Paint chips...

When we were under construction this summer, we had to repaint a few rooms.  We kept trying samples and deciding that they weren't quite right.  There were many trips back and forth to various paint stores.  We finally found the color we liked at our local Ace hardware.

The paint we used is by Pratt and Lambert and the color is "meerschaum."  After several failed attempts to settle on a color - including buying two gallons of the color we thought was right but turned out to be all wrong - we were happy to see that the paint was half price because this store was going to discontinue the Pratt and Lambert line.

My crafty side kicked in and I asked the manager what they would be doing with the large display of paint chips when they were finished selling this line of paint.  I didn't know whether they had to be returned to the manufacturer or if they would just be tossed in the dumpster.  The manager said the display would be discarded so I asked if it would be possible to collect the paint chips for crafty projects when they took the display down.  He took my card and said he'd call when they redid the area.

Months went by and I didn't hear anything.  Every so often I would think about the paint chips and one day, a couple of weeks ago, I peeked in to see if the display was still standing - and it was.   The very next morning, the phone rang fairly early and it was the manager calling to tell me they had removed the display and that I could have all of the chips if I would come in and collect them that day.

When I got to the store the unit was out of the paint area and just sitting on the floor.  I brought a few boxes with me and set about filling them with the leftover chips (you can see one of the large boxes in the lower left corner of this photo.

Of course I took a few photos of the empty display and I may use these to make some digital backgrounds.  These chips are not the type with three or four colors on a single card.  They are individual colors and there is a small circle that can be punched out to view two colors together. 

There are some very vibrant colors and there are also lots of neutrals that have just the slightest hint of color.  It will be fun to experiment with the colors and patterns to make some unique projects.

I planned to write about the paint chips today so it was interesting when I saw this article about paint chips and crafting on the Craft Gossip Blog Tuesday morning.  Apparently there is quite a bit of controversy and discussion over the use of paint chips for purposes other than selecting paint.

If you do a search for "paint chip crafts" you will find many, many listings.  If you haven't seen many projects done with paint chips, there is a blog post with lots of paint chip projects on the Craftionary Blog.  You can find some more paint chip projects on the Atypical Type A Blog.

Have you done any projects with paint chips?  Do you think it is wrong to take the chips from a store without asking if you intend to use them for crafts?  I am just curious - I won't judge you!

In other news - I picked up the Tim Holtz limited edition Winter Distress inks Tuesday at our local store.  I also picked up a few other things (well...maybe more than just a few).  I hope to spend a good chunk of the day in the craft room.  I need to do some organizing and then I'll try out some of my new finds.

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