Paint Swatch mini journal

Do you happen to have a huge stash of those yummy color swatches from the hardware store and don't know what to do with them? Well, last summer I made the cutest mini journal using them. 
First I gathered my stash of swatches, some glue, a brayer... some PVA glue used for book binding and sticking back canvas (artist trading card size). Other supplies will be listed as needed. I used a calendar for my working surface to prevent anything from getting on my table.

 I just happened to grab some elmers glue....but you can use any adhesive you think would work well. If doing today, I would probably use a UHU blue glue stick since it is a paste and not liquid and very sticky!

 Once I have selected the 2 color swatches I want back to back, I turn them over and apply the glue. Then brayer the pages together to get out any air bubbles and make a tight seal. 

 I continue to do this until the whole stash is completed. And put them off to the side to give them time to dry. 

Once dried, I then decide if I want the "Pantone" logo to be visible or under the binding. I selected to show it,since I love the added touch of black and white text.  I then make sure to tap them so they are even (like you would a deck of cards). You will need to do this several times, turning on all 4 sides. You need to make sure they are very even before applying the binding glue. 

I used a generous amount of PVA glue (purchased from Dickblick.com). It is ok if it seeps down into the pages...it will help with binding. Then I attached 2 small clips and let dry over night.
Meanwhile, while drying, I used Dylusions ink sprays and dyed the sticking back canvas. Simply sptiz the spay onto the canvas and let dry. 

After the canvas is dried, I used staz on ink in black and a stamp to create a nice graphic on the binding.

 Note to self: Make sure the ink pad is nice and juicy first...lol. This is not THE best stamped image, but ya know, it will do!  Give it a few minutes to dry, then adhere to the side where you have applied the binding glue and removed the clips. Cut to fit!  

And BAM! here is your cute and fabulous mini paint swatch journal!  I KNOW, RIGHT!

Since I had a few left over swatches, I wanted to try out which of my pens would work the best. So I started playing around with my waterbased sharpie pen in white.....my signo white gel pen....my paint pens (sharpie and montana)...my souffle pens by sakura, also my gel pens and glaze pens by sakura as well. 

 Later, I thought of trying out my small stencils and my new Distress paint daubers by Tim Holtz. Super Cute too! For the future though, I would print the swatches first, then adhere them into the journal. This way I could then use colored gel pens or white pens to journal over top of these yummy backgrounds. Just sayin'!

 Well I hope you found this tutorial helpful. It's such a great size to fit in a make up bag with some pens and put it in your purse. So the next time you are waiting @ the Dr's office....or enjoying your coffee @ Starbucks...or sitting in your car waiting for soccer practice to finish up, you'll have this little cutey to doodle in! Enjoy!