Hello friends! Elizabeth here from @thejoyfulsojourn on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, to share my latest love: swatch-booking! If you’re a stationery enthusiast, this project is for you! 

 

If you’re like me, you have a growing collection of notebooks, pens, inks, and stamps, and it can be difficult to decide what to use or remember what you have. You might also be looking for something creative to do, but no planning, listing, or projects are catching your fancy. Creating a swatchbook out of your supplies is not only functional (no more forgetting if you already bought that stamp set), but it’s a fun and relaxing experience as well.

 

 

Let’s first pick out a notebook you’ve been hoarding because it’s “too pretty to use”! I went with a B5-sized Archer & Olive because it’ll easily accommodate stamp sets that are larger in size, and the paper works well with all different types of inks. If you have an A5 notebook that needs love, that would do just fine as well – most stamp sets from Cocoa Daisy’s monthly stamp subscription will fit perfectly on an A5 page.

 

Now let’s decorate the first page, our cover page! I LOVE the Chapters of September Collection; it feels season-less to me, which is what I was hoping for with this book. I took a piece of cardstock from the Chapters of September Deluxe Journaling Kit, ripped it in half, and flipped one half over so I had “two sides of the same coin”. The papers in the Chapters of September Deluxe Journaling Kit are so nice because they’re double-sided with different prints, but they coordinate so well!

 

 

I partially glued down the first piece at the top of the page, leaving it loose along the bottom. I then partially glued the second piece from the bottom up, leaving it loose along the top, making sure to start lower down so there would be a gap in the middle of the page where there was no scrap paper.

 

This is where things get fun and pretty! I took the die-cut stickers from the deluxe journaling kit and nestled them between the two pieces of ripped paper. Some are peek-a-booing from under both papers, and some are coming out over the top. I LOVE the way this turned out, and I plan on replicating the look in other projects. Ripped papers and peek-a-boo stickers are the cutest! The last step is just titling the page, and I used stamp alphas to spell out “Stamp Swatchbook”. Whatever your swatch book is for, label it so!

 

 

Moving to the inside, it’s time to set up our index! Here I cut a strip off of the full-sheet transparent sticker from the Chapters of September Deluxe Journaling Kit, turned it horizontally, and laid it down like a washi tape header along the top. I used the alpha stickers for my headers. On this page I’ll keep a running log of what is stamped inside. “pg” for page number it can be found on, “set” for the name of the stamp set, and “type” for what kind of stamp set it is (ie, functional, alphas, numbers, deco, quotes, etc). Your index can include whatever information you think is relevant. For example, if you wanted to make a pen swatch book instead, your index titles may be “brand”, “type”, and/or “colorway”.

 

 

Because my swatchbook is for stamps, I created categories based on how I use my stamps, and spaced out the book with tab dividers. It’s a gamble doing it this way, but I really like seeing my collection by type, and I made educated guesses for how many pages I wanted to grow into with each category. This is an excellent use for the tabs you receive across Cocoa Daisy kits! I used the small tabs from the Chapters of September Creative Kit to label my categories: “numbers”, “calendar”, “alphas”, “deco/quotes”. I’ll be adding to this list soon!

 

I hope this project encourages you to get organized, to keep an inventory of your supplies, and inspires you to get creative! This is one of FIVE swatchbooks I keep, and they’ve been such a great addition to my craft space and process.

 

Share with us by tagging @cocoa_daisy on social media or posting to the Cocoa Daisy Fan Page. Make sure to visit our Pinterest page and the Cocoa Daisy YouTube Channel for more inspiration.