Cotton & Flax is the Featured Shop on Etsy!

April 21, 2014 2 Comments

The Cotton & Flax shop has been open on Etsy for a couple of years, and in that short time I’ve learned so much! Etsy has been an amazing resource and tool to grow my business, and so I am all the more excited to share that Cotton & Flax is the featured shop on Etsy this week! You’ll see my smiling face on their homepage through Friday, and you can read the article about my shop over on the Etsy blog.

I’ve been delighted to see how much press Cotton & Flax has been getting since the Spring launch, this new feature included! Here are a few more posts you might have missed:

Learn why I’m committed to USA manufacturing in my interview with The American Edit.
See my work on SF Girl By Bay, one of my all-time favorite home decor blogs.
Two fun magazine features – one from Anthology Mag, and one from Frankie, the magazine all the cool girls in Australia seem to be reading.

Free Patterned iPhone Wallpaper – Zig Zags

April 16, 2014 Leave a Comment

It took me a bit longer than I’d hoped, but I finally found some time to create a new iPhone wallpaper! This one uses the new Zig Zag pattern that debuted this spring, and is prominently featured on two oblong pillows in the shop.

Click here to download the Zig Zag iPhone wallpaper.

To Download: Click the link and it will take you directly to the image. If you are on your phone, you can simply save the image to your phone, and set it as your wallpaper in the settings area of your phone. If you’re on a computer, save the image to your computer, then email the photo to yourself. Open the email on your phone, save the photo to your phone, and set the photo as the wallpaper!

You might be asking, “Why is iOS7 stretching my wallpapers?!” Unfortunately, recent iOS updates changed the way your phone plugs in wallpapers, and each images is auto-zoomed to fit with the new 3D motion aspects of iOS7… luckily, there’s an easy fix! Before uploading your new wallpaper, simply follow these four steps:

Launch the Settings app from the Home screen of your iPhone.
Tap on General.
Tap on Accessibility.
Choose the option for Reduce Motion and turn the option to On.

Then just upload the photo and set to wallpaper as normal. This change will keep your iPhone from automatically resizing the photo!

Just a note, this wallpaper should work for many phones, not just the iPhone (although it may get cropped depending on the screen size). You can always download the many other free wallpapers from previous months, too!

Have a relaxing weekend!

March 28, 2014 Leave a Comment

Thanks so much for all your kind words about the Spring collection! I’ve really enjoyed hearing your feedback over social media this week, thank you for all your support!

Do you have a relaxing weekend planned? I’ll be working on some Spring cleaning projects around the house, aided by Apartment Therapy’s complete guide to green cleaning your home. I hope to have my home looking as bright and airy as the photo from my Spring collection above, which might take a few weekends worth of work… sigh.

See you next week! I’ll be celebrating the two year anniversary of founding Cotton & Flax, and I’ll have some fun freebies available as a thank you for your support!

Introducing: Spring 2014 from Cotton & Flax

March 27, 2014 1 Comment

The Spring collection has officially launched! So excited to finally share the new additions to the shop. I’ve added several new pillow designs, including a new size of oblong rectangular pillows. With this collection, I wanted to create some fun new patterns that would blend effortlessly into your beautiful home. The three new pillow designs are available in multiple colorways, which means seven new pillows in the shop! Check out all the new pillows here in the shop.

Every time I do a craft fair or a pop-up shop, I always get asked about cloth napkins. It took a while to get the prototypes just how I wanted them, but the cocktail napkins are finally available in the shop! These little napkins are perfect for casual get-togethers and dinner parties, or even just for afternoon snack.

You’ll still find your favorite coasters, trivets, and tea towels in the shop, too! No changes to those products, but I’ll be adding some new designs and colors in the summertime. I’m a big believer in slow design, which is why I only debut new products a few times a year. Lots of designing, prototyping, sewing, and testing goes into each product before I add it to the shop, which is why I treat every product launch with such excitement – it’s a long time coming!

I was so delighted to work with the talented Laure Joliet on this lookbook – I think she did an amazing job capturing the new pieces! The shoot was so much fun, I love collaborating with friends on projects like these.

Have you visited the shop to see all the new designs? Do you have a favorite design from the new collection? Let me know what you think in the comments!

The Spring Collection debuts tomorrow!

March 24, 2014 Leave a Comment

I’m so excited to debut the Spring lookbook tomorrow! I’ll be adding lots of new products to the shop, including seven new pillow designs. Tune in tomorrow to see the full collection, which was photographed by the talented Laure Joliet!

Recent press

March 20, 2014 Leave a Comment

Loved to see these two fun pieces of press this week: a kind mention of my work in Zooey Magazine, and an interview with me on the CB2 blog (where I talk about my favorite room in my home, as well as a low budget decorating tip!)

Recently at Cotton & Flax HQ

March 18, 2014 Leave a Comment

Things have been bustling at Cotton & Flax the past few weeks! So many wholesale orders have been going out the door, I had to have my letterpress tags and business cards reprinted. Laura, who designed and printed my cards and tags, shared this photo of the printing process.

The Spring collection debuts next week, can’t wait to show you the new designs!

Retiring the DNA Pattern

March 11, 2014 Leave a Comment

I’m preparing to add lots of new products to the Cotton & Flax shop this spring, which means it’s time to retire an old favorite pattern: the DNA print. This pattern was inspired by dozens of conversations about genetics with my boyfriend, who studies molecular biology at USC. It’s my abstract take on a form that scientists will be very familiar with.

There are just two DNA pillows left, so snatch them up if you’re captivated by the impossibly small things that influence our lives.

Cotton & Flax for CB2

February 27, 2014 Leave a Comment

Remember how things got a bit quiet here on the blog in January? I was working on an exciting wholesale order: a selection of two of my favorite tea towels made for CB2! Check out the navy plus and the linen plus tea towels on the CB2 website (they should be in stores in March!)

Have you shopped at CB2 before? I think of it as the quirky younger sister of Crate and Barrel. I am thrilled to be part of a collection of handmade goods being sold at all CB2 stores this season, which was curated by the folks at Renegade Craft Fair!

Both tea towels are printed with my popular “plus” pattern, and lest you forget, these were all screenprinted by hand. Each tea towel was sewn in my studio, and printed by yours truly.

I have to admit, I’m excited to see Cotton & Flax products on the glossy page of a CB2 catalog. If you live nearby one of their stores, stop by CB2 and check out the collection, and tell me what you think! I hope you love the handmade collection as much as I do, because if it sells out, I think it sends a signal to larger retailers that working with small domestic manufacturers and indie brands is a worthwhile venture!

6 tips for writing a letter

February 25, 2014 2 Comments

Do you still send snail mail? I’m a pretty avid letter writer, and when I find some free time, I love to spend a while writing cards and short letters to friends and family. As things have gotten busy with Cotton & Flax, I haven’t been writing as many letters, but I’m renewing my snail mail efforts year. I’ve found a few ways to make it easy to brighten a friend’s mailbox.

Keep it short and sweet
I love writing postcards! So much so that I designed postcards for Cotton & Flax! They have limited space, so there is less pressure to write something brilliant. You can keep it very simple and just say, “Hello, wish you were here!” or share a favorite joke. Sometimes I’ll even draw a picture instead of writing a message!

It’s OK to get nostalgic
Snail mail is a naturally nostalgic way to communicate. Don’t fight the format – reminisce about a fun memory, or experience you shared. The super-personalized letters I receive are the ones I treasure most.

Keep stamps on hand
I keep two sheets of stamps in my desk at all times: a sheet of postcard stamps, and a sheet of forever stamps. USPS has some really great designs out this year, and you can order stamps online if you want to avoid the post office altogether. I love these new fern stamps!

Remember the everyday
It’s sweet to receive a card on a birthday, anniversary, or around the holidays, but a simple letter on a random Wednesday is unexpected and could brighten someone’s whole week.

Make it beautiful
Set your letter apart from the typical bills and junk mail. Using beautiful stationery makes all the difference. Check out my tutorials for hand stamped envelope liners as a simple way to personalize a letter.

Return the love
It’s the number one rule of snail mail: you have to send mail to receive mail, so if someone sends you a letter, don’t forget to write back!

Need more inspiration? My favorite resource for snail mail inspiration is Letters of Note, a blog dedicated to posting fascinating letters from notable people. If you’re looking for beautiful postcards to send to a friend, check out the collection of postcards in the Cotton & Flax shop!

Cotton and Flax