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| Picture
your family on a vacation in Florida. Picture your daughter and son,
their blond hair tousled from the breeze, drifting up from breaking waves.
They are taking turns dumping buckets of sand on a pile that resembles
your husband, who picked the wrong time to take a nap. Now picture your
nostalgic joy and sadness as you watch them when their blond heads are
covered with graduation caps and their bathing suits are covered by gowns. When days spin by faster than we want them to, we begin to understand that our pictures are what pauses time and returns us to a certain moment that we can relish in. Jeni Jankowski, owner of Let’s Frame It, understands that theory. The vision I speak of earlier is not entirely fictitious. The picture is of Jeni’s family on their vacation in Florida, and it hangs proudly on display in her shop window. The picture lies within a shadow box design with die cuts of the word “Florida” and includes those treasured shells her kids collected. For those of us, like myself, challenged by simply drawing a stick-figure, I am astounded at her ability and intricacy of detail. Smiling, she happens to mention that she was a Creative Memories consultant prior to opening the frame shop. Creative Memories is a business that produces scrapbooking masters, in my opinion, who turn photo albums into books of memories that allow a picture to tell “a thousand words.” Jeni uses her extensive experience in that realm to excel beyond the dimensions of a book to attempt to tell that sort of story on the dimensions of a wall. Gazing up at an entire wall of framed pieces, I sigh and say, “You are so talented. I could never do what you do.” Again, Jeni’s wide smile springs up and she says, “You probably can’t do what I do because you don’t own a frame shop, but I can show you how we do this together.” And with an arm sweep reminiscent of Charlie from “Charlie in the Chocolate Factory,” we begin our own tour. The opening moment for the creation usually starts when customers plop a piece down on the counter and say, “Just make it look good.” Jeni will do this, but not without some dialogue with the customer first. Part of the joy that comes from Jeni’s work is listening to a customer’s explanation of his or her happiness derived from their photographs. A crayon drawing crafted by the hand of a child adored primarily by his or her parents may not need a museum-quality finish. But a family heirloom that covers an entire wall may call for an anti-reflective glass so that it can draw a person’s attention to it, even if he or she is sitting on the couch across the room. Though many of us may deny our creative side, Jeni knows that each customer has an idea of what he or she wants as the end result, and she wants to ensure the continued happiness of her customers, she says. A customer must first choose the type of glass they would like for the piece. All of the recommended glass Let’s Frame It offers has a UV-protective filter on it. From there you can choose clear, reflection control, or museum quality (the anti-reflective glass), or they even offer convex glass for certain shadowbox applications. The tour continues on with picking matte colors and materials, the frame type (there are over 2,500 of them, including a wood collection that could embarrass a tree) material, and mounting options. If the piece possibly was from your grandmother’s farm in Missouri and it lived in a heavy, dark trunk for most of its days, Jeni or any of her talented staff may apply a vacuum press to flatten it if there has been any waning or rippling. Each member of her staff seems to have his or her own forte. According to Jeni, if you were to give the same piece of art to each of them, they would come up with five very different, unique designs. Each person has a different passion. Jeni says she “found” herself through her framing business. After her daughter turned 1, she started seeking employment close to her home that could work around her family’s schedule. Though she did not have any previous experience with framing, a man opened his frame shop door to her and gave her a chance. She quickly proved her worth and he observed her obviously inherent talent. Jeni updated his point- of-sale system from a piece of paper and pen to the computer, and she installed a matte cutter that is linked to software that designs cuts for a collage. After a few years, the man felt like closing the door and retiring. Though he had children of his own, they did not want to pursue ownership of the business, so Jeni offered to buy the business from him. With the faith and blessing of her family firmly on her shoulders, she took over the ownership of the store. Though the shop may have experienced more humble beginnings, it is now on the edge of technology and design work, Jeni says. She and her staff attend many framing conferences and seminars to ensure that they are knowledgeable about any new software or entity that could improve the business. Jeni is currently bringing in an “Art My Style” program, which allows an individual to pick from endless options of infamous paintings or portraits online and have that item sent to her store to finish it with framing. Beaming, she explains, “For example, a restaurant owner could pick a larger than life-size depiction of a martini glass and hang it behind the bar…or…” and a list of ideas comes out of her, showing the love and passion she has for her work. Anything can be framed, including an old sports jersey, fine art prints, a hockey ticket to a play-off game, a child’s first finger painting, a police officer’s medal, a picture, antique dental tools, a stamp collection, and a Bible. According to Jeni, “You name it, we can frame it—as long as it isn’t still alive.” Jeni and her skilled staff at Let’s Frame It can create the piece of art that you will be proud to display for years to come. Let’s Frame It is located at 6410 Ward Road in Arvada. Call 303-423-1658 or visit the Web site at www.letsframeit.com for more information. |
Let’s
Frame It! |
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