With the help of Dexter, the woodchipping is DOne.

After a couple of spurts of wood chipping and several episodes of the series Dexter, the chipping of the tramp art pieces are done.  I think the tentative count is 171 pieces ... but the final count will tell the tale.  I've taken the time to implements a couple of new steps to save on the old hands and cut down on blisters and sore fingers.  Maybe its getting comfortable with my craft or maybe its just getting more serious about what I do, but I discovered that taking this little bit of extra time to protect my hands, improve my lighting and paying more attention to my materials (wood, nails, paint, etc.) always results in a better, stronger, and more beautiful tramp art piece.

Some things I have learned recently creating Tramp Art:

The best time to protect your hands from the sore fingers and blisters that sometimes develop after completing the wood chipping, is to wear very thin work gloves from the start of a project.  The key for me is to never even let the soreness have a chance to happen.

Always using fresh, appropriate grit sand paper can make a project go so much faster and saves on your arms.  Don't forget what a sander is for and use it.  I have also found that a very tiny spring clamp that holds the small pieces, can create an handle that provides a more stable wood chipping surface and soreness.

My best time to do the wood chipping is in natural light during the day.  I can wood chip at night with my super sonic lamp but it is definitely easier on my eyes during the day.  My preference.

It has become necessary to keep more detailed project completion folders that detail the material used, colors used, and keep all of the pattern pieces together.  If ever there is a case of one of my pieces getting damaged, I can pull the project folder and have all of the creation details at my finger tips.  A real time saver.

I have also started to predrill holes into the final layers of tramp art.  I'm hoping this will help me with breakage and the need to create extra tiny pieces to replace them.

Back to the Sunflower Tramp Art Frame!!  Here is a picture of the after wood chipping dry run.  I've had to go back and tweak a couple of pieces but it looks like time for paint.

Lets see ... lots of green, red and yellow.  And maybe I should use this old brass knob!  We will see what happens.

Happy TRamping,      Angie