Thank you, Johanna!

It's time for another Metamorphosis Monday with Susan of Between Naps on the Porch! Please visit Susah HERE and check out all the wonderful transformations she and her talented guests have created this week.

Speaking of talent, one of the most creative and accomplished ladies in Blogland is Johanna of Silber+Rosen. She recently celebrated reaching the 50 Followers mark for her blog in a very special way. You can read about what she did and the lovely prints she created HERE.

A few days after she announced the winners of her generous giveaway, I received this (from which I've removed addresses through the magic of photo editing!) in the mail:

Even the stamps Johanna chose are beautiful!

And look what was inside! That's when I decided to get out the camera and begin snapping away.

I love the way she wrapped the gift. I should have taken a photograph of the back. It was perfect! Johanna must have used glue or two-sided tape to seal the folded edges of the pretty paper.

Voilà! Isn't it beautiful? And she's written something on the mylar sleeve...

"I wish you always sunshine for your garden!" And I wish that for Johanna ... and for all of you!

Such a lovely work of art needs to be displayed and enjoyed. I'll start by showing you the back. I decided I'd try to follow Johanna's example and finish my work neatly. I attached heavy gift wrapping paper to the back of the frame with two-sided tape and trimmed off the excess with a single edge razor blade.

I like the look of small paintings and prints framed with wide mats. I think it gives them additional presence and impact.

It's now on the wall in the den.

I chose a frame with an acorn motif to accentuate the theme of nature in the artwork.

I cut a fabric mat in a neutral shade of taupe. Rather than allowing the beveled edge to show a white line, I cut a reverse bevel (matboard is cut with the top side facing upward) and added fillet as a decorative accent. FYI, fillet is a narrow strip of molding that frames the inner edge of a mat. In the UK, I believe that would be called "moulding in a mount." Jackie? I measured, scored the strips with a razor blade, and cut the mitered corners with wire cutters. It's easier with a fillet "chopper," but it's not terribly difficult to improvise using whatever's available.

In framing, fillet is usually pronounced "fill-it," rather than "fill-lay." Someone once told me, "We're not talking about fish here." ;)

I cut a second acid-fee mat to go behind the outer mat and fillet (to act as a buffer to protect the artwork from the acid in the wooden fillet). I put another piece of acid-free matboard behind the artwork to protect it from the paper dust cover attached to the back.

This spot seemed to be waiting for Johanna's etching to arrive. It will be one of the first things guests see as they walk in ... and the last before walking through the entry hall to the front door.

Thank you again, Johanna! And thank you to all of you who stopped by to see my gift and read about my little framing project. If you're interested in knowing more, let me know and I'll do a mat cutting and framing tutorial in a future post.