£10 Off to Celebrate 2 years

The Shop Floor Project is two years old today.

We would like to say a big thank you to all loyal customers for supporting us by giving you

£10 Off

(when you spend over £50. Offer ends Monday 29th September)

(Our birthday celebrations may look a bit like this!)

Type in Voucher Code: 21008TYDS in your basket at the end of your shop.

It has been an exciting two years for us and we are planning more exhibitions, collabortaions and are still dedicated to finding the most interesting objects from designers around the world.

It is great that after two years the unique design of the website will be recognised in a new book called iCatching which will be out in October - more news on this will follow.

Here's to the next two years!

www.theshopfloorproject.com

One, Two Buckle My Shoes

"Today I began to put buckles on my shoes" wrote the diarist Samuel Pepys in 1660. This is the year that buckles replaced ribbons as the most fashionable way to fasten a shoe. The buckles came in in all manner of shapes and sizes made by the finest silversmiths of the day.

Silver and leather buckles, made in London, 1790

For over three hundred years the shoe buckle was a form of status, transforming plain shoes into glorious objects that attracted much attention . It wasn't until the 1960's that shoe clips (a direct descendant from the buckle) fell out of fashion.

Pair of Red Patent Bow Clips @ £16.50

Fear not. New York based designer Erica Weiner, who is a lover of all that is vintage, has re-issued a limited edition collection of 1950's shoe clips to jazz up our modern day footwear.

Pair of Navy Grosgrain Rosette Clips @ £16.50

In these times of financial struggle and eco-consciousness why not transform a pair of old, but cherished shoes, giving them a new lease of life.

Pair of Cream Grosgrain Rosette Clips @ £16.50

As you walk down the street, glimpsing your navy grosgrain rosette or bright red patent bow clipped onto a pair of your favourite pumps you will wonder how you ever lived without these indispensable little gems.

Available here from the Shoe Department.

Boxed Insects: a new jewellery collection

I have always been fascinated by those glamorous 18th century collectors and entomologists such as Sir Hans Sloane and Sir Joseph Banks who collected, amongst many other curios, insects from the hidden corners of the world. All the insects from the Sloane Collection, over 1,000, are housed in individual glass topped boxes in the Natural History Museum.

Large Spider pendant £48 & Beetle necklace £34

There is something about an insect in a box that is so fascinating. You can imagine my delight then, when a delivery from Mexican jeweller, Tatiana Sanchez, arrived at The Shop Floor Project's studio.

Spider necklace £34

Specimens (part of Tatiana's Cabinet of Wonders Collection) are a set of insect necklaces, each one housed in a beautiful box printed with silhouettes of natural history from sea horses to skulls.

The spiders and beetle pendants are hand made by Tatiana in her studio in Mexico where she utilises ancient, time-consuming techniques such as hammering and oxidising brass and silver. To add a finishing touch of opulence pearls are added to the chains and clasps along with a small stamped makers brass tag.

Beetle necklace £34

So, although I love the idea of keeping curios stored in my own museum, only showing my collection to appreciative guests, these necklaces are asking to adorn any outfit - and mark my words you will gain attention for wearing a large spider around your neck!

Large Spider Pendant £48

We are excited to be the exclusive UK stockist of Tatiana's work.
Available from the Jewellery Department

The Letters of Lucy May Schofield

Lucy May Schofield is a prolific artist who explores the historical craft of bookbinding and letterpressing within her work. Most of her books and objects I simply want to keep for myself and read when I get a quiet moment, but The Proverb Postcards (a set of twelve for £12 ) are just asking to be delivered to deserving recipients.

They include wise old sayings such as Misery Loves Company and Good Things Come to He Who Waits. Or warnings such as You Reap What You Sow and Love is Blind.

Asked how Lucy arrives with these wonderful objects, she answers: "I am inspired by an unrelenting desire to champion the written word, combined with a passion for paper, I make objects to house stories which might otherwise go untold.

In creating visual narratives, I lead viewers through intimate recollections. At the London College of Printing, I learned the traditional techniques of drawing, fine printing and bookbinding. I discovered the pleasures of typewriters, being lost within the pages of books and the secrecy of the relationship between a book and its reader. The themes explored in recent editions include lost love, liberation, salvaged letters, solitude, proverbs and dementia."

The work of Lucy May Schofield is collected and held in several major collections, in the UK and abroad including the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Tate. Her collection of miniature printed books and stationery (including The Proverb Postcards) is available from the Book Department.

New Ceramics Room Opens

We are really excited to announce the launch of the new Ceramics Department today.



For all of you who are collecting or simply admiring Tina Tsang's sexy legs tea cups you'll be pleased to see the new additions to the range - from the Teapot to the Cake plates!



And after the popularity of, Nottingham based artist, Katrin Moye's ceramics at our Tin Shed fair in Easter we have finally put a collection of jugs together on the site. Her work is just beautiful and so tactile - not surprisingly then, all her patterns are inspired by textiles.



Katrin's ceramics hint at a warm cosy nostalgia as the textiles are all given personal names to suggest their origins. Ingrid is a jug which celebrates her mother, textile designer Ingrid Moye's, 1970's embroidered designs and Johnny reminisces on her father's shirt which she vividly remembers from when she was a child.



I think there is nothing more welcoming then visiting someones home and seeing a collection of ceramics on a dresser. It somehow just makes me feel all cosy and at ease. And if I were to see Katrin's and Tina's wares on show, I would also know that the host was a person of great taste to boot!

The collections are available now in the Ceramics Department.

The Art of Scribble

We have just launched a new collection of scarves by designer Hilary Laing. The designs are based on the freedom of children's drawings - full of vibrant crayola colours and energy.

They reminded us of an exhibition a few years ago called Primary Vision which was held at The Tate Liverpool which brought together significant bodies of work by early-mid 20th century artists Miró, Dubuffet, Jorn, Klee and artists of the CoBrA group.

These disparate artists sought to revive and celebrate the fresh innocence and intensity of a child's vision -Artists in the CoBrA group for example, drew influence from the bold use of shape and colour to be found in children's drawings and Klee used a childhood vision to create fantastical and enchanting mini-worlds. A new way of producing art and design was influenced by these artists and still has an effect on (particularly) textile design to this day.

Hilary Laing graduated in Scotland after which she worked for Elspeth Gibson in London. She then returned to her studio in Glasgow where she produces stunning hand printed scarves. She says of her designs;

"My work is very much a personal response to children and their outlook on life through their use of colour and mark making techniques. I want people to enjoy wearing my colourful quirky pieces and the main aim is to make people smile inside"

The collection can be found in the Scarf Department and is also in the new Shop Floor Project window display - check it out!