Wednesday, January 4, 2012

paint chip art

Back in July Jessica Jones of How About Orange posted about using paint chips to make art. There are many versions of paint chip wall art but I liked her geometric triangles the best.


I decided to make one for Michael for Christmas. I grabbed a few paint chips, made a template and started cutting. My triangles looked like they were all the same size but once I started putting them together and found they were not the same size. Close but not exact. It almost looked cool but I knew the imperfections would bug me.


Enter Plan B. I grabbed a 1 1/4" square punch. Punched out a bunch of squares and sliced them in half, corner to corner. Since I only had to make one cut, all the pieces were the exact same size. Whew! The triangles were a different shape then Jessica's but I was okay with that- 'make it your own' and all that. Plus considering the size of the art I was making it was way faster than cutting by hand.


Then came the fun part, making the design. I played around with the triangles until I found a pattern I liked.  I added a second row to check if I liked how the pattern repeated.


Then I prepared my backing paper with some guidelines to keep everything straight. I sprayed the backing paper with spray adhesive and laid out the pattern, keeping the colors completely random.


This part was really quick and it wasn't long before my paper was full!


I put in in a mat and frame I already had and it was done. Michael was really pleased with it and I like that it sort of looks like a mini-quilt.

(uh, just ignore all that crap under the desk. mmm-kay?)

11 comments:

jen said...

i wonder if i can make this and count it as achieving my 2012 goal of making a quilt? i loved it when i saw it over Christmas.
i guess if i procrastinate making a quilt until december, this is always a good plan b. :)

Kathy said...

That's so clever! I love it!

Kalleen at Second Street said...

I think this is the first paint chip art I've seen that I actually like. I'm not usually a fan, but I love this. It fits the style of your home perfectly.
I was glad to hear I'm not the only one who didn't get much made this year, although it would be hard to top Sutton's house. I love your new coat. Michael did a great job.
Did you ever get your chocolates?

Kristin said...

I really love this idea. This tutorial made it feel more doable, thank you =D

Jess@craftiness is not optional said...

it looks amazing! Must. make. this. soon!

Molly said...

Love, love, love it! Sebastian's room is in dire need for art, and I think something like this will fit the bill!

Kimberellie said...

I LOVE it. Must do. soon.

teresa said...

love the artwork you did for your husband. the colors look so neat with the colorful desk chair. thanks for the tutorial.

i was so busy looking at the "mini-quilt" that i was not looking under the desk (until you mentioned it and it's no problem by me).

Gwen @ Gwenny Penny said...

You did an amazing job with this. It's beautiful!

Joy said...

Love the paint chip art! You did a great job and it looks like a very professional painting! I also remember the cool stars and stripes banner you made last summer(?) With the paint samples that was so cute!

And i like its placement above your computer, by the chair you recovered. All that stuff underneath your desk is what ALL of our houses look like, too. I like the realness!

Mara Kofoed said...

WOW - I LOVE THIS!!! What a sweet gift. I'd love to make one of these.

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