Looking for frame(s)

[Light Blade 8,658]

When I returned from BronyCon, I brought some very nice and rather valuable (to me at least) art pieces and want to preserve them in a frame. Each picture is 21.1 cm x 14.8 cm (approximately 8.3 in x 5.8 in). What would be the perfect frame size option for those IF I am not planning to trim them and spend too much? Oh, and is there an option to put them all into a single frame? 

Edited July 14, 2016 by Light Blade

[Brony Number 42 9,926]

Walmart or Hobby Lobby has frames of various sizes. The cheap poster frames are about $10 for the biggest one, which I think is 24"x36".

[Venomous 18,813]

@@Light Blade

Because this thread is asking for recommendations regarding a project that would be considered other, it has been moved to 'Other' Art Project Help.

 

Thank you.

[Fhaolan 4,468]

Framing art is a tricky subject. Most art pieces should be 'matted' to bring them up to a standard frame. The matt can be a critical thing to the piece as well, with colors and textures meant to bring out the best parts of the art itself.

 

But let's start with the easiest/cheapest thing: Go to a thrift store. Value Village and other places like that often have old pictures in frames, complete with matting. The colors of the matt board are going to be limited, likely white or tan, but it will be something.

 

If you're able to go to the next step, and have a go at getting a custom matting job, I recommend going to a craft store (There's likely one in your area, but you may not realize it because they tend to be named oddly. Do a web search for your area.) They usually have 'remnants' matt board for cheap, leftovers from framing big pieces. The trick here is to bring the art you want to frame, and put the mat board samples right up against the picture. See what brings out the subject, or makes the colors of the piece pop. It's not always obvious which one will do that, so try all sorts. 

 

With a razor blade or a craft knife, a ruler to run the blade against and some patience, you can likely cut the leftover matt board yourself to fit a frame you've gotten at the thrift store or a discount big-box store like Walmart. You want the hole that you see the art through to be slightly smaller than the art, and the outer edge to be the same size as the backing board the frame came with. Once you've done this yourself a couple of times, you can start to get fancy with bevelling, multi-layer matting in contrasting colors, and curved cuts as appropriate. I know a couple of people who treat matting like an art in and of itself.

 

If you want an even cheaper way of dealing with it, go to a thrift store. Value Village and other places like that often have old pictures in frames, complete with matting. The colors of the matt board are going to be limited.