5th Year Celebration!

The weather is supposed to be nice this Friday (partly cloudy), with an exceptional micro-climate on the patio! The party will be from 5 to 8PM, this Friday, May 16th. There will be a salad bar, beverages, boules* and wonderful company (as always). Thank you for joining me in celebrating a successful journey before and going forward at City Frames!

Time went by without notice... and it is hard to believe that City Frames has already passed the 4-year mark! I established City Frames in the Zang mansion in February 2004. My initial advertising was done door to door with flyers. The first year, I distributed over 10,000 flyers and I made a lot of new friends! The shop was busy from week one. Since, the clientèle has grown beyond Colorado.

After hearing over and over from people saying that a business that is still around beyond 4 years is an accomplishment in itself, I decided that the time has come to gather everyone and celebrate! From what I understand, half the new businesses die in their first 3 years, and another 50% quit before reaching a 5th year. Additionally, since everybody is talking about recession and economic meltdown, I feel that it is really time to have some fun!

Celebrating a 5th year with City Frames does not go without deep gratitude toward every customer that has come to the shop. I am awed by the level of support that this little business has been receiving. The success of City Frames is entirely due to a constant flow of repeat and referred customers. Every year, I have received a new generation of referred customers.

I hope that you can join the celebration this Friday, May 16, from 5 to 8 on the back patio of the Zang mansion at 709 Clarkson Street. Please RSVP via the email form or by phone + "texto" to 303 249-3333.

Joseph

(*) Boules: Also called "Pétanque", played with metal baseball-size balls and one small "Cochonnet", is the best game to learn about village gossips and a few words of French slang... But make no mistake: Pétanque is considered to be a national sport and it has very strict rules!

Preserving Nature While Preserving Art

Like other industries, the picture framing industry needs to help minimize human damage to the planet. Roma Moulding recognizes the need for progress in that direction.

Roma Moulding is one of City Frames' main sources for picture frames. So, information on what steps Roma takes to help preserve the environment is of great interest to me and my customers.

With the attached flyer (click on the picture for a larger view), and more detailed information available on its website, Roma is at the forefront of communication about this subject. What clearly sets Roma apart is the product's design qualities, the authenticity of the European culture that inspires the products, and a proactive attitude about health and environmental impact.

For example, when tested for lead content, Roma's mouldings scored below the allowed limits. Products from other manufacturers sometimes reached levels 5 1/2 times above the recommended lead content limit. Roma also believes in developing a production and a delivery process that supports healthy forest management; therefore, Roma products are made with woods that are obtained from active reforestation programs.

Even a small frame shop like City Frames can influence its industry by selecting materials with consideration for environmental impact.

The quality of custom picture framing materials can no longer be solely based on design and price. Beauty begins in nature.

New Site and New Blog

City Frames has a newly designed website, www.cityframes.net with a link to this new blog http://cityframes.blogspot.com. I invite you to visit them frequently and to share the addresses with all your friends!

This blog is an extension of the website and its purpose is to share framing news, testimonials, design ideas, and practical tips about framing art.

There are two ways you can stay connected with this blog: via bookmark in your web browser or via email notifications. Let me know in the Contact Form if you wish to receive email notifications when I post a new article on this blog.

This blog will feature designs and testimonials from customers who ordered them. If you already are a City Frames customer, I invite you to submit a testimonial about your framing experience at City Frames. You can do so by submitting a comment to this article and I will publish it along with images relating to works I have done for you in the past. You can also use the Contact Form on the website.

Cheers!

Tuscany

Tuscany is an inspiring aged moulding from Larson Juhl. Reminiscent of antique Italian furniture, this moulding features embossed patterns and distressing.

Tuscany’s four profiles and two fillets* have a time-worn appearance and are available in two finishes: Dark Italian Walnut and Italian Creme. The Dark Italian Walnut finish is traditional in style with a rich waxed surface, creating a “cozy elegance”. The Italian Creme finish is a natural wood-tone with an earthy, neutral gray-beige wash that is a perfect complement for landscapes.

City Frames offers an extensive selection of Italian frames from Larson Juhl and from Roma Moulding.

(*) Fillets are elegant thin mouldings that can be used to match, enhance, or contrast a frame. Fillets are traditionally used inside the opening of a mat to echo the outer frame. Personally, I also find interesting to play with non-matching fillets directly inside a frame to bring values otherwise missing in the design.

Framing Memories

"Stellar presentation! A copy of a very small format original photograph was digitally created and framed as a gift for my brother and his family. The gift was well-received, to say the least. My brother's family put the picture in the family room, where they see it every day. My brother's wife loved the choice to present the antique photo as if it were displayed in an old family photo album. What a great design choice! I'll continue to come to City Frames, and I'll also highly recommend you to all of my friends." - T. Miller, Denver.

The design for this project was strongly inspired by the pages of antique family photo albums: cut-out window, photo corners, etc. For our design, we created a 4" x 6" digital copy of the wallet-size original photo. We replicated the unevenly cut edges of the original photograph and then it was put in place with acid-free paper corners.

The matting was created with two layers of Crescent® Pearl Gray, with the top mat slightly raised. The photograph was mounted with paper corners. The frame is a 3/4" Metro Urban Silver Leaf from Roma Moulding, and the final size is 10" x 13"

Framing family photos holds a very special place at City Frames. The value of personal memorabilia is not measurable. I am always deeply honored to be trusted with handling and framing them.

©2008 City Frames, All right reserved.