A "Thank You" Tray

Hello Hello

Hope everyone is getting close to being ready for the Holidays, only a week out...EEK!!! I am very close, the shopping part is done it's the wrapping that is now going to take me awhile. But I'm not complaining it's all apart of the Christmas season. 

So for today I was having trouble deciding what to share, I have pretty much shown all of my Christmas projects and if I haven't it's because they either:

never got finished

are way behind schedule

or canceled due to weather - 
I mean lack of motivation

So instead I've opted for sharing this with you. This is an artist tray that I made for my sister-in-law's friend, Dawn, who hooks me up over and over again with her daughter's clothes that she has out grown. I have two girls that get lots of use out of them so  talk about a money saver.
 OH MY GOODNESS!!!
I can't say that this was even enough of a 'Thank You' but I wanted her and her family to know how much I appreciate their generosity.

The tray I used is a Paper Studio's memory tray that I picked up @ Hobby Lobby. I normally use 7 Gypsies when doing an art piece like this but I liked this one because it was a good in-between size, not to small but not too big either. I also chose the bright pattern paper because with the help of my sister-in-law I was informed that Dawn had just re-decorated their home in a gray neutral with all the bright colors that have been so popular this year. 
This collection fit the bill perfectly. 

It's by Authentique and it's the Blissful collection. If you haven't ever given this paper company a go, do so - they are high quality with bright solid colors, normally double sided and so worth it. This particular pack I found at Hobby Lobby for $19.99 used a coupon for 40% off and got 48 heavy (like card-stock type) double sided sheets. Now I will also mention that they do repeat their patterns, so in this pack I only received 12 patterns (patterns are on the front sides only and then they match it with a solid color on the back but in this case they almost appear as a pattern themselves because of the distressed look) but I'm okay with that because it is only on a very rare occasion that I dislike any of the patterns. 
As for the tray it speaks for it's self. Along the top in the 3 divided spaces I just added some decorative items that one might find in a home or something that represents home.

I love flowers so hence the vase with flowers...I also love keys-one of my many collections-so of course I had to include that piece as well...then last but not least I wanted the 'family rules' to be posted for everyone to see so that there's no confusion, so that's what's in the center. 

Now as for the bottom space I had to make a decision, did I want this piece to be functional or just decorative? I chose to go with functional as well as decorative, so in the bottom space their is a photo holder. 

The way that I created it was I used the paper doilies as the decorative piece and then backed them with a piece of acetate so that you could slide a photo behind that whole element and still be able see a majority of the photo; the acetate is just a stabilizer because I knew the paper doilies wouldn't be able to stand up against the heavy photo paper. Then you'll notice along the right hand side there is a decorative label with the family's name?

...that is intended to be used as a photo tuck, to help the acetate with the top portion of the photo. And then lastly along the top of the gray pattern paper in the left hand corner there is a tiny bobby pin with a couple of white pearls, that will help with keeping the photo in it's place as well as adding interest.

What's cool is as they change out their photo from time to time, if they forget to add one back in, the piece is still decorative...it looks like 'Art'. I did a lot of distressing, I did some layering, I included some bling in a couple of spots and then of course lots of patterns with their edges inked up gives the whole piece texture. On the handle I added a sheer piece of gray ribbon and a black & white stripe ribbon and then using one of Tim Holtz's Fragments I created a charm with the family's monogram on it.

So there you have it, a one-of-a-kind art piece to display your family photo. I hope that this inspires you to try one of your own and think outside the box. I have several (more than I care to admit) of these artist trays that I intend to get done someday - my thought is to use them as vacation memories/wall art but we'll see... Maybe with the new year right around the corner I can add it to my 'to-do' list once I nail down my idea to something more concrete. If you have any suggestions or ideas, I'm all ears!

Hope you all are enjoying this Holiday season and taking time to really feel the Spirit of Christmas. Sit down and watch a couple of sappy Christmas movies, have a cup of eggnog or two, maybe go for a romantic walk in a savvy shopping district to see all the pretty windows...in other words...take time to just...ENJOY!!! 

And thanks for stopping by

just B