Old Gifts Made New

February has always been a romantic month. It can be difficult to express exactly how you feel with a gift to a loved one. You could splurge on jewelry, spring for flowers, or have a night out with a romantic dinner. The problem with all of these things is that everybody does that. Maybe you yourself have done these same things in the past. Maybe when you go out for that valentine’s dinner, you’re stuck in line with everyone else with the same old idea. It’s time for something new.

Custom framing gives you that opportunity to express yourself in a new and unique way. This month, I worked on just such a piece. This customer happens to be a creative person just like me. In the past, he hand made cards expressing his love for his wife on a variety of occasions. These wonderful gems were certainly appreciated, but what do you do with them after that? This sort of thing has just that personal touch that you want in such a gift, but serve little function after the gift has been received.

A custom frame can change all that. Working with the customer, together he and I chose just the right mats and frame to compliment the tastes of his partner in life. We were to frame three of the pieces together in one frame. These three pieces were airbrushed on thick illustration board, and their odd shape didn’t lend themselves well to the typical square cut mat opening.

So we decided to float the art on top of the mat. In addition, we gave the whole piece greater dimension by raising the art up—each piece on a separate level. I do this by cutting small pieces of foam core to go behind the art. The little pieces of board are cut small enough so that you don’t see them, and the give the art the illusion of floating off the backing and hovering in space behind the glass. We then chose a double mat to go around the whole of the piece, and raised it up with the foam core board to also hover over the soft, suede backing mat.

It seemed, however, that no matter how we arranged the three pieces, something was lacking from the composition. There always seemed to be a large area of extra space in the design because the three pieces suggested a triangular layout, and picture frames are rectangular!

This is where my creativity comes into play. The solution was to add a fourth element to the piece. In the upper left corner, I suggested to the customer that we add a sun-shaped design to the mat cut. I can do elaborate designs like this with the help of my robotic mat cutter. I quickly sketched out a few designs on the spot to give the customer an idea of what it would look like. I proposed we take advantage of the multi-tiered design and the depth it created. Some of the sun’s elements would fall each on three levels of the design, taking advantage of the depth of the piece, and fitting perfectly with the celestial elements suggested in the art itself.

The results were outstanding! The design is completely unique. What’s more, the cost of adding little elements like this to the design is next to negligible. You can not get this anywhere else. I designed the mat from scratch, not a pre-made pattern. The elements were custom made specifically for the needs of the customer, and no one else will ever have that same design hanging in their home.

You can have an equally special and unique piece for your home as well. Valentine’s Day may be over, but you don’t ever need an excuse to express how special and unique your feelings for someone are with a gift as personal as this. It would even make it more special to give a gift for no reason! You don’t need a holiday to tell someone you love them in a new and attractive way.

You don’t have to be a creative person. I’ve got that covered for you. Stop in and see me. I can make this happen for you.