Paint Chip Books

All the visits we've been making to the home improvement and big box stores for post-Irma stuff has allowed me to collect some paint chips to use for story palettes. Okay, I admit, I just like looking at the paint chips. There's something mesmerizing about all those colors and pamphlets and decorator photos that makes me want to redo every room in the house (even my office, which is already painted with my favorite shade of sea glass.) I also pay close attention to the color names, as they often use unusual nouns and adjectives for them -- something I can always use when writing Yet Another Blue-eyed Character.

Sure, I know what you're thinking: how hard can it be to describe blue eyes? On average I have at least two blue-eyed characters in every novel I write. Since I like blue eyes, often more than two. Times 67 novels. Try describing blue eyes differently at least one hundred and thirty-four times, then come sneer at my paint chips.

On my last visit to Lowe's I noticed that Olympic and Valspar had put out some chip cards I hadn't before seen. Olympic now pairs some photos with the paint chips on their cards (top middle of the pic here), while Valspar has trio sets of colors with little windows in them (top right.) Wal-Mart also had large sheet-style paint chips that were self-adhesive to stick on the wall and preview what the paint would look like (bottom middle.)

I collected samples of everything I liked (and I am planning to redo the guest bathroom, so I chose colors I'd like to try in that room) and brought them home to have some fun. Since I made some notepads out of paint chips earlier this month I thought I might see what I could make out of this batch. Olympic's photo paint chip cards have lots of lovely, serene images on them so I started with them.



These would be great for easy-to-make bookmarks if you cut off the paint chips and glued the strip of images to scrapbook or heavier-weight craft paper, but I was a bit more ambitious. First I trimmed the cards to separate the images from the paint chips, and then glue-sticked the image strips in four rows on a sheet of old card stock from the paper recycling bin.

Stacking them together in harmonious colors created a collage effect that I liked a lot:



For the first collage page I unearthed an ancient pack of computer stationery and a torn book board from my recycle bin and trimmed them down, punched holes in them and fastened them together with two binder rings. Now I have a bigger notebook for my desk, which I actually needed, with paper that is nice enough to use for correspondence. With the support of the book board backing I can also use it while I'm walking around the house and muttering to myself as I work out a scene.

For the second collage page I cut in half some 140lb. coldpress watercolor paper left over from the kids' school days, and used the same hole punch/binder ring approach to making myself a nice-sized watercolor journal.



For the windowed paint chip cards I settled on making some smash books to store swatches of fabric from my quilt projects. I took the paint squares I trimmed from the Photo cards and glued them over the windows from the back, then cut some old 12 X 12 scrapbook paper into six 4" X 5-1/2" pages. After holepunching everything I used a knotted piece of scrap ribbon as the binding:

While all the materials I used to make these are all recycled the end result turned out like something you'd purchase from that fussy journal section in big book stores. These two pain chip books were also easy and simple enough for kids to make, although I'd recommend adult supervision if they use a paper trimmer, scissors or any other sharp-edged objects.

If you're interested in doing something else with your paint chips, BrokeandHealthy.com has 50 projects here. I like ChicaandJo.com's paint chip mosaic greeting cards -- you could easily do these in holiday colors.

Have you done anything interesting with paint chips? Let us know in comments.

ACEing Your Story Colors

I tagged along with my guy when he took a trip to ACE Hardware recently, and found some excellent (and free!) color charts in their paint department:



The charts are for ACE's Colors for Your Life interior paint, but what's interesting is how they put together the palettes. Each folder is named with a theme word, and I picked up the charts for Charming, Classic, Cozy, Historic, Organic, Playful, Progressive, Romantic, Serene, Sophisticated, Tranquil and Worldly. Inside the tri-fold pages are 48 different colors to represent the theme word, but they're further subdivided into different moods:



This chart, themed as Charming offered combinations of nine different shades with sub headers of Cheerful, Alluring, Fresh and Blissful. There were also other combinations on the right side foldout page to give you some alternative colors and grouping ideas for your Charming palette.

I really liked the Tranquil chart, which offered Relaxing, Spiritual, Dreamy and Peaceful shades of the sort of sea and sand colors I like best:



The Progressive chart had an interesting mix of bold and soft colors subheaded by Complex, Edgy, Confident and Trendy:



Some of the individual shade names were quite inventive, too. I responded immediately to Crystal Lake, Peace River, Moongrass, Prince's Robe and Mysterious Monique, which along with their particular shades almost begged to be written into a story.

I've talked about how to use color palettes to inspire characters and story elements, and you can find paint charts at any home improvement store. I think ACE Paint charts could be especially helpful to writers who want to try working with color palettes for their stories but aren't quite sure how to put them together. While I don't agree with all of ACE Paint's ideas on color themes -- the Romantic chart, for example, relied heavily on pink, a color which immediately invokes for me Barbie, breast cancer, cover art disasters and/or indigestion -- most of the groupings do fit the theme. Some may even surprise you.

For those of you who want to refine the visual aspects of your settings, each of the ACE paint color charts also show at least two room shots with examples of how an individual shade or a group palette works in an actual setting to invoke the theme mood.
The next time you're at ACE Hardware, stop by their paint department and pick up some charts, and see how they inspire you to create some new color palettes for your stories.

Signature Colors for Characters

While I was reading the April/May 2012 issue of Quilting Arts magazine I was tempted by their reader challenge to create a "signature color" piece. Making an interesting monochromatic quilt takes some imagination, especially if your signature color is dark like mine (violet), but it wouldn't be a challenge if it were easy.

I like building color palettes for my characters, and color also plays a major role in my storytelling, so I wondered if any of my characters have a signature color. Jayr from Evermore came immediately to mind; I used bronze and violet and tangerine in her color palette, and when it came time to suggest a color theme for her novel's cover art I went with violet because it was my favorite of the three. Violet is definitely Jayr's color. Green played an integral part in building Gabriel's character in Night Lost, as did scarlet when I put together Lucan's world in Dark Need. I never consciously picked out one color for signature purposes but I often gravitated toward one in the process of telling the story. Certain shades of the same color can be used for very different characters who share the same connection, which is probably why royal blue will always remind me of Valentin Jaus while ice blue makes me think of Thierry Durand.

You don't have to pick out a signature color for your characters, of course, but if the idea intrigues you then you can almost let the character make the choice for you. A happy-go-lucky soul is probably not going to have black as their signature color, just as a dark and brooding type would likely not surround themselves in sunshine yellow (maybe if they were being tortured.) Colors have associations for all of us, so let the character's personality and preferences guide you. Also keep in mind that colors can be like armor, and the colors we show the world are not necessarily the colors we use in private. A goth who always wears black and projects a tough image might have a home bedecked in pink velvet and poufy white lace, as I discovered when I was writing Nightbred and got to know Christian Lang.

Color doesn't have to be the character's signature, either. I've used signature scents for all my Darkyn characters, for example, and signature tattoos for all my Kyndred people. Signature = symbol, so the possibilities are really endless.