Repurposing Old Business Cards

Do you enjoy getting organized? I love being organized, but have a very hard time staying organized...and I am not sure I would classify myself as an organized person. especially in my art studio.

I have spent this last week going through my studio space to declutter and organize it and it has felt SO good. There is something about simplifying and clearing out all of the clutter that gives a new sense of inspiration.

I tend to hit a point in the messiness of my studio where I find it hard to create because it is so chaotic and disorganized. I most often need to clean it up in order to feel inspired instead of distracted. Every time I re-organize I make a little progress in keeping the necessities and cleansing what I really don't use regularly. This always seems to clear my head and allow me to create more freely.

One of things I love doing when I am going through everything is setting aside all the old papers and canvases that have been sitting for a very long time that I know I will not continue working on and may need a fresh start.

Once I am done cleaning, I will lay them all out and give them a few good coats of gesso so they are ready and primed when I want to use them for creating.

I found some VERY old business cards and some pieces of wood along with paper and canvas this past week.

Here’s how to repurpose old business cards:

Simply lay out all the business cards on a surface (something you don’t mind getting gesso on). Take white gesso and paint a good thick layer onto your cards. Once they are dry, you are ready to go. I keep them in a pile to use as color swatches. Whenever I am painting I like to record colors that I like. It is a great way to save colors and use as inspiration for putting color palettes together.

If you want to see the process through video, head to my Instagram highlights and you can see my process under “Repurposing.”