Erin Dollar

West Coast Craft in San Francisco This Weekend

June 8, 2015

I’m excited to return to San Francisco this weekend for West Coast Craft, a craft and design show featuring carefully selected artists and craftspeople living and working on the West Coast. This is my second time participating in this show, and just like the holiday event, the lineup is incredible. This show will be packed with some of my favorite designers, like Pigeon Toe Ceramics, Upper Metal Class, and Canoe.

West Coast Craft takes place at Fort Mason Center from 10 – 6 on June 13th and 14th. It’s free to attend, so bring friends and show your support for local designers!

Cotton & Flax will be at booth F36, with tons of coasters, tea towels, napkins, notebooks, and pillows – plus a special sale + seconds section. Come say hello!

Upcoming Print + Pattern Workshop at Makeshift Society in San Francisco

May 31, 2015

San Francisco: I’ll be teaching a workshop at Makeshift Society in just under two weeks! Enroll in my Print+Pattern workshop and create your own set of patterned notebooks with me on Friday, June 12th from 6-8.

In this two-hour class, you will learn how to carve simple printing blocks and transfer your designs onto paper. We will provide all the materials: linoleum blocks, carving tools, printing ink, and chipboard notebooks from Scout Books to print on. You’ll leave with your own, custom-printed set of notebooks, ready to house your sketches, grocery lists, or whatever you can dream up.

Learn a new skill, meet creative people, enjoy snacks and beverages, and leave with gorgeous custom patterned notebooks you made yourself. Don’t miss it! Sign up for the workshop on the Makeshift Society site.

Free Patterned iPhone Wallpaper – Scout Books Edition

May 27, 2015

It’s been a while since I released a new downloadable iPhone wallpaper, so today I have a treat! I’ve transformed three of the designs I created for my recent collaboration with Scout Books into iPhone wallpaper designs, which are free to download. Add a pop of pattern to your phone!

Download for iPhone 6: blue rain pattern // gold squiggle pattern // dense dash pattern

Download for iPhone 6+: blue rain pattern // gold squiggle pattern // dense dash pattern

To Download: Click the appropriate link above 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.

These wallpapers should work for many phones, not just the iPhone (although it may get cropped depending on the screen size). You can always browse our other free wallpapers from previous months, too!

New Patterned Notebooks – A Collaboration with Scout Books

May 18, 2015

They’ve been months in the making, and today I finally get to debut seven new patterned notebooks, created in collaboration with Scout Books! The collection includes six pocket-sized notebooks in light blue and gold ochre, as well as one larger sized gold ochre notebook, with different patterns printed on each. It’s a great collection of my favorite patterns from recent collections, as well as a few new designs that have never been seen before.

I had so much fun working on these notebooks, it was my first foray into paper goods in several years. The folks at Scout Books are total pros, and they even let me tour their headquarters in Portland last month. They have worked with so many of my favorite illustrators and designers on custom projects — I feel honored to be part of their roster of designs for 2015.

I’m excited to share that for each notebook purchased in May, I’ll be making a $1 donation to 826LA, to support their after-school tutoring program here in LA. I hope to raise as much money as possible to help 826LA in their mission of supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Visit their site to learn more about 826LA, and see the benefits of their after-school tutoring program for LA youth!

Creating patterned notebooks with Scout Books

May 16, 2015

If you follow Cotton & Flax on social media, you may have seen previews of a new product that debuts on Monday: patterned pocket-sized notebooks! I was so excited to partner with Scout Books to expand their collection of artist-designed notebooks, and to add these new pieces to the Cotton & Flax collection.

While I was in Portland in April, I met with the team at Scout Books as we worked to put the finishing touches on our collaboration. I had the pleasure of touring the Scout Books headquarters, and getting a look behind the scenes in their offices and workshop. You may have seen the photos I took over on Instagram, and Meg from Scout Books sent over a few extra photos for me to share.

Scout Books creates custom notebooks using 100% recycled papers in their SE Portland studio. After combing their archives, I was impressed with the wide variety of projects they’ve taken on over the years – so many awesome notebooks designs created in collaboration with some of my favorite artists!

The collection we created for this collaboration consists of seven notebooks, four gold and three light blue. The team at Scout Books worked with me to match the gold ochre and light blue inks with the fabrics I use for my collection. After looking around the Scout Books studio, I was really impressed with how efficient their setup is. It was so cool to see the presses in action, and to see how the notebooks were made.

The new notebooks will officially debut in the shop on Monday! If you’re planning to attend the National Stationery Show in New York this week, stop by booth #1340 to say hello to the Scout Books team, and see these notebooks in person. I’m a huge stationery nerd, so I wish I could be there in person – instead, I’ll just be cheering from the sidelines, and following along on Instagram.

Don’t forget to sign up for email updates, so you’ll be first to know when the new notebooks go on sale.

NYC X Design – WantedDesign Brooklyn

May 9, 2015

Cotton & Flax will be a small part of NYCxDESIGN week! Wanted Design has included our new tea towel designs in an exhibition called “Out of the Box,” which will on view May 9-19 in Brooklyn as part of New York’s Design Week.

“Out of the Box” is an exhibition of design objects from 10 LA-based designers which work together to provide a glimpse into the local design scene. The theme is “The Art of the Table,” and the collection features ceramics and beautiful wood servingware, as well as our linen tea towels.

If you live in NYC, go check out the exhibition at Industry City in Brooklyn!