Considerations for framing ATC and ACEO art cards

Further to my last post I have taken an opportunity to create a Squidoo Lens with a few thoughts on framing Art cards. As a painter, I have always placed a mat in front of the painting when framing art. But I have decided that for many art cards, it is easier and better if the art card is placed in front of the  mat. This opens up a number of benefits (easier to cut the mat, etc) but it can also provide a means of protecting cards with 3-d embellishments. In the extreme this leads to the use of a "shadow box arrangement" for framing very bulky cards.