One of my birthday presents was some money to help fund a really lush framing job for my pan cel of Shidou. Usually I frame my cels quite simply, with a mat that compliments the colours of the image and then just a thin metal frame. While I'm sure that Shidou would look just fine in a similar setup, I really did want to do something special with him. And so... Shidou is going to be living in a big gold frame with a velvety suede mat that is a deep wine colour and (dare I say it)... a fillet. Fillets are like the height of framing luxury, let me tell you. Of course suede mats are up there too. At least with this particular cel there is no chance of the framing job ever being worth more then it. That's sometimes a concern with my other cels.

Still. The $100 for the really fancy mat, the fillet, the special conversation glass, and the acid free backing board was "alright" by me. Not great, but alright. However, despite how much I really loved the frame we picked out for it, $200 for it was not alright. All I could say was "Ouch." The frame was cool, especially the way it had some red highlights peeking out from the pale gold, but not $200 cool. So I turned to my friendly online framing website and got one for $40. It is also very cool and although it won't have those little touches of red, I am sure I can work them in without too much trouble if I really want them there. Talk about a significant price difference.

I'll post a picture when it's all framed up and hanging on my wall. I think it'll be totally awesome. But let me tell you - I never thought I would actually be buying one of those velvety mats. When I first saw them when I worked as a framer, I couldn't begin to think why someone would want something so needlessly opulent. But now I know. It's for when you want something over the top because you've got the coolest vampire cel in the world and you want to display him in his full gothic glory. I love you, Shidou!