Secret Squirrel Summer in-store now

elke kramer: designer profile

SS: Elke, what's the best part of your job?

EK: the best part of my job is being around creative people and getting really inspired and motivated by seeing what they do. I also love having days where we can be in different places and doing different things and not being stuck at the same desk.

SS: what are you working on at the moment?

EK: currently I'm working on my Autumn/Winter range, finishing that up which is a really amazing new range. It's kind of devoid of colour it's all about texture and tone and introduces all new materials like cork and cement, pumice stone and horn so it's quite an interesting one. We're also doing a Christmas best seller, bringing back all the most popular pieces of the past range.

SS: what is on high rotation musically in your studio at the moment?

EK: Well Mikey, who is our studio music magician is usually in charge of music and he plays a range of soul, blues and also some eclectic world music. But I've been obsessed with the song Calgary by Bon Iver and I like to put just that song on repeat and drive everyone in the studio nuts.

SS: what did you enjoy most about collaborating with ss?

EK: I really liked the way that the brief was so loose. I tend to get so many prints that are really, really easy to do where people spoon feed me, you know they show me exactly what they want and I just do a new, different version of it. Where as with SS the brief was so open that we came up with something that I'd never seen before and I never imagined that I would do or that we could do it together.

SS: where do you look for inspiration?

EK: I love looking outside of jewellery, so looking at homes and the colours and textures and patterns of different eras of interior design. I like different movements of art and even film and the stories, the energy and spirit that you find in films.

SS: what is your favourite piece from our Botanica collection?

EK: my favourite piece is the foxglove dress. I love it in both colours. The black is so grown up and ladylike, but obviously i love the floral print too. I love it all!

SS: how would you describe your personal style?

EK: my personal style is very maximal! I tend to overdo things and incorporate way too many details and prints. I'm trying to refine it and go for a little bit more of a grown up look. I'm trying to colour block at the moment so lots of solid colours - but thats just a new little personal challenge.

Shannon Rankin

I recently purchased a print by American artist Shannon Rankin called The Universe Within – cool name huh? It's a hand embroidered archival print of a rare vintage star map in the form of an anatomical heart, with red thread radiating from the North Star-it's beautiful!

My print arrived today and I thought I would celebrate my purchase with a post about Shannon's amazing talent. She has the the most incredible back catalogue of beautiful, intricate work- well worth a browse through if you need a break from work.

I started collecting images to post here and ended up with a huge folder full!

Here are some favourites.

I wish we could get some in for the shop. Stay tuned for more info.

See more of Shannon's work here and purchase through her etsy store here.