Paint Chip Bookmarks

Flying fast and high on our ideas from Pinterest, we tried to make bookmarks out of old paint sample chips. This was a great idea to make a quick work of original art.  Some people feel pressured by a large blank canvas.  This was a simple way to illiminate the pressure. We could make intimate works of a small size that are perfect for gifts.  These should take you about 20 minutes each.

Free Tutorial

1. Don't Use Pencil:  I dove right in, drawing with pencil on the paint chips first....Don't do that.  The pencil does NOT erase from the paint chip. Start on scrap paper if you have to plan out your drawing.
2. Punch Hole First: I was so excited after my drawing was finished, I immediately hole punched and riveted it.  And SCREWED it up.  I squeezed too hard, punching through the paper.  I was mad that my drawing was useless, but I'll give that one to my kids. Lesson #2. Always draw the image AFTER you make the rivet. So I punched 10 paint chips and added the rivet first, getting them ready for drawings.  I have a rivet tool and rivets (or eyelets), mostly used in scrapbooking, that we used for the hole to put the ribbon in.

crop-a-dile brand hole punch and rivet maker

Don't draw the image first! (this one has no rivet)

3. Smeary Markers: Test your markers on an ugly paint chip for smears.  We used acid free markers, but Sharpies worked well and didn't smear.
4. Color Theory: Similiar colors work well together, blues and purples, reds and oranges.  I use black and white, too.  I also put green on green.  Test your colors on a scrap paint chip.  Some of your marker colors will look bad with the paint chips, so keep testing.  Keep in mind, your choice of paint chips are extreme, but you probably only have 10 colors of markers.
5. Too Busy: Busy designs take forever and are not conducive to my 20 minute theory.  But make a complicated one for a special friend or yourself.

Complicated as heck, took 30 minutes just to draw

6.  Easy Designs: Florals and organic shapes work very well for these.  It is harder to make a mistake and the designs come out great.
7.  Patterns: Use repeating patterns to create a design.  'Copy' a design you see everyday.  I look for patterns in strange places: fabric, woodgrain, house plants, cereal boxes, junk mail ads...

Ideas for patterns