I have a grand seasonal ledge to display all sorts of artwork, be it seasonal or personal right as you enter through my front door.  My friends always comment on what a great way to display kids artwork, my personal artwork as well as treasures.  This past summer one of our favorite family treasures our oak tree of four**** years was struck my lightening and came to it's sad demise.  I decided to keep a variety of leaves and press them in to a book, I kept a few in a quart size ziploc bag adding moisture almost every day to keep the leaves from curling.  Basically wet a cotton ball and dropped it in the bag.  I needed to keep the leaves moist until I could decide how to transform these leaves in a permanent piece of artwork.  Well, placing them on plain old white canvas just did not bring out the warmth that this Oak Tree had brought us over the years and I found that I needed to add color to the canvas - I added three different shades of color with Rust-Oleum's Specialty in Metallic Copper, Painter's Touch 2X in Satin Ivory Silk and Rust-Oleum's Satin Classic, Low-Sheen Finish in Black.   Check how I turned the bland white canvas into a piece of our family's history !

The Metallic Copper illuminates a beautiful glow against the leaves and the black draws out the veins in each leaf.  The ivory sets the tone for fall and allows the vivid shades of orange and yellows to blaze on the canvas.  I decoupaged the leaves on with modge podge and allowed them fully cure.  On the back I printed off the year we planted the tree and the year it was struck down.  I referred to the family photo album with found memories and great pictures of the tree and the kids next to the tree year after year.  Treasure your memories for many years to come!