Hello, my name is Kaya-Quintana and I’m a documenting addict. Yes, I have loved documenting things since I was a young girl. I started with a diary as a kid, then I got into journaling even though I didn’t know that’s what it was called. After that blogging and vlogging became the way for me to document My True Life. Another way to document your True Life is to create a timeline journal (watch the video here).
It’s an amazingly easy way to document the wonderful, inspirational, meaningful and valuable moments that happen in your True Life. A timeline journal is also very easy to keep up with and I’d love to explain how I created this concept. Here we go! As I love documenting things, I’m also a documentary addict. I watch a lot of documentaries and true crime documentaries have a special place in my heart.
In true crime documentaries they often create a timeline, like the police does to create an overview of the crime. They draw a simple line, add pictures, dates and short snippets of text to explain what happens or who’s in a certain picture in the timeline. It doesn’t take too much time to create a timeline, but it’s very valuable if you like seeing things in a chronological order. I’m also a very visual person so a timeline helps me understand situations better.
That’s how I got the idea to create a timeline journal for My True Life. I wanted to create a timeline for all of the snapshots I took with my phone. For all of the snapshots I’m about to make in the future. Because, let’s be honest here… We often take many beautiful pictures of awesome moments on our phones, but the pictures never leave our screens. Which in my opinion is so sad because these pictures hold the memories of our True Lives.
But no more! From now on we’re taking snapshots from the screen to paper, so we can access our memories and special moments whenever we want. We can actually hold the memories in our timeline journals and show them to others. Since creating a timeline journal is pretty easy and it doesn’t take up much time, it will be something you can keep up with. Let me explain how you can create a timeline journal yourself, let’s go!
I decided to grab myself a new A5 journal. I got one in my Archer and Olive Friday the 13th mystery bundle with a moon and stars. The My True Life logo also has a moon and stars too, so this journal was the best match. Yes, you can create a timeline in a journal you’re already using. However, that journal might contain information you don’t want others to see. That’s why I choose to dedicate a new journal just to my timeline so I can show it to others without having to worry they might see things they’re not supposed to see.
I use the Canon Selphy CP1300 to print the pictures from my phone. Shop this printer on Amazon or on Bol.com. I use the Canon print and Selphy app to rearrange the pictures in collages. It helps me print smaller versions of the pictures that actually fit an A5 journal. You can play with the sizes of the pictures and create timelines with bigger pictures if you like. I personally like using two pictures per page so I can also have some space to write and decorate.
You can also edit your pictures before you print them with all sorts of apps. I like using Lightroom for all my pictures to make sure they all get the same style. To draw the actual timeline I used a Sakura Micron fineliner and a ruler. I used a fountain pen with black inkt to write the little snippets. There’s also this amazing vintage pen set from Sarasa by Zebra, that I used to write snippets with. I used this reddish color to create that vintage vibe I was looking for.
There’s many ways to decorate your timeline journal as you can see in my video. I kept it very minimal on the first page with a timeline that runs through the middle of the page. On the second set of pages I decided to create a higher timeline so I could decorate the top of the page. The decorations will change per mood, season or style that I’m feeling. It doesn’t matter if you decorate or how you do it. This is your timeline journal, make it yours!
Hopefully you like my idea to create a timeline journal. If you do, make sure to like and subscribe to my Youtube channel for more videos like this. Tag me on Instagram in pictures of your own timeline journal so I can support you and like your pictures. Let’s keep on creating our True Lives while documenting them in style, haha! Honestly, how cool is it that we can write our own history books and be the main character? I love it, haha!
Keep documenting,
Kaya-Quintana
P.S. You can find more how to articles here.
