Is this worth framing?

If you like it, if it gives you enjoyment, if it has sentimental value, then frame it and enjoy it. Don't judge it, and don't let others judge it either.

A few years ago I owned and operated three picture frame shops/art galleries. The number one question I used to get was, "is this worth framing?" My answer was always, "Yes, of course it is."

I would get customers carrying in snap shots, children's artwork, prints from the free calendar they got from their insurance company and just about any picture or print that you can imagine from a number of sources. Yet, the answer is always the same. What makes an item worth framing is what it is worth to you, and no one else. The vast majority of that value has nothing to do with dollars and cents. It has to do with its intrinsic value that no one else can appraise or appreciate.

I especially encouraged parents to frame children's artwork. Now obviously this can get a bit expensive if the child is cranking out 3 or 4 a day in a school art class. However, framing selective pieces can go a long way towards encouraging a budding future great master or just building self-esteem in general.

Vacation snap shots are also worth framing. The more time that passes the more you will be glad you made the investment. With all the new computer technology, it is easy to touch them up. You may be surprised to find you have a little more "Ansel Adams talent" in you than you thought.

I have a good friend that lives in a beautiful home surrounded by a golf course community that boasts of residents that include NFL Football stars and professional golfers. She is retired now, but at one time was a rather large art dealer specializing in paper art. Her home is beautifully decorated, as one would imagine an art dealer's home to be. I can't begin to tell you the huge amount of artwork she has had the opportunity to chose from, many of them very valuable.

Yet, walking through her entryway into her home, the very first piece of artwork you see is a small but gorgeous, professionally framed and matted print entitled "Ted". I sell it in my eBay Store for $15.00.

When I asked her of all the beautiful prints and originals (not that this one isn't beautiful) that she had to chose from why was "Ted" picked to be the first piece one sees when they enter the home, her answer was simply, "Because I like it!"

So if you like it, it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks. Frame it, hang it and enjoy it!

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