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I'm not an expert in this, but $70 really doesn't sound like too much for somebody to do a good, professional job of it.

Agreed. I've often spent more on frames than on art, and the results have always been worth it. $70 seems very reasonable.

I know someone who takes her stuff to craft stores to have them framed, they do a great job, and it is a pretty good deal cost wise as well.

Although the name doesn't do much for me, I had a great experience at Cheap Petes in walnut Creek. They have one in SF too. They did a good job with matting and helped me choose a color of an original print from Cuba. And, well, its pretty cheap!

I used to work at the framing dept. in a Michael's store and just wanted to mention that they are the very same frames as Aaron brothers. The work isn't guaranteed and doesn't always look great (at least at Michael's). It's always expensive. I used to spend a lot of time picking out mats and frames with people to only have them gasp at the price and walk away in the end. A small piece would usually run around $100 with the mat, frame and glass. Since it seems to be expensive no matter what, I would try to find an independent framer who has been doing it forever to get the best quality work.

I had a painting I brought home from Peru and had a college kid from the art school nearby to stretch it. They stretch canvas all the time for their own work and they don't charge much. But if you look up the prices of the stretchers at art supply stores, you'll see that 70 bucks isn't very much.

Another suggestion since framing can be so expensive, don't do them all at once, Get one stretched at the very least if not framed all at once then if you want to group them, set it aside until you eventually get them framed then decide how you want to arrange them and then hang. It'll stretch out what will surely be a not so inexpensive project but in the end, it'll be worth it.

I'm doing just that with a project that involves nearly full sized reproduced vintage Jazz LP covers, album frames from Urban Outfitters and once I get all 8 framed, then I'll hang them over my couch. gotta get back at it though. Only have 2 done. :-(

I work in the picture frame industry, and trust me, you get what you pay for in most cases. Yeah, you can have someone stretch the picture as a favor, but I would highly recommend going to a local picture framer, because not only is that there job, but it also their passion in life. It is their hobby, too. They take great pride in their work. Also, when a lot of care is put into framing your work, it wont look like some cheap painting you brought back from Europe. Have the painting stretched, have a nice frame cut for you and pick out a great liner to go between the frame and teh artwork to keep the picture frame from vissually overwhelming your piece. Look at some local Frame shops too, because a lot of them will actually give you the tools to let you build your own frame right there in the store. It is a lot of fun and you can save quite a bit. They cut everything and show you how to put it together. Then you can say that you frame your painting yourself, and all of your friends will look at you in amazement!
Dont get cheap, though, becasue it will only make your painting look that much cheaper.