FOUND is celebrating Earth Day weekend with an art show that features artists who do their part by using vintage and recycled materials to create eco-funky art!  For 3 days, April 20-22, FOUND will be filled with things that we don't normally carry at the shop, but that appeal to our sense of creative reuse of materials.  Here's an introduction to the 6 artists in our  first annual Eco-funky Art Show.  Cre Fuller is the Ypsilanti artist behind Tin Angry Men Industries.  I've admired Cre's incredible robot lamps and sculptures for years and am thrilled that he's agreed to bring a collection of tin men to FOUND for this show.  Rena Hopkins is a Detroit area artist who will be bringing "steampunk" jewelry created from such found objects as watch parts, old keys and game pieces, but as you can see on her website, the Divine Iguana wears many other artistic hats as well.  We think you'll love her jewelry as much as we do. Many of you know and wear the  jewelry we carry by Ann Arborite  Sarah Stanton.  For this show Sarah is doing wall art with an industrial flair for us!  Sarah is inspired by unusual materials, textures and patterns and loves to work in metal.  We're looking forward to seeing the larger pieces she'll bring to this show.  Hailing from Royal Oak, Marsha Filipiak has been a stained glass artist for a few decades, but recently became facinated by digital minipulation - her use of vintage photos and ephemera as source material is what we like.   Made by Marsha digital collages are mounted on salvaged wood blocks and embellished with found objects for a whimsical effect. Seamstress and artist Celibeth Donnelly is a jack-o-all-trades and master of many!  She's the inspiration behind this show and friend of many of our favorite artistic people.  For this show, we'll feature her new line of bags made from vintage men's ties, as well as her delightful collage prints and notecards. Last, but not least, we're thrilled that John Gutoskey has agreed to participate.  I've long admired his creative process and attention to minute details.  We know that he's bringing the mandala created from salvaged game parts, and look forward to seeing what other mixed media assemblages he'll have at FOUND for this special weekend show. Dates and times for Eco-funky Art Show.  April 20-22 at FOUND. Opening Reception.  Friday April 20  7:00-9:00 p.m. Saturday April 21  9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Sunday April 22   11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.   Hope to see you there!     Continue reading

Earth Day 2012 is April 22nd.  FOUND has a special eco-funky art show planned for that entire weekend.  We believe artists who use recycled materials are doin' their part to save the earth.  Here's a quick preview of our poster! I'm really excited to be featuring these 6 artists - all of them use recycled, found or vintage materials in ways that make me very happy!  Watch this space for details about the artists and what they're bringing.     Continue reading

This morning we choose TWO lucky winners of the St. Pat's day contest by putting names in a hat and drawing names out. The FOUND  facebook comment winner is Deborah King Larson - who favors homemade shamrock shakes to the traditional corned beef and cabbage.  And the FOUND blog commentor who wins a $17 lucky FOUND gift card is Shawn M. who celebrates her sister-in-law Pat's St. Patrick's Day birthday with cake! Congratulations Deborah and Shawn!  I tucked your gift cards in envelopes for pick-up next time you're at the shop. Continue reading

Do you have a favorite St. Patrick's Day tradition?  I come from a long line of somewhat Irish folk - my grandmother celebrated with an Irish blessing and a shamrock pin on her sweater.  Mom made corned beef and cabbage.  Dad and my brothers once painted their shoes bright green to attend a cousins St. Patrick's Day wedding! Comment about something you like to do on St. Patrick's Day  at the bottom of this post or on our facebook page for a chance to win a FOUND gift card. At FOUND, we celebrate March 17th with 17% off any green colored item in the store - even if it has the tiniest wee bit o' green in the packaging, it's on sale...   Frogs are on sale of course - and the mint lotion with green on the label.  All the Green Daffodil soy candles have the color green in the packaging. 10 foot rolls of burlap make great table runners. Green candles in 5 different shades, candle rings, wreaths and florals add an instant touch of springtime to your home. There's more than a bit of green in this jewelry! Just noticed that some of the stamp sets by Yellow Owl Workshop have green on some of them, too. These little birds have green stands and almost everything in the front window would be part of the St. Patrick's Day special. And looking forward to Easter, these bunnies and eggs are 17% off on Saturday.     Hope this St. Patrick's Day finds your Irish (or not so Irish) eyes a smiling, and your day full of the luck of the Irish! If you find yourself in Kerrytown (an Irish place, at that), stop by FOUND and save a bit of green on anything green. oh, and one more thing...comment below or on our facebook page about one of your favorite St. Patrick's Day traditions, and we'll enter your name in a drawing for a $17 FOUND gift card!       Continue reading

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

Here are a few favorite valentine images from FOUND. We only have a few vintage valentines left - people have been shopping early this year!  But we still have lots of great jewelry, candles and gifts.  Our latest pillow style from Kriss LeCocq states LOVE in bold graphic style. These needlefelted strawberries just arrived from the AuGres Sheep Factory.  Would be sweet valentine gifts.  Sweet plaques with hearts.       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

  You all know that I love vintage children's school books. Last week I found a couple of little Chinese readers. The images are so sweet. I found a great 1920's menswear style portfolio from a Chicago tailor shop - these oversize fashion posters would be terrific framed. There are 20 in the collection, priced from $18-$28 each.  One features knickers and a wool jacket for golfing. If you're looking for some small ephemera to make cards out of, we recently added a bunch of old Popeye & Olive Oyl playing cards.  Playing cards often feature images that lend themselves well to repurposing for paper arts.  Check out our selection next time you're in the shop. From a time when quill pens and beautiful script was the norm in business. Palmer Method of Business Writing.  Actually, even when I was in school, Palmer Method for schools was the standard for learning to print, and for the big move to cursive writing in third grade.  Lots more vintage ephemera at FOUND!   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

 I've been scrambling to bring more vintage stuff into the shop. Found clock and watch parts on my recent trip.  These are great to breakdown and use for steampunk jewelry and assemblage projects. If you have fairies that inhabit the nooks and crannies of your home, here is a bit of furniture for your tiny friends. I love children's china tea sets.  While I wasn't able to find complete sets this time, I did find dozens of little pieces.  They are great in shadow boxes, or to hold jewelry, or to have a tea party with!   Whenever I find them, I like to pick up linen days of the week towels.  I found a full set, plus a few extras. We've refilled the button jar - $3 for 1/4 cup scoop. Need a handkerchief? These vintage ones might do the job. And that's just a bit of what's new at FOUND this week.     Continue reading