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Frame the Journey of your Life

by Cate Murway

“If you like it, shoot it.

If you love it, frame it.” Eileen Finnigan

Mission accomplished! Frames Plus [Plus for personal service] has found a perfect custom industrial and professional space in the phenomenal cost effective, competitively priced Grundy Commons complex orchestrated by Frederic [Fred] H. Baumgarten. www.grundycommons.com

Eileen Marie [Edwards] Finnigan, NHS/BCTHS ’87 loves the nostalgia and architectural splendor of the expertly maintained old building, having an appreciation of the past instilled by her grandmother. Eileen appreciates paper copies and likes a handshake!

“A built-in office space, access to the cargo elevator and plenty of room to do whatever type work I need to do were ‘HUGE’ for me”, she firmly stated.

“Fred welcomed me to the Grundy family.”

Soccer/track & field miler/shot put athlete Eileen grew up in Penndel, always enjoying being outdoors. She smilingly recalls riding her BMX bike, swimming, fishing, playing “manhunt”, the large-scale game of hide-and-seek, and building tree forts. As an Our Lady of Grace elementary school student, she played soccer for the Middletown Athletic Association and then was the only female on the boys soccer team in Neshaminy Junior High. In the late ‘80’s, she coached the Borough 10-12 year old girls soccer team under the tutelage of the late John [Junior] Field, Jr. She vividly recalls him traversing the athletic facilities in his tan Chevrolet Chevette. Eileen also earned a brown belt based on self-defense karate training at Tiger Schulmann’s.

Moments you wish to hold on to forever pass by in a blink of an eye!

Her mom, originally from Burholme, Margaret (Peg) [Barth] Harper, St. Hubert H.S. ’61 is an executive secretary for Fenningham, Stevens & Dempster LLP, and her “Pop” Harry Harper, a motorcycle enthusiast and a “a guy’s guy” who loves to hunt, is a retired auto mechanic, currently fabricating hoses and gas lines. Her older brother, Michael Joseph (Mike) Barth, Cardinal Dougherty ‘83 willingly helps out in her frame store, assisting the customers with designs. Eileen’s Bensalem resident parents are still instrumental in helping her with so many things and always lovingly support her endeavors.

Eileen has obviously benefited from her “DECA”, a co-curricular component of marketing and distributive education. This program develops future leaders in marketing, management and entrepreneurship and provides opportunities for the students to develop skills in the areas of career and technical understanding, leadership, civic consciousness, and social awareness. When asked about her involvement in this academic element, she responded with her endearing casual manner of humility, “We ran the school store!”

Eileen has always been “adventurous, artistic, very caring and down to earth” according to her childhood friend, Erin [Klein] Lynn, VJM ’87 who grew up in Langhorne Manor.

“She was always a great loyal friend; very unique!” Erin moved to PA from Tennessee when she was in the 6th grade and she cherishes Eileen’s friendship. Little things often mean more to the receiver than any one can know. No one can really weigh the benefits of kindness. Being a positive force in a relatively negative world may seem a little kooky at first, but the chain reaction started by your little spark may have unseen impact on people and that is powerful stuff!

Eileen introduced Erin to her 1st cheese steak at Geno's Steaks, the signature dish for the city of Philadelphia. A sign posted on Geno's window, "This Is America: When Ordering Please 'Speak English' " [thankfully, no mention of accents!] gained press notoriety in 2006. Obviously, the simple ingredients of the thinly sliced rib-eye steak, melted cheese, oven-fresh baked bread and delicately grilled onions made an impression on this young teen with the strong Southern twang! Erin also remembers their shared fun experience of tubing on the Delaware and that at one time, Eileen maneuvered a horse and an antique horse carriage with a coach horn throughout Philadelphia.

Always alive with imagination and inspiration and an artistic flair, Eileen drew cartoons with pen and ink and markers, but “not wet mediums”. Not a big fan of paint!

Her first business was “Peanut’s Air Doodle” [1987-1992]. She created the very popular custom airbrushed t- shirts with highly rendered images and a high level of realism. This venture began with the shirts she designed for a tap dance team and then flourished because of word of mouth. Eileen has participated in the Borough craft shows. Her careers included employment in Deck the Walls, “Just Desserts”, then located on Mill Street, and CMS Gilbreth Packaging Systems working with shrink-wrap.

She purchased a pick-up truck and needed a part-time job. She secured a position at Frame Maker II and her entrepreneurial dream of skilled craftsmanship was on the path to fruition. In 2006, she bought the retail portion of the store and named it “Frames Plus”.

Her “Plus” includes treks to client’s homes to design and even hang the art for them. She gives advice on where the artwork should be displayed and she even refurbishes damaged frames. “Framing is such an individual thing”, Eileen confirmed. She maintains it is a

very personal business. Customers bring in their own artwork or she assists them with a purchase on the Internet. Eileen has even framed snow skis and the first piece of wood a child broke in karate. Her goal is to have the frame look like it was part of the piece, the finishing touch with colors that enhance the artwork and don’t dull it down.

Blessed with intensity and imagination, Eileen is able to garnish your rooms, as they deserve, creating an environment that is uniquely yours and reflects your life. She can assist you with the wall decoration of any room in your home or office.

Her “shamrock” in a unique frame that really makes it pop was pictured in the “Bucks County Town & Country Living” Winter 2007/2008 edition.

According to Dawn Elizabeth Deppi, Lower Moreland ’77, owner/photographer of “Eye of the Beholder”, who has known Eileen for years, “Her framing is unbelievable! She takes artwork to its highest standard and showcases it.” Dawn confirms that she has a gallery of her frames in her home. Eileen works as this wedding photographer’s assistant [she wears a tux even though her preference is denim 24-7] and becomes her 2nd set of eyes. “She’s wonderful. By the time we’re done with the wedding, they’re inviting her to the family bar-b-que!” Eileen’s friendship is important to Dawn’s entire family. Her son Austin John Crostarosa, Council Rock South ’10 loves working with “Peanut” [Eileen’s nickname] at Frames Plus; it has “changed his life!” “Eileen has taken some pictures also and has done an excellent job. We’re a great team!” Eileen confided, “I can see the shot from 20 years of framing it!”

Eileen is very particular about the work she puts out. She is a careful custodian of your valued possessions. Framing, for her, is not a production thing but truly “a work of love”! Dimensional framing especially is her expertise.

Years of hard work go into earning a degree. Display your diploma in style at home or in your office. Take some of your treasures out of the box in the closet, and create a wall hanging that’s yours and yours alone. Object framing has no limits.

Eileen feels she has more control over the quality of her frames now, constructing and assembling them in the clean facility of the Grundy Commons with plenty of room!

Building #3, 4th floor is home to her friendly face and welcoming smile!

Eileen and her husband, assistant manager/auto mechanic at Kerrigan Sunoco in Newtown, David Steven [Dave] Finnigan, NHS ’84 met through friends and reside in the Borough. They were married in Aruba on the beach [9.13.04] and she designed their wedding rings. They are “hugh Flyers fans”, love to go the shore, are amusement enthusiasts and basic steak and seafood people! They enjoy Sunday mornings for the “best breakfast and lunch in Bristol” at the Radcliffe Café, of omelets with spinach and cheese, grits and crispy bacon and rye toast. “Breakfast is the perfect comfort food.” Often times they sit down by the wharf and share a “take out” dinner.

Together they watch cartoons, especially enjoying the adventure chronicles of the manic, insane superhero “Freakazoid”. All Disney movies are favorites and Steven Spielberg’s “Animaniacs”, a broad mix of old-fashioned wit and slapstick. Thumbs up also for the fun and merry madness of “Shrek” and the uber-hip “Finding Nemo”.

They own two devoted, gentle and loving American Staffordshire terriers with muscled builds and protective instincts. “Blue” and “Ranger” are 80-pound lap dogs. Per Eileen, “They didn’t get the manual re: pit bull dogs”.

Capture the moments of your true self, the events that shaped your life and with Eileen’s professional display techniques, your photos will look like they came from a photo gallery. If your favorite Kodak moments haven't made it beyond your photo album, refrigerator door, or dresser mirror, it's time to show them off in a classic way that will be treasured for a lifetime and become a heritage for your children.

If your picture is worth displaying, it's worth preserving, especially family pictures, so showcase your work! You can surround yourself with pieces you love and your belief systems. Art portrays the journey of your life!

Frame Plus offers exceptional framing to enhance a work of art aesthetically in standard and custom-order sizes. Eileen will assist you with your selection among the deep, rich mats of museum grade quality and solid and sturdy frames of lustrous metals or a treasure trove of wood surfaces, with nothing to distract from your artwork.

Workmanship Guaranteed!

Gift Certificates toward custom framing make a fantastic gift.

Frames Plus

one of the largest selections of quality framing materials to be found

315 Bustleton Pike

Feasterville, PA 19053

215.322.1344

Hours:

Monday 10:00-5:00

Tuesday closed

Wednesday 10:00-5:00

Thursday 9:00-7:00