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5% Coupon & Ezine Signup | Hours & Contact Info | Directions
<Revise: color charts and measuring tape, make a statement rather than a question… or if possible not an yes/no question.>
“Here's How Lucinda’s Patient Approach Guides You In Designing A Frame That Resonates With Your Unique Tastes, Emotions, Viewpoint…
In one 30-minute Personalized Framing Session, you’ll know that your treasured keepsake will be presented with the appreciation, attention to detail and skill that it deserves."
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From the Stratford framing studio of Lucinda Jones:
Dear Friend,
<New Lead… incorporate benefit elements in side bars from first page. A little more overt in offer. Otherwise it should work well>
Why would you consider putting out the expense to have something custom framed?
It allows me to offer you a far more than a frame cut to size.
Most of my clients have a picture or memento framed because it holds special meaning. Personal importance thatonly they appreciate fully.
A 50 year-old newspaper clipping or a sketch from Paris can be a treasure box of emotion, inspiration and memories.
The supreme goal of framing, for me, is to enhance and preserve the meaning you feel for something.
In a minute I’ll show how emotionally stirring personalized framing can be. Certain styles and colours have a stronger effect on you than anyone else.
This is why I can't design your frames for you. With help…
- enhance versus overpowering the piece - so much how - leveling… - flaw…
She's an artist… impossible number etchings…. Thousands of etching… hundreds…
I can guide you. I can construct them. But I want something supremely pleasing to you.
“Fast Food Framing” The Artist In Me Couldn’t Handle It! Digestion
I’ve worked for two large framing outlets. “Choose as quickly as possible” was the unofficial motto. We rarely found something that resonated strongly with the customers’ emotions. There just wasn't enough time.
The artist in me just couldn’t handle that. “Measure it up and match the colours.” That is the custom framing commodity. People don't expect anything more.
I want to share with you the personalized approach that I’ve developed. How your emotional connection with your picture or keepsake is the critical factor to finding the perfect style, structure, colour AND price. Your framed piece will become a source of daily inspiration.
Just last week, a client brought in a crumpled up clipping from the Beacon Herald, 1945…
<Shorten slightly…>
The clipping had a photo of her at five-years old. She was in the arms of her father who had just come back from the War. He’d been overseas for several years.
She didn't even know who he was, because he’d been gone so long.
I try to see the piece from the client's point of view. So I said, “That must have been just amazing. You hadn't known him, ever. That must have changed your life.”
“Yes, that's exactly it!” she said. “It was such a change. I was used to living with all women. Then there was a man in my life. I just didn't know how to handle it.”
That little piece of paper embodies that moment and time for her. [Shorten story.]
This is so important. Knowing why you take the expense and time to have something framed. It allows me to help you find a presentation that reflects how you feel for the piece.
So I need to connect with you. What it means to you.
Next, we look at structure: Frame? Glass? Mat? Plak Mounting? Shadowbox?
Often the customer asks me to suggest something. I’ll offer various presentations that I think will fit the piece. When we find one you like, we go with that until either it’s “right”… or isn't “right.”
If it's not working we pick another structure.
Your Personal Tastes, Emotions and Style Become A “Human Barometer” For Selecting The Ideal Frame and Mat
rewrite all this without giving away too much, and making them coordinating… they are the one's who chose… they are in control… what colours we go on… I offer suggestions… a sense of what their styles… offer variations on…. Until they say stop there.
Again, that's why you need to be the judge of what's “right.” What we are creating will go on your wall. Not mine.
What colours make you feel better? My first clue is the clothes you’re wearing. Are you drawn to warm colours like beiges and greens? Or cool colors like grays and blues?
I first learned this in art college. I remember one student whose paintings always contained the same colours as the plaid shirts he wore.
Depending on your psychological bent, red can make you feel more warm or courageous; blues more calm and spiritual; greens more natural.
So I’ll make an educated guess and suggest a mat colour to start with. Normally the customer says something like, “Oh no, I hate green!” or, “Yeah, my whole room is blue.”
Once we have something “good” we try to refine it. Sometimes people are thrilled with the first choice. But I challenge them…
“It's almost like a puzzle we get into where we search towards the solution that is right for you…”
I’ll bring out, let's say, a slightly lighter blue. If you respond favourably I’ll try an even lighter blue, followed by another. Until it stops getting better.
We’ll also try darker. See how you respond to that.
Your piece has unique meaning for you. It has unique emotions. Colours and emotions are closely linked.
It's easy to know when to stop searching. When you’ve found what is perfect for you, you can feel it. I usually can see you feel it too.
It's Only When You Are Emotionally Satisfied That I Know We’ve Found The Presentation You'll Love For A Long Time
A Personalized Framing Session takes away the frustration of deciding what you want. There's no fear of walking out with a choice that you feel unsure about.
If in 30-minutes you don't find what looks perfect for you, I know something that usually works…
Choosing between one, two or three… Come back tomorrow. I find if you give it a day, the process goes very quickly. Often it’s just a matter of showing the customer three or four of their preferred choices before they say, “That's it!”
I feel better about it that way. I know you’ve found a design that you’ll enjoy for a lifetime. What reflects the most meaning for you.
I can't be the judge of that.
Here's what I mean…
Absolutely Useless<more postive>
Last week I had a customer just back from overseas with a sketch of Paris…
Right away, he chose a grey-blue mat with a black frame. Dark choices which I felt didn't go with the piece at all. I suggested several options to send him in a more harmonious direction. But I couldn't get him off the black and grey.
Finally, I said, “Great! That’s what we’ll do.” I would never tell him that I think he’s “wrong.”
It’s what feels right to him. I know that when he hangs it, it will be spectacular for him. In his setting, for his eyes, it will look great.
Yet I was afraid to show this to my apprentice, Irene. She’s a professional photographer. She’ll see immediately. There’s no blacks, greys or blues in this sketch. Nothing that even goes with the frame. <switch testimonail here with Irene…>
Coincidentally, Irene just got back from Paris too. As soon as she saw the completed piece, she said, “Oh no, that’s great! That’s prefect for that.”
Different eyes, different cultures, different tastes. Since I haven't been to Paris in the winter, I can't tell what they’re seeing.
Even at different times in your life, certain colours delight us more than others
So again, I’m not here to design your framing. You are. I’ll just guide you to what feels perfect for you. Not me.
To book your appointment, call me at (519) 272-9954. You can leave a message 24 hours a day, with the ideal time for you.
Maybe you’ve had a picture or keepsake already framed. It holds special meaning to you, but you were never satisfied with the framing job. Please, you owe it to yourself and what that picture means to you to bring it in. Let’s see if we can make it “right.”
After Being Fired By Two Large Framing Stores, Here's How I Ended Up With A Car Load of Pictures, 17 Clients… And A Shop On 47 Albert Street
In 1996, after ten years in the visual arts field, I began work as a framer with a big art franchise in Waterloo.
Management and I didn't resonate well. As I said before, I felt I needed more time with the customers. The artist in me wanted to offer them something more.
When management decided to “let me go” I quickly became chief framer at Stratford’s Colormat. Still things were rushed. I felt I could be offering clients more than just a frame cut to size.
Nonetheless, for five years business went well…
Then, overnight, Colormat closed. A sign hung out front with a number that customers could call to collect their “property.”
People entrust framers with a part of their lives. I felted obliged to deliver all the unfinished pieces to the customers.
That afternoon I filled my car with about twenty pictures and got a list of phone numbers and names.
Then something unexpected happened… I called the customers to let them know Colormat had closed, that I’d like to return their pictures.
A short silence followed before they’d ask, “Well, can you frame it?”
Immediately I purchased a mat cutter (which I used to cut my first homemade business cards!). I’d completed seventeen framing projects before—one month later—I hung my shingle up on 42 Albert Street.
“I felt like we were dropping off film for developing— not our daughter to be framed.”
John and Nicole had come to me with a photo they’d already had framed. It was of their baby girl who passed away at birth.
“It was an intense time for us,” John explains. “We brought it to a framer. He indifferently agreed to have it ready in time for the funeral. He didn't ask us a thing about who she was. What happened. Nothing.”
It wasn't until they had it hanging at home that they realized that the mat wasn't cut at a right angles. Plus, as you can see below, there were sloppy over cuts on the edges.
“Each time I looked at the picture, all I was seeing was the sloppy craftsmanship. I brought it to Lucinda, because I knew I she's a fanatic about quality. All I expected was that she’d do the job right.
“But then she had some ideas regarding frames and mats. Before, I had gone with a standard brown frame with a beige mat. It looked fine.
“Now, the colours Lucinda started pulling out felt fantastic. She showed us these soft whites and pinks. We went through a number of variations. When the final product was done, it had a totally different feel.
“It felt like a picture of our daughter.”
My Custom Framer’s Within One Degree Guarantee “Close Enough” Is Not “Good Enough”
If a mat is cut at less than even 89 degrees, we’ll redo it. Your picture or shadowbox should look perfect. If there’s even a little dust under the glass, that’s all you’ll see. So I personally ensure nothing leaves without meeting My Custom Framer’s high standards:
“I Love the Frame!” The Modern Crisis of Over-Framing
The goal is to enhance your piece—not suffocate it. I won’t try to sell you fancy frames and mats in larger than needed proportions if they don’t suit your piece. My aim is to find the perfect style and colours that heighten its mood. A display that brings the focus to your image.
After all, have you ever heard someone look at a picture and say: “I love the frame!” Think about it. If you frame a painting, your grandmother’s christening dress, or your son’s university degree, what do you want to notice first? The frame?
Custom Framing Also Means Custom Timing and Custom Pricing
If you say, “I need this tomorrow.” Okay, if we can get the material, you’ll get it tomorrow. Or you say, “I don't really need this for a month.” Okay, that's when you’ll have it.
Likewise, you can customize the price. Depending on how much a piece means to you will determine how much you want to spend on it.
Though if something is deeply important to you, you may want to put out the money. A painting you’ve spent the winter creating. A keepsake from a loved one. A memento that reminds you of an emotional moving time. Finding the presentation that looks and feels absolutely right, no matter what the costs, may be the most satisfying choice.
You’ll be looking at this picture or keepsake for the rest of your life. What's some extra money in exchange for years of inspiration and enjoyment? We spend so much on fleeting things. Toys that get put aside and forgotten.
“People see value in pictures and mementos at the time… But they become even more valuable, more special, more meaningful as times goes on.”
A while back a client brought in ribbons her father won for cheese-making. That's the industry they both worked in. We shadowboxed the awards. They were hung in his room at the nursing home.
He passed away recently. At his funeral, I heard that his family had put the ribbons on the display. His daughter said the memories those ribbons held had doubled since they were framed.
We Don’t Just Frame Art We’re Framing…
Memories, recognition, sentiments and other feelings that money can't rouse.
I was asked why I feel a need to spend so much time with my customers. To ensure they find what they need.
Well, I know that if you’re completely satisfied with your frame, you’ll return. I prefer working for the same person over and over again. Each framing experience builds on the next, to create something even more special.
Also, I love making beautiful displays. That’s why, with your permission, I don't have your picture or shadowbox wrapped in brown paper when you pick it up. Instead I display it on an easel out front—so that I can enjoy it for a few days.
But here’s the main reason. At least everyday I hear customers say one of two things: “That’s perfect!” or “Excellent.” That’s what I love.
My Custom Framer has a small storefront to keep costs low. Still, you’ll end up paying more than you would if you pop your piece into a ready-made frame. Yet, as one customer pointed out, “a few extra dollars makes all the difference.” It makes the frame—the picture or keepsake—uniquely yours.
The visuals that surround us affect our emotions and our awareness. They reflect our tastes. As one client said, “Oh man, you stand there and stare… it’s hard to explain… but at the same time so tangible.”
Laurie, a local painter, put it this way: “If I couldn’t hang pictures in my home, I wouldn’t want to wake up in the morning. I have to be surrounded by things I like and love.”
At your service,
Lucinda Jones Personalized Custom Framing Specialist
P.S.: If orders continue to increase we might have to leave a few for next month. So please book your appointment sooner than later. (519) 272-9954.
P.P.S.: Any questions, please feel free to call or email. I’d be happy to speak with you. Though, I can’t give a quote on something I can’t see. So it’s still best to bring in your piece for a free Personalized Framing Session. There’s never any obligation to purchase. We’ll write out the details for you, you’re welcome to go home and decide. Lucinda Jones, My Custom Framer Glass. Mat. Frame. Personalized Framing Specialist. 42 Albert St., Stratford, ON N5A 3K3 (519) 272-9954
lucindajones@MyCustomFramer.Ca
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