luckypennylove: letterpress tray redo

1.29.2013

Declutter (Part 3)

Hello.

I wanted to share my latest improvement to my studio area. See part 1 and part 2.

It's not really a declutter post. But now that I cleaned up most of my studio, I get to move on to the fun stuff. Making it pretty.

Back in early December, I bought a bunch of prints at the Mill Festival of the Arts. Mark and I had picked them out together, and we had intended to hang them up in our bedroom. But instead, I stole them for my studio. Yeah, I do stuff like that. (Art by Urban Octopus.)

I couldn't decide if I wanted to frame them or hang them as is. Finally, I decided to just hang them up with some tape, and live with them for a few days/weeks. Then, if I wasn't happy, I could head over to Ikea and buy some frames. Turns out, the moment I hung them up and tweaked them a bit (the arrangement), I fell in love with the simple frame less display.

Plus, since I didn't spend a lot of money, I won't have to feel guilty if I buy something new to hang there. Sometimes I just like to change things up a bit.

I also redid the book page mirror. It was looking a little squished from the move, so I removed all the creased and flattened pages, then rolled them again and started gluing. I also tried to finish off the mirror edge of the pages by picking out a strip of fabric, twisting it, and hot-gluing it down. It's not perfect yet, but much better. And who knows, perhaps one day I will pull it off the wall and change it up a bit again. Until I get it just right.

I started using my calendar that I bought at back to school time. I use it for blog posting schedules. I write ideas on the board, then once I get the post all ready, I add a yellow sticky note. It's something I've been wanting to try for a while, but with all that hot mess surrounding the area before, it just never happened.

Finally, I redid my letterpress tray. You can see more info about that project here.

I still have space to add more artwork. I've been seeing lots of free printables out there. And I've been toying with the idea of adding some clipboards, keeping with the idea of quick changing art.

Hope you enjoyed. Next up, working on that pile of old photos on the corner of my desk......

Do you have a project you've been working on? Does clutter pile up in your home too? You could share with me by leaving a comment. If you want to.

1.26.2013

Letterpress Tray Redo

Hi there peeps.

A year ago I bought an antique letterpress tray. And it sat on my dining room table for 6 months (old house).

Then we moved, and I swore it would not sit on a table for 6 more months. So, I hung it on the wall in my bedroom.

And stared at it. And stared some more. I knew I wanted to alter it, but how?

Paint it? Add colored paper? Use it to store jewelry? Add photos? So many choices.

Well, I finally decided it was time to do something. I love the tray, and I need to make it mine!

So, I decided to go for the paint. And not just 1 color, but rainbow colors.

First I painted a base coat of cream on the entire front surface. This took longer than I expected! But I wanted the colors to pop.

Then I chose rainbow paint colors and painted the bottoms of each slot. I added some walnut brown stain on top of the tan edges. I wanted it to be darker and not so perfect looking and to blend in better with the original brown sides.

Now the fun could begin! I just started to add random things. I bought a few items specifically for this project, but I really didn't need to. I had so many things already. I just opened drawers and picked out things that I love.

That's when I noticed some themes emerging. Cameras, travel, love, keys.

I really love the way it turned out! Not what I thought when I bought the tray that day in Boston.....

But better!