Decoupage Tray

Several weeks ago I was asked to do a blog design for one of the sweetest women I have ever met. Her name is Vonda and she is a very talented artist who has done decorative paint finishes on furniture, walls and accessories all over the world. I was thrilled when I found out she lived right by me, AND she offered classes in furniture refinishing and decoupage right in her home. I signed up immediately and have been enjoying the company of Vonda and several other local women every week.

For the past couple of weeks I have been working on a decoupage tray. One of the other gals had an old antique tray that she had decoupaged with a lovely vase of flowers, and by the time she was finished it was truly a work of art. I had a spot in my living room that I had wanted something about 12 X 24. I had actually looked for a yard long painting, but was unable to find one in the right color scheme.

The tray would be perfect . I went to Hobby Lobby and found a frame that was just the right size. They also have some wonderful hardware so I bought two iron pulls to act as the handles. A couple of screws and they look like they belong together! I cut out a piece of Masonite to fit into the tray and sponge painted it before applying my roses.

I used Redoutes Roses. You can find a book and cd with many of his roses on Amazon.com. The book is published by Dover. I used my computer to back off the saturation a little bit so they would look a little more faded and printed several copies of each rose.

Cutting them out  is a  lot easier if you use an exacto knife for all the detail work. Then I glued everything down and did a wonderful crackle finish that Vonda taught me. I added silver leaf to the frame and antiqued the whole thing.

I love the way it turned out. If you live in the Phoenix area and want to take some of Vonda's classes,  go visit her blog and shoot her an email. She is still very new to blogging and still learning the ropes.

I'm sure she would love to make some new friends.