#177 Create Paint Chip Art

I wish I could remember where it was that the piece I saw online was that inspired me to create this art piece for my husband for a Christmas present. And since I couldn't remember where I saw it, I had to come up with my own idea of how it should look and how to make it.

Honestly, I thought this would be a simple piece to create but it turned out to be a thorn in my side.

The supplies I used were:

* 9 pieces of paint chip samples

* 16x20 stretched canvas

* blue painter's tape

* leftover glue

* leftover wood stain

* an old rag

* leftover spray laquer

I bought the canvas from Michael's craft store & used a 20% off coupon. The paint chip samples came from Lowe's and I trimmed them square so that there was no words showing and of course these are free in the paint department.

After trimming up the paint chip samples, I glued them to the canvas. The problem was that the paper samples curled up on the sides.I tried 2 different times of gluing them down and putting objects on top to keep them flat. It did not work. Then I used blue painter's tape across all the edges to keep them down. This worked pretty well, but I did have to apply another bit of glue on the very edge and tape down a second time.

After the squares were glued flat to the canvas, I rubbed leftover wood stain over the entire canvas & squares. Then I rubbed some of the stain off the squares so more colored showed through.

Finally, after the stain was dried, I applied 2 coats of spray lacquer (letting them dry in between).

So, this was my attempt at a Christmas gift for my husband and I think it turned out pretty good. I made it for him to display in his home office. It's hard to come up with ideas to make gifts for guys, but he seemed to appreciate this one, as well as the hat I knit for him with the Knifty Knitter.