Funky Findz On Line

Bicycle built for two

2011-08-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

Pretty vintage dresses from funkyfindzonline

I had a fun photo shoot with my daughter , her friend and my cherished vintage tandem bike with banana handle bars , I put them in long, maxi handmade floral gowns from the 60's each having a romantic Victorian flair .

Grandma shumanns nut strudel

2011-01-25T14:17:00.000-08:00

this recipe is from the card that my mother wrote from her mother Elizabeth Schumann who made this every Easter and Christmas , this was also made with poppy seeds, we do not have that recipe but indeed o experiment with that.

My mother recalls that sometimes raisins were added.
The recipe
1 cup of shortening (recipe calls for leaf lard) we used Crisco)
1/2 Cups of sugar
2 egg YOLKs

Cream these together
Making the yeast mixture
Dissolve 1 large cake yeast (or one package of yeast) in 1/2 cup in 1/2 cups in lukewarm water

Scald 2 cups of milk and when it cools add this to cream mixture, it does not blend,
grated rind of 1 large lemon to 6 cups of sifted flour with 1 tsp of salt

now add 3 cups of flour blend after addition of each cup after the 3 cups then add the yeast mixture and another 3 cups of the lemon flour mixture, blend well,
cover and let rise until double in bulk

punch down and let raise again
then set o floured board

cut into 4 equal and roll into oblong shapes and put 1/4 of the pie filling in it.

Filling
2 pounds of ground walnuts ground fine
2 cups of sugar 1 tsp of cinnamon
1 stick of melted butter

Add the sugar and cinnamon to the butter and blend well, then add one cup at a time until all is blended
work well with fingers

roll up like a jelly roll and pinch ends place on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 30 to 40 min until golden brown.

Nancy Drew costum order

2010-12-17T10:09:00.000-08:00

THE MYSTERY OF THE BRASS BOUND TRUNK

INSPIRATION for this commission Nancy Drew suitcase.

The process

I sold this Nancy Drew suitcase to a school out in California, later I had an inquiry in my mail box from my main funky findZ on line store asking if I could make another nacy Drew suitcase , this was from a sister who wished to give it to her sister who is a Nancy Drew fan. she had favorite book covers and had a very special fabric which I scaned and made prints , I have provided it here for a free image to toerhs who love Nancy Drew. She wrote me a letter expalining how special this fabric was to her, I did not have the heart to cut it up . I used quite a bit of this in my design, loving the blue.

FREE TO COPY!

The two cases are very different, yet I enjoy them both, admittedly , and it is clear to see , I spent quite a bit more time on this second case. I applied allot of acrylic paints and finished off a brass look with gold pearlized paints.

First Nancy Drew that sold to education foundation in California

Custom order Recycled vintage suitcase "Day at the Beach" by C. Reinke

2010-12-16T08:13:00.000-08:00

CUSTOM ORDER
groovy funky and functional
take her on the plane

Vintage recycled suitcase title 'Day at the Beach " (view transaction here )was purchase, after payment the buyer noticed that it mentioned that it was not recommend for airplane travel at which time I offered to make a similar suitcase that could go into the belly of the plain, with much style I might add.

Here is the result. I found the most groovy vintage 1960s fabric in the same color tones as the original case, this is a Samonsite which is a better case than the original, I did not add beads or outside trim other than vintage rick rack and lace which could be covered in varnish.

Funky inside when you open your case! The same fabric, vintage trim , soft feathers and gems of frogs and turtles. Note the nice straps for holding in your luggage.

View more of recycled art by C.REINKE

This case has an extra compartment!

SAMSONITE VINTAGE QUALITY

Funky Findz VINTAGE glasses resulted in being Featured in Madison Magazine THE CURB-Video of Reinke recycled phone !!!

2010-12-12T14:57:00.000-08:00

The magazine with moxie, produced by UW-Madison students for the bold,
smart Wisconsin woman

This pair of glasses caught the attention of
Madison Wisconsin reporter Julie Brenner

Which you can see are featured in this very nice fashion spread, number 5, that's my store FUNKYFINDZONLINE.etys.com

Crafting a career: Wisconsinites on Etsy

Interesting and informative aritcle written by Brenner, where my recycled chocolate phone is featured.

How did this all happen?
I received another in box at my main etsy store from someone asking if I would send them a pair of vintage glasses so they could photograph them for a magazine article they were doing in my home state of Wisconsin , at the capital city of Madison. She promised to mail them right back, in the letter she gave me her phone number and other details. Initially I was going to delete it and considered even reporting the message as spam for who in their right mind would send merchandise to anyone without them paying for it? What did they take me for? It was a collage paper called the curb both in print and on line .

I checked out the link of the on line paper and called the author of the letter,Julie Brenner. We had a nice conversation , and she seemed sincere, I liked her too she. During the course of our discussions I asked her what she was writing about, and she replied that it would feature etsy female artists/designers. I promptly told her about my recycled art and promised to send links of my recycled art section and blog. After I learned that the artists had been chosen prior to contacting myself, a bit disappointed , I chatted with her about etsy and asked if she ever heard of regretsy ?She had not. I shared my experience with her about my phone. Which can be read at these two blogs FEATURED MIXED EMOTIONS and REGRETESTY freind or foe of etsy? Brenner became interested in writing or featuring a side link or feature on regretesy with my recycled mink phone. I sent her links to the site, to the page that featured my phone and my two blog posts covering my mixed emotions on the entire ordeal.

I decided to trust her, what the heck, I would just send out the glasses ...if my hunch was wrong I wasn't out that much . I mailed them out. In the meantime, when she wrote me that she was indeed interested in regretsy and asked me "Would you take an interview on the subject.? "Yes, I would love to!" was my reply, realizing that any and all publicity is good. In fact some have said that "Notoriety is the best publicity of all". I simply told her my process of feeling completely demoralized to elated, after my phone sold.

Yesterday , Brenner sent me the link to the article, or rather video that she put together. on the subject. I feel she did a very nice job, I think I sound like I talk to fast and the audio on my recording is not the best. But hey, I made it to youtube! Please check out the page Regresty Friend or foe of etsy by Brenner .

.

The moral to this story? Sometimes it pays to trust...and put aside any shame,fear, embarrassment whatsoever in the name of getting your name out there...in the world. I am proud that I made it to Madison , I used to live there for 11 years when I owned Caturas Framing Gallery. For myself, I feel that all my hard work, effort and persistence has paid off in this momentary glimpse of fame! Thanks Julie for spotting my glasses at etsy and pushing to bring regretesty to other etsy sellers.

Julie Brenner

Found a friend at Eureka Springs art show

2010-12-08T06:38:00.000-08:00

Just Reminiscing .... a distinctive touch of yesteryear!

Karen busy at work on another master piece, adding charms,lockets, watches or buttons really whatever hits her fancy and fits into her vision of the design at hand.

I made a rather quick decision the week before Thanksgiving, my mother invited me to visit her, she lives in Branson Missouri for the Holidays. My long and dearest friend, whom I lived with in Sedona Arizona, who now lives in Missouri, while talking one night over a stiff brandy, suggested while I was visiting , I should drop down to Eureka springs Arkansas , meet her and do the fall art show . Why not? I frantically packed and created smaller items that would fit into my car, here are two examples, I enjoyed making these immensely by the way and am itching to make more.

When we walked into the door I spotted a women with a moss green vintage coat with golden mink collar and immediately I had that sense of recognition, in fact I made a comment to her that she looked familiar, we exchanged causal greetings and both got to work setting up shop sort to speak.

Garvin and Victoria are stain glass artists, altered art and jewelers, here we see them hard at work putting together the stand required to hang their beautiful works of stain glass. It was a very frenzied time , as we arrived at 3:00 and had to be out sharply at 5:00, the only uncompromising rule the artists had to obey. We barely made it, in fact towards the end we had to throw items under the counter to clean up for the judging of the best booth. No hope for us, simply not enough time. Did we have a shot? maybe. Gavin bought a light show projector which was indebted to play with the crystal and glass and simply dazzle the crowd. Not enough time, fabirc or space, live and learn.

This is simply brilliant, Karen takes vintage/antique lace table clothes, dollies, etc and creates beautiful stunning one of a kind vests, she designs them and her talented mother puts them together by hand.

Once we got our space set up, I could instantly see why I had my "lovely to see you again" (Moody Blues lyric) moment with Karen. I was instantly drawn to her booth and her work , which I immediately fell in love with! You can see why. I purchased a charm bracelet with the proceeds from my first sale and put it on. It has a big locket (with opens) covered in leopard print and is chunky and elegant. Towards the end of the show, we exchanged cards and I ran the idea past her of joining forces with my etsy store I purchased some of her vintage buttons with the intention of listing them for sale at my etsy store and here they are !! It is my hope that we forge a meaningful collaboration!

Recycled Artist--Karen Fererro
I don't ever remember ever becoming an artist, I have always been one . I have created a career that is just an extension of who I am. A lot of my art is inspired by found objects, antique keys, old metal objects and unusual things. I have endless supply of ideas to repurpose items to make a decorative ornament, a wearable item or a piece of jewelry. My designs are born out of everyday things we see all around us but don't usually notice. I love to adopt objects others want to throw out. Creative uses for cast-away items, call it recycling up-cycling creating new design with individuality and style. My work reflects my adventurist spirit my determination enthusiasm and off beat humor.

EASY HOW TO make your own Christmas suticase

2010-11-14T07:08:00.001-08:00

Why make a Christmas suitcase?
Several reasons:

S T O R A G E - R E C Y C L E - GIFT GIVING

These are the handiest of all my creations. Making a Christmas suitcase from an old useless suitcase into a storage unit for your most valuable ornaments, hand made stockings, linens is a must. The plastic containers sold in department stores do not last or hold up, they crack with time. These hard shell suitcases, such as the Samsonite, are nearly indestructible. I store my best ornaments , in them. I take them out and set them around the tree or fireplace while they are empty.

I have sold them to mothers who have wrapped all their individual packages and placed them all in the suitcase and used it, as part of their gift and it replaces the bag.

This is a process that takes only 4-5 hours , any one can do it! For those of you who might be intimidated by complex design elements that I have used on my suitcases why not try this first? Instead of using papers , you can use fabric and just do a simple cover on front and back, apply glitter to the sides,a couple of die cut accents and trim out. Use a medium size hard shell suitcase any color.

Step 1: pick out your fabrics. I used a precut Christmas quilting bundle , they were the prefect size. These fabrics had glitters incorporated in them.

The color of your suitcase does not really matter, this is a good time to use one of the duller cases because you will be covering it entirely.
STEP 2:First lay down the fabric, there is no need to iron it as you can smooth it out, I choose different but complimentary fabric for the front and back but you can use the same on both sides if you wish . Use Modpodge

STEP 3:I mixed up a THICK paste of glitters to apply to the sides.This is a quick fix and adds lots of Christmas sparkle!

STEP 4: Make any repairs in the inside with the ever faithful glue gun. In this case the inside side lining had come undone. I simply reapplied it with a extra hot glue stick and gun.

STEP 5: Apply a matching fabric to the inside front bottom. I painted glitter on the sides, and added this cute clear die cut rain deer accent. (glue is drying)

STEP 6:Pick out your trim and apply to edges to finish off your look, I used a charming vintage green loop trim on the edges and added a new red green trim to the outside center.

STEP 7 : Now comes the funnest part, adding your embellishments. You can really add anything, rhinestones, plastics gems, sequin patches. For ease, I put die cut candy canes on the top and three cute Christmas trees on.

Step 8: Once a thin coat of varnish is applied we are finished! I suggest even adding a varnish to fabric as it can be easily cleaned and will hold up much better. However you do not have to add varnish to fabric if you don't want to. This is a fairly simple process. Now you can store your Christmas stockings in this years to come Going to grandmas house for Christmas?, Take this case and be the hit of the party!

STEP 9: yes sign your work and date it, you are an artist , this is YOUR CREATION, BE PROUD OF IT

Finished inside

Buy this suitcase here

Funky Christmas suitcase Learn how it is created

2010-11-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

Funky pin up girl suitcase-

I had previously bloged about my process in making a Halloween suitcase and have decided now to try to blog most of my creations. For one my sales on etsy.com are going up, I sold two suitcases last week , one which is a custom order. I have found that when I am posting to etsy.com I can only have a total of five pictures which is really not enough to show all the facets of the suitcase, I thought that if I bloged each cases process I could then direct those looking at my suitcases to the link of the post and they can see for themselves how it was created and view more pictures.

STEP 1 : choose your vintage suitcase, it can be dirty, scratched up, the inside does not need to be in good shape, however this case has a great inside. I choose red because I wanted to use the red elements of the case in my design. Later I will show how you can choose and recycle any color suitcase.

STEP 2: select your papers and think out your over all design. I was inspired by two vintage cardboard cutouts that I found at a thrift store for ten cents each. I wanted to make a funk Christmas and for me, nothing says funk better than good ol zebra print , so I have some zebra issue paper, I love to use tissue , as it has a transparent element when mod poded on.

In addtion I found some vintage Christmas cards and was inspried from an artist book that has vintage women with funny sayings .

STEP 3: layout your design . Get a feel for what look you are going for. View this like a base coat as other elements will be applied later. Once you are satisfied, remember the placement and begin to apply with Mod Podge. The heavy cardboard peices required another artist glue to secure.


I applied the tissue paper first

never forget any side of your suitcase

STEP 4: after the one side has been completed, while it is drying I address the top of the suitcase, bringing in design elements from the front to insure that the overall look is cohesive.

Here is the other side of my suitcase ater I have applied all the tissue paper, candy-cane vintage cardboard decoration, , images of women in nightgowns/ slips from the WARD catalog, and other cutouts I found. I added the Santa hat to the man.

dont forget the sides bring your design around the edges


Both sides of the top have the base of papers applied

STEP 5 : choose your color platter of acrylic paints,I recommend acrylics especially when doing a vinyl case. Oils work nicely on leather and cardboard, but nothing beats acrylics on the hard shell suitcase. I prefer to use GOLDEN, They are the most vibrant color you can find. Remember when choosing your colors you want both highlights and low lights to bring the paper images into a seamless state.

crimson , lime green ,cobalt blue, yellow and opaque gold

I used a fair amount of Crimson red to brighten the entire red suitcase, I painted out scratches and other imperfections. The cobalt blue was used for shadows, green and yellows for highlights, on edges for example and the gold iridescence (fine) gave the suitcase a lovely shimmer.

Paint the edges of the papers you have applied

I believe that the application of paints is one of the most important steps to a beautiful finished recycled work of art. I blend or scruff in all the edges of the papers. As you can see in this close up I matched the edge of the image with the paint and brought it around the evergreen leaf with is placed in a frame like fashion. I love this step it is relaxing and one can really utilized their painting skills here if they would like. You can extend the image, paint new pictures if you like, be creative! have fun .

mixing glitters to give depth

Step 5 Apply glitter . I mix my glitters like paint, using Martha Stewarts fine glitter line and mod podge has the fixative. .


I covered all the empty spaces with my glitter mixture


Choose your trim! I have a large (never enough however) selection of trims

Take a old run down suitcase and turn it into something spooky Great for storage after the holidays

2010-10-23T05:48:00.000-07:00

TRICK

TREAT

MAKE AN OLD SUITCASE INTO HALLOWEEN STORAGE
for your costume and other delicate decorations. Bring it out next year and use it as a Halloween prop!

This is a wood suitcase that had rich brown leather over it, I found it in a dump , it had black electric tape and crispy yellowed masking tape, the inside lining with filled with moth holes IT WAS PREFECT to convert into a Halloween suitcase.

wonderful old wood vintage suitcase, this is the condition that I found it in. I thought the color, the tape, holes and what not were prefect for a Halloween suitcase

The inside has a great eerie green with holes that show an under tone of Orange again prefect for my theme. the bottom had a cream piece of cardboard added at some point of time. The lining was coming off in many spots and needed repair.

I lay down the images with lots of mod podge covering completely back and front.

While shopping at my all time favorite store TJ MAXX I found these black and orange vintage inspired napkins and a set of a banner that read trick or treat also vintage themed. these were the bias for my design.

Ingredients
1. lots of MOD PODDGE

2.Acrylic paints
3.Glitters
4.fabrics and trim
5. Paper
6. Embellishments

Here is my artists box ( a big construction tool chest) that I use to store ( and lock when I had my gallery) of paints. Quite an investment. I can usually see the color in my minds eye that I want and dig until I find it or the colors to mix to create it.

These are the paints that I chose and used. Golden paints artist grade are the highest quality and are my favorite paints to use. The applying paints is a very important process in my work, it adds depth, color , and with the Halloween suitcases, I can age them, make them look even older and more run down with the magic of paint.

This is only one case of my glitters, these all have a liquid base to them which I use to mix with my other dry glitters, my favorites are from the MARTHA Stewart line.

These are the glitters that I used and combination of liquid and dry, golds and one black.

I mix the glitters much like paint and apply them with brushes.

The under side or bottom is allways addressed in my work, this case had a large base, here you can see that I have applied the paper napkins, distressed them a bit.

I have added to the bottom vintage inspired black and orange napkins and a creepy skull image I cut from one of my many books that I keep for my work. I glued first all the sides that needed repair and gave it a cleaning. The treatment, a bit of freebrez

The varnish is another important and necessary step, I choose sometimes water based or oil based depending on the project, for this case I am using water based. I put this on after it is completely dry .

I also apply apants and glitters to the inside, in this case I adore the torn worn element of the natural condtion of this suitcase

The most fun part of all my suitcase art projects is adding the trim and in this case the jewel embellishments. I added this glorious trim to only the top so when you lay it down it is not effected.
I also added several old black and white photos (from a book) with creepy frames.

Two capes from Funky findZ on line and lots of others in artfire

2010-10-09T16:21:00.001-07:00

Youll be Fallin f...

Curated By: VintageFitfor...

ArtFire.com

Vintage Fashion

How to get to front page of ETSY? At long last an item made it to the FRONT PAGE of etsy!!

2010-09-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

I have been to date featured in 50 treasuries which you can view here at etsy treasuries . I have only made a few myself, as they are very time consuming. I made two Halloween themed collections, Black and White Halloween , Handmade Halloween and one for Recycled Art which I included one of my own items, My Funky Suitcase. It is suggested that when you do make a collection that you do not use your own items. I dislike this suggestion very much. As I said they are very time consuming, granted they are lots of fun to make and you get to see allot of great things out in the world of etsy.

The item that made it is this mother of pearl shoe clip

It was featured in pewter and pine , which I love and also in Treasures from the sea. I use craftopolis to keep track of my items that are listed in a Treasury yet this treasury that was featured is not indicated. Furthermore, I never received any notification that I was featured. I had to search craftopolis because I noticed that my views for that day hit the roof, and specially for that item, on This Friday it received 17 hearts alone. Therefore I knew what item to look for. It is interesting to note that I did not make a sale on the day that I was listed on the front page, I had 1411 page views and 408 visitors that day. I received 13 shop hearts and 33 individual favorite hearts, with 17 going to the featured item with 285 page views for this item alone!

The shop that created the list is lillipopsdesigns
She has made 99 treasuries
I have no idea how she finds the time, nor do I know how many times her lists have been featured. I was never informed by this seller that I was featured, more than likely she does not have the time. This collection was named

Absinthe Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

ARTIFRE item Listed in BIZRATE

2010-09-09T06:04:00.000-07:00

I was doing a search for a dress listing that I had lost and discovered that I had been placed on this web site. This dress is the only item that they have chosen and it is from ARTFIRE. Many stores are on this site, such as JC PENNYS and Spiegel l it appears to be a site that rates a store. What I wonder is how they picked me up. Did artfire submit? WEll my sales on artfire are slow, I only have 32 or so and hardly anyone leaves Karma, or feedback. It is not that easy of a process. What do they do? I am curious how they collect their information to make a rating.

as it stands this dress has only received about 97 views, not a crazy amount . My questions is this a new site? It does not appear to be interactive, other than allowing you to search items and see the stores rating and then go directly to the store.

On this page you can see that other stores are listed but mine is unrated when I click the Why it reads

Why is this store not yet rated?

Store ratings are provided by BizRate.

Not Yet Rated means that BizRate is in the process of evaluating the store but has not yet collected enough customer reviews to issue a rating. BizRate requires a minimum of 20 surveys in the past 90 days to ensure a statistically significant rating of a store's performance and not the opinion of just a handful of customers.

As soon as enough valid reviews have been collected, a rating will be calculated and displayed.

REGRESTY Freind or Foe of ETSY?

2010-08-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

This is the phone that is featured on the controversial site Regresty.com

This is an up date on a post I wrote after on of my works of Art, a rotary phone was featured on Regretsy. Initially I was devastated, my checks burned with humiliation and shame. I am 50 plus years old, yet I felt like a little girl who just wet her pants in front of the class room.

My first impulse was to join the site and begin to rant away, when I quickly realized that those posts would never hit the press sort to speak. When I discovered that all the posts were about one upping the other in a tone of criticism. I could clearly see that the intent of the site, at least initially, was to be cleaver in ones remarks, but that many posted cruel and meaningless, not funny or smart at all. I pulled up my boot straps, and resigned to be thankful for the intense increase in views.

My views, in just two months went over 2000 with 8 hearts, the phone next to it, one that was mentioned in a regretsy post which shared its link ,a vintage phone made of CANDY WRAPPERS also showed increased views, which today is at over 700 with 8 hearts.

Before being featured I did not know about regretsy, My daughters and I had a blast looking at all the art. Admittedly some we found ghastly, but most we loved. We went and visited many stores and found that many of the items had already sold. In fact we seriously considered purchasing a couple items. It is true we love bold bright kitsch and unusual things and found the site all in all a great source to find these type of items.

We did not however, enjoy reading much of the criticism of the work featured, it held no charm what so ever, as many remarks were over the top mean spirited, and not cleaver roasts at all.

I posted my thoughts and feelings on this blog and on an etsy forum and frankly forgot about it. I played with the idea of making a phone for regresty, a hot-line punk.

Then the day that changed everything. I swear that this is how it happened. My phone sits next to me at my desk. I looked up at it, and thought
"this is crap, why don't I just give up... no one wants your stuff..." you get it, a whole swarm of self deprecating thoughts swam in my mind, boo hoo the poor misunderstood artist.

The next day out with my daughters for lunch I was compelled to grab my EVO phone from sprint ( the greatest thing since sliced bread) and check my etsy store and there it was my 186 th sale was my phone, completed transaction,pay pal and all!!! Boast to my temporary fragile ego just in the nick of time.

So is regresty friend or foe?
The site is my friend indeed. In fact I hope they pick up my bloody baby dolls that we (my daughters and I ) are presently making for Halloween for sale at FUNKY FINDZ ON LINE sister store CATHYS COSTUME FINDZ

Looking for sites to help you indenity VINTAGE FASHION?

2010-08-30T06:21:00.000-07:00

I was recently reading a post in a forum where a seller kindly gave a huge list of useful links. Here are the ones that I think are the most useful

FASHION ENCYCLOPEDIA what I don't care for however is that there are not any pictures and I tend to learn best from visuals such as found in this visual dictionary showing different dress styles .

The most useful link however is from the VINTAGE FASHION GUILD which provides a great time line on the front page and follows throw with information that is both useful and interesting. such as what I found here in the 1950 1960 category

"A female function was to entertain or attend social gatherings - all to promote and further their spouse's career. Cocktail dresses - short versions of ball gowns - were essential. A woman was expected to wear a hat outside of the house (except for the most formal evening occasions) and gloves at all times - short for day, long for evening. Men tended almost to universally wear suits. The practice of dressing young people like their elders was still common, with the 'mother/daughter' look as particularly in vogue. " Here is an example that I have in my inventory of the great cocktail dress.

dying wedding dresses into spooky costumes

2010-07-19T06:52:00.000-07:00

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN DRESS

FINISHED BACK WITH BLACK SATIN RIBBON

TIE DYING STAINED WEDDING DRESSES INTO A SPOOKY WORK OF ART.

Vintage tie dyed Wedding dress hanging to dry.

I wish to point out the Rit dye is not recommended for none protein fabrics, such as nylon and polyester because they do not take up the color etc. I used them because I wanted a faded, light look. I also was willing to risk losing a dress,as they were already unsellable in their present condition. I was experiencing. Furthermore I live by my motto,that nothing is ruined, mistakes are non existent in art, it is an opportunity for the art to move in a new direction.

Do I need to use salt, in dyeing?

Salt (sodium chloride, specifically) is important in using many types of dyes. Exactly how it should (or should not) be used depends on the specific type of dye in question. When using salt, always follow the recommendations of the dye manufacturer, unless you know better.

Contrary to some old wives' tales, salt is not a dye fixative and does nothing to make dye more permanent; however, it aids in the dyeing process by helping to drive the dye onto the fiber, out of solution, so that it is in the right place for any bonding to the fiber to occur. (http://www.pburch.net/dyeing.shtml)I used salt in this project.

My daughter Liz, and apprentice in waiting, puts Baggies over parts we don't want dyed black.

Loving the color that comes out in the dipping method on the netting of the dress. I then dipped everything in black to get the worn aged effect I wanted for a spooky dress.

Two wedding dresses tied up and ready to go

MAKING COSTUMES FROM stained WEDDING DRESSES

I have a large inventory of Wedding dress still left over from the days of my retail boutique, which I have begun to sell , albeit slowly on line at http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/funkyfindzonline. however, I am unable to sell some due to staining, it is usually wine or coffee on the vintage bridal. This always brings a smile to me, as I conjure up visions of the happy bride, a bit tippsie toward the end of the evening, with not much care, and in the joy of the event dripping on her dress and not even realizing it her hot cup of coffee she drinks with her wedding cap, or that red wine she cherishes with her bridal dinner. This might be charming, but it makes it very difficult to sell these once worn dresses on line. A women does not want these memories to haunt her on her wedding day.

I love Halloween and making art for this holiday makes it my favorite time of the year. We decorate our home with stuffed dolls and spook it up good,complete with haunting ghoulish music and fog machine.

I love the haunted corpse bride and thought why not take these dresses and hand dye them for Halloween? I have a costume store http://www.etsy.com/shop/Cathyscostumefindz where I sell vintage handmade costumes and I figured I could sell these here. So I went to my local grocery store and picked up a few bottles of Rit dye, buckets and gloves. I started off with purple and black.

I had done tie dying before, and new that I needed a variety of rubber bands, I am familiar with the accordion method and others. See this method here http://www.ritdye.com/Tie-Dyeing.106.149.lasso

tie dying requires allot of rubber bands, my cat ENKI, keeps guard

THE DIPPING METHOD

My daughter Miranda quick grabs a cotton shirt and uses the left over dye to make a great shirt, this white shirt of hers was too stained to wear any more, now she has a new shirt that she can proudly say she made.

Dress with rubber bands in it. When I took them out I was disappointed a bit, much of the tie soaked threw, I believe this is because of the nature of the fabric. Rit recommends using cotton, which is much more absorbent.I will rethink this next time. It was allot of work and the results I don't think were worth it.

I hung the dresses outside to dry.
r

A early 1970s wedding dress that had alot of coffee stains on it, it is on a dress form waiting for paint and glitter. I don't want to embellish this dress to much, it stands well on its own. This might be a witches wedding dress. I love how the color turned out, it has an aged worn feel which I was going for.

1980s wedding,size small, about a 5, dress dyed with purple and black is now in my studio and ready to be painted and embellished. I see a vampire dress in this one. I plan to add red and black and create a boudiour ,lady of the night . This is my raw canvas. Acrylic paints can be easyly applied to fabric, and they dont wash out. Just think of it, when you get these paints on your clothes, nothing gets them out.

Getting my supplies ready in the studio, acrylic paints, sponges, glitter, hot coffee and classical music to create by.

Miranda painting two colors of glitter on lace trim on bottom of dress, tedious work, yet she has the patience. What a help she is! I use fine grain glitters, I love the Martha Stewart line, they are my favorites

I am nearly finished with the fun stage and will post the pictures shortly. As these are intended as costumes, I have used fabric glue to secure the lace, feathers and other embellishments on the dress. As we all know to well, many if not most Halloween costumes have glued features. I do this to keep the cost down, if I hand sewed everything the dress would just be too time consuming, as it is, I already have quite a few hours into each of them. The dresses will be dry clean only. It is possible that the dyes could fade with time. All in all I love doing this and can not wait to do another.

looking at creating an ad and trying to make a decsion

2010-07-16T05:52:00.000-07:00

2010-07-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

Discovered by A real GROOVEY GAL

2010-07-02T06:25:00.000-07:00

FunkY FinZ is a GROOVY FIND!!!

WOW how exciting for me, I was thrilled to receive an in-box mail from groovy gals store on etsy.com informing me that one of my items was featured on her very exciting and wonderful blog. I am really impressed with what I found.

This charming badge is made available to all the vendors that she chooses to post! Easy to find code for your sites. Jo calls them GROOVY FINDS letting us know that " Here's where you'll find all of the cool and groovy stuff I've discovered lately. Enjoy!"

Funky findz on line, very groovy and one of my all time favorites
mushroom purse was featured.

REASONABLE AD RATES
I will keep my eyes on my heart count, which today stands at 10 and views at 267. I noticed on her site that she had ads for sale, I made an inquiry and within minutes she responded. I had notified her that I did not yet make an ad for funky findz on line, she promptly THE SAME DAY , made me an ad, put it up and wrote me. Heres what she created for me. Jo took my colors and content and made an appropriate ad.

Her rates are very reasonable and if you were lucky enough to be featured on her site, she offers the first month free! I am pleased with my first choice to advertise, I feel that I am supporting a good cause, it appears she largely posts etsy artists.

This groovy gal is an artist herself as seen here in one of my favoriteZ.
Retro Flower Watercolor Drawing

In addition, while browsing her monthly groovy finds, my daughter and I found an artist that we fell head over heals in love with. We are all ready saving our money to put one of her recycled up-cycled coats on layaway.
DELUXE CUSTOM - The Ultimate Patchwork Elf Coat - Upcycled Recycled Sweaters - Eco Friendly Fairy Sweater Dress - For the Hippy Bohemian Gypsy Traveller - Reconstructed Faery Couture

with my love of color and obsession with everything over the top this is a must have for this groovy gal. Check out her store at EnlightenedPlatypus

So thanks my dear Jo Claire I am proud to be a part of your group. Other etsy sellers her web site is a must check out. GROOVYGALONLINE

largest project MAKE LOVE NOT WAR outdoor couch

2010-06-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

Allot of paint and gesso primer !
laying out the design

Fabric couch made plastic

This was one of the only pieces of furniture that my husband
and I have ever bought. Our home has been furnished with hand
me downs, inheritance or from the curb side clean up days that I so
often had cherished finding chairs that others threw away. I felt
compelled to add a dog into the equation, thinking rather
romantically that it made our home even happier. The girls
loved the idea. He, the dog, no longer with us, decided to claim
it as his own,which in his world , meant voiding that which
is meant for the sides of trees. Meant for anywhere in fact,
but on our new couch. I lost the battle, but so did he
(he went to the pound,let us hope he found a good home)
Our beautiful new couch was peeded on no matter what we did.
Late at night, while at the grocery store, with our backs turned, we
never saw him do it.

Indoor couch made into outdoor furniture

The couch smelled horrible. After getting rid of the dog, I
asked my husband to take the couch out onto our sunny
side outdoor deck. Our option was to throw it away. In the past,
when searching the streets for great findZ, I had found this charming
shaped chair that was ripped and covered in dog hair and it also stunk.
I thought I'm going to try to paint this, what can it hurt? After all it is fabric.
Just the other day while I told a friend that I was painting a couch,
he said"I didn't think you could do that." I said "Canvas is fabric,
so is the couch." Suddenly it made sense to him that of course
it could be done.

PAINT AND POLY eliminate pet smells!

Well, I dug in and painted that chair, I didn't use my good
paints and was hesitant and cautious at first,
but afterward, I was amazed at the transformation. The
smell was gone, the chair was made new. Up-cycled at its best.
In fact that chair is in my bedroom right now.
I covered the chair in poly and this is what I believe was the
ultimate order ELIMINATOR!

I told my husband that I was going
to try and paint the couch and see if it too could be saved,
otherwise we planned to take it to the dump. This thought did
not settle well with me.

Gesso, a must in this project.

This time I covered the entire couch in GESSO first.
This was a necessary step, albeit expensive.
This was a laborious task and not much fun at all. It
took nearly a full half gallon. White paint would not have
worked as well.

I purchased quarts of red,orange, yellow, black, light purple
and chartreuse from my local paint store. They were thin so
I let the sun bake on them and thickened them up a bit. The
beers I added for a bit of inspiration. I only paint on a nice
sunny day so I can get a bit of a tan,plus the paint drys faster.
I put the stereo up load with my favorite music, currently
TEEN DREAM. (you must check it out)

REQUIRES allot of paint and some beer
I am not finished. It is taking allot of paint and requires multiple coats.
I choose a very bright and hippie 1960s style. At my age I should be
ashamed, but ever since a young girl growing up during this colorful
and fantastic time, I have loved the colors and style of this periods
psychedelic art.

I plan to outline everything in black, apply highlights with my
finest paints, apply lots of glitter and at the
end but on multiple coats of polyurethane. The couch will become
like a plastic couch, it will have a fair amount of waterproof qualities,
and it will wash up easily.

I intend to keep it outside on the deck as an outdoor piece of
furniture. In the winter I will just cover it with a tarp. It will be
a wow conversation piece for our family. Already I receive
comments from the neighbors walking their dog. The children in
the neighbor hood think it is "really cool"

I am not finished yet, but I will let you know how my process is going.
So far I have about 30 hours into it. Difficult to believe. I thought I could get
it done in one day if I worked hard enough (and drank enough beer)
As with all art it takes time. But I am confident that this will pay off.
DAUGHTER helps as artist assistant .

My wonderful and very talented daughter Miranda has been
assisting me in this work. In fact she made the Happy face and
drew the peace birds. She helps in reapplying coats and filling
in large blocks of color.

It has been raining for days. I am anxious to get back to work.
At this time, I have all the color laid down. Now I get to do the
really fun work.

It took a few weeks but I got back to the couch, laid all the color out for the most part, the chartreuse and orange required multiple coats. After it dried some color faded and it too needed a few more coats. I have nearly gone threw all the quarts of paint. Now I have used my next level of paints, the one and two dollar acrylics in stand up tubes. I am beginning some detailing, experimenting really with color. I have left the birds for last, they only have a small amount of blue added. I tried to see how a black magic marker worked as an outline and it worked great. I will be using black and am considering buying other colors for the end look.

applying outline of accent paints . Hot sun and a cold beer ,I am beginning to see an end.

origins of life by C. Reinke

2010-06-03T07:37:00.000-07:00

featured in REGRETSY mixed emotions

2010-05-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

regretsy?
Those who cant...
c r i t i c i z e

I made my first treasury on recycled artists, and had so much fun surfing
along the artists of etsy.com , I was truly amazed at the diversity and
creativity of the artists!! I found bracelets made from coke cans as
shown here and lots of colorful joyful art. I barely could wait to do
another treasury for etsy.

Since etsy has added Treasury East and given a broader opportunity
for sellers to do Treasury's , I had been lucky enough to be featured
nearly weekly in a Treasury. It is and has always been an honour to
me to be featured. It is free advertising , true, but it means that
someone has taken the time and felt that your item was worthy of
being displayed.

After going out with a friend for a few drinks on a warm spring evening,
I came home to my laptop to check my etsy. My mailbox was full of
thanks and warm regards for the treasury that I had created, I sold
an item while I was gone, then I opened a mail that simply said

Were you aware?
Did you know that your one of your phones made it to the Regretsy website? http://www.regretsy.com

I miss read regretsy to read registry . I was excited, life felt good ,
my hard hard work was paying off. I thought incorrectly that my
phone was featured in something relating to etsy, a good thing.
I clicked the link which lead to the May site for the most recent post here

There is my phone, and WOW 62 comments! my heart beat
with excitement. The first comment , was horrible, did I read
it right? the next and the next weird , confusing. My face felt
hot, I slowly disengaged from my body, everything felt unreal.
I read posts such as :
It’s looks like the beaded curtain and the telephone got into

a fight and the telephone lost.

another wrote
Liberace called from beyond. He wants his telephone back

These I found cleaver and even funny but I was confused

at the cruelty and rawness of some of the remarks such as

Way to ruin a vintage phone. I don’t give a shit if 22

hours were invested to fuck it up, but it’s worthless now!

The mink really did it in. lol

Next time, if you want to fuck things up

, use a hammer. Guaranteed it won’t take 22 hours.
This comment positively hurt to the core and

A fingerless epileptic could produce finer work in less time.
How, I wondered could everyone hate my phone? One of my
phones had recently made it to a Treasury. When My Art gallery
was open, a notable collector added one of my Candy phones
along with a suitcase and bike) to his large outstanding collection
of OUTSIDER artists. I was confused and humiliated. Then I forged
on and realized that the comments where being rated, as it stands
to date the number one rated comment is from

LeeLooDallas : Someone use this to call 9-1-1.
and then This is the phone you use to call
Liza Minnelli in an emergency.

these two number one rated comments I find funny , cleaver
and given the overall intended spirit of the site in good humor.
However, so many of the comments are, as others feel hurtful,
mean spirited and even hateful.

Shortly after I was featured I received an inbox at etsy from an
unknown buyer which reads
I'm sorry they posted one of your creations
on that site. The author of the blog and the
book Regretsy (recently published) does noting
to contribute but spends her time trolling Etsy to
find items to bash. Check out her facebook page
(especially the "Flounce" page. I am a shopper,
but posted a message about the mean-spirited culture
the "author" endorses. She is hateful. Instead of
celebrating the good on Etsy, she seeks out items
to make fun of, and all under the shield that she
is promoting charities (hardly).

People say it is a good thing because she is bringing
traffic to their Web sites. In fact, weird people have
been purposefully posting crud just to get on to her
Web site. I left a comment about the mean-spirited
nature of the comments and was blasted by hateful remarks.
They act like bullying teenage girls. They harassed me
for taking up for Etsy sellers and set me crude and
vicious private messages. I copied them all and
will be sending them to her book agent. Not very good pr!

Anyhow, saw your blog and I would just ignore it.
They waste so much time blasting people left and
right that they are all over someone else now.
The best thing is to ignore them. After all, what
they are doing is not imaginative and gets old
petty quick. It will crash soon when people
get bored with it

Take care,
Laurie Charnigo

In an attempt to receive feedback from other etsy sellers,
I posted in a forum
Familiar with the site regretsy? any victims?
what are your thoughts?
I received what I was looking for, good feedback.
The two most helpful
came from

Honestly I wouldn't sweat it. Sure it can be cruel, but
honestly the site gets so much traffic it's going to drive
traffic to your site. And it's instant free advertising.
It may hurt for a while, but try to keep your head up and
look on the bright side. You can look at from either side
of the coin. And really it's best to ignore it and move on.
Some folks who were on the site made it into the Regretsy
book with permission and are continuing to get free advertising
out of the entire thing. So try to take the good with the bad.
I feel for you but try not to let it get you down. Hugs.

While on the other side I received
Regretsy's climate is to be hateful and mean and top each
other in the hate.

You will not find any nice comments there, so please
don't let it ruin your day, there's art to be made!

Hummm, useful. The hurt was subsiding slowly. The night this happened to me,
I slept like crap, all the doubts that so many artists are
plagued with haunted me once again. I'm no good, give it up, you are kidding
yourself, you are a fool for devoting your life to art
and on and on it went. The Book the ARTISTS WAY , was life
changing for me.
I am 51 years old or young, whatever... my life has been
devoted to ART. Minored in it in Collage, ran two art
Galleries have exhibited threw out the US and even In Europe
when asked at a cocktail party "what do you do?"?
I reply "I'm an artist" it is who I am.

I could not help but feel genuine mixed emotions, I watched
my hits or views on my
phone go up daily, today now nearly 1500 views.
That's great on one hand.
People are seeing my work! I have to keep telling myself that
not everyone hates it or thinks its junk as Regretsy has implied.
I once said, its not my quote, but I certainly have repeated it enough
That notoriety is the best publicity!

We think of Van Gogh and other great artists who were
misunderstood and ridiculed.
I can hear them now at Regresty"'Well, you are no Van Gogh"
"No?" I can ask. "I very well might be" I will hit the bottle of
now legal Absinthe, look for the green fairy,
keep my ears in place and forge ahead with paint brush,glitter in hand
and tackle another phone.

Featured in a etsy Treasury and found a great artist all at once

2010-04-24T06:01:00.000-07:00

the owner of the shop who sells this work created a Treasury that
included an item from my store, when I went to visit his site I came
across his fabulous work that I feel in love with . It is so funky,
kitsch and original. I would love to own one of his prints.
This one is one of my favorites. to see his store click on this link http://www.etsy.com/shop/johnpurlia

Photograph - Welcoming the World to the Pageant of
Plastic Prophecy, 1964 - Limited Edition

This fine art photograph is now available as a limited
edition Digital C-print on Fuji Crystal Archive paper
with a glossy finish. Your purchase will be carefully
packaged and will include a signed and numbered
Certificate of Authentication, and special instructions
on how to care for your new fine art print.

Let your visitors know they are stepping into a fun
and quirky home. "Welcoming the World to the Pageant
of Plastic Prophecy, 1964" is perfect for adorning an
entryway. Who wouldn't want to be greeted by lovely
ice skaters and grinning kewpies?

Greetings and Welcome to our Plastic Prophets paradise!
Here you will find wonders to delight, the worshipped
and the worshipper, astonishing transformation, and
dreams for bright lights and the big city. Come a little
closer and peer past the veil into our mystic revelations.
The discoveries that await you! Are you ready? Take
my hand and follow me.

Please Note: The photograph you are purchasing is
the first picture shown. The following pictures are
provided to show you how my elaborate photographic
dioramas are staged. Shown last is the Certificate
of Authenticity (COA) you will receive with your purchase.

Edition Size: 10
Paper Size: 24 x 24"
Image Size: 18.6 x 20.1"
Price: $450
Added on Apr 20

The artist put together
a Treasury called
Bavarian Wonders
Check it out. The child's lederhosen
is the item that is featured in
this treasury.

An invitation for other artists for a reduced rate

2010-04-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

Time is running out, I was only given 5 invites. You will not be able to get this price without clicking on this link! Just think you will save $4.00 every month on your new store. I really like this on line venue, the functionality of the store is great. You can list as many items as you want and only pay the one fee, they do not expire in 3 months like etsy does and they do not take any fee once the item sells.

also there is a great importer tool so you can import your whole etsy store or one item at a time.

Get an ArtFire Pro Account for just $12.00 per month!

You Were Invited By:

Funkyfindzonline
STUDIO | BIO | BLOG You've been invited by Funkyfindzonline to try out ArtFire.com's Pro Member Account at an exclusive rate! The current rate of an ArtFire.com account is $15.95 per month, but with this invitation from Funkyfindzonline you have the opportunity to get a Pro account on ArtFire for just $12.00 a month! What's even better than a 30% discount is that your rates are locked for life as long as retain your Pro account, and you can cancel at any time! Use the invitation link below (or click the yellow button) to get started saving money on your ArtFire.com pro account today!

Your Invitation Link Is: http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=subscribe&op=invite&code=602367299If you do not have an ArtFire.com account you will be given the chance to register.

Authentic 1920s Rhinestone Juliet Cap

2010-02-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

Funky Findz on Line

found on etsy.com Authentic 1920s Rhinestone Juliet Cap 1920s at Unfortable vintage, this store is loaded with great Vintage and ReFashioned Originals...

I've got my Eye on You...Stylized 1920's Beaded Bird Cloche, See if you Can you Find Him ...I am in love with this womens work.n Please check it out, it is a joy to brighten your day.

Funky findz on Artfire LEAFLUST, vegan LOTIONS

2010-02-16T18:53:00.001-08:00

Elegant & Enchanting Blend of Heather and Hyacinth!
As if Entering Your Secret Garden Just After a Beautiful Sun Shower! A Deeply Floral, Feminine and Clean Heavenly Scent!
Wonderfully Packed with Magnificent Organic Oils and Butters for Optimum Skin Health!
Materials used.
distilled water, organic aloe vera leaf juic, emulsifying wax, stearic acid, fragrance, vegetable glycerin, cosmocil cq, organic avocado oil, meadowfoam seed oil, grapeseed oil, organic sunflower oil, shea butter

CHECK OUT HER LOVELY STORE at leaflust , be sure to read her BIO.

I love bath products and these are some of the finest I have found on ARTFIRE.

Bleeding heart by Mariah

2010-02-16T18:42:00.001-08:00

The pair shown are a personal pair in the size 0g. They can be made in any color combination and any size 8g to 00g. Just convo me with your special order and they will be ready in 1 to 2 days of your request. They will be shipped in 1 day after payment is recieved.

*(can be made in bigger sizes can be made they just tend to get heavy and chunky with biggger sizes)
*(to extend the life of your gauges it is recomended that you do not shower or sleep in them. Especially with sizes 8g to 4g they tend to be more delicate.)

I personnal know this charming artist, she was one of the coop artists at FUNKY FINDZ & desings LLc, and she is great, her shop is at
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Mariahssassyfashions which she says" I am really
big on reusing forgotton items as well. If you like what you see drop me a convo and let me know.
Since my passion for plain white tees, I have taken a new passion on! Designing ear gauges for the little bit of rocker in everyone. Have always made them for my self didnt think they would be so popular with everyone else. You dont have to just wear boring ear plugs, now thanks to me and few other awesome artist on etsy you can wear some very elegant or even a little crazy looking ear gauges. Did I menchain how resonably priced they are? Try looking at mall shops and web sites, very pricy!!!!"

Prefect gift for VALENTINES DAY! home made lemon cookies

2010-01-29T13:32:00.000-08:00

fOUND THESE LOVELY cookies on etsy, they are charming and sweet. This seller has good rating and a pretty little shop. Check out her shop here http://www.etsy.com/shop/YummyAffair and/or click on the cookie image to go straight to the post.

Description
*** Deadline for Valentine's Day orders is Sunday, Feb. 7th ***

No matter the occasion our Lemon Heart Cookies are every party's favorites. And they make such a delicious way to say "I LOVE YOU" to your Valentine. Buttery shortbread crust and delicate filling, bursting with lemon scent and flavor, and sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. So yummy, so impossible to resist!

You will receive 1/2 lbs of Lemon Heart Cookies (12-14 pieces), each approximately 1.5" X 1". Our cookies are handmade and handcut, with no artificial flavors and no preservatives.

ALLERGY INFO: Cookies contain lemons (zest and juice) and eggs.

All orders are shipped via USPS Priority Mail within 3-4 business days from the purchase date. We ship on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday only to ensure that your order arrives as fresh as possible.

Another funky findz CASALUPE on etsy

2009-09-15T17:14:00.000-07:00

I love bracelets and simply adore this creative
masterpiece from Casalupe another recycled artist!!!
charming.

Found this FUNKY CANDY recipe, make you own Taffy

2009-09-07T04:15:00.000-07:00

MAKE YOUR OWN SALT WATER TAFFY!!
The old fahioned way

Recently in my mini trip to a
much beloved land in Branson
Missouri I came across this
recipe in
Silver Dollar City
where salt water taffy abounds.
I love it and so do my children.

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons glycerin *
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 to 1 teaspoon flavoring (such as vanilla, lemon, maple, or mint)
• a few drops food coloring (optional)

Mix together sugar and cornstarch in the saucepan.
Use a wooden spoon to stir in the corn syrup, glycerin,
water, butter, and salt. Place the saucepan over medium
heat and stir until the sugar dissolves Continue stirring
until mixture begins to boil, then let cook, undisturbed,
until it reaches about 270° F. Yes you need to buy a candy
thermometer if you don't have
one, but it is worth the investment.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and add food
coloring and flavoring. Stir gently, pour onto a greased slab or
into a shallow greased cookie sheet to cool.

When the taffy is cool enough to handle, grease your hands
with butter and pull the taffy until it's light in color
and has a satiny gloss. Now is the time to bring in your kids
or a cherished freind, your will need the help. PULLING THE TAFFY!**

Roll the pulled taffy into a long rope, about 1/2 inch in diameter,
and cut it with greased scissors or a butter knife into
1-inch-long pieces. Let the pieces sit for about
half an hour before wrapping them in wax paper
or plastic wrap and twisting the ends of the wrapper.

*Glycerin is a sweet, slippery, colorless liquid that's
made from fats and oils and is most often a by-product
of the soapmaking process. It's used in many soaps and
cosmetic products, cake icing, as a lubricant, and to make
nitroglycerin—an ingredient in dynamite! (Note: glycerin
itself is not an explosive substance, so it’s safe to use
in your kitchen!) In this taffy recipe, glycerin helps
give the candy a soft, creamy consistency.

Glycerin can be found in many drugstores, as well as some
supermarkets and craft stores in the baking supplies section,
or in cake-decorating stores. Be sure to purchase food-grade
glycerin. (From the science of cooking)

**The final important step in making taffy is pulling it:
Stretching it out and folding it in half, then stretching
and folding again, over and over, until you may reach the
point of exhaustion. Really it is true. But dont give up.

Good exercise—but what does it do for the candy?
As it turns out, pulling taffy aerates it,
or incorporates many tiny air bubbles throughout
the candy. This makes it lighter and chewier.

This months Funky FINDZ-Funky Luke, kindred soul

2009-08-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

Funky Findz found artist Funky Luke ...SPIRITUAL,COUSCIOUS... ART FOR YOUR HEART AND SOUL

This is a blog of an artist that I simply have fallen in love with. She is a fellow recycled artist and goes by "Funky Luke". I feel that we are kindred souls. She lives in Florida, any one who knows me, knows of my yearly journey to Florida, The Keys, OK... Key West , my second home or my home away form home.

Her store name on etsy is Funky Luke and her art is nothing sort of FUNKABOLOUS!!! Please Check out her art. It is filled with color, whimsy and humor. She makes prints from her original paintings and also sells these images on Zazzle.com which are place on coffee mugs, tea shirts or aprons.

When I first saw a picture of Funky Luke , I picked up on her wild and carefree heart. Which is made clear on her fun and colorful blog you will find plenty joyful images such as the VW bus with "Old Hippie" plenty of peace sings and crazy sayings like " You say Diva like its a bad thing" , "Crafts not War" or " Don't Assume I cook." She ships her creations out with "good karma" and is a member of Greenwalla, a green social network community.

why did Funky Findz & Designs LLc close its downtown loction?

2009-08-30T13:03:00.001-07:00

Funky Findz & Designs LLC closed its downtown Wausau two store
locations on Jan 9 2009. Factors such as a poor location,
( downtown in its entirety) massive and rampant theft, a fast
approaching recession , and finely, a ever increasing unreliable,
untrustworthy staff, and demanding consignees, were weighed in the
difficult decision.

After surfing the web and in google, I
typed in "Funky Findz". I was amazed at what I all found.
It is what has motivated me to tell my story. On one
hand, I was pleased to see all my hard work has
begun to pay off, our on line store etsy site is
listed right on top, along with my and Funky Findz my space,
face book, twitter etc. But I was stunned by some of
the other links I discovered.

One that really stands out, was a posting from someone who
never had a monetary amount vested and minimal sweat
equity to measure, who really had no interest in the business,
who claimed that they were a partner. They were not. Her post
reads "I'm famous"...This individual came in like a tornado,
exciting from a distance but deadly on impact. She is an idea
person, who flooded the room with "I can and will do that, you
can count on me"...making believers of the greatest septic, myself.
I found myself disappointed and holding the bag for their
pet project. She started something that left the business
exposed negatively, if not completed. She would periodically
disappear , no phone call, no way to get ahold of her, no
idea what had happened to them. She left as quickly as she
came in. This type of individual is dangerous to any hard
working entrepreneur. I can only fault myself however.

Then there was the post I found from a news source that did not
understand why Funky Findz left downtown, when Goodwill and other
thrift stores ( one that was mentioned has since closed.) were
doing just fine. Vintage, they thougth, was alive and well. They
obviously never were in the vintage Boutique, for to compare it to
Goodwill, is absurd. One is a major corporation, remember that
all their inventory is gifted to them. They have no inventory cost
other than storage. This was compared to myself, a mother of four ,
who purchased or consigned all the inventory for sale. To make this
comparison is irresponsible journalism at best.

And lastly, there is the issue of the business partner, the real one ,
she ran out of town,leaving behind unpaid bills and her business,
to chase a man. This bartender/pseudo mother/con and in my
estimation certifiable social path , devastated the true
potential of the business . She left no forwarding address,
demanded payment of an absurd amount, knowing that to pay
this amount would crush not only the business but my family
personally. This blog story is title "The SHE devil who knew HOWE"
a play on words of her first and last name. As it is public
record who Funky Findz LLC members are, I see no use in
withholding her name...Shelia Howe. In this blog I will
relate my story of my experiences with this self centered
"she devil". Am I a women scorned? You bet.

that has hit.( Thank God we left before it really hit)
and then there is the continuing debatable topic of the downtown venue as a viable location for a successful business. It is not. Take a
look at the empyty stores.

I have never addressed these issues publicly. I have
wrestled with them on my own. In many cases licking my wounds
and finding sollice in the world that the Internet has provided
for me. For here, I can not have my merchandise stolen from me
by people whom I have given an opportunity , by those who pretend
to be my friend, while behind my back, they stuff merchandise in
there purse or hand it out the door to their friends. Yes this
went on. Check the police reports of the theft issues Funky Findz
suffered. The Police never did nor could do a thing.

After my google investigation , and the perpetual insitiance on
original content and not spamming ( advertising?) in ones blog,
I deduced OK, here it is . My story about Funky Findz.

So, this is the first post of a series that will deal with the whys,
all the brutal truths. I know that many other business
owners have suffered similar fates and who can empathize
with what befell me. And for those who are just downright curious.

A little savings from funky findz on line

2009-08-30T07:01:00.000-07:00

Visit Funkyfindzonline's Studio

SAVE $ 10.00 On Items between: $20.00 and $25.00

Use Coupon Code:

B4728F42C8-D65EB06B17

during checkout.

Handmade Cards

recyled shoes from the OZ Collection by Catherine Reinke

2009-06-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Recyled chairs of Catherine Reinke

2009-06-17T09:15:00.001-07:00

A funky free way to post your art. Have you heard of Twittgoo ?

2009-05-31T20:17:00.000-07:00

Twitgoo. Have you even heard of it yet? I have enjoyed this ,
I use it to post my art , not silly images of what I had for
dinner or pictures of my back yard. Here is the home
link http://twitgoo.com/ If you have a twitter account
it will post right away to your site. If others on twitgoo,
like your images, they will "retweet" or RT, them, on
their site and on yours. It is just another FREE venue
for getting your work out there and being seen. It is
far better than sitting in your studio or wherever it
is stored. I am referring to your art, not you, the artist.
We want people to veiw our work, or at least we should.
Ohterwise, isnt it just self indulgence?

Let me know what you think of this venue. I gave you
the home link, here is 'mygoo' if you are interested
http://twitgoo.com/u/Funkyfindz it shows how many views
you have received and how many times you have been RT or
retweeted. Just sharing what I have learned in
my internet journey.

Thank you Catherine Reinke

Shareing art from the members of United Artists, 23 members strong!

2009-05-31T15:29:00.000-07:00

Find more photos like this on United Artists

2009-05-16T10:14:00.001-07:00

So sad to live in the days of blue jeans and tennis shoes. watch this and lament.Where has our Funky fashion gone?

2009-05-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

These wonderful gowns are some of the finest I have ever seen.
I have often lamented how women have lost so much pride
when it comes to how they present themselves. Few bother to even put
on a dress when they go out to dinner , to church,
or even to the theater.

Granted this does not hold true in the bigger cities,
where, thankfully women hold a competitive edge with one
another in how they present themselves.
I moved to Wausau, from Milwaukee and will never forget
the culture shock when my family and myself were completely
overdressed the first time we went to
the civic center for a play. We sere out of place,
we stuck out like sore thumbs. Well I was dress Funky, admittedly,
but with a touch of class. S.o I like to think

In the bigger cities, one tends to dress when they go the theater.
Not so in Wausau Wisconisn, it was blue jeans, tennis shoes and tea
shirts. The majority mind you, not all.

So for those of you who deep down wish to dress bit more
extreme, maybe even Funky...do so. You will feel better about
your self, bright color influences our emotions, and make a
statement. And encourage others to do so too.

ki897hqyb2

Another example of the Funky and creative work of C.Reinke

2009-05-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

The collage artist C. Reinke considers herself
both a Funky collage and recycled artist. Dumpster diving
is imperative to her work. Taking items that others have simply
thrown away, because they lost there value somehow:
it went out of fashion, got dirty,or they simply grew tired of
it and out to the trash it goes. Reinke believes that our
society far to often treats individuals similarly. Nothing
nor anybody should ever lose its value, not in Reinkes eyes,
neither people or what others call junk. Reinke has a passion
for old chairs and suitcases and bringing them back to life.

Here she takes a 1960's hairdryer
that still works and collage it with vintage newspapers
and handmade papers and trims. This is a delightful and Funky piece
for anyone who owns a hair saloon. For sale for only $65.00.
See more of this item at

The wonderful Funky recyled bikes of Catherine Reinke

2009-05-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

Collage artist Catherine Reinke takes old vintage bikes,
many found in junk yards and re purposes them into fun,
funky fantasy. Many of her bikes are the classic shwinn or Huffy.

When Reinke was in Key West Florida, this concept was not new
to the local "conchs". They have been taking their bikes and
making them individual by painting them because of the high
rate of bike theft was such a problem. This was reported to
Reinke by a reliable source.

It is easy to spot a crazy colored painted bike as your own, Reinke
however, took it one step farther by applying glitter, jewels, papers,
trim and fur seats.

There is nothing on this earth better than riding one of
these Funky bikes in the warm Florida sunshine, palm trees sighing
freedom.

RARE SHOES RARE SHOES are Funky!

2009-04-29T19:50:00.000-07:00

Click on each picture to see a quality enlargement.
I had to share these with you for in all my years
of collecting, I've never come across anything
like these. I only seen shoes like these
at the museum. They are tiny and narrow and
I wonder who wore them over one hundred years ago.

Highly collectible antique museum quality
shoes form as early as the mid 1800's.
Look at the "witches' shoe, or bridal shoe,
high quality silk and glass beads with a
lovely star on each toe.
These are one of my personal favorites.

They are so well made that they are really works of art.
The leather soles, the tiny nails, the softness of the
leather, I have never felt any as soft as some
of these shoes.

here is a small sampling of our many quality vintage hats

2009-04-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

Double click on each picture for a quality enlargement.

SPECIAL SALE on Vintage Hats $20.00 each when you purchase five or more.

A white Floral spring necklce

2009-04-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

WE have a large selection of prime vintage jewelry, ranging from 1950's plastics, glitter Lucite,fabulous enamels, (like this piece) rhinestone, Bakelite and more.

NECKLACES BRACELETS EARRINGS (clip-ons)

Funky cool phone still works...yummy

2009-04-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

This vintage phone was with created with candy wrappers
and hand made papers by C. Reinke. and yes, it works.
Why does Reinke have a passion for redoing rotary phones?
...it never needs a battery!!! and you always can find it!!!
Two features she loves and learned can not live without.
This phone was created for those who love chocolate.

Reinke has created several recycled art pieces using
candy wrappers.It was her daughters idea, who started
using bubble gum wrapperson a purse. Candy is yummy
and comes in wonderful colorful packages!

Vintage is the wave of our funky future

2009-04-29T18:19:00.000-07:00

Wearing Vintage is good for the environment. It is GREEN.

Womens vingae Dress's from 1930 -1980!

2009-04-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

We here at funkyfindzonline have hundreds of dresses,
long and short sleeve, so many fabrics wool, silks cotton.
classic black.All the colors of the rainbow.
Reinkes favorite are the bright floral and
psychotic paisley prints of the 1960's
and the durability and resilience of the polyesters.

Cotton,natural fibers, silks, lined bodice,
bright colors, unique sytles, one of a kind,
quality made (made in the UNITED STATES and/or UNION MADE)
detailing, swinging style...all marks of the vintage women's dress.

Be unique...make a statement...wear vintage...BE GREEN
wear recycled clothing i.e. vintage. no packaging,
no slave labor, no creation of additional waste products.

Think about it.

Large selection of vintage long gowns. The Funky Maxi!

2009-04-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

One of the largest collections of beautiful "maxi" gowns,of the
1960's (Remember those?)they are becoming very popular with the
novo hippie. Other gowns can be purchased for those special
brides wishing to put together a truly unique presentation.
A wedding that is green and less formal.

Retail from $35.00-$250.00

Many sizes available. Bright bold colors and all one of kind
and rare pieces in very good condtion. The long dress is back
in style this spring.

Large selection of mens Funky and Groovey shirts

2009-04-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

I have found it amusing in many ways that men have picked up
their fashion sense.Thankfully! Many in the bigger cities have
turned increasingly to vintage clothing. The tuxedo shirts
with the ruffled collar are simply divine on a strong tight
bodied man. Yes the light pink and coral especially make a fashion
statement that is both sexy and distinctive.

Remember men, leave those buttons open for us

Rare Vintage show girl dress, cursed from its previous unfunky owner?

2009-04-29T17:46:00.001-07:00

This rare circa 1960's vintage Las Vegas Show Girl dress,
zippers down the front. It has fingerless gloves, panties
and bra. it has been featured in The theatrical production
"Gypsy Rose Lee". It is somewhat notorious however
and maybe cursed.

It was last owned by a nefarious unethical stripper,
who not only striped for a buck but she stripped whomever
she could con. A gifted Physic reported that the busty stripper
who left the dress behind, in from yet another friendship
gone sour, may have even stolen the dress!

She also said that her peaceful seductive demur, was a camouflage
for near demonic pent up anger against men and women
alike for she was sexually frigid.

Her mean spirit may still reside in the dress, henceforth, it is very
alluring to men and women alike. This dress should not be wore
for more than a few hours or the evil "She" women that once wore
it could take temporary possession of the wearer.

Watch out men and ladies alike for a blue eyed lady with
long eyelashes but short on conscience.

Can clothing be cursed?

Does this dress entice you? Covet it not, for it is under lock and key. Safe in frankincense filled wooden chest. Some say her pre-ghost is searching for her lost beauty and figure that she once had when she could fit into the small sexy gown.

Find our Funky hand made art and vintage clothing

2009-04-29T17:38:00.000-07:00

All posting only .2o cents each!!! Allot better than EBay to be sure
but not as good as free. Etsy is very sophisticated when it come
to search engines. Within a week on myspace it was and has been
my primary sponsor. And they do have a great link .

I have to admit that I have had disappointment
however, with this venue. I am not alone.
It is a beautiful presentation. It is very large.
My biggest criticism? It does not allow you post any
links whatsoever to any site outside of its own.
This seems unfriendly to me. The world of the web to
me is about linking, creating your own personnel mini
web of connectivity.

Always as a gallery director, I sincerely believed,
that the more an artist could get his/her work exposed,
the better.I never had an artist enter into a contractual
non compete clause. I hope that etsy.com changes this policy.

This is the Funky art of Catherine Reinke

2009-04-25T11:37:00.001-07:00

Catherine and Mariah at Exhibtour

2009-04-15T13:42:00.000-07:00

A large selection of handmade Jewerly

2009-04-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

A Funky Gallery for funky artists, maybe moving to Key West?

2009-04-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

Funky Findz Gallery hosted several talented
artists, including Nancy Doering, Bruce Wittenberg-Martin,
Jack Rucski and Rhiannon. Catherine Reinke was the
featured and most prominent artist.
Funkyfindonline artists are patiently waiting for
that 'reopen'. However, Reinke is reconsidering a Wausau
location. Her love of Key West, it's free lifestyle
and community of artists, is alluring.

take your mind to another dimension but pay close attention

2009-04-07T05:50:00.001-07:00

A place to buy and sell handmade art and jewerly or vintage items.

2009-04-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

Wellcome! We give you a big Funky kiss!!!

2009-04-03T12:21:00.000-07:00

One of our first postings. We thought that this was a
funky fabulous picture of lips. We here at funkyfindzonline
believe in lip stick, allot of it. For many of us are admitted
addicts, who refuse rehabilitation.

Lip stick a women's greatest fashion statement. For Catherine Reinke
it can not be bright enough. Her favorite? Yvesaintlaurent from
Pris France. Once only I could find it in Macy's in Milwaukee
Mayfair Mall, then they up and left. OK $28.00 is allot for gloss.
Yet, their colors were couture! A vintage pink I will never forget.

A Funky and frightening monkey head necklace

2009-04-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

A Funky and somewhat
frightening photo from C. Reinke of
a Tibetan Monks prayer necklace,
with monkey heads and jade beads
from Key West Florida
Ripley's Believe It Or Not,
on Duvall St.

check out this link for writters of books and poetry

2009-04-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

http://www.booksie.com/write4change