Having predrilled some of the smaller pieces of the tramp art layers, the number of pieces having to be recut, rechipped and repainted during the assembly was reduced greatly. The predrilling will also help create a tighter bond between layers and cut down on future potential piece damage.
I also religiously kept all pieces in sealed ziplocks so that my cat could not steal them. No missing pieces! Assembly was quicker than usually by keeping the pieces organized by color also.
I sometimes can't make the really tiny pieces that I would like to include on my frames. The wood pieces gets fragile, hard to secure and hard on my hands when they are too tiny. I don't know why I haven't done it before, but I did some hand painted detail and line work on this piece to bring it all together. Before I started creating tramp art layers on my frames, most of my frames had hand painted designs and motifs on them. So I'm not really surprised that the hand painted details are sneaking back in there.
The sunflower crown was created by carving two layers of petals with a vintage brass knob as the center.
After the pieces was assembled and had had enough drying time, I coated the piece with a coat of antiquing medium. I always look to deepen my colors and add that touch of time wear to the sanded edges and nooks and crannies. I then gave certain areas a second coat to darken the edges and notches. Three coats of polycrit later and we have the finished piece.
I am really excited to have been able to fine tune some of my steps and also save myself some unnecessary steps. 169 wood chipped pieces later, I'm quite happy to be able to send this piece to the Big Apple to fellow tramp art lover, Marguerite.
Happy Tramping, Angie
