Just as you may guess, a paint chip is a sheet of colored samples used to determine what color you want in home decor or painting projects. These colorful selections are usually found in the hardware store in the paint section. Each strip of paper usually has from 3 to 6 color samples on it in one color family. Some paint chips have the wording identifying the color name and code number written on the front. Some paint chips have this info on the back where it is not as obtrusive. You can use either kind of chip in the projects detailed here depending on your own preferences. And did we mention that they are usually FREE and come in a rainbow of color schemes?

Testing with an acid testing pen shows that some are and some are not. Admittedly these were not designed for archival scrapbooking by their creators. But we can use them in our books if we take a few precautions:

-- Test them with the testing pen.
-- Use them on fun layouts or projects that are not 'essential' or meant to be kept forever. Paint chips will last at least 15 years.
-- Use them with photos you have duplicates for and just want to create with.
-- Take away the worries, spray them with Archival Mist preservative.
-- Use them away from photos.
-- Use them in conjunction with buffered papers.

• Punch them into shapes: Apple green, cherry red, school bus yellow. Let the names of the paint colors give you a few hints on which shapes would be appropriate. Snow is particularly lovely in shades of white and light blue. The slight gloss on the paint chips adds a reflective quality. My personal favorites are bold simple flowers, classic rectangles, circles, and squares and tags. But you can get as creative with your punches as you like.
• Make faces: Paint strip chips come in many varieties of skin tones and make wonderfully diverse Punch art faces! This is a great resource for layouts where you want ethnic variety. This would be a great school border or teacher's page.
• Cut them in strips: Create monochromatic strips by cutting a longer paint chip strip in half. Now you have two strips with those 6 colors! You can weave several of them into a mat or simply use them as is.
• Use them as whole squares: Keep the whole strip together and use it to mat a photo or page accent, underlay a serendipity square, or add color to a greeting card as a side border. Trim the two corners off the top and add a small hole punch and you have a nice long tag.
• Add writing: Add a quote, journaling, dates, or other wording with a Slick Writer pen. These seem to work best because of the semi glossy finish on the paint chip surface. Place the wording horizontally across the whole paint chip or place one word inside each color rectangle for added impact. You can also journal on vellum, use that vellum as an overlay, and the colors will still show through.

         
PUNCHIES                             STRIPS                        FACES

    
WRITING                                               SQUARES

• Frames
• Borders
• Tags 
• Accents
• Page corners
• Journal boxes
• Pockets for tags, photos, or journaling
• Greeting Cards

There are some titles and quotes that just seem custom made for this kind of accent. Here are a few I have come up with to help you on your way to a finished page.

• You Color My World
• In Living Color
• Everyone loves a Rainbow
• Color You Beautiful
• A Colorful Combination
• Shades of Springtime
• Your True Colors Shining Through
• Fall Colors
• Art is just a pigment of your imagination. (Tony Follari)
• The truly wise person is colorblind. (Albert Schweitzer, 1875 - 1965)
• The courage to imagine the otherwise is our greatest resource, adding color and suspense to all our life. (Daniel Boorstin)
• Religion is a candle inside a multicolored lantern. Everyone looks through a particular color, but the candle is always there. (Mohammed Neguib)
• Colors fade, temples crumble, empires fall, but wise words endure. (Edward Thorndike)
• The only faith that wears well and holds its color in all weathers, is that which is woven of conviction and set with the sharp mordant of experience. (James Russell Lowell 1819–1891)
• The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. (Helen Keller)
• I have deep faith that the principle of the universe will be beautiful and simple. (Albert Einstein)
• Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, But beautiful old people are works of art. (Eleanor Roosevelt)
• Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections.
• Every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. (Pablo Picasso)

Happy Scrapping!