More About Mounting on a Cradle: A Precautionary Tale

I often think that mounting on a cradle saves me time and money over the traditional matting and framing with a glass or plexi cover. However, I learned a lesson on this round about carefully following each step. On this piece, I took these steps:

1. Carefully spray painted the entire wood cradle with a mat black, sanding between coats.
2. Sprayed my painting with varnish, using several coats to protect it.
3. Carefully measured and cut the painting in order to apply it to the cradle leaving an even black edge.
4. Oops!! Missed this one
5. Applied the appropriate glue to attach the paper to the wood
6. Used a brayer roller to press down paper firmly, leaving no bubbles
7. Weighted the entire painting upside down to let dry and adhere completely

So what was step #4? I failed to put tape on the edge of the cradle to prevent the adhesive from oozing out and dribbling down the edge. I had no dribbles, but the smears that occurred were glossy, and I felt a need to make the edges of the cradle as perfect as possible. 

Today I went to town to get more spray paint in black, carefully covered the artwork with freezer paper and frog tape. Then with sanding and a few coats of new spray paint, I think it's ready to sell! 

With luck, I won't forget step #4 again, avoiding steps 8, 9, and 10!