Swatches!

I don't know how many times I've gone to Hobby Lobby or Michael's and bought supplies like punches and inks then come home to discover that I have the exact same thing! Let's be honest, I have WAY too much stuff in my stash.

Here is what I've come up with to help make sure I don't come home with items I already have. I had bought a package of blank bookmarks with intentions of doing something with them. Turns out they are super thin and not good at all for a bookmark.

So...instead I decided to make swatches out of them. I punched holes at the tops and strung them through a 1" binder ring. I have one set with all of my ink colors/Mr. Huey/Glimmer Mist colors along with a sample of each of my embossing folders. The other ring has things like my stickles, perfect pearls, liquid pearls, and samples of my punches and edge punches.

I. Love. Them. And I coated them with clear packing tape so they are super durable AND waterproof (well, sort of). I'm not actually going to test them to see if they are waterproof. I keep them in my purse if I know I'll be going to the craft store. Otherwise they sit on my craft desk and serve as an easy reference without me either 1) forgetting what I have and 2) not having to go digging around in my stuff to find something I may or may not have.

Wanna see???

Then I thought it would be a good idea to do the same with all of my stamps...and I did. I'm just too embarrassed to show you the insane amount of stamps I have :)