating with you all year!

And for all your Mixed Media and Paper Craft needs, make sure you head to our website at: https://scrappingclearly.com.au/

Thank you,

Amanda

On behalf of the Scrapping Clearly team

NEW RELEASE – Luckyfindings: DRACULA Collection

Something darkly beautiful has arrived... and it’s ready to sink its teeth into your creativity! 

🖤

Introducing the Dracula Foundations, Foundation Fragments, Curiosities & Snippets - a hauntingly gorgeous new collection from Luckyfindings, designed to stir your imagination and inspire your next mixed media or journaling project.

Think rich gothic tones, moody textures, vintage ephemera, and just a touch of the macabre — perfect for layering, collaging, and storytelling in your own unique style.

Available now in-store and online — but beware… these treasures won’t last long once night falls.

 

 🖤✨ Lost in the Inky Darkness ✨🖤

Guest Curated Collective Designer Rox Boyce has conjured up this hauntingly beautiful mixed media piece — perfect for spooky season inspiration!

With rich vintage tones, eerie imagery, and that unmistakable moody magic, this project captures the spirit of October — a little mischief, a touch of mystery, and plenty of inky layers.

Products from Scrappingclearly 

⚫️Tim Holtz Halloween Collage strips, Rox has added some extra water colour paints too. 

⚫️Tim Holtz Halloween sticker books 

⚫️Tim Holtz rub ons 

⚫️Tim Holtz Mini flair buttons

⚫️Tim Holtz stencil 

⚫️Prima Watercolours for extra splatters 

We’re obsessed with Rox’s use of sepia tones, subtle stitching, and perfectly placed splatters — it’s pure creative alchemy.

Channeling Flo by Tracey B

Good morning everyone

Have you found "your" style yet?

This layout has a lot of the things I love and use routinely

Lots of white space

Grungy background

Mixed media

Stencils

Layers of old and new products

Single photo

Slightly "off beat" title 

I'm always in a happy place when I create like this.

What do you do?

Products I've used include

Archival ink - Library green & Orange Blossom

stamps

Color Glow  - Andalusite, Smokey Quartz, Jadeite

Lucky Findings Foundations - Meadow Lane

49 & Market Spectrum Sherbet tidal wave rub on

Distress ink - Rusty Hinge

Chipboard buttons

Ribbon

Peg

Buttons

Fussy cut pumpkins coloured with Color Glow

Stamens

Doodlebug Alphabet Soup alphas

TFL

cheers

Trace

Everything About Her was Excotic - By Lisa Oxley - Curated Collective Creator 2025

This mixed-media layout is a stunning fusion of ornate vintage elegance and contemporary surrealism, centering on identity, mystique, and feminine beauty. Anchored by a single, unforgettable portrait and surrounded by botanical specimens and Victorian motifs, the piece evokes a sense of curated wonder and quiet strength.

Key Visual Elements

1. Central Portrait – The Exotic Muse

The focal image features a woman in ethereal blue — strikingly adorned with dramatic eye makeup, floral headpieces, and a tulle-like collar. The tone is regal, melancholic, and commanding.

   •   Her icy gaze and stylized appearance create a sense of distance and mystery.

   •   The overall colour tone of the portrait blends perfectly with the surrounding blue hues, making her feel embedded in the environment.

2. Butterfly Specimens & Ephemera

Surrounding the portrait are several cut-out butterflies, in soft blues, creams, and silvery greys — giving the sense of a vintage entomology plate or specimen wall.

   •   These butterflies symbolize transformation, fragility, and collection, reinforcing the “private collection” theme.

   •   Tags and labels such as “Private Collection Specimens” and vintage handwritten numbers enhance the natural history archive aesthetic.

3. Delft-Style Damask Wallpaper Background

The rich blue-and-white floral patterning mimics vintage ceramic or porcelain designs (think Delftware or chinoiserie) and adds a sophisticated, baroque quality to the piece.

   •   This background reinforces the sense of ornament, tradition, and heritage.

   •   The repetition of blues across both portrait and backdrop creates visual unity.

4. Metal Hardware Corners

Antique bronze photo corners frame the journal edge, further enhancing the cabinet-of-curiosity feel. These add weight, dimension, and texture — grounding the delicacy of the butterflies.

5. Caption – Emotional Anchor

The simple caption beneath the portrait reads:

“Everything about her was exotic.”

This line offers a poetic yet complex frame — suggesting a perspective of admiration, objectification, or intrigue, leaving space for viewer interpretation.

Mood & Message

This piece walks the line between beauty and documentation, as if the subject is both admired and studied — exoticized and preserved. It speaks to themes of:

   •   Feminine mystique

   •   Preservation vs. presence

   •   Beauty as rarity

   •   Strength in solitude

Perfect For:

   •   Art journaling with a botanical, vintage, or identity-based theme

   •   Mixed media lovers exploring portraiture and pattern interplay

   •   Inspiration for curating personal pages around “collections” of self or memory

   •   Artists interested in combining modern faces with vintage formats