Concord & 9th Swatch Heaven

Good morning, friends!  For the past couple of weeks I have been in Swatch Heaven, swimming in colors, and totally loving every minute of it.  Except for maybe the photographing part. That was tricky!  I was determined to keep the colors as true as I possibly could....but I digress. 

Here is a view of what I used to pull everything together and what I've been looking at the past couple weeks.  It still makes me smile. :) Concord and 9th has everything you need to pull it together.  Even the binder rings!  The Swatchbook Bundle is my new favorite thing...

Let's get started!  First up the cover.  I used the Swatchbook Stamp Set (love the big, bold letters!) as well as Hello, Lovely, which is an old favorite of mine.  These flowers stamped in the ombre color design is a nod to a favorite set of cards I made for Concord and 9th's first color release. (You can see the set here.)  To this date, it's still one of my most loved projects, and I couldn't help but sneak it in again.  It seemed fitting. :) 

Okay, I also wanted to point out my first two swatches.  (Promise I won't be so wordy later on in the post!) I love color, and lately I have been using a lot of colors together on my cards.  The Swatchbook Bundle is designed to easily created swatches of up to 6 colors - 8 with no spacing.  Lately, though, I have been using 10 or so colors on a card.  I found that if you you use the "Spacer 1" die for your color block and then the "Spacer 2" die in between, you can still create a lovely, evenly spaced color swatch with 10 colors.  Happy sigh.  

My first swatch is a bright rainbow (Fig, Dragonfruit, Clementine, Buttercup, Sprout, Clover, Oceanside, Aqua Sky, Blueberry).  The second swatch I lovingly call the "Dawn".  Dawn McVey is one of the most inspiring people I know--in art, cardmaking, faith, and just life in general.  I have loved and admired her for years!  And if you know her, you know she LOVES color (and flowers!).  One thing I love about her eye for color is that she surprises me, combining things that I wouldn't necessarily have put together.  

This swatch was inspired by this painting of Dawn's.  (Please spend some time checking out her paintings.  Your eyes and heart will thank you!) But I have seen her use this combination of colors in other paintings and cards as well. Isn't it great?!  (Poppy, Carnation, Sweet Pea, Dragonfruit, Oceanside, Aqua Sky, Parsley, Avocado, Stardust, Honeycomb)

Now for the rest of my swatches + some tips I've learned along the way scattered throughout.

Tip 1: Use the MISTI (or something with a raised edge) to easily align swatch rectangles.  I placed my swatch in the MISTI right up against the bottom and side bar.  That way I could slide the color rectangle over until it butted up against the edge.  This easily keeps the swatch alignment straight along the edge. 

Tip 2: Use (and reuse!) the spacers.  I cut three spacers in each size and reused them for all of my swatches.  They're still going strong! And they speed up the process because you don't have to take time wondering if you've spaced things evenly.  They are especially important if you choose to stamp the color names in the white spaces instead of on the color swatch.

Tip 3: If using four or fewer colors, I started my swatch at the bottom leaving the most white space at the top.  Why?  Because when you fan out your swatch book, you see the bottom of the swatches the best because there is less overlap. 

Tip 4: Don't forget, you don't have to use cardstock.  You can use the Swatchbook Stamp Set to stamp swatches.  If you are like me, you probably have more inks than cardstock colors.

Tip 5: Stamping color names on your swatch rectangles first speeds up the process.  This is especially helpful if you want to create a whole bunch of swatches at once or just have things ready to go when inspiration strikes.  That way all you have to do is grab and glue. 

Tip 6: Take note of inspiration everywhere!  For instance, the second swatch below (Honeycomb, Blueberry, Tidepool) was inspired by a child's shoe.  The fourth swatch (Spiced Cider, Juniper, Black) is from the furniture/cabinet colors in a gorgeous living room.  The last swatch was from a bouquet of flowers.  Don't forget to go back and swatch color combos that you've used and loved before.

A note: The middle swatch below (Tidepool, Juniper, Cayenne, Nectar, and Nutmeg) has the most beautiful earthy colors, but try as I may I could not get it to photograph well. The Cayenne looks too red here.  If you purchase one of the cardstock bundles or ink bundles, pretty please put those colors next to each other, so you can see for yourself.  :) Thanks!  

Bonus Tip: If you like to use dark card bases, consider cutting a few of your swatches in black (or another favorite dark color), so you can see how the colors will look with a darker base. 

 

Thanks for sticking with me!  I hope this post has been helpful to you.  You can pick up the Swatchbook Stamp Set  + Dies and all the gorgeous new inks and cardstock over at Concord and 9th now!