Star Spangled II: Design

My next project, Star Spangled II Tramp art frame, is a patriotic frame which will be flanked with deep tramp art stars in the corners and lots of red, white and blue.  I have completed the design, the color chart and the pattern pieces.  The pine base frame has been created and sculpted into the design shape.  This frame is similar to one I have made previously but like all of my other frames, no two frames are the same.  Different details, colors and variations.  Each one, one of a kind!

This piece will consist of approximately 120 tramp art pieces, up to 9 layers, rich colors and gold gilding. 

I have equipped my scroll saw with a fresh, new blade and am off to cut out the tramp art pieces.  Slow, precise and clean!

Happy Tramping,
Angie

Sea Breeze Tramp Art Frame: Completed!

Now that school is finally out and the school activities have stopped, our house is starting to get into a new routine and schedule.  Between the summer jobs, sport camps and friend time,  we are still busy but without the homework load and early wake up times.  I have managed to work in bursts of tramp art time and have completed the Sea Breeze Tramp Art Frame.


Let me back track a little.  After chip carving the 108 wood pieces, I did a quick dry run to check on their fit. 

Looks great! They are ready to paint.  Another advantage of this sunny weather, is that the paint drying time is much shorter.  Everything got the coats of paint they required and  were placed out in the summer sun for a quick dry session.

Now a quick assembly to check on my color combination.

Like magic! After lots of sanding, assembly, antiquing, and varnish, my Sea Breeze tramp art frame was complete.  Gold gilding was added for the pop and the back side was finished with a decorative boarder design. I love this sea breeze / orange combination! Very eye catching to say the least.

Happy Tramping,
Angie

Sea Breeze Starburst Tramp Art Frame

I've started my next project, "Sea Breeze", and its moving right along.  I've created a preliminary design, created the layout and have decided on a palette.  What is not to love about sea breeze green and burnt orange, antiqued and buffed into amazing, rich shades?  Hands down one of my favorite color combinations!

I've created all of the pattern pieces, scroll cut the  pieces and have started the chip carving.  For strength this piece is getting a base layer of oak, and will be completed in hand chipped poplar.  I've built a strong pine base frame to build upon and created a dust cover for the back.  

Off to enjoy my Maine sea breeze and a glass of cold iced tea, while I work on my basket of chip carving!  Does life get any better???

Happy Tramping,
Angie

Stars and Stripes Tramp Art Frame: Completion

This frame turned out amazing!  Very rich colors, deep tramp art layers, accurate cuts and a fine tuned tramp art frame .  I am very happy with the completed piece and it's patriotic feel.

Now where did I leave off with the blogging? 

After creating the square pine frame base and shaping the corners to the star shape that I needed, I created each individual pattern piece for each layer.  Each piece was transferred to the wood, cut out, sanded and chipped carved.  All 168 pieces!  I had sore fingers after this one.



Before chip carving. Kind of daunting!



















Here is a picture of  the fitting I did after notching them.  There were only a couple of pieces that I needed to recreate and tweak.

 

 




9 piece star stack







The pieces were then sorted into ziplock bags according to the colors that they were to be painted. 

Lots of painting and sanding ensued, and it's final assembly got underway.  The pieces fit together very nicely and accurately, and resulted in a fine tuned tramp art frame.  But it was lacking something...it needed a pop.  I created an hand carved star for each side and applied gold leaf to each.  That was the pop it needed!
 

 

The mirror is ordered, varnish applied and the backing created. So happy with the end results!

Happy Tramping,
Angie

Stars and Stripes Tramp Art Frame: Palette

Can you believe it is June already??  We definitely haven't had our share of sunshine yet! 

With my stars and stripes frame underway, I've got red, white and blue on my mind.  I've created some new paint chips with some potential color choices but I think these four yummy colors are the ones.

Light ivory, antique gold, wedgewood blue and moroccan red, all antiqued and varnished to very rustic and yummy colors. Deep stars, with a single layer of red and white, outlined in blue. Tall blue circle stacks finished off with tacks maybe?  I'm thinking it will need a small pop of gold.  Gold gilding maybe?  Gold paint? Gold tacks?  I'm thinking this one will look best as a square frame. So many great choices and so much fun!

Off to create the pine picture frame base, shape the frame and map out my pattern pieces.

 I hope the sun comes out soon!  I'm out of sun tea!

Happy Tramping,
Angie

Stars and Stripes Tramp Art Frame: Design

Amazing what a few sunny days can do for a soul!!  Salsa garden is planted, lawn is mowed and my next challenge is underway.  Being close to the 4th of July, I'm feeling a little patriotic and have started my Stars and Stripes Tramp art frame.

Here is the initial design!

I'm thinking vintage shades of red, white, blue and gold gilding. Lots of deep layers finished with lots of love and just the right amount of antiquing. 

Can she create it?  Stay tuned

Happy Tramping,
Angie 

 

Working on Fine Tuning My Backside!

The backside of my frames, of course!  I've been working on getting the backside of my frames as beautiful as the fronts.  They have to be trampy and beautiful but easy to use and sturdy.  It's an on going process but my backsides are evolving in the right direction! 

Here is a picture of the backside of my starburst tramp art frame.  Vintage, warm colors carried onto the back, easy to use turn buttons, and signature in place, while equipping the frame with strong hanging hardware.    And of course, topped off with some hand painted vines and berries!

 

 

 

I have been using the backside of my frames to test new techniques, colors and experiment with new ideas.  The place I really tend to cut loose!  You never know what you will find on the backside of my frames!

Happy Tramping,
Angie

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