A few years back, 7Gypsies released a line of “Artist Printer’s Trays” that held 9 Artist Trading Cards. They were super cool, but at $25-$30 a pop, it was difficult to justify buying 217 of them, which is a minimally exaggerated version of the number I wanted to own.
On a trip to Michaels recently, I discovered that if you don’t mind having a cheap balsa-wood imitation of this tray, you can get it for under $10 – and if you have a coupon, it’s almost like you’re stealing. Once you have it, of course, you can then customize it to fit the decor in your room, the collection of cards you want to display, the banana pepper shake you had with dinner – whatever!
I decided to fill this one with nine ATCs by one single phenomenally talented artist, a woman named Carolyn who enjoys a lot of the same geeky things I enjoy, like Farscape, Stargate: Atlantis, and Star Trek. What I love about the harlequin pattern I painted on the tray is that from across the room, when I’m sitting on the futon and the light is right, the shadowbox looks dimensional, as if the white boxes were popping out and the black boxes were receding.
All that for under $10!
3 Comments
sarah · September 2, 2014 at 3:11 pm
It looks amazing! I love my 7 Gypsies tray, so I'm happy to know there's a cheaper option (cause them bitches are expensive)
AnnDAngelo · September 2, 2014 at 10:25 pm
Right?! I almost squeaked in Michaels when I saw them because I was so darn excited.
I also almost bought one for you, but if ever something were cheap enough to be damaged in the mail, this tray is it, for sure.
SalScheibe · September 3, 2014 at 8:50 am
Cool project! I'm always looking for new ATC displays. I'll have to check out Michaels.
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