Dual journaling

Have you ever told a story from two perspectives? Dual journaling is a fun and meaningful technique that brings more depth — and often a bit of humor — to your scrapbook pages. Instead of just documenting your thoughts, you also imagine what someone else in the story might be thinking. This approach adds personality and makes your layout feel more dynamic and interactive. It’s perfect for pet stories, but also works beautifully for documenting moments between a parent and child, two friends, or even your past and present self. You can keep it playful or make it deeply emotional — there’s room for both. Visually, it’s also fun to explore: think speech bubbles, side-by-side journaling, or handwritten notes in different colors. Readers will love hearing both sides of the story, and it creates a layout that feels truly personal. Today I’ll show you how quick and easy it is to use this technique in your TN spread.

Last month my cat Garfield lost his first tooth. Well, he’s already 10 years old, so I know I need to be prepared for all kinds of surprises as he gets older. Still, it was a bit of a shock — and definitely one of those "real life" moments that deserved a place in my scrapbook. I decided to document our visit to the vet and create a new spread for my 2025 album. As I thought about how to tell the story, the idea of using dual journaling felt absolutely perfect. Because let’s be honest — Garfield definitely has something to say about what happened that day. From the car ride (which he hates) to the vet poking around in his mouth, I’m sure he has some very strong opinions! Adding his imagined voice to the page made the layout more personal, more playful, and honestly, way more fun to create.

In the top half of the spread, I mirrored the composition to maintain balance: I placed another photo of Garfield on the right and a text card on the left. It felt a bit unusual to describe the vet visit from the perspective of the «victim», but imagining how my poor cat might have felt during the experience came surprisingly easily. Here’s what the journaling says: «I hate vet visits! First, you get stuffed into a tiny carrier, then some stranger with a weird smell touches you all over, and in the end — they steal your tooth! So what if it was rotted to the root, blackened, and constantly bleeding? It only hurt a little! But my cat-mom said it had to be done. And you don’t argue with moms. It felt like an eternity passed before we finally got back home».

I used a different font for this part of the journaling to visually separate my voice from Garfield’s imagined thoughts — it adds clarity and a playful contrast to the page. I also used a colored background behind Garfield’s text to draw more attention to it.

Once both halves of the spread were ready, I printed them on my home printer. For the top half, I used large letter stamps to create the title «Tooth Gone», added a simple word stamp, and finished it off with a couple of small decorative elements. On the bottom, I completed the layout with a single word strip.

This spread turned out to be one of my favorites — not just because of the story itself, but because of how much personality it captures. Using dual journaling gave me the chance to document not only the facts, but also the feelings (both real and imagined!). It made the process more playful and helped me connect even deeper with the memory. If you’ve never tried this technique before, I highly recommend giving it a go — it’s perfect for pet stories, kids, or any moment with two points of view. You might be surprised by how much it adds to your layout. And most importantly, don’t forget to have fun with it!

PRODUCTS I USED IN THIS TUTORIAL