Donna's Halloween Printer's Tray

Featured Artist: Donna "Meme"
Blog Post: Meme's Art Place
Location: Blaine, Minnesota, United States



I am on the design team for Oh, Alice!, where the weekly challenges are derived from Alice in Wonderland. You can imagine how thrilled I was when Donna, a.k.a. Meme, agreed to be the October guest designer! This meant she was unable to escape my pleading and whining to show some of her stuff on The Altered Alice!  Take a look:

Click to enlarge

Donna started with one of the 7 Gypsies printer's trays and the Graphic 45 Hallowe'en in Wonderland paper collection. She mixed that with a healthy shot of Tim Holtz ideaology goodes and the results are incredible!

There are so many things that I love about this, but two of my favorites are in opposite corners. In the lower right corner, the clear filmstrip tape adds a great 3D shiny element as it rolls away and back towards the back of the cubby; in the upper left corner, the oversized shiny bottlecap acts as a mirror. Anyone looking at this piece in person would see themselves reflected from inside this art piece, with the work "Imagine" above their face; the viewer becomes part of the art. One more thing that appeals tremendously is the way Donna has broken the boundaries of the little cubbyholes by having Alice and the Cheshire Cat straddling the dividers!  Art is all about breaking boundaries, isn't it? 

You can see many more photos on Donna's blog post about this wonderful tray!

I wanted to show you one more item from Donna. We had a teabag folding challenge on Oh, Alice! and I really loved Donna's entry using these same Graphic 45 papers, combined with a wonderfully coordinated origami paper:

Isn't it wonderful? The eye is pleased no matter where it travels on this card. Such a delightful mix of things; The diagonal text background and multicolored band provide strong striped elements. The punch of the black polka dotted band and word frightful help to ground the brighter colors in the card. The rich blue and green of the origami paper are reflected in the striped pattern and the mat.  The composition is also interesting; The Mad Hatter is looking towards Alice, but Alice is looking away. We don't know what has captured her gaze and this moves our eyes outside the boundaries of the card.  Just lovely!  Not to mention great teabag folding!

Be sure to visit Donna's blog, Meme's Art Place, you will be truly inspired by what you find there!  Be sure to leave her a comment about these wonderful projects! You can read about the printer's tray here and the teabag folding card here.  I have one more Halloween project from Donna that I'll share later this month!

And please remember to leave a comment here before you go to leave Donna some love; your comments are what make this effort worthwhile! :-)