The Other Side of the Shelf

Favourite Blog

2012-01-27T20:34:00.003Z

We love 'a year in charlie's pocket' - check it out.

Fairies

2012-01-19T23:12:00.001Z

At the Museum of Childhood

The Return of Shelf, by The Gentle Author

2011-12-05T11:14:00.001Z

The lights were burning late last night at the former Ship & Blue Ball in Boundary St, one of the East End’s most notorious criminal landmarks. Here in 1963, the Great Train Robbery was plotted in the room above the pub. Today the building houses the Bold Creative agency, yet long after all the employees left yesterday, shadowy figures were still to be glimpsed inside by those hurrying through Boundary Passage in the gloom. Assuming the role of investigative reporter, I went round after dark to question the two women at the centre of this new conspiracy of an entirely innocent nature. They are Katy Hackney and Jane Petrie, and they were busy organising their swag in preparation for the return of Shelf.
Ten years ago, Shelf opened in Cheshire St and became an essential Christmas destination, never disappointing as a source of new trinkets and old tricks and artful wooden decorations from the Black Forest. When Katy & Jane closed the shop and took it online this year, I thought it was the end of my annual visit there to seek wonders, so I am delighted to welcome their return, taking over the Ship & Blue Ball each weekend between now and Christmas.
The blinds were down when I arrived and Katy hustled me inside where she and Jane were laying out their haul of new discoveries and old favourites upon a huge table. Now there is a nip in the air, Jane helpfully suggested I needed a pair of traditional Swedish mittens handknitted by their friend Bodil who lives in a tin hut by a lake in Mellurüd. Strung up like kippers, these are available in adult and children’s sizes and there are only as many pairs as Bodil has managed to craft.
If you are looking for Russian dolls, wind-up birds that sing, characterful felt glove puppets, cuddly lions from Sri Lanka, happy chopping boards, kaleidoscopes, wooden molecule building sets, and unusual games and prints and children’s books, this is the place to come. In the last ten years, Katy & Jane have been all over Europe, Japan, East & West Coast America, and Dundee, collecting zany old stationery – jotters and labels and ribbons and printed tags and bags and tin badges and scraps and all manner of ephemera including hundred-year-old-butter-papers and fifty-year-old Italian lemonade labels and vintage orange wrappers and ladybird books and interesting packets of seeds. Previously, they hoarded their favourites in the basement of the shop for their own pleasure, but now they have decided to part with it all in medley packs.
While I examined all the swag minutely, Katy & Jane enthused about the novelty of weekends with their children, since since the Cheshire St shop closed. Yet the old delight was rekindled, to see all the strange and marvellous things at Shelf that you cannot find anywhere else. “Our elaborate hobby,” they call it.
Vist the Shelf blog The Other Side of the Shelf and Jane Petrie’s Costume Detail blog.

A wind-up bird that sings

Gift bags of stocking fillers.

Kellner figures, made by the same family in Leipzig since 1919.

Screenprint by Beyond Thrilled.

Paper mache stag by Rachel Warren.

Birds crossing Victoria Park by John Dilnot.

The essential map, drawn by Adam Dant with stories by yours truly.

Designs by Frerk Muller, an eighty-one year old beatnik from Berlin.

Kay Hackney & Jane Petrie with their swag – an innocent conspiracy.

Plaster letters dug up in the Californan desert, originally designed for titling silent films.

Photograph of Katy Hackney & Jane Petrie © copyright Jeremy Freedman

Shelf will be open at 13a Boundary St for the next three weekends, 3rd & 4th, 10th & 11th, 17th & 18th plus Thursday 22nd & Friday 23rd December, daily from 11am to 7pm. Artist Paul Bommer will be the guest exhibitor on the first weekend, knitwear designer Jo Gordon on the second and printmaker Beyond Thrilled on the third.

---------------------------------------------

The Gentle Author wrote this post, we are eternally grateful to him.

See his FANTASTIC blog here:
'SPITALFIELDS LIFE'

Shelf POPS-UP

2011-12-02T10:05:00.001Z

Nearly there!
Some pictures by Jeremy Freedman whilst we were setting up, to temp you!

Our First POP-UP opens tomorrow at 11am....
Artist Paul Bommer is our guest this weekend, 3rd & 4th Dec,
Knitwear designer Jo Gordon the next 10 &11th
Artist Beyond Thrilled the following one 17 & 18th Dec

We are also open on the 22nd & 23rd.
Each of these days we open from 11am -7pm

Lots to do, so little time!

FESTIVE COMPETITION!

2011-11-24T22:23:00.001Z

We've been having fun with the letter picker in our shop, trying to think of festive words to use in the forthcoming POP-UP SHOP.

..if you can think of something better, please email* a screen shot to us and we will choose the best, and send a prize!

*You can find our email on the web site, we wont put it here or we'll get nasty spam!

To "PICK YOUR OWN" go here

Paul Bommer

2011-11-23T13:59:00.001Z

Our friend Paul recently had a lovely show of his work ... if you missed it, worry not!
His prints will be at our Pop Up!

Jo Gordon

2011-11-22T10:00:00.000Z

Its cold out there! so our thoughts are of knitting....and our friend Jo Gordon

ALEKSANDR

2011-11-20T21:06:00.001Z

Aleksandr (english subtitle) from Aleksandr Team on Vimeo.

Christmas Pop-Up Shop

2011-11-18T07:45:00.001Z

EATTERBURY

2011-10-24T11:27:00.000+01:00

Jane just dicovered this blog by photographer Elizabeth Atterbury

We both love the colour and odd atmosphere of her work.

I have no idea what is going on in some of the photos, which makes me like them even more!

Her web site is here

Brilliant!

Bookshelves!

2011-10-23T10:48:00.001+01:00

Lots of bookshelves, here
Found on Olympia Le Tans site..

SCUBA

2011-10-17T13:36:00.000+01:00

Our friends SCUBA have been busy since we last met, they now reside in Santa Fe and this is some of their new 3D work, shown at CALDERA they are so productive!

You can also see their latest show MOVE IN WITH ME in San Francisco at LAKE Gallery
It'll be good!
Go see it, go on.

FOR SALE

2011-10-07T10:06:00.001+01:00

This amazing house is for sale...!
For more details, see here

Turner & Harper at Labour and Wait

2011-09-22T22:03:00.002+01:00

If you happen to be near Redchurch St this Design Week, go see these BEAUTIFULLY made brushes & homewares by Turner & Harper.

Agnes Richter's Jacket

2011-09-21T10:28:00.001+01:00

When we first talked about opening Shelf I was keen to do a project involving Costume Designers and prison uniforms, I thought there could be a really interesting exhibition exploring how people express their personalities and their character through the constraints of uniform and I was particularly keen on having Costume Designers, whose job it is to find and express character through clothing, work with prisoners and uniforms.

Outsider Art was always something Katy and I were interested in.

Anyway, the shop took a different course and I never really thought about that idea much again.

But yesterday I was reading this quarter's Selvedge magazine where there's an article about prison clothing and I was reminded of the exhibition idea and Agnes Richter's jacket which I had become aware of around the same time. I can't remember which website I originally discovered the jacket on, I read about it such a long time ago, so I rummaged around again this morning and found a few listings with information - here and here.

Agnes was a mental patient in Austria in the 1890's and the jacket was standard issue of the time. The embroidery is beautiful and intense. Fascinating, unstoppable self expression.

NOTE: The jacket is in The Prinzhorn collection in Heidelberg, which is where the photograph originally stems, I haven't linked to the collection because the English translation isn't working today.

Michael Marriott

2011-09-20T10:04:00.005+01:00

And another thing at SCP this week: Mr. Marriotts homage to Brancusi installation.
If you are in the neighbourhood, do pop in and see all the beautiful things in store for Design week.

Donna Wilson

2011-09-19T22:03:00.001+01:00

Donna Wilson has a new collection out!
Go see it in the flesh, from tomorrow at SCP

House Industries

2011-09-16T11:06:00.000+01:00

As a fan of the ampersand, I think House Industries designed this table just for me.

Lubna Chowdhary

2011-09-15T10:19:00.000+01:00

Lubna now has an online SHOP!

Russian Doll Balloon

2011-09-09T06:25:00.000+01:00

Love this balloon, found here.

Beautiful Home

2011-08-16T06:46:00.001+01:00

Found through Yellow Trace Blog: this fantastic Japanese apartment was renovated by
Naruse Inokuma, It is so good it makes me slightly anxious.

Leaves

2011-08-11T21:30:00.004+01:00

The top leaves are for sale in our shop, the bottom is a present from N.

Barry McGee

2011-08-10T21:30:00.000+01:00

Go see the Barry McGee exhibition at Modern Art before it ends.
Beautiful!

London Fields Screen Prints

2011-08-09T08:00:00.005+01:00

New in this week - the second in the London neighbourhood series.
'London Fields' Screen prints by Beyond Thrilled.
Beautifully printed as expected, again in 2 colourways.

You can buy one HERE

Hoping it wasn't too out of hand down there last night, we hope people see sense & calm down!

Intelligent trouble: Loop

2011-08-02T16:56:00.001+01:00

6 artists: Katy Hackney, David Littler, Helen Carnac, Robert Ebendorf, David Clarke and David Gates.
We've been working together, David Gates has been the chief instigator, things will change as the show settles in..
come on thursday if you can, there will be extra sounds & projections for one night only...
(kh)

Hackney Wicked

2011-08-01T22:50:00.000+01:00

Shelf spent the scorching weekend at Hackney WickED Festival, and back to Folly for a Flyover,
what fun!

Mango

2011-07-20T23:11:00.000+01:00

We ate a whole box of delicious mangos in 2 days!
yum
We got our box from TAJ STORES on Brick Lane.

Folly for a Flyover

2011-07-19T23:20:00.000+01:00

We went to Folly For a Flyover this weekend, a beautiful wooden folly built in the gap between the East and Westbound traffic of the A12 in Hackney Wick.

Saturday nights show, entitled 'Minnie the Moocher + Gertie and Her Gaiety', was a fabulous mix of song, dance (mostly tap dancing monkey girls!) & Bettie Boop Cartoons, then a screening of Singing in the Rain, most appropriate for such a wet weekend...

Oh, and some people arrived by rowing boat.

Go!

Happy Birthday Ryan Town

2011-07-18T00:18:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Rob Ryan & his team at Ryan Town for a lovely 3rd Birthday party last week!

New work from Beyond Thrilled

2011-07-16T14:31:00.002+01:00

This week we received some new work from our old mucker, Beyond Thrilled.

The first to be released in a new series of London districts posters.
B.T. has recently completed a coast to coast walk from Glaisdale to Robin Hood's Bay. Since his return he has continued to walk but now it's an exploration of his urban environment. Walking through neighbourhoods with the eye of a Londoner rather than a tourist his drawings capture unexpected and off the beaten path landmarks.
Can't wait for the next installment.
You can buy one here

Pike Fish

2011-07-16T00:24:00.001+01:00

What a beautiful Pike Fish!
Found here thanks to Helen

I Didn't See it Coming

2011-07-06T22:02:00.000+01:00

N got the best presents ever in the post last week, from Lesley Barnes
A bear mask & puppet from the launch party of the Beautiful animation she made for Belle & Sebastians track: 'I Didn't See it Coming', see the blog & animation HERE
She is a very kind lady!

Excellent Childen's Period Footwear

2011-07-03T08:44:00.003+01:00

Katy found me this link to Victor & Victorine, the shoes are perfect for period work and pretty cute for contemporary too, N starts school after the summer so there's a search on to find something which conforms in an acceptable way!
Apologies for the poor quality of the picture, we don't have an actual pair to photograph.

garden berries

2011-06-30T13:01:00.002+01:00

yum!

Hobby

2011-06-05T22:22:00.001+01:00

This is Hobby, drawn by N (4)
It looks really like him, honest.

MOTHER

2011-05-19T09:48:00.001+01:00

This beautiful Kite, 'Mother' is by Fredericks and Mae, in collaboration with Confetti System.

We love it.
Her children are quite special too.

little friends

2011-05-18T23:24:00.018+01:00

'lionleopard'
'little toast goat'
'ego'
&;
as yet unnamed...

all over our house these days....

on the shelf

2011-05-17T23:18:00.009+01:00

Some things from our shelves.....

Guidos paper creatures

2011-05-16T21:56:00.000+01:00

Finally back in stock!!

Paper lobsters & hares, hand embossed using vintage press tools by our friend Guido in Germany.

Use these whole as a picture, or cut them free from each other and create labels for presents, cards, table setting card, the list is endless....

find them here

First (ever) Radish

2011-05-07T23:48:00.003+01:00

Miss N pulled up the first ever radish shes planted in her life, this week, to squeals of joy
I'd recommend growing them with kids, she can't wait to eat them up.
We've even planted some at nursery, let see if they survive, the kids were digging seeds up as fast as planting!
Artemis & she could have a radish growing competition.
I am the the one with the job of cutting them into 'star' shapes, sadly no photos, they were eaten too quickly!

easter weekend

2011-04-24T22:15:00.002+01:00

Its been a sizzling hot summer weekend and its still April...

THANKS to Neal at Present & Correct for the vintage German Easter ribbon, we used it on a last minute Easter bonnet for nursery.

If you're in London, go to the 'Urban Beach' at the Southbank Center - fun if your little!

Katys jewellery

2011-04-19T22:30:00.000+01:00

I wonder if these will have sold in New York?
Its a shame I cant travel with my work more often..

Made Within The British Empire

2011-04-18T07:30:00.013+01:00

So this is another leftover from the Shelf vintage days, mentioned in this post and it fits the wee fella perfectly.
I'll take a snap when he decides he is willing to wear it.
This is I think, his first of many visits to a costume truck, watched over by Costumier and one time Shelf Sunday Girl, Miss Lucy Donowho.

Beautiful Japanese Advert!

2011-04-15T23:22:00.003+01:00

the video

behind the scenes

We wish there were more ads like this, its inspirational, relaxing, sweet!
Found at NOM & ADA who design beautiful shoes

Present & Correct

2011-04-13T22:08:00.000+01:00

P&C is one of our favourite shops....such brilliant stock, old & new..

oh we do like to be beside the seaside!

2011-04-12T22:01:00.003+01:00

What a lovely sunny day!
(Brighton again)

Broadway Market

2011-04-09T14:40:00.001+01:00

We are having a heatwave; high summer in early April.
Broadway Market was duly mobbed this morning but avoiding the crush we stopped off at Bart and Tash to say Hi and spent half an hour hanging out in their calm spot, drinking our coffee and admiring the latest workwear they have unearthed for their stall

They have some really nice pieces this week with great details, it's always worth a peek.

Charity Shops on Kingsland Road

2011-04-07T23:56:00.002+01:00

Had a rummage in some charity shops on Kingsland Road today, which were full of lovely lovely things.
Its a shame I cannot play a note, the piano & accordian were beautiful....
(the orangey red pattern is a book cover)

Happy Faces

2011-04-04T21:22:00.000+01:00

Via Weird Friends.

Koyo Okada's Mt. Fuji

2011-03-31T22:34:00.003+01:00

A beautiful book, a beautiful mountain, found here, on a beautiful blog.
Thinking of Japan.

trees

2011-03-28T10:45:00.011+01:00

spotted this on the way to the studio this morning, very sweet!

Childrens Knitted Gloves

2011-03-23T22:51:00.000Z

It's hard to believe it's been ten years since we spent all those months travelling around Europe sourcing and sampling things for Shelf. We did sell vintage items in the beginning and these kids gloves, found in a Barcelona flea market, were some of the items we brought back but were never able to part with. We talked about box frames and showcases but somehow they stayed in a cardboard box in the basement, just as they presumably always had.

sun

2011-03-21T21:17:00.002Z

at last!

Hand Eye Supplies

2011-02-28T09:19:00.011Z

This top quality denim and herringbone workwear at Hand Eye Supply is exactly what we'll be needing for our final move out of Cheshire Street and into the new studio.

Daily Levitation

2011-02-26T23:54:00.001Z

Photographer Natsumi Hayashi takes (almost) daily self portraits of herself levitating around Tokyo.
I love that the photographs show every day/normal Tokyo locations, they take me back & remind me I must re visit!

HOST

2011-02-25T11:11:00.000Z

HOST - a collaborative installation with David Gates opens this week At Velvet Da Vinci in San Francisco, opening reception is this evening.

The 'collaborees' are Helen Carnac, David Clarke, Robert Ebendorf, Tom Hill and Katy Hackney (that will be me then)

I also sent out a batch of new Jewellery for the gallery to show.

I do hope San Francisco enjoys it, I wish I could be there!

Rob Ryan Screenprints for Haiti

2011-02-23T09:36:00.000Z

A message from Mr. Rob Ryan:

As you know, just over a year ago on 12th January 2010 Haiti was hit by a catastrophic earthquake and 13 months later, the country is still in need of so much help.
To try and do my bit to raise some money, I’ve designed and printed a brand new limited edition screenprint which will be sold on Etsy and in my shop, Ryantown on Columbia Road.
The price will be £200 and with Paypal and Etsy fees subtracted (please see breakdown), this leaves £186 per print sold going straight to the Haiti cause. If we can sell the whole edition of 200 of these, we could raise a massive £37,200.

Each print measures 54.3 cm wide by 39cm high, printed using water based inks onto Heritage Woodfree 315gsm paper which measures 68.5cm wide by 51cm high

Cost breakdown
Etsy fees: 3.5% of each print + 20cents per print = £7.00
Paypal fees: 3.4% of each print + 20 pence per print = £7.00
Total fees: £14 per print sold.

Best Wwishes and Many thanks,

Rob

go HERE to buy!

Back to the Future

2011-02-22T09:35:00.001Z

Fascinting & CREEPY!
Irina Werning, Buenos Aires Photographer asked friends and family to re-enact old photos of themselves for an ongoing project, “Back to the Future.”

valentines day

2011-02-14T16:35:00.000Z

Miss Hart has a Valentines day birthday, so we baked chocolate cake & heart shaped biscuits.
yum

Peeping

2011-02-10T22:13:00.000Z

Our friend Louise Melchior has been 'Peeping' into homes - a good blog for us nosey people!
See her photos here

fish finger, potato, pea - tree

2011-02-09T22:01:00.007Z

I often make N's food into pictures or faces.
Yesterday we ate trees.
The enamel plate says A is for apple, B is for ball, C is for car, D is for dog, and E=MC2 in the middle!
We sold these & other witty ceramic plates by a long forgotten designer from San Francisco . . ?

UPDATE - they were called A-1 Product Co.
Lovely people we met at the SF Gift Fair, whatever happened to them?

C A L M

2011-02-08T09:40:00.001Z

Amid the madness of our Grand Sale, I managed to sneak an hour at the hairdressers.
I've been going to 4th Floor for about 15 years and it's always a treat.
Its in a a beautiful space on a rooftop in Bloomsbury.

This visit, they had their 20th birthday bunting up… white, bright, C A L M....
kh

Annual Grimaldi Service

2011-02-07T21:30:00.038Z

Popped round the corner this Sunday to see the clowns leaving the 65th annual Grimaldi Service at Holy Trinity church in Dalston.
I must admit I'm not a fan of clowns, but was strangely drawn, I'm glad I didn't take N, aged nearly 4!
For a far more in depth & eloquent explanation see Spitalfields Life

All Change at Shelf by the Gentle Author

2011-01-25T19:45:00.000Z

I have a secret route to get to Shelf - I go past the farm, across the park, under the railway line, across the wasteland, under the sinister railway arch, over the graffitied footbridge, and then I turn right down Cheshire St to arrive excitedly at this oddball tangerine-coloured shop which only opens at weekends. It has been my place of constant pilgrimage for ten happy years of treats, where I could always guarantee to discover some new delight, but last week Katy Hackney & Jane Petrie invited me round to break the news that Shelf is leaving Spitalfields, because in future, they will be open for business to the whole world, night and day at www.helpyourshelf.co.uk
When they first opened in Cheshire St, I did not have a place of my own to live and so, as consolation, I went to Shelf and bought an iron door knocker, vowing that one day I should have my own front door to go with it. Ten years later, this handsome door knocker, cast from a nineteenth century mould in a Belgian factory, greets me every day as I go in and out of my house. I always relied upon Shelf for serious nonsense, whenever I had urgent need of some nicely painted wooden rabbits at Easter or a candle powered merry-go-round, hand carved with deer from the Black Forest, at Christmas. There must be room in life for whimsy and joy, and Shelf is a toy shop for adults where you can rely upon finding a functional wooden radio or clockwork songbird that really sings.
I always wondered where on earth proprietors Katy Hackney & Jane Petrie got all this astonishing stuff, which you could find nowhere else – “Our elaborate hobby,” they term it modestly. It was a rare adventure to visit these two shrewd yet playful women from Dundee who maintain a constantly engaging double act, full of non-sequiturs and completing each others sentences. After several years, I enjoyed the privilege of viewing their most coveted finds, colourful old prints and toys which they stash safely in drawers in the basement for their own pleasure – just to make sure no customer could ever find them and buy them – and it became apparent then that Shelf was an endeavour based upon extraordinary personal enthusiasms.
At Shelf, in perverse yet welcome contrast to common practise, Katy & Jane have championed old designers, like Pravoslav Rada of Prague, eighty-seven years old, and Frerk Muller of Berlin, who is well into his sixties. It is the exclusive outlet in Britain for Pravoslava Rada’s bright-coloured ceramics which he has been making in an unchanging style since the nineteen sixties, and also the only place you can find the designs of Frerk Muller – an old beatnik who creates droll minimalist images of birds with moody expressions – printed onto mugs and towels.
Undefinable and unlike any other shop in London, Shelf has thrived on its own idiosyncrasy, even though Katy & Jane never set out out to be shopkeepers – a role which they are happy to relinquish to concentrate on designing their own things for Shelf. And I am especially excited to learn that now all the treasures from the cellar will go on sale. Naturally, I shall miss popping in for a chat and emerging with a bird whistle, but Katy & Jane are going to be back, setting up stalls at Christmas fairs and seasonal events. And in the meantime you can enjoy a Shelf bonanza at the shop, where everything is on sale at daft prices while stocks last. Be assured, this is not “Goodbye” to Shelf but simply “Au Revoir.”
Vist the Shelf blog The Other Side of the Shelf and Jane Petrie’s Costume Detail blog

Kellner figures, made by the same family since 1919

Paper mache animal head by Rachel Warren

Wooden merry-go-rounds from Germany

Plaster letters rescued from the Californian desert, originally created to make titles for silent films.

Design by Frerk Muller, a beatnik from Berlin.

Ceramic by Pravoslav Rada of Prague

Stationery packs with tickets, boot polish tins and rare old paper bags from Paul Gardner’s basement.

Enamelled copper letters to make your own signs.

Ceramic by Pravoslav Rada

Paul Gardner visited Shelf to deliver the last paper bags on Friday.

Kissing Goodbye to Cheshire Street SALE

2011-01-21T10:11:00.001Z

After  ten happy years as a site of pilgrimage in Spitalfields, we are leaving  Cheshire St to concentrate on doing the things we love. 

We want to make SHELF much more special.

We want to spend more time creating our own SHELF products.

We  are going to improve the web shop and direct our ingenuity towards  devising & designing lovely things, getting out there, participating and  collaborating, and enjoying ourselves by having stalls, markets and  parties at seasonal events. 

We are up for all kinds of cunning new ideas, get in touch if you have one?

It's a new year and change is in the air.

So  we are going to have a major spring clean as part of our  transformation, because in the short term we are going to be strapped  for space in our new studio, and we need to divest ourselves of some  clutter.

For example:

Rob Ryan framed Prints & tiles,

Moomin Mugs,

Bitossi ceramic cats,

Architectmade wooden birds & ducks,

NUD lighting 

 . . . too many bargains to mention!

THE GRAND SHELF CLEARANCE SALE: 

30% + off, INSTORE ONLY!

Opening hours: 

Thurs, Fri, Sat 12 - 6pm, Sundays 10 - 6pm

Starts Friday 21st Jan 2011, runs throughout Feb 2011

We are also selling some of our beautiful furniture, so do spread the word, or come and have a look!

We will of course be blogging, tweeting, putting new & exciting things into the web shop & popping up around London . . . who knows where else?

SHELF

40 Cheshire Street, London E2 6EH. 

www.helpyourshelf.co.uk

email:shop@helpyourshelf.co.uk

020 7739 9444 

star!

2011-01-15T08:39:00.001Z

So the other day, we discovered some Christmas food we forgot to eat!
A HUGE Italian Pandoro cake, so much tastier than its cousin Panettone, in our humble opinion.
N was beside herself to see such a huge sugary star cake on the table........not much left now.
And the box make s a great hat.

Abernyte Antiques

2011-01-13T01:11:00.005Z

Abernyte Antiques Market in Perthshire - always worth a mooch.

Paul Octavious

2011-01-05T08:00:00.001Z

2011 from Paul Octavious, his photography & ideas are inspirational.
Check out his blog 'Genius Vomit' as well - some brilliant things there!

Stamps

2011-01-03T08:08:00.015Z

Just discovered these beautiful Stamps, designed by Rafael Davidson between 1975 - 1993
Read more here

boxes

2011-01-02T22:45:00.001Z

Jen Renningers Collection of boxes.
I wonder if her house is filled with 'stuff'?
can she keep it in an orderly way?
Look here to see her story

Happy Zoll

2011-01-01T23:50:00.005Z

Jane wrote Happy 2011 on her cards this year, but its reads as 'Zoll', so for us this year has been renamed.

HAPPY ZOLL!

J & K x

red lunch

2010-12-26T10:29:00.000Z

in keeping with the festive spirit, we had a red lunch on Christmas eve....pink pasta on red bowl, red cabbage and tomatoes on orange plate, yum

then Father Christmases & Rudolphs snacks were put out....
Hope you had a lovely time!

crackers!

2010-12-24T23:15:00.012Z

Shelf went for dinner with Artemis & Nao just before Christmas, and I talked about my evening making crackers, above are both versions.
Theirs are so tasteful & minimal, mine not, ours looked very jolly on the table and N loved pulling them, although an adult had to hold her or she was pulled around the room.
Next year I'll work out some sort of perforation?
(Mine had home made felt moustaches inside, but sadly i didn't get any photographs)
Click on he link to see Artemis's blow by blow account of how to make hers .. .

Desaturated Santa

2010-12-22T14:26:00.005Z

this photo has NOT been digitally altered!
click on the image to read more about this clever lady...
(thanks to Mike and Rory for the images)

festoon!

2010-12-16T16:30:00.003Z

we love this!

water bottle

2010-12-13T20:51:00.002Z

This water bottle has one of our most favourite Rob Ryan Illustrations on it ever.
Amazingly the colours are exactly as the original tile design we stocked a good few years ago.

I cant think of a better gift to encourage the small people in our lives to drink more water!
You can buy one here

2010-12-09T22:11:00.000Z

A slight diversion from Shelf's Christmas Shopping Evening to mention Ohio Knitting Mills' Pop-Up Shop.
We've been fans for a while now, recommended by print designer and good friend of Shelf, Kathryn Dale.
So much of their original stock has gone but there are a few choice items left and are on sale here.

Alma Allen

2010-12-08T00:15:00.004Z

just discovered Alma Allen

christmas!!

2010-12-07T22:30:00.003Z

We've been busy with Christmas things, its suddenly full steam ahead . . . . .not much time for blogging!

Pencil Fence

2010-12-06T22:36:00.000Z

This is very cute!
Thanks Rosie

Dead drops

2010-11-30T23:30:00.000Z

oh look!
here

Rain Catcher

2010-11-23T20:59:00.000Z

So much prettier than our rhone pipes, you just buy the number of cups you need and link them all together, preferably hanging them over a garden like this one, thus using the rainwater as it was meant to be.

First Frost

2010-11-22T21:10:00.001Z

There is a benefit to getting up at the crack of dawn and driving 20 miles out of London to do a day's work - I saw the first frost on Tuesday and it was lovely.

Cute Japanese Car

2010-11-20T20:45:00.001Z

Indigo, Boro and Sashiko

2010-11-17T20:32:00.003Z

The Japanese tradition of stitching, patching, mending and recycling has resulted in a fantastic tradition of peasant, or folk clothing. The ragged, textured result of all the layers of stitching is called Boro.

The white mending stitches became a decorative technique in their own right called Sashiko. Intricate patterns were stitched onto woven indigo fabrics creating bold decorative detail.

See Sri Threads blog and gallery for some great items.

Hunsett Mill

2010-11-16T21:33:00.000Z

Voted the best new house in the UK 2010 by RIBA
see more here

SAMPLE SALE 27 & 28th November

2010-11-15T08:42:00.002Z

Just to let you know, SHELF, our neighbour Mimi and some friends are having a little pre Christmas sample sale...

An excellent way of buying really special presents at knock down prices!

Tokyo Tea Break

2010-11-15T07:24:00.006Z

Scholten & Baijings

2010-11-13T22:40:00.007Z

Beautiful woven pillow covers by Scholten & Baijings for Thomas Eyck

Play House

2010-11-12T22:13:00.002Z

At what point in the boys life would this cease to be used!?
Play House, Jakarta

Wooden Giants

2010-11-11T21:58:00.009Z

by PostlerFerguson

Peter Hardwicke, signwriter

2010-11-11T10:10:00.002Z

Today's Spitalfields Life

FARM:shop

2010-11-10T21:22:00.003Z

I've been walking past this shop on Dalston Lane since summer & wondering what these people were up to.
Recently, passing on a 38 bus, I saw them on the roof, erecting a chicken coop.

Then on the way to the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden recently, I peeked in and saw huge bubbling tanks of water, tiny plants growing in neat rows, towers of strange plant pot 'trees'...

Now they put a sign up, I've found their web site and I'm intrigued.

A Collection a Day 2010

2010-11-09T19:00:00.000Z

Artist Lisa Congdon's collection a day is an almost daily visit for us, and a look at her home & studio make me wonder.

Where does she keep it?

Kastehelmi by Oiva Toikka

2010-11-08T22:01:00.020Z

We love these re issued 'Kastehelmi' bowls, so much, we just had to stock them for Christmas.
yep there's no getting away from it, its coming!!

They were designed by Oiva Toikka in 1964, reissued by Iittala in 2010 to clebrate 50 years of working with Toikka.

Cant wait to get a set of them home & fill with delicious red pudding . . . .

Gropius

2010-11-07T18:53:00.000Z

In Walter Gropius' home, I want one.

What IS it??

See who took the photos & more on Leslie Williamson's blog and buy her book Handcrafted Modern, so many beautiful & beautifully wierd houses to nosey around..

Laurie the Lion

2010-11-06T21:34:00.009Z

Laurie the Lion is new in SHELF.

Ethically produced in Sri Lanka by Barefoot Design, and designed in the '60's,
Laurie the Lion is hand made from hand woven & dyed cotton, stuffed with Kapok and shipped slowly by sea to Cornwall.
(this is proving to be a problem getting more stock in time for Christmas!)

Barefoot was founded in 1962 in Sri Lanka by colourist, artist, designer and entrepreneur Barbara Sansoni.

They work mainly with women.

Nothing is mass-produced.

No child labour is used.

All employees are given a decent wage and benefits.

There are no factories and no production lines.

Each worker is responsible for the quality of the final product.

Barefoot teach the skills and strive for quality from the weavers and sewers.

If you are a small person, you can sit on his back!

Lisa Larson

2010-11-06T21:29:00.001Z

Gustavsberg 1962, 1957

michael samuels

2010-10-27T07:45:00.000+01:00

a new discovery, thanks to michael

kyoto - kimono lengths

2010-10-26T07:30:00.003+01:00

Visiting kimono fabric printers in Kyoto, this is all I can show you!