Springtime finds are making their way into FOUND. Here's a quick photo peek at what the UPS guy has delivered recently.    Felted bunnies and eggs.   We've added a lot of charms, pendants and jewelry findings so that you can assemble your own necklaces and bracelets.  (check out our workshop page for info about the upcoming Patera workshops) Stop in soon and see what else we've found!     Continue reading

A few weeks ago, we went to Beckman's handcrafted show at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago and found some great new things to carry at FOUND.  This week, our orders started to arrive! Chicago jewelry designer Veronica Riley Martens works with colorful beads made from South American tree nuts called tagua.  This is a newly popular, eco-friendly material that was previously used to make lovely carved buttons in the early part of 20th century.  We've had a variety of vintage tagua buttons at the shop before.  The meat of the nut is noted for it's ability to take colorful dyes.  In natural form, it resembles ivory from elephant tusks, thus is often referred to as vegetable ivory. It's smoothness makes it easy to carve. When plentiful "modern" plastics became available that could be used to make cheaper buttons, tagua nut use fell from favor during the 1930's.  Fortunately, there has been a resurgence of products being made from this plentiful natural material. Veronica includes this info with her jewelry: " Tagua Nut Beads are made from the fuit of a palm tree from the South American rainforests.  This eco-friendly product helps sustain rainforests by harvesting a renewable resource without damaging the trees.  The use of tagua nuts also provides jobs for over 35,000 people in Ecuador alone. (pronounced TOG-wa)."  All the tagua nut jewelry at FOUND is designed by Veronica Riley Martens and handcrafted in Chicago.  We love the necklaces, earrings and rings she sent us in a wonderful palette of greens, orange, grey and brown.  The material is lightweight and easy to wear.  Stop by and see our collection and the sample nut - we think you'll be seeing a revival of the buttons, beads and other products made from the versatile tauga nut in the future!   Continue reading

On February 16, Emily (and her sister Cara) will be teaching a patera workshop at FOUND.  All the details and registration are here. It's called Through the Looking Glass.  The participants will make earrings and a necklace, using findings from Nunn Design.  It'll be fun!     Continue reading

 Candles can instantly add a festive touch to your home.  Here are some of the styles available at FOUND this month: Yes, that is real candy!  The Habersham Candy Company makes this colorful pillar and another that has cinnamon sticks. In the fall, we expanded the variety of candles we carry from the Creative Candle Company in Kansas City. Recently, Martha Stewart did a blog post with a series of photos showing the process of handmaking candles.  Martha has featured candles from Creative Candles for years - it's a great quality, made in the USA product.  This holiday season we have a nice selection of pillars, tapers, round ball candles and 10 hour votives in several shades of green, christmas red and ivory. Isn't this multi-armed candelabra a fantastic piece?  Spectacular when filled, but also nice with just a few candles. We also carry footed glass hurricanes.  And clear bobeche for taper candlesticks.   A few simple precautions and remembering to blow them out are important for safety.   An appleberry red bird candle is a fun accent for the holidays.  And at just $8.50 each, these made in USA candles make affordable gifts.   Many folks have stopped to buy Bullfrog candles - not knowing that they closed during the summer. While we were quite disappointed when Charleviox, Michigan-based Bullfrog Light Company announced they were retiring, we wish the former owners all the best.  We hope they spend lots of time sailing  next summer!  Our customers LOVED their unique candles with cut-out snowflakes and simple designs that glowed from top to bottom when they burned.  The last of our final order from Bullfrog is now gone.  That doesn't mean you can't find terrific Michigan-made candles at FOUND.  Our other Michigan based candle company is Green Daffodil from Ferndale.  Their soy candles use pure ingredients and are popular year round.  Packaged in fun little tins, they are quite popular as gifts year round.  We love the new Holiday Tree scent.  Green Daffodil recently started doing larger sized decorative glass jars - great for the holidays!             Continue reading

Here's a selection from a Michigan TV show that did a feature on Kerrytown.  Here's the link: Under the Radar Michigan in Kerrytown There are just a couple images of our windows...the main businesses featured are our neighbors Spice Merchants and Monahan's Fish Market.  And the Kerrytown bells.  They did a great job!         Continue reading

  Once again this year, FOUND is offering "Merry Multiples", our season long special for those of you who need a half dozen of something we carry.  Pay for 5 of an item, and get a 6th one absolutely FREE! Here are just a few of the things people have been buying as "Merry Multiples" during the past week:  Funny little owl ornaments, tiny sheep & snowflakes & long-john snowmen for little feather trees. Placemats from Kriss Lecoq.  Featuring the words "be merry" or "sit. eat", these are a great addition to your table with machine washable, casual style.  Other things for a Christmas time table that people are buying in sets of 6:  candles, candleholders, candle rings (which double as napkin rings) and sweet little stockings that are nice size to tuck silverware and napkin into for a festive look.  Snowflakes and birds of many types have been flying out by the half dozen!       But by far, the most popular items to get 6 of are the CHOCOLATE-filled peppermint candy canes.  YUMmmm... Have a delicious week!   Continue reading

  Some of my favorite ornaments at FOUND are ones that are handmade, right here in Michigan.  Deanne Nieburger, aka Deets, is an Ann Arbor artist who makes wonderful little ornaments incorporating recycled vacuum tubes (once used in TVs, radios, speakers and electronics of all sorts).   Above is a robot.  Below are her new style penguin ornament and a snowman ornament.  Each tiny sculpted face has its own personality!  She brought in dozens last week - some with old Christmas light bulbs instead of the electronics tube. I love the quirky expressions.  And the adorable little scarves that Deanne makes for each of them.  The Au Gres Sheep Factory, located in Au Gres, Michigan, provides us with fabulous felted wool ornaments each year.  They mainly produce wool and roving for weavers and knitters, but we're really glad they take time out to make these wooly white polar bears! We carry wooly little Au Gres lambs and sheep year round.  For Christmas, we ordered red wool cardinals and these fox ornaments. The Au Gres animals are $18.50 each.  The ornaments by Deets are $16 each.  If you're looking for extra special ornaments, handmade in Michigan, these 2 makers are our top picks. In addition to these, we stock dozens of styles of imported ornaments and a nice collection of vintage ornaments at prices from $3 to $10 each.     Continue reading

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Finally.... here are the photos from the July 2011 collage & assemblage workshops with mixed media artists Lynn and John Whipple.   The first day's focus was collage - vintage papers, adhesives, paint and messy fun!   By the end of the day, most projects were finished and framed in shadow boxes.  Some wonderfully creative work! Here's the fun group of ladies (and John) at the end of the first workshop.  Those smiles say it all! The second Whipple workshop was 3-D assemblage in a found box - below is the group that joined us on Sunday. Some folks took both days of class and others just came for the assemblage class.   Most of the day, I was back at the shop, so missed getting photos of the finished boxes.  My pictures are most works in progress... It was another lively day, full of creativity!  Thanks Lynn & John, and all who participated.       Continue reading

  It's been a busy summer for workshops at FOUND.  I'll use the next couple posts to show photos from the series. We were thrilled to host textile artist Chris Roberts-Antieau earlier this month.  Lots of creative sketching, planning, cutting, ironing and sewing took place in those two days! (Thanks to Pat Johnston who took these photos) The workshop started with sketching and drawing.  Then the fun of selecting colorful fabrics began!  Numerous tables throughout the room were STACKED with textiles of every color and pattern.  At the beginning of the workshop, they were all arranged by color in very neat piles.  By the end of the workshop, they looked like this.  Lots of creatve textile combinations happened in the meantime.   Chris pulled out her scissors - instruction in cutting, fusing and layering commenced!  Slowly, but surely, fabric "pictures" began to evolve.   A good iron is essential in doing art the Roberts-Antieau way! On the second day, the sewing began!         I was amazed as I watched everybody interpret their initial concepts onto fabric.          Two days wasn't nearly enough time to finish - work will continue at home.   The variety and lively use color and pattern in these projects was amazing.  We need to schedule a reunion for  this creative group of women in the autumn - after the finishing touches are completed.   We send a HUGE heartfelt THANK YOU to Chris (with help from Chris, Celibeth and Sylvia).  We're so fortunate to know you!         Continue reading