Forever & Always: Birch BArk

My next challenge is to design and build a frame to display an amazing engagement picture.  It needs to be warm, comfortable but still have that pop of young love!

White birch bark is warm!  I had to use it in this project and work it into some Adirondack like inspired frame.  With hearts of course!

White birch bark has amazing, deep oranges, browns, grays and greens.  Among lots of other colors!  With some love and antiquing, I think the colors that I am working with will provide the warm and comfortable look that I'm shooting for. 

For it's palette, I've chosen cayenne, walnut, graphite, old ivy and an mixed creation of red.  But these could change as things move along!  I'm hoping to create it to be 5 - 8 layers deep with a lace like border that has hand painted details.  Two red hearts in each corner will provide a spark of color!

Off to next challenge: washing, flattening and cutting white birch bark!  Definitely a new media for me!

Happy Tramping,
Angie

Winter Star Challenge: Finishing TOuches

The winter star tramp art frame came together nicely with a few bumps along the way.  The old panel I wanted to use for the individual tramp art pieces proved to be too fragile. Wanting to use a strong wood that could be used for tiny pieces, I chose to use Baltic birch plywood.  This proved to be a good choice.

Trying to keep my lines, cuts and chipping as accurate as possible, I still managed to get a set of pieces placed crooked!  And a bottom piece at that!  This is where the strong Baltic birch came in handy:  I had to remove a whole point of the star, separate all of the layers and re cut the very bottom piece.  It was off very slightly but made all of the difference in the balance.

This little detour also proved to be a handy lesson in restoration and I'm sure it will come in handy in the future.  Delicate work takes lots of patience and a gentle touch!

After reworking the removed pieces, I installed a base on the back of the frame to provide strength to the face of the piece. I installed a painted back to the frame with some vintage hardware and antiqued the entire piece.

I'm pretty happy with the finished product.  Silvery blue like a snowflake with a pop of red, very tall and tight (9-12 layers), and the back looks almost as wonderful as the front.

 

 

Vintage battered hinges and latch, with hand painted embellishments.

Downeast Tramp Hallmark!

Please let me know what you think of my latest creation.  This piece has been listed on an ebay auction until Sunday.  It's on my wall to enjoy until a great home is found!

Happy Tramping
Angie