HAND MADE TILES IN STOCK AND IN HOMES & ANTIQUES!

You may remember that we tempted you with a glimpse of these hand made tiles a few weeks ago and many of you asked when they'll be arriving - well they are here and BBC Home & Antiques magazine have done a lovely photoshoot with them. They are £1.50 each and available here.

Great advice from H&A!

Tiles available here...

In Vogue

Its always a real treat to find that an object from our collections has found it's way onto the pages of Vogue, so imagine how thrilled we were this month to find two of our pieces are featured.

First is the Tribal Silk Necklace by COOKED - our in house design team which is named after The Raw and the Cooked by anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss and refers to the creative process - from initial idea (the raw) to the final product (the cooked).

Each necklace is made from fragments of silk and various braids and are based on the Sun Ray necklaces worn by the ancient Mayans. Perfect for summer worn with a simple t-shirt.

Second, is the ever-popular Gold Lined Quails Egg Necklace by jewellery designer Stephanie Simek.

It looks unbelievably fragile but in fact is very tough, having been lined in 24c gold leaf and sealed within a protective coating. Perfect as an alternative Easter egg!

A Gift to Celebrate the Magic of the Leap Year.

As we know every four years we have a leap year, giving us this magical extra day, 366 days instead of 365. What do you do with your extra day?

The very reason we have leap years is because seasons and astronomical events do not repeat in a whole number of days, a calendar that had the same number of days in each year would, over time, drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected (what would we do without Wikipedia!).

This special event I think demands that we do something special with our day on the 29th, of course many of us will be at work, but how about having an extra special lunch in a different cafe to the one you'd usually visit, walking a new way to work, finding out if there is an event in your area that evening - on this extra day who knows what chance meetings you might make...

To celebrate this free day we are giving away one of our beautiful new ethically handmade tiles with each order placed from now until midnight on February 29th 2012.

visit www.theshopflooproject.com

A Love Blanket for Valentine's Day

It's that time of year again when shops fill their windows with red heart stickers, giant cards with two teddy bears cuddling and balloons seem to be everywhere. It may sound a bit miserable but I don't buy gifts for Valentine's Day, I seem to always forget and then it passes and the moments gone.

But there is one item that we sell which makes me think 'oh, maybe this year I should treat someone special'...

So a question, what would be the perfect object for:

1. a Valentine's Day present (that you can take as much, if not more, joy in)

2. to brighten a cold, grey February day

3. something to cherish for years

4. and support the British craft industry in the process

And the beautiful object is.....

The cashmere Love Blanket by Holly Berry

Hidden in the weave and pattern of each Holly Berry blanket is a message of love and comfort created using a Morse code pattern which is woven into the cloth’s double layered structure.

Holly’s uplifting colour pallet is inspired by vintage textiles and her own drawings and photography. She carefully sources natural yarns such as cashmere, lambs wool and merino from UK suppliers to create a striking colour pallet and support UK makers.

Holly works very closely with an established mill in Scotland to manufacture her blankets, offering her an opportunity to celebrate and promote traditional UK manufacturing, something that is very close to Holly and The Shop Floor Project’s heart.

Holly describes what she loves about the ancient art of weaving

“Weaving and all of its processes speak strongly to my ideals of time, storytelling and sustainable practice, taking the time, effort and skill to produce special work with a unique sense of value. Each piece that I make is a colourful and contemporary interpretation of a craft which used to be a common industry in many towns throughout the UK. I celebrate the traditions of this craft and community as well as honoring my long standing belief in slow textiles, responsibility and emotionally durable design.

I am currently undertaking a residency in the North of the Shetland Islands to further enhance my practice, absorbing the traditions of the local crafts and celebrating this unique place full of history and skill. I am inspired by the local materials and subtle colours of the islands and will be producing work directly influenced by Shetland.

My luxury woven cloths and wearable blankets are to be used continuously. I am proud to create pieces that will remain with a generation or family for a lifetime. They provide the warmth of wrapping yourself up in a protective layer, preparing you for the world and enriching your experience with colour, warmth and love.”

Click here to view/buy the blanket

Still plenty of time to shop for inspiring gifts + Free P+P

FREE DELIVERY

until midnight

Monday 12th December

Free first class recorded delivery just type SNOW into the discount box at the checkout (for UK customers only).

CHECK OUT THE GIFT GUIDE FOR IDEAS...

CHRISTMAS DELIVERY DATES

UK: 22nd December

Europe: 12th December

A Christmas Secret!

Apart from our Shop Floor Project site we have a sister site, The Secret Arcade which is full of fantastic artisan shops. The site design is based on a 19th century shopping arcade where you can wander through the passageways full of shop windows displaying amazing objects from original art and contemporary craft to amazing jewellery, fashion, home interiors and exquisite childrenswear.

The home interiors passage at The Secret Arcade offers quirky and unique interior products from bespoke wallpapers, fabrics and tablewares all direct from the designers own studios.

The Fashion and Accessories passage offers the chance to have the ultimate designer look with amazing shoes from a Cordwainer trained designer, a classic luxury vintage fashion brand and beautifully made leather accessories boutique.

The Childrenswear passage begins with a glorious shop that has the most beautiful children's blankets woven in Scotland followed by two fabulously unique childrenswear shops that offer UK designed and made clothing from the finest natural fabrics.

The Jewellery passage is a must visit for anyone looking for a WOW factor statement piece - scroll along to see the work of four leading UK contemporary jewellery designers.

Or if you would like to own a piece of contemporary art we have three prolific artists showing in the Secret Arcade Art passage - each with a growing following both in the UK and abroad. Alternatively if you are into making work yourself a visit to the Contemporary Craft passage will give you lots of inspiration!

Visit the Secret Arcade here

The 2011 Christmas Gift Guide for Him & Her

It's that time of year when we all need to find that perfect gift, either for other people or just to give ourselves a well deserved treat!

Our 2011 Gift Guide has come just at the right time, when we have launched lots of new collections from prints to jewellery to bags and scarves - all hand made in the UK.

Visit here...

Woven Scarves by Sarah Tyssen

This collection of beautiful scarves, woven in the subtle shades of autumn and winter, are designed by award -winning textile designer Sarah Tyssen and woven in a traditional mill in Suffolk and perfect for both men and women.

The scarves are available in three designs; Scales, Check and Stripe. Each one has a slightly different look on the reverse which looks great when wrapped around. All the wool and dyes are sourced from the UK.

View the full collection here

New Work by Alice Pattullo

We've just launched a new collection of Alice Pattullo's limited edition prints. Her signature style is in abundance in these ten new works but she is tackling new subjects from museum collections, pearly kings and queens, good luck charms to old favourites re-printed such as The Seagull and Sailor Book.

Also don't miss Alice's brand new limited edition Book - Climb to the Crown...

The Cabinet of Extraordinary Objects

A new addition to the online shop is The Cabinet of Extraordinary Objects. We'll be constantly changing what's in the cabinet (in January we will be showing an exciting collection by an 'amateur anthropologist').

It's the perfect space for showing two new collections; a collection of jewellery by award-winning Irish jeweller Eily O'Connell and the magnificent Miniature Victorian Hothouse Kits.

Eily O'Connell casts organic material such as claws, crab shells and twigs in solid recycled silver to form sculptural necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

The palm-sized Miniature Victorian Hothouse kits are designed by a firm of architectural model makers in Glasgow.

The kit comes with everything you need to have your own botanical garden including a seeds and a tiny little disc of growing material - just sprinkle with water and keep in the light.

Both collections can be found in The Cabinet of Extraordinary Objects

Autumn Textiles - Emily Mackey Rare Breed Collection

Emily Mackey is a textile designer, illustrator and weaver who specialises in using native breed English wools and traditional embroidery techniques.

She also works with some of the few remaining mills in the UK to produce her larger Herdwick blankets.

There is something intangibly romantic about Emily’s work. Her use of ancient materials, traditional crafts and imagery of bare trees seem to evoke a sense of place and heritage that speaks to our rural ancestry.

READ MORE ABOUT EMILY IN

D E S I G N E R O F T H E M O N T H

Autumn Pattern - Ellie Curtis Anthropomorphic Textiles

A graduate of the prestigious Camberwell College of Art and Design, Ellie Curtis’ first textile collection has been inspired by a recent residency in Southern Spain and time spent at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.

Her work explores an interest in anthropomorphic creatures which blur the distinction between human, animal and plant; tree-men, jiving birds, and women with roots for hands are some of the characters you can expect to meet. Ellie’s work has been featured widely from the ICA to the V&A Museum of Childhood and World of Interiors magazine.

Her fabrics are equally stunning as a cushion or upholstered on a large sofa

Visit the full collection here

The new shop is open...

No.60 Market Street is Open

Our first bricks and mortar shop has just opened it's doors within the conservation area of Ulverston, a pretty market town in Cumbria.

The front of the shop is our showroom, whilst in the back is our warren of studios and offices for the online shop. We are so excited by the space and we think it does justice to all the wonderful collections on display.

If you are up this way, please pop in and say hello. We are open seven days a week 9.30am - 5.30pm (11am - 3pm Sunday). Next door is a fabulous organic coffee house and deli, their Mushrooms on Toast is legendary!

The Shop Floor Project in Vogue with Roar Power!

A roar of excitement echoed around the Shop Floor office this week on opening this month's issue of Vogue magazine when we saw they have featured a new piece of jewellery by design house, Bonbi Forest, one of the most popular designers at The Shop Floor Project. Featuring the locket on the magazine's ' In Vogue' page which this month is reflecting on the Autumn / Winter catwalk trend for all things fauna!

There are two versions of the locket available which can be purchased in the Jewellery Room at The Shop Floor Project.

Our new shop is almost open - sneaky peek...

It's only two weeks now until the opening of our very first bricks and mortar shop in the ancient market town of Ulverston at the foot of the Lake District. We thought you'd like to see the splendid craftsmanship of Ian Whiteoak as he puts the finishing touches to our hand painted shop sign.

Ian has now painted all of the shops signs in the conservation area of Ulverston, which could easily be mistaken for a pre-war shopping street. Our neighbours include a rather wonderful tea garden and coffee house, herbalists, book shop, stylish clothes boutiques, antiques shops and the irresistible Russian chocolate shop selling the best sour cherry nougat we've ever tasted.

Because we got so excited by his skills, coupled with our love of traditional crafts, we have commissioned Ian to created signage within the shop too. I hope we don't get carried away!

Ian is one of numerous craft workers which still thrive in the town, from cobblers working in what can only be described as a workshop straight out of Dickens, to upholsterers in Buxton Mews, seamstresses and haberdashers in Union Alley and a grandfather clock repairer and retailer in Upper Brook Street. All of these shops, and many more, proudly display a sign which Ian has lovingly painted.

More news of the shop to follow, but we can say we are incredibly excited by the interior already...

Northwest Passage featured on our favourite blog!

Leonard McDermid's latest work, Northwest Passage has been featured in our favourite blog, Spitalfield's Life. Click here to read the article. We don't usually like to say things like this, but as not to disappoint, they are going fast so make sure you order one if you love it as much as we do!

Available from the Books, Print and Art Department