Project 52: ABC Swatchbook Tips

I have a little nephew who will be three in a few weeks. He lives in Michigan, so I don’t get to see him very often. Because he’s still so young, it takes him a little while to warm up to the family when he sees us all again. We’ll all be heading to Lake Powell again in June, so I wanted to send him something to help him get familiar with the family again before he comes. I decided a swatchbook would be perfect for him—and it would work for my Project 52 layout this week.

I made it ABC-themed, and made sure each card featured a member of the family. Here are some of my favorite layouts:

This was the first time I had made a swatchbook, and I have two tips to share with you.

1. The Nursery Alphabet Letters Stamp Brushes are huge—larger than an entire swatchbook page. I took a lot of time on my first layout to get the Aa stamp brush exactly the size and position I wanted. Once it looked right, I double-clicked on it to bring up the Stamp Settings box. I wrote down the X and Y placement and the height of the letter. Then, when I added all the other letters, I just double clicked and changed the X and Y and height settings to match my letter A. It was a quick and easy way to size and place all my letter stamps.

2. Think about how you want your book to function. The swatchbook prints on the front and back of the pages, just like a photobook. So if you did the alphabet in order, A would be the first page, and you would have to turn the book all the way over to see the letter B on the back. I thought that would be difficult for a three-year-old. So, I rearranged the pages so the letters A-M would all be on the front of the cards, and then you would only have to turn the book over once, and could see N-Z on the back of the cards. So, my pages actually go A,Z,B,Y,C,X,D,W, etc. It’s a little bit confusing when you are designing, but I think the finished project will be easier for my nephew to use that way.

Do any of you have any swatchbook tips to share?

Holly Linford, Demonstrator Training

Tags: Holly Linford, Project 52

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Comment by Holly Linford on May 9, 2011 at 2:12pm: Jody--This is the first swatchbook I have done, but I can actually think of quite a few fun future projects I WANT to do with them.

I mostly think of the swatchbook as a mini-scrapbook. And I can think of a million different mini-scrapbooks that would be fun to make. We just came out with a template (last week, I think?) to make a coupon booklet with the swatchbook. It's super cute, and would make a really fun gift. I also think it would make an excellent quote book. I'd love to complile some of my favorite quotes, maybe of a specific topic, and design a swatchbook around them.

This one might sound a little funny, but I also want to make a little "emergency" book. We're big on emergency preparedness in my family, and we all have 72 hour kits. I want to make a book with everyone's contact information (phone numbers, addresses, etc.), basic first aid tips, scan in copies of my insurance cards, etc. I know it's not a very exciting idea, but I would love to have all the information in one handy place in my 72 hour kit in case of emergency, and the swatchbook is the perfect size, and it's a really good price.

Those are just the projects I have in mind at the moment. I'm sure I'll come up with others. ;-)

Comment by Yapha Mason on May 7, 2011 at 5:24pm: Brilliant idea for a swatch book! Think I might make one for my nephew's first birthday! Thanks for all of the tips!

Comment by Jody Townsend on May 6, 2011 at 3:50pm: I understand Holly's use of a swatchbook. What other uses are there? Thanks.

Comment by Holly Linford on May 2, 2011 at 10:02am: I sent my Swatchbook to print over the weekend. I learned a couple more things along the way. :-) Once I get the printed book, I'll take some photos and do another post with a few more tips.

Chris--you are correct. The SB prieview does show the back pages upsidedown. And that's actually correct. Because of the way the book is put together, the back page is upsidedown compared to the front page.

Comment by Connie Collins on May 2, 2011 at 7:28am: Wonderful idea and great tips. I haven't made my first SB yet, so now I really can't wait to try one. I love your tip on ordering the pages.

Comment by Monika Davis on May 1, 2011 at 9:05pm: Great tips Holly! I have been working on a big MDS project - and haven't been doing my project 52 pages. So I need to get back to that and catch up!

Comment by Heather Summers on May 1, 2011 at 6:05pm: Holly!!!! You are SO smart! I love this idea and will be arranging my ABC book the same way! Thank you!!

Comment by Barb Dean on May 1, 2011 at 4:59am: awesome Project Holly!!! i just had surgery so I'm hoping to spend some time with my laptop doing a little MDS'ing! Your tips are great. I used to love to do chipboard albums with paper & stamps so i think I'm going to give the swatch book a try!

Comment by Leah Fedynak on April 30, 2011 at 10:53pm: Thanks for the tip on sizing alphabet letters. I recently just discovered the stamp settings box and I have been using it more often. It will be a big help when I want all the alphabet letters the same size!