The reveal

It's obvious which frame has non-glare glazing. What I love about these cardboard corners (besides the fun of punching them out of the die cuts like paper dolls and assembling them) is how they are designed to snap right into the corners of the moulding. Snap, snap, snap, snap, secure! I got a lot of, "Can you figure this out? Girls can't do ___. Wow, you catch on fast!"

Now I know how to make shadow boxes. And how to build up all of those walls (we used the same color mat throughout but it can easily be one color for the back mat, one color for the inner walls). It was so strange to use wood glue after being so wedded to PVA. I found it hilarious that my teacher assumed I didn't know what a bone folder was (they call it a bone burnisher) and that I'd need to order one if I wanted to get serious about framing.

I finally know how to hinge properly! No more dowels in sleeves (though this bears the remnants of both). My teacher didn't believe me when I questioned using Japanese paper for the hinges, because I feared that the paste would not adhere to the water resistant persimmon dye coating. I had to do it so he could see it really didn't work before we went to linen tapes.

But the excitement for today: Asao arrived! Because he did all the messy stuff (border control, customs, etc.) during his layover in Detroit, it was a quick trip from the gate at LaGuardia to me at baggage claim. And he traveled incredibly light. We took a cab to his new digs at Béatrice's studio and he took pictures of everything (including a very frizzy me; WOW, humidity--which he laughed off, considering he has lived in the Philippines for over 20 years). After calling Yukari about our early arrival, we walked around the area, got him acquainted with the subway, peeked into Central Park (he was shocked that no one ate from the big gingko trees and hoped to glean some for his kami nabe party this weekend--cooking in handmade paper!), and stopped for groceries. After dropping luggage in the studio, we walked to get some dinner, where he valiantly stayed awake, though he was visibly drooping. He has been traveling for several days because of how long it takes to get from where he lives to Baguio, then to Manila, then to Nagoya, then to Detroit, then to LaGuardia, then to a lovely studio full of papercuts and good cheer! Tomorrow, more adventures begin.

To join in the fun, come to Asao's talk on Friday, or sign up for his class this weekend!