Recommendations for custom framing? (1 Viewer)

72o

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So I bought one of @desjgn 's awesome uncut sheet of Desjgn Classic Flourish playing cards. I love it but I need to get it framed.

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I went to the local craft store today (AC Moore) and talked with their custom framer for over 2 hours. They were floored by the sheet of playing cards and thought it was one of the coolest things they've ever been asked to frame. I even got compliments from passerbyes. So anyway, I picked out some matting and a wood frame...nothing too elaborate as I knew because of its size, it was going to be pretty expensive. I eagerly awaited the final tally hoping for it to be around $300-$400 (I had no basis for this number but that is what I had in mind anyway). The total came back at $2,200!!!! Subtract the 60% off sale and it was still right around $900. Holy shit I almost threw up. My wife immediately gave me a look and started rolling the sheet up to walk away.

After I picked up my jaw from the floor, I said OK take away some of the matting and just go with one color and a plain wood frame (press board with a wood veneer instead of solid wood). The price came down to $530. Still out of my price range. So I had to walk out in defeat and now the sheet sits rolled up again in its shipping box.

Anyone out there have any suggestions as to what to do here? What have others done to frame this sheet (the newer larger print)?
 
I know Michaels in Canada has sales every week on custom framing -- have you looked into the US store's framing options?
 
Can you do some basic carpentry? Got a miter box? (Or table saw? Or know someone?)

You can buy picture framing molding, go to a glazier for a sheet of glass cut to size, and get some hardboard cut to size, and do your own framing. Probably under $100.

Skip the matting, unless you want to build it up from strip - for a large print, a single sheet of thick matting is surprisingly expensive.

Another thing I've done... You can find bad art and/or uninteresting prints at yard and estate sales with good frames, often for cheap. Don't tell them you plan to discard the prints. Know the size you need ahead of time.
 
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I know Michaels in Canada has sales every week on custom framing -- have you looked into the US store's framing options?
Yeah Michaels and AC Moore are basically the same store around here. They have 70% off custom framing every once in awhile too but even that would be out if my range.
 
Can you do some basic carpentry? Got a miter box? (Or table saw? Or know someone?)

You can buy picture framing molding, go to a glazier for a sheet of glass cut to size, and get some hardboard cut to size, and do your own framing. Probably under $100.

Skip the matting, unless you want to build it up from strip - for a large print, a single sheet of thick matting is surprisingly expensive.

Another thing I've done... You can find bad art and/or uninteresting prints at yard and estate sales with good frames, often for cheap. Don't tell them you plan to discard the prints. Know the size you need ahead of time.
Thanks. Yeah I am pretty handy and would have all the tools to build something myself I guess. I was just hoping to have something look more 'professional' and I had a little money right now to throw at it.

I think the sheet will look better with some matting because the card printing is really really close to the edge of the sheet. I think it would look strange with it being rifht up against the frame and needs the matting to help with that issue a little.

It's defintey looking like it's going to be headed in the DIY direction though.
 
Just dropped mine off at micheals today and they had 60% of frames and matting. $168.xx. Ready for pickup in 2 wks. I didn't get too fancy but it should look good

I did a double matte and a simple black frame. Is your sheet a double set of cards, mine is only a single
 
Just dropped mine off at micheals today and they had 60% of frames and matting. $168.xx. Ready for pickup in 2 wks. I didn't get too fancy but it should look good

I did a double matte and a simple black frame. Is your sheet a double set of cards, mine is only a single
Yeah its the double deck and I think thats whats killing me here. Everything (the matte, frame and glass) all had to be oversize. And to boot, their standard glass only went up to a certain size so I would have had to go with their museum glass. I mean it looked awesome as hell all mocked up but jeez.
 
How big are these sheets? That was a RIDICULOUS quote and the $900 is even super high, IMO. Try an actual framing store.
 
I
How big are these sheets? That was a RIDICULOUS quote and the $900 is even super high, IMO. Try an actual framing store.
I don't remember the exact dimensions. It's a strange size so it needed to be custom matted and framed. And because it was considered "over-sized" and "custom"...cha ching! Even the glass had to be a special type for the size (or so they said).
 
That is the problem with larger pieces. The glass is the most expensive part of the whole thing and is still expensive even if you go with plexiglass. I spent while looking to frame a large piece recently. My wife ended getting it done for me as a Father's Day present. I know the cheapest she could get it done for was a little over $550. This piece is about 42' X 46" with no matting. I had wanted one for many years and it is finally hanging in my home.

FYI - for those who might ask. This piece is a Texas Sesquicentennial map that was commissioned by the Governor of Texas in 1986 and was a gift given to each of the governor's of every state in the US
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My suggestion is to get crafty. I recently got one of my favourite hockey players to sign a 3/9 of hearts (his number) and wanted it framed. So I purchased the frame at Michaels - Canadian art store - using a 50% off coupon ($25) , bought 2 sheets of matte ($15 - used another coupon), printed out pictures from Walmart ($5), Had the name plate engraved ($30) then did a lot of measuring and cutting, I do have matte tools which I obviously used. But am very happy with the end result. The art stores here would of charged a per hole cutting fee. So 6 holes X 2 would of been almost $100 per matte. So in total, I paid about $75 and turned out this piece of work :)
Good luck!
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My suggestion is to get crafty. I recently got one of my favourite hockey players to sign a 3/9 of hearts (his number) and wanted it framed. So I purchased the frame at Michaels - Canadian art store - using a 50% off coupon ($25) , bought 2 sheets of matte ($15 - used another coupon), printed out pictures from Walmart ($5), Had the name plate engraved ($30) then did a lot of measuring and cutting, I do have matte tools which I obviously used. But am very happy with the end result. The art stores here would of charged a per hole cutting fee. So 6 holes X 2 would of been almost $100 per matte. So in total, I paid about $75 and turned out this piece of work :)
Good luck! View attachment 139456 View attachment 139457 View attachment 139458 View attachment 139459
That looks great. Nice job. Thanks for sharing.

I definitely would want to have a couple different color mats. I didn't realize they sold mat cutting tools to get that beveled edge look. Interesting.
 
wow $2,200 must have produced an insanely cool frame because that’s an adult amount of money.

I’ve made a frame before at a do-it-yourself framing store quite some time ago. Mitre saw, glue and staples. There are cutting tools that angle an exacto-knife blade or cutting the mat.

Good luck searching for the right answer.
 
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wow $2,200 must have produced an insanely cool frame because that’s an adult amount of money.

I’ve made a frame before at a do-it-yourself framing store quite some time ago. Mitre saw, glue and staples. There are cutting tools that angle an exacto-knife blade or cutting the mat.

Good luck searching for the right answer.
LOL it was insanely awesome. The 2 girls helping me out both were taking pictures of how cool it looked all mocked-up. I started elaborate (not too elaborate compared to what the options were though) and figured I would work my way down until I was at a price point I could afford. I used 3 pieces of matting (red, black and yellow taken from the card designs) and used a semi ornate wood frame. Definitely a show stopper.

I think I will let the piece speak for itself and go simple...better than it just sitting all rolled up.
 
I know this is probably bad form, but have you considered cutting it into four quarters (colored backs and the two face sections and doing four smaller frames? Could you use standard frames with mats then?
 
I know this is probably bad form, but have you considered cutting it into four quarters (colored backs and the two face sections and doing four smaller frames? Could you use standard frames with mats then?

I would definitely prefer keeping the whole sheet together as it adds to the cool factor for me (even showing the cutting guides/markers on the edges would be cool too).

The idea crossed my mind but honestly not sure how to cut it into quarters or even in half for that matter and make it look right. The suits aren't laid our nicely into 4 "groups" for cutting/framing so you would have half the cards for a given suit in one frame and the other half in another frame. Hmmm. Use 4 of the same type (thin) frames and mount them close to each other so it still looks like 1 piece of art? I'll have to think about that.

Plus I'm not sure if I have the cojones to hack this thing up. :D
 
The idea crossed my mind but honestly not sure how to cut it into quarters or even in half for that matter and make it look right. The suits aren't laid our nicely into 4 "groups" for cutting/framing so you would have half the cards for a given suit in one frame and the other half in another frame. Hmmm. Use 4 of the same type (thin) frames and mount them close to each other so it still looks like 1 piece of art? I'll have to think about that.

Leonard did it: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...ridge-w-jumbo-index.19905/page-19#post-475942
 
Honestly, as someone who has a framed sheet of the Desjgn cards, I never even considered the backs. I feel that the cards themselves are the art, the back deign gets monotonous to look at after a while. But ymmv, as always.
 
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You cannot divide equally. Cards are 10 by 11. In Leonard’s he is missing the jokers and king and queen of diamonds.
Funny how different things tilt different people. I think Leonard’s is 100% perfect and totally don’t care that there’s a couple of cards missing. I wonder what percentage of the general public would notice? 5%?
I think the fronts and backs are totally necessary.
 
My wife's an artist and the cost of framing is why I got back into woodwork. The store prices are silly - I can buy tools and wood and glass and make everything for the cost of a single frame at Micheal's or similar. So that's what I did - bought a miter saw, router, router table & planer for under $1000 and now do custom frames for all her art.

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So I bought one of @desjgn 's awesome uncut sheet of Desjgn Classic Flourish playing cards. I love it but I need to get it framed.

View attachment 84481

I went to the local craft store today (AC Moore) and talked with their custom framer for over 2 hours. They were floored by the sheet of playing cards and thought it was one of the coolest things they've ever been asked to frame. I even got compliments from passerbyes. So anyway, I picked out some matting and a wood frame...nothing too elaborate as I knew because of its size, it was going to be pretty expensive. I eagerly awaited the final tally hoping for it to be around $300-$400 (I had no basis for this number but that is what I had in mind anyway). The total came back at $2,200!!!! Subtract the 60% off sale and it was still right around $900. Holy shit I almost threw up. My wife immediately gave me a look and started rolling the sheet up to walk away.

After I picked up my jaw from the floor, I said OK take away some of the matting and just go with one color and a plain wood frame (press board with a wood veneer instead of solid wood). The price came down to $530. Still out of my price range. So I had to walk out in defeat and now the sheet sits rolled up again in its shipping box.

Anyone out there have any suggestions as to what to do here? What have others done to frame this sheet (the newer larger print)?

One option would be to take it to a local printer, or someone else with a big cutter, and cut your sheet down into two separate decks. You could then frame one or both. Hanging both side by side would look very nice. Two frames might be cheaper than the single over size frame.
 

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