The frame below is for a local painter, Alyson Kinkade. It's quite large--almost 4x5 feet. I took a few pictures of the finishing process to show how a frame comes to life.
All poplar wood. The frame here has been cut, glued, screwed, and sanded. Next it will be shellacked to seal the pores of the wood and provide adhesion for the bole. 
Here the frame has its first coat of clay, or bole.
After several coats of yellow bole (with sanding and attention to making sure all corners are clean in between coats), the frame is polished. Then some thin red bole is applied to achieve a nice color--the goal is to bring out the warm colors in the focal areas of the painting--and the frame is polished again. The liner and the inside lip of the reverse are then water-gilt with 22 karat gold. It will take several hours (often overnight) to dry.The gold is then burnished with an agate stone and the rest of this particular frame is painted with a deep raw umber. Then the whole thing undergoes a gentle aging process, and viola, it's finished.
