laNeva Artisan Tile

We’ve been working up a storm lately! Testing new products, developing new Rift color combinations, collaborating with several artists and working to set up new dealers.  Whew!

So, without further ado, we announce:

laNeva is now offering 6″x6″ tile in Solid and Rift Colors!

Showcasing our newest display board with this new 6×6 size tile is Filmore Clark in West Hollywood, CA.  These new, larger handmade tiles are a  perfect compliment to our 3×6 subway tile (or for anyone sick of small-scale tile) these beauties are a fabulous way to make a statement – BIG!!

laNeva’s newest “IT”colors!

You’ve probably seen the post already, but wanted to remind you.

laNeva asked for your help to select  3 out of a possible 6 glaze color options for our limited edition “IT” colors.  We had a fun poll with a ton of “voter turnout” and announced our three limited edition colors colors  a few weeks ago.

#11 Laguna, #19 Smoke and #10 Tangerine are already getting rave reviews and we are having so much fun pairing them with our existing solid colors for some fab new handmade Rift color combos!  Stay tuned for more!

laNeva’s Super Secret Collaboration:

Yes, we’ve got something up our sleeve that will have it’s big reveal in the coming months.

Can’t say much now, except it is really different and we’re very excited to be paired with such a talented artist. This is not just a one-time deal, but an new laNeva collection to be available through laNeva Tile dealers, Spacial Adaptation Product Agency and our website.

(I feel super sneaky with a tease like that as I am one of those people who cannot wait for surprises, but there is much more information to follow in the coming weeks.  Trust me, it’s worth the wait!)

Until then: Support local shops and artisans. Add color to your life. Celebrate Spring.  Happy Wednesday!!

Thanks to all of you who voted in the poll to choose our three limited edition glaze colors for 2011. We had a great response and after some changes in rank through the first day, the winners were soon evident and stayed on top through the remainder of the voting.

Announcing the winning colors (Drumroll is so passé. How about a rockin’ foot stomp?)….

#1: With 33% of the vote and already a pre-order: Laguna!

#2: Anything but boring, gray is hot, especially with these brights: Smoke!

#3: Rounding out the top three: “She uses Tangerine(s)!!”*

These colors will be available for samples and orders on Monday, May 2nd.  We’re also planning fabulous Rift Series color combos with these new glazes used in conjunction with our existing Solid Colors.  Thanks again everyone and we look forward to another exciting product launch coming in the very near future!

How will handmade tile accent your life?

* Pop culture reference from The Flaming Lips circa 1993. Does that make us old??? 

We need your help to vote for our new, Limited Edition “IT” Colors for 2011!

Out of 5 options, please select 3 that will accent our existing solid color glazes for one calendar year. Voting will be open for one week and you’ll be able to vote just once. We’ll release the winners at 5 PM CST on Monday, April 18th and the winning colors will be officially added to our 2011 color offering on May 2nd, 2011.

All winning colors will be available as solid or Rift tiles and can be used by themselves or as a part of our Lineal or Slice Collection mesh-mounted borders or SPAN field tile patterns.

What are you waiting for? Vote for 3!

A choice we made upon starting laNeva Tile: All of our glazes must be lead-free and rated as AP-non-toxic. All of them. No exceptions.

Okay, here’s the dilemma: While the industry is reformulating many glazes to be lead-free, there are still a lot of glazes out there with lead and cadmium in them or they are still considered a “toxic” glaze (or rather, not “non-toxic) because they contain other elements with a known health risk.

There is yet another problem when the glazes meet the non-toxic requirements when used as a brushed-on glaze, but not when sprayed.  Inhalation risks are great with sprayed glazes and any dry glazes. Lead-free or not. (Spraying is not an issue for us because we brush all of our glazes. Glaze overspray isn’t good for people or the environment, period.)

An even further problem is that some of the coolest, richest, most dramatic glaze colors are made from heavy metals, including lead and cadmium, the exact elements that make these tiles not fit with our business model.

We have an awesome (and I don’t use that word lightly) launch coming up and we’re working on glaze formulations and selections like madwomen* here. The challenge is to find glaze formulas that create gorgeous laNeva-worthy colors that all fit in with our lead free and non-toxic glaze model. So, stick around for a truly fabulous, richest, bestest new glaze color launch you ever did see – all lead free and non-toxic – early next week.

*Yes, for those of you wondering, we are all women at laNeva Tile

Last week we announced our newest collection of field tile patterns called SPAN (to go along with our Lineal & Slice Collections of Borders) and showed you SPAN patterns using laNeva’s rectangular tiles.  Some fun layouts were included with our favorite being the 3 pattern options using our 1×6 liner. Fab-u-lous!

As promised, we are following up with the squares. It’s hip to be square (had to throw that in there!) and we see a huge resurgence in the market for square tiles. So without further delay, we bring to you:

SPAN Collection – Squares

All pattern drawings show one square foot of each layout. For those of you super-savy readers (of which you ALL are!) note that the patterns on the left and right of each tile size are the same with the left shown as a horizontal running bond and the right, vertical.

And a laNeva insider- update for people who read to the end of each post:

Within the coming week, you’ll see a few changes to the laNeva site, with our new collections (including this one) added to the “Our Tiles” tab.  Have questions? Check out the FAQ’s or contact us for more details.  We love to hear from laNeva Tile fans!

XOXOXO,

Want to know more about laNeva’s daily goings-on? Follow us on Twitter or “Like” us on Facebook!

laNeva is proud to announce our newest dealership in Southern California, Filmore Clark.

Located in West Hollywood, just off of Melrose Avenue and blocks away from the Pacific Design Center, Filmore Clark features only handmade tile made in the USA. We admire the work that Filmore Clark’s founder, Lee Nicholson is doing to promote the value of products that are made by hand in America.

You can see more of Filmore Clark’s selection of gorgeous handmade products on their site or if you’re in the area, stop by and say hello. We are thrilled to be in such good company!

While announcing our Lineal and Slice Collections last month, there was a request for a similar grouping of mesh mounted field tile layouts.  While there are a ton of different options, we have chosen some standard and not-so-standard layout patterns to feature.

Announcing laNeva Tile’s field tile pattern collection: SPAN

The SPAN pattern collection includes groupings of rectangular and square tiles.  Today’s release includes all of laNeva’s rectangular mesh mounted field tile layouts. You choose 1×2, 2×4,  3×6 tile and even our 1×6 liners!

SPAN patterns using our square tiles will be announced next week.

Each Span Collection layout is mesh mounted for ease of installation and sold per square foot. With the addition of SPAN  to the Lineal and Slice border collections, we offer a mix-and-match (or create your own, if you wish) system for complete material selections!

This week, laNeva Artisan Tile has been featured on two fantastic blogs.

Today, laNeva Tile was the featured product on Twin Cities Design Collective blog, a new resource for Minneapolis/St. Paul arts, design and construction related news and features.

Follow Twin Cities Design Collective on Facebook and Twitter

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This past Monday brought a post from PURE Inspired Design which featured laNeva Rift Tile in #68 Twilight /#95 Lichen as their muse for a gorgeous conceptual rug design.

PURE Inspired Design is a company run by an Interior Designer (like us) that found a need for better environmentally friendly materials in the marketplace.  They provide eco-conscious custom furniture, rugs, fabric and interior design services.

Follow PURE Inspired Design on Facebook and Twitter

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Thanks to both Twin Cities Design Collective and PURE Inspired Design! laNeva Artisan Tile is proud to be a part of the MN design community!

Since we’ve been on the subject of herringbone patterns lately with our release of Herringbone Classico and a week later, our inspired Herringbone Zig Zag, we have just one more for you:

Herringbone Classico goes retro with a 3-color random mix of #77 Café, #73 Butter and #92 Mist Crackle. The herringbone layout is paired here with a 1/2″ x 6″ border of #75 Curry and a 3″x3″ field tile in #73 Butter, placed in a vertical running bond pattern.

We were inspired to show this fun interpretation of Herringbone Classico today thanks to Spacial Adaptation posting a wonderfully kitchy retro photo from Grassrootsmodern.com:

If you want to kick up the contrast of this pattern a little, consider replacing the subtle Mist Crackle with the darker (and matte) #95 Lichen.

See this pattern and several other of our conceptual layouts on our Design Ideas page, all featuring our spectacular handmade, made to order ceramic wall tile.

You never know when inspiration will strike. Today, while checking our Twitter account, I saw an intriguing tweet from HAUS Interior:

I clicked the link and found an extraordinary Zig Zag throw, in graphic Navy and White.

We loved it instantly- for its simple yet timeless pattern, its bold lines and striking contrast of color.

Just as instantly, my mind flashed to our Lineal Collection border pattern, Herringbone Classico.  Here we have a simple herringbone pattern, which is really just a zig zag layout… and our border could easily be specified as an alternating zig zag instead of how we’ve shown it previously, as two colors of tile randomly placed.

Since we produce each tile and assemble each order by hand, we can make it the way you like. If you prefer dynamic movement in your patterns, this is perfect in both classic colors or as a blast of brights for a mod interior. Any of our handmade Solid Colors can be combined to create a unique border design. Do you want delicate or wide stripes? Yes, you can choose that, too.

Here are four zig zag options that are available using our Herringbone Classico pattern.  Choose 2, 3 or 4 colors for this stunning new pattern option – Herringbone Zig Zag.

laNeva Herringbone Zig Zag

For a retro look,  we recommend solid colors #95 Lichen, #73 Butter and #24 Steel.

For a more classic zig zag, try #68 Twilight, #31 Snow and #71 Dune.

Check out our other newly released Lineal Collection patterns on our blog: Woven Rift, Rift Valley, Bamboo Forest, Composition Six and Marching Orders.  How will you customize the patterns to make your own unique design?