The design process is well underway for the tramp art frame, Winged Ones. All proceeds from the auction of this tramp art piece will be donated to Birdsacre: Stanwood Wildlife Sanctuary. Birdsacre is one of my family's favorite local treasures that suffered a devastating fire recently and has many years and dollars of recovery to go. We have many amazing family memories on those wooden boardwalks and really want to help in anyway we can! Please check out their web page ( http://www.birdsacre.com/index.html) to find out all of the amazing work they do for our "Winged Ones".
I've come up with a design, a frame base and a basic plan for the piece. I am shooting for a piece that portrays the local owls nestled in the deep Maine forest, and combines several different tramp art techniques that I use throughout my pieces. A dark, deep Maine forest, with chunky leaves and toadstools, and a sprig of flowers or ferns popping up from the corner while being watched over by curious owlets. With warm, rich color and a pop of red or yellow here and there. All antiqued and glazed for that much loved look. I'm creating this piece to be a mirror but it will also be able to be used as a picture frame if so desired.
Here I took an outline of the frame so that I could make pattern pieces that will be mounted directly on the frame base. These will be the base layer of each element. From these pieces I will figure out which pieces will be the deeper tramp art pieces and which will be the more detailed pieces like the owls.
This is my first shot of the look and design of the piece. Leaning towards more rustic cut pieces with painted details and maybe even some wood burning detail.
Now off to pick out colors,, sure up the base frame and finish making the pattern pieces. Hmmm...what kind of wood to use??? Old crate wood, poplar, oak....lets see what's hiding in the basement! Can I work in some decorative nails or tacks?? So many possibilities!
Happy Tramping,
Angie
For my next challenge, I have decided to make a piece in honor of local destination that had suffered a devastating loss rencently. Here in Ellsworth, Maine we have a bird sanctuary that rescues, cares for and loves our local injured birds. Birdsacre - Stanwood Wildlife Sanctuary, in Ellsworth, Maine, has rescued, cared for and loved our local injured birds while providing an amazing network of walking trails for local use. On March 2,2014 , Birdsacre suffered a devastating arson fire that destroyed the main house with many of its artifacts. My family has many fond memories involving Birdsacre and the fascinating birds in their care, not to mention the network of walking trails we have enjoyed for many years. It's an amazing facility that does incredible stuff, and should be enjoyed and supported by all!!! Please check out their website at: http://www.birdsacre.com/ and help in any way you can!
So how do I help? No question! I have to make a frame in honor of Birdsacre and donate the proceeds in help restore the damage. Every little bit helps and if I can help get the word out even better!
Now I needed a little inspiration to get me started. It needs to have owls of course!!! But what colors, size, a mirror? So I was off to our local Goodwill store hoping to find a little spark on this sunny last day of winter.
And low and behold...I found my spark. Check out this family of owls I found wrapped in scotch tape!
My spark! My inspiration for my next project! Not sure how or if I will use them in the final project but they definitely have pointed me in the right direction!
Happy Tramping,
Angie
After poking at this one for many weeks, Forever & Always is finally complete! This was my first shot at working with birch bark and I have to say it's amazing. The Native Americans knew what they were doing when they used birch bark to create their durable and beautiful homes, canoes and crafts. After cleaning and drying the many pieces of birch bark I have gathered over the last couple of years, I started measuring and cutting to fit the frame. And what a discovery!! Birch bark is pliable, colorful, warm in color and absolutely beautiful. Just what I needed for this frame.
My challenge was to create a warm, cozy and full of love frame to display an amazing engagement photo. The photo captures all of the love, warmth and hope of young love. I wanted to use a soft palette of colors that can be found in our local Maine birch bark. Soft oranges, light greens, and browns!
I created a sturdy wide pine frame, created the patterns and wood pieces. With a lot of notching here, and a lot of painting and sanding there. Some nails and glue. A piece tweaked here and there....
Finished! I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Soft, warm, and romantic! A little lace around the edge, warm colors, antiquing, copper tacks, and hearts of course!
Thank you to Sarah and Ryan for allowing me to use your picture of your special day on my blog!
My girls have decided that this frame is their favorite so far. I too love the combination of Adirondack style with tramp art and will definitely be make more in the near future!
Happy Tramping,
Angie
I survived school vacation, basketball tournament season, a 14th birthday sleep over and 2013 tax preparation. Now back to the project I have been walking by for the last 2 to 3 weeks. It's been trying to wave me down, sitting front and center on my kitchen table. I've been able to follow through on a few project steps but have not been able to fully concentrate on its creation. Too busy - Life has been moving forward and has required more Mom time I guess. Another reason why I love the flexibility of what I do - the ability to set work aside for those things that need my attention. Family time!
Where did I leave off?? I've created the sturdy pine base, created my pattern pieces, and cut out the individual layers. I washed, dried and cut the white birch bark to fit around the inner surface of the frame pieces. Here is the dry run and piece check I did this morning. I recreated about 10 pieces and trimmed up a few others. The layout looks just right. Lots of warmth and love radiating to the center of the frame!
Over the next couple of days, the sanding and wood chipping will be finished up, and then the fun begins. Color!!! Check out the oranges, greens, grays and browns in this close up of the birch bark. Amazingly soft colors!
We'll see how it comes together once color is used but I'm hoping to do some hand painted details along the scalloped edge and maybe even some wood burning details. It might even need some copper tacks for the final touch!
Happy Tramping,
Angie
