Paris Collage Tray

A few months ago a friend of mine gifted me these two trays she had found in her travels.  They were plain wood and she thought I could do some kind of design on them.

I had found some wonderful old documents, namely a high school diploma and a wedding certificate, and I thought they would be perfect for my trays.  

I painted the trays with Annie Sloane's Old White. The original wood finish was a bit shiny so I wiped the trays down with a deglosser and then painted with the chalk paint.  Then I decided to do a reverse mod podge technique that I have become very adept at only this time the document did not stick.  Notice in this photo the paint adhered fine to the slick finish, but my document did not.  I'm not sure why this happened, but it happened to both of the trays.

I had two choices, scrap both trays to the trash or try to turn a negative into a positive.  I got out my Maison de Stencils because even if I don't use the entire stencil, I can use an address here or a name there or a French phrase and they really add some punch to my projects.  

I still needed to fill in tiny spots here and there so I got out my Paris rubber stamps and my StayzOn ink pads and stamped anywhere I needed to fill up space for my collage look.  When I was happy with the look, I used a dark oak gel stain and then sealed it with a clear coat spray.  I trimmed out the edges of the tray with some gold paint and I love the results.

I have three layers of print starting with the documents, then the stencils and then the rubber stamps.  The stain gave it some depth and character.  I took these to the Little French Flea Market and one sold immediately.  I still have the second one, and I'm sure it will go before long too.

I just want to state on the record that I am not compensated by Maison de Stencils for promoting their stencils.  I simply like using them, and while they are somewhat expensive, they have great sales which is when I try to buy them, and if you sell your items like I do, it's nice to have a quick way to turn something plain into something magnifique.

Thanks for visiting.

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