Here comes the Bride

Elizabeth Avey is an exciting London based bridal wear company, based in Archway in Bickerton House.  Elizabeth has kindly provided the centerpiece for our wedding inspired window! Specialising in fully restored beautiful couture vintage and antique wedding gowns from Edwardian to the 1970’s. A relaxed atmosphere, luxury surroundings and strong customer service ethos along with a well-earned reputation for the country’s most extensive and expertly selected collection of professionally restored vintage wedding dresses means they regularly attract brides from all over Britain and Europe.

Customers come seeking a rare and unique gown for their wedding day, a one-off find from the bygone decades of style and glamour so it is no surprise they have quickly attracted the attention of the fashion media. Elizabeth Avey pieces can regularly be seen on the front covers and fashion pages of the likes of Vogue, Porter, Brides, You and your Wedding, Homes and Antiques, Ok! , etc as well as in hard back reference and inspiration books not to mention many features on the hugely popular British and American wedding blogs such as Love my Dress, Rock n Roll bride and style me pretty.

 prices about £500 to £1000

Our dear friend Ruth is the talent and brains behind the bridal footwear brand Harriet Wilde and is also based in Bickerton House.  She has kindly provided the beautiful bridal shoes featured in our display!  Harriet Wilde designs exquisite designer wedding shoes, her bridal shoes are renowned for style and comfort.

Harriet Wilde offers a bespoke service too - matching colours and fabrics as well as heel trim options to bling those heels.

Click on the photos for links to her fabulous website.

So whether you are the Bride or the guest at a wedding this year - pop by and have a look at our new collection of wedding gifts, including exclusive ceramic vases by Mumhadoneofthose prices from £36

We have a beautiful range of duck egg resin photo frames by Gisela Graham from £11.50

This vintage multi heart photo frame is the perfect gift for precious memories £36.50.

Mum had One of Those

Our very good friends Neil Andrews and Des Curran have set up a company with the quirky title Mumhadoneofthose collecting and often reluctantly selling, mid-century design classics.  

Their carefully curated collection of classic designs in pottery, glass, ceramic, furniture and kitchenware can be admired  here......you will no doubt get a sense of their passion for fabulous vintage finds.  

I also love Neil's infectious passion for a good photo - his often witty pics cleverly portray an everyday quintessential London with all it's quirks and beauty.  

I would personally like to thank Neil for introducing me to twitter and the twiscapade that followed, which ultimately developed into this blog.

At map gift shop we are privileged to be stocking some beautiful vases from the Mumhadoneofthose collection - exclusively available instore, fulfilling a long-term ambition to sell vintage and new items side by side.

White bisque finish vases from *Royal KPM, Bavaria. These stylish vases were made in the 1960s in West Germany.

These desirable vases are affordably priced from £36 - please enquire through our contact page for specific details.

*Since 250 years, the royal sceptre brand stands for finest porcelain that fascinates people all over the world – very often over several generations. In the words MADE TO STAY KPM expresses its ambition to maintain its tradition, to create persistent values, and set epoch-making design trends.

Since it was founded by Frederick the Great, in 1763, the Royal Porcelain Manufactory Berlin stands for hand-crafted luxury, trend-setting design, and highest quality standards. 

In its Berlin-based workshops, the manufactory produces exclusive porcelain of timeless aesthetics in the best tradition of European craftsmanship. Works from KPM have been included in renowned museums and international design collections. They have always been coveted items among connoisseurs and collectors around the world.

Before a piece of porcelain is stamped with the sceptre-shaped brand in cobalt blue it has to undergo numerous production steps and the most stringent quality controls. All decorations are hand-painted. The artistic freedom is what makes every masterpiece a unique piece of art.

Conscious of its 250-year old history and tradition, the Royal Porcelain Manufactory Berlin continues to follow new paths in the future and will no doubt play a leading role in the art of porcelain for years to come.

An Egg-cellent Easter Gift!

More and more people are looking for non chocolate gifts this Easter!

Egg cups make an eggcellent  Easter Gift, take your pick from our rather eggcentric selection!

Birdy Egg Cups £17.95

Paul Thurlby Egg cups £22.95 - Rob Ryan Egg Cups Happy Egg Cups £17.50

PiP Studio Egg Cups available in Pink / Khaki & Blue Stripes £3.95

Mr and Mrs Egg Cups - available individually £4.95

Bunny Egg Cups available in store

Little SEEDBALLS of love

It is always a pleasure to stock products you believe are worthwhile!  The friendly people at Seedball came onto our radar through Twitter.  Keen as ever to support our neighbours, (they are based in Muswell Hill), we also loved their story and their dream "to scatter the seed ball of love, up and down the UK"

SEEDBALL is run by Project Maya, a non-profit eco-social enterprise working to build a global network of reserves. Based on the principles of permaculture, these reserves will represent nature and community in balance, with space for wildflowers, wildlife, food growing and fun! 
All profits from SEEDBALL are used towards funding Maya Reserves and other Project Maya eco activities to help make the world a better, happier, and more sustainable place. 

Their products are wildflower seeds, clay, compost & a smidgen of chilli powder (a mini ecosystem) packed into a little ball, which is a simpler way to create beautiful wildflower gardens from seed!  They are presented in this handy little tin for an amazing £4.95.  The perfect gift for wildlife & nature lovers or if you fancy scattering a few seeds yourself - be a rebel and try guerrilla gardening!

"If the bee disappeared from the surface of the Earth, man would have no more than four years to live." -  Albert Einstein 

The best selling product in the range is the Bee Mix - A careful selection of native wildflower seeds that bees will just love! Bee mix uses only species recommended by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, and includes both early and late summer flowering plants:

Bees (bumblebees and honey bees) are the principle pollinators of flowering plants and are crucial for food production. In the UK, bee pollination services contribute an estimated £1.8 billion per year to the UK economy.  If we were to take over the role of pollination from bees in the UK alone, it would require a workforce of 30 million people! Without bees, many fruits, vegetables and other crops would not grow and many wild flowers would disappear from the countryside. 

Yet the disappearance of bees is a very real threat. Most of the UK’s bumblebee species have greatly declined in recent years, with two species extinct in the UK since the 1940’s, while honeybee numbers have dropped by 50% in the last 25 years.

A major factor causing their decline is the loss of countryside wildflowers.

The best thing you can do to help bees is to plant native flowers in the garden. Bees need nectar-rich flowers between March and September, however many of the cultivated and exotic flowers that are common in gardens produce no nectar (or it’s inaccessible to bees).   Not only do wildflowers look fantastic, they're hardy, resistant to slugs and pests, suited to our climate, and bursting with pollen and nectar.

Available in Bee Mix, Butterfly Mix, Urban Meadow Mix, Poppy, Forget-me-not & Oxeye Daisy - wouldn't you just like to see your garden look a beautiful as this?

Mum's the word If you're looking for some inspiration for this Sunday....... These drawings by artist Maxwell Dorsey of wild flowers displayed in humble jars and glasses are refreshingly simple.  The quality of line together with the clean, muted colours evoke a the cheerful optimism of spring! Presented in oak wooden frames - at £48, I can't think of a nicer gift this season!

Birds and Bees are a strong theme this season - we love this new addition to the popular birdy range.  Glass tumblers with a distinctly 50's vibe - very cool at £8.50!   Give Mum something stylish to chat on!  The 746 is a quintessential British retro telephone and '60s style icon. Launched in 1967, it would inspire two decades of conversation and is, to this day, the universal symbol of the phone. Seen here in Swedish Green £52. Birds and flowers scented with indian jasmine fragrance, these pretty tealight candles burn for approx 4 hours. A handmade and fairtrade product £6.00   Spring is in the air with the new floral themed Garden Party line from Envirosax, bang on trend - not just a fabulous handbag size strong carrier but an addition to Mum's spring wardrobe! £7.50 "If the bee disappeared from the surface of the Earth, man would have no more than four years to live." - Albert Einstein - Help save civilisation with these amazing seedballs - £4.95 PiP Studio...Happy Products for Happy People...and firm favourites at map gift shop, new porcelain products available from the Chinese rose range prices from £10.95 Gorgeous Vase from Rob Ryan (just in shot) and fabulous gift bags & cards!

Featured Artist - Maxwell Dorsey

Those who know map gift shop will no doubt already know we pride ourselves on showcasing local talent.  As textile designers we also love a print!  It is with absolute pleasure that I am introducing the work of local artist Maxwell Dorsey.  I met Maxwell some 30 years ago - and am pleased that over the period our paths have continued to collide - his studio is in Bickerton Road where he works with his partner and collaborator Yvonne Chambers.   He recently has produced some ranges of work which fit very nicely alongside our spring collection.  His drawings of wild flowers displayed in humble jars and glasses are refreshingly simple.  The quality of line together with the clean, muted colours evoke a the cheerful optimism of spring!

 I can't think of a nicer gift this season!

These limited edition giclee* prints are presented in oak coloured wooden frames and are sold individually for £48.

Maxwell has also produced a range of lino cut prints based on British Wildlife.  "Wild about Britain" is a strong theme of the moment at map gift shop with images of hedgehogs, foxes, badgers and hares adorning everything from slippers to espresso cups and saucers.

These limited edition prints are  available individually framed for £48.

*  for those (like me) who hadn't heard the word giclee here's the wikipedia definition - 

The word giclée was appropriated by Jack Duganne, a printmaker working at Nash Editions. He wanted a name for the new type of prints they were producing on the IRIS printer, a large-format, high-resolution industrial prepress proofing inkjet printer they had adapted for fine-art printing. He was specifically looking for a word that would not have the negative connotations of "inkjet" or "computer generated". It is based on the French word gicleur, which means "nozzle" (the verb form gicler means "to squirt, spurt, or spray"). One unintended consequence of Duganne's choice of name was its problematic use in the French language since it is also modern French slang for male ejaculation.

Pretty in Print

An explosion of florals has burst onto our highstreets this spring - I for one am very happy with this floral trend - and as ever, we are quick to react and fill the shop with some blooming marvellous designs and products.  We are often described as "an Alladins cave" but right now map gift shop looks more like the Garden of Eden.