Swimming at the Lake

I think it's going to be a scrappy week here on the blog.  In fact, I'm sure of it, because a.) I have a couple of posts already scheduled and b.) I'm behind on sharing my scrapbook pages so now is a good time for that : )

Behold my latest!

I wish I'd done the "swimming at the" part a little more to the right, but I decided after I'd already stamped that part that I wanted another paw print on there so what can you do.  Maybe I'll stamp another paw print on the other side of that bit...If you look closely, you'll see that the Bordering Blue strip (I miss that color) is stamped with the fine splatter from Gorgeous Grunge, which I got when it was on sale last month and this is its maiden voyage.  Whee!

In other news, I've created a new tool for myself and I must toot my own horn here because it's GENIUS.  I made myself a color swatch book!

When I scrap, I like to try out a few colors with the photos and decide on a color combo before I drag out the 12x12 cardstock and patterned paper.  I have two file cabinets with my 8.5x11 cardstock, but the one with the retired colors is a bit wonky--it's hard to open the drawers on it because I think it got banged up in our last move.  So it's a pain to pick out retired colors, ya know?  Then I had the genius idea to get some divided page protectors and put swatches of cardstock in them.  I cut the pieces to 3 7/8" by 5 1/2" so they'd slide in and out easily, and labeled them all with a black marker on the bottom.  The only one where the label doesn't show up is Basic Black, and I'm pretty sure I could peg it as black without a label : )

I divided them up by color (reds/pinks, oranges, yellows, etc.) and then alphabetized them within the colors because I figured that was easier than trying to decide a light-to-dark order, especially since we have a zillion reds.  So now I can take out whichever swatches I think will work for a layout, and when I'm done I know exactly which color goes where to put them back.  I'm hoping this will help me use more of my retired cardstock colors, though it seems like I've been using a ton of Brilliant Blue lately.  Why do I fall in love with colors right when they retire or long after they're gone and I can't buy any more cardstock?!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Rough Type Alphabet, Big Deal Alphabet, Dream Come True (heart), non-SU paw print
Ink:  Bordering Blue, Buckaroo Blue, Riding Hood Red, Basic Black marker
Paper:  Baked Brown Sugar, Bordering Blue, Buckaroo Blue, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  None but my SAMJ to do the title