Starburst Tramp Art Frame: Completion!

What is that shiny, bright thing in the sky??  Finally!  Boy have we earned this sunny, warm, and rain free weekend coming up!  With the arrival of this sunny stretch, I am glad to put the finishing touches on my Starburst Tramp Art frame. 

This piece was completed in a soft burnt orange, antique teal highlights and pops of gold gilding.  The colors came out amazing and have been finished with four coats of finish.  After lots of love and care, I am pleased with the end results.  This piece measures 15" x 15" and can hold a mirror or a  4 3/4" x 4 3/4" photo.  This frame consists of approx. 88 hand chipped wood pieces and from 4 to 7 layers of tramp art.

 

 

So pleased with the precise cuts and more uniform wood chipping!  The additional time spent on  a more accurate design,  pattern pieces and exact cuts has really paid off in the end product.  They are still a little quirky and "trampy" but that's what makes me love them so much.  A little off here, a little worn there, and definitely one of a kind!

 

Now back to the sketch book to figure out my next piece.  With the 4th of July coming up, I'm leaning towards a patriotic piece.  I'm thinking old glory in tramp art!  We'll see....

 

This piece is available for sale!  Please message me if you are interested in this Downeast Tramp frame.

 

Happy Tramping,

 

Angie

Starburst Tramp Art Frame : Assembly

I believe if we all think sunshine, we will get sunshine and boy do we need it! My garden and my tomato plants are waiting patiently.  So in the hopes of some warm sunny weather, I started to create this warm and sunny starburst tramp art frame. 

I have painted each layer a warm soft orange with bursts of ocean mist green.  Orange/teal color schemes always make me happy! This piece will include a pop of gold gilding around the parameter of the frame.  So far the colors look just like the shades I was looking for.  Once these soft colors are antiqued, they quickly become rich and yummy!

Here is a picture of my last dry run before assembly.  I use this step to double check my pieces, my colors, my fit and my nailing logistics.  Got to nail them so that the nails stay covered as much as possible!

This has got to be my favorite part of creating my tramp art frames: assembly.  I continue to be surprised at how interesting, beautiful and original they all come out. This is the stage where I can really see all of my sketches, pieces and work come together.  It is so much fun!

 

Off to predrill some holes and complete the assembly.  I can't wait to antique these colors and see how this starburst is transformed.

 

Happy Tramping,

Angie

Starburst Tramp Art Frame

My Starburst tramp art frame is well underway!  I've scroll cut all of the tramp art pieces and have done a piece check.  After replacing a couple of missing pieces (Thanks kitty!), I think I'm ready to start sanding and notching.  A great time to get caught up on my movie watching! 

I've darkened the picture so that each layer is more visible.  The base layer has been cut from oak to give the frame more bottom strength with the remaining layers cut from poplar. Easier on my fingers!

Because the picture was darkened, so was the palette samples in the upper left hand corner.  This piece will be painted a much lighter shade of teal and orange with some strategically placed gold gilding. Maybe.  We'll see!


This one is going to be sooo much fun!

Happy Tramping,
Angie

P.S. Happy 17th Birthday Maddie!!!  So proud of the kind, thoughtful, and beautiful young lady you have become. You'll always be my Madwoman! XOXO

Bring on the Starburst Tramp Art Frame

I've started to design my next project: Starburst Tramp Art Frame, which has been inspired by the sunshine that we so need after a week of wetness. Enough rain already!  

This pieces will be a starburst of warm, vintage orange with teal and dark chocolate, and should consist on approximately 88 hand chipped tramp art pieces with 3 - 7 layers.  Here is a picture of my sketch, pattern pieces and pine base frame.

I've settled on very warm, vintage orange (my favorite color!) for the points, teal for the knobby pieces and dark chocolate and gold gilding for the details. Here is a closer look at the palette I want to work with. Do you like the combination of vintage orange and teal?

I love this combination of orange and teal, but am thinking that I might go a little lighter on the teal in this piece. We will see......off to cut out the wood layers!

Happy Tramping,
Angie

Ocean Mist Tramp Art Frame: I love this vintage color!

After lots of color considerations, I'm so happy I went with an original mixed acrylic color which I am calling ocean mist green.  After lots of sanding and antiquing, I think I achieved the "vintage" looking green I was looking for.  Kind of minty, kind of tealish, I love it!

 

After a couple of coats of ocean mist and dark chocolate, the freshly painted pieces were put out on the deck.  Gotta take advantage of a sunny day and speed up the drying time!  I played around with using gold leaf and found that it added some elegance to the face and a pop to the 4 corners of this piece.

 

 

 

This is pre-antiquing. Just a quick check of pieces. My cat likes to steal them!

 

 

After lots of sanding and antiquing, Here is the completed frame.   A soft teal with amber antiquing in all the right places, with bursting coral flowers and gilded gold highlights! 

 

 

The frame measures 14 x 16 and holds a standard 8 X 10 picture.  This one-of-a kind frame consists of approx. 66 hand chipped pieces, 6 to 9 layers and was built upon a sturdy pine base.  I added a 3-D piece to the flowers to give them some depth.

 

 
 



3-D Coral Flower Detail
 

9 Layer Corner Stack







I am so happy with how this one came together and am thrilled with my new color finds.  So what's next....a vintage coral-ish frame or a vintage yellow piece?  So many choices! This piece is currently available for sale.

Happy Tramping,
Angie

Ocean Mist Tramp Art Frame is UNderway!

My Ocean Mist Tramp art frame is well underway!!  I wanted to create a frame that consisted of simple but precise shapes, soothing colors and with a touch of elegance.  I wanted to concentrate on the creation of the pattern pieces, the consistency of the wood chipping and the palette choice. 

After many different color considerations, I decided on a palette of Ocean mist green, dark chocolate, and coral, all sanded and antiqued to look shabby.  I love these soft vintage colors!  Here is a picture of my palette test.

And of course a splash of gold leafing!  Yes! Gold Leafing!  Another way to add some elegance and pop to my frames!  My technique is going to need some practice though.





I have cut, sanded and chipped all of the pattern pieces for this frame and tried to keep the cuts and chipping as consistent as possible but not enough to ruin the "trampiness" of the piece.  Here is a picture of the dry run before chipping them.

Now off to do some sanding and chipping, in my lawn chair!









While sanding and chipping of the pieces, I made a couple of little design changes and fine tuned some pieces.

 The flowers will have a 3-D element.


Now off to mix up some shades of Ocean Mist!

Happy Tramping,
Angie

Completion of Birdsacre FRame

This tramp art frame was finished while enjoying spring break, yard work and the start of the softball season.  After a tweak here, a little more sanding there, and many coats of varnish later, the Birdsacre: Winged Ones tramp art mirror is complete.  This mirror has been donated to the Birdsacre fire recovery fund and will be a part of the facilities' raffle on August 2nd, 2014  to celebrate their annual Cordie Day.   So happy we could help!  Please go to their website at http://www.birdsacre.com/ to read about all of the wonderful work this facility does and help them in any way you can.  It's for the owls!

After creating the pattern pieces for each piece and layer, I transferred and cut out each one.  Here is a piece check I did before picking out my palette.  Some thicker pieces with some thinner wood for the detail pieces.

 

 

With this piece, I chose to leave some pieces un-notched hoping to give those elements some pop.  After a few changes here and there, I was very happy with the whimsical elements of this piece and how close it matched my original design.  After considering several different color options, I decided to make the tree elements a brown that gradually gets lighter towards the top with a darker background to help give the piece more depth and achieve the "dusk in the forest" look.  The owls were painted my favorite orange and the toadstools an antique red.  I gave some elements that glow or sparkle with metallic paints and light antiquing, and did tryout my woodburner on the toadstools.  Here is a picture of the final piece.

 

Birdsacre: Winged Ones Tramp Art Frame/Mirror



 

 

 

Sleeping Owl detail

 

Moon and Owls detail

I hope this piece finds a good home and helps make the fire recovery at Birdsacre a little easier.

 

Happy Tramping, 

Angie