In the market...

On a hot and steamy Sunday last weekend, the fam and I headed to the Ann Arbor Antiques Market. I’ve always enjoyed browsing such places, but I haven't been to this market for a few years. It definitely seemed to have less vendors than I recall, but it was still full of possibilities! There were a great variety of items to sort through, from trinkets and kitsch to real treasures. Beautiful and interesting items caught my eye that day, but I was on a budget and supposed to be just browsing...

I did snag a good deal and added a few more old wooden printing blocks to my alphabet collection. (score!) A popular trend at the show was the idea of using found objects as art pieces. One booth had mounted a vintage car grill and a very large weathervane as objets d'art on its walls. I loved the graphic nature of this look and was particularly impressed with the booth from Worden Select Objects. The booth was outfitted with a clean white backdrop like a gallery, allowing the colors of the antiques to really pop. The huge globe hanging from the ceiling was so striking! The display was really visually interesting and merchandised beautifully. I totally wanted to live in this fabulous booth!

The Antique Market takes place one weekend a month through the fall and I hope to get back again this year. Hopefully, I’ll have more time to peruse the show and discover more unique pieces. Maybe I can check it out next month when it’s not so dang humid!

All's Fair!

Here in the Ann Arbor area, we are squarely in the midst of “fair” season. With the Ann Arbor art fairs opening today, I thought it would be good to remind you that these three huge fairs aren’t the only game in town...

Two weeks ago, I attended the Shadow Art Fair in Ypsilanti. Shadow Art is a much more casual, indie type affair (it’s in a bar for god’s sake) with items ranging from weird and wacky to one of a kind. I saw some beautiful photography, cool posters and cute little felt items but nothing that really made me swoon. I downed a beer and walked away with just the cool “Bike Ypsi” shirt I bought for my man, (Yes, I am a very kind and generous soul.)

I have higher hopes for Mitten Made, a local arts & crafts sale held at The Blue House this coming weekend. The crafts I’ve seen on The Blue House website look lovely and much more my style. I’m particularly excited to check out locally crafted jewelry and letterpress stationery. (Two things I can never get enough of!) I’m also very excited to see The Blue House in person. This new crafts collective offers studio space, classes and a consignment shop for local handmade goods. Certainly, a very cool addition to Ann Arbor! For more information about The Blue House and Mitten Made, check out http://www.bluehouseannarbor.com

July 31st and August 1st will be Maker Faire Detroit (technically Dearborn) held at The Henry Ford. The fair seems to be a mix of everything DIY, from unicycles to robots to radios... I’m not sure yet if I’ll be attending this fair, held by Make magazine. Maker Faire sounds like it could be more of a nerd-fest for engineers than anything else so I’ll have to do more research on this one...

I'll be heading downtown to the A2 art fairs tomorrow with my fellow designers, searching for new exciting art to inspire us. Are there any other local art fairs coming up that I should check out?

P is for Phinneas

One of my oldest and dearest friends gave birth to her first child today! She and her husband are the smartest, funniest, most talented couple I've ever met. As a molecular biologist and an illustrator, they are the perfect balance and I can't imagine better parents for baby Finn. Or is it Phinn? I guess we will have to work that one out...

Since Finn's proud papa is an artist and the couple know so many creative people, they asked friends and family to design an alphabet card to be hung in the baby's nursery. I can't wait to see how the project comes together with artists all over the country working in so many varied styles. It will be a unique gift for this one of a kind kid!

I wanted to design something sweet and modern with a touch of whimsy. So, here is my card, the lovely letter E! ... and of course since I am such a procrastinator, the baby arrived before my card did. Oh well!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

One of my goals with this blog is to share information on some local places that inspire me. My first field trip (and one of my favorite annual events in Michigan) is the Historic Indian Village Home Tour in Detroit. I've gone for almost 10 years and I'm still impressed by the unique charm of this neighborhood. This eclectic group of homes covers three residential streets and offers many different styles of architecture including late Victorian, Tudor revival, Federal, Colonial revival, and many variations on the Arts and Crafts style. Most of the homes here were built between the turn of the last century and the 1930s, ranging in scale from lovely cottages to massive mansions. I think this area is a special gem in a city that has already lost too much of its historic architecture. A stroll through Indian Village helps give us all a taste of Detroit's grand past. Period details like carved woodwork, dumb waiters, manicured gardens, butler's pantries, beautiful leaded glass, carriage houses and original Arts and Crafts Pewabic tile work are the things that draw me back year after year. Every home here is a unique piece of history that you can touch and feel. If you are interested in exploring this beautiful neighborhood, I'll see you the first Saturday in June next year. For now, enjoy the photos! Keep in mind that interior photography of the tour is frowned upon (and by frowned upon, I mean expressly prohibited) so keep this on the dl...

For more information about Indian Village:

http://www.historicindianvillage.org/homeandgardentour.html