Blog - Cotton & Flax

Erin Dollar

Holiday Markets

Cotton & Flax at Renegade Craft Fair

I’m back from our trip to San Francisco for Renegade Craft Fair’s 4th annual Holiday Market! It was an amazing show, and I met so many wonderful people last weekend. It’s really incredible to spend entire weekends getting to talk to people about my work, it’s a welcome change from working alone in my home studio most of the time.

coasters at renegade

I’ll be honest though: I’m exhausted! We had to cut our trip to SF very short, and ended up driving back to LA right after the end of the show… I spent most of Monday resting, and packing up online orders. I needed a long nap like nobody’s business!

tea towels at renegade

Now all that’s left is to add the remaining merchandise back to my online shop, and begin planning for 2013! While I feel that I’ve made some big strides with Cotton & Flax this year, there is so much more I want to make next year, and even a few collaborations I’d like to pursue. So even though the craft fair mayhem is over, I’ll be keeping busy here at home, setting things in motion for the year to come.

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by my booths at Unique LA, Renegade LA, and Renegade SF. You make this all possible!

Snail Mail Saturday – Vintage Postcard Backs

While going through my vintage postcard collection recently, I noticed something. I was fascinated by the design of the writing side of the postcards. The fonts are so unique, and the written descriptions on the back vary so greatly, anywhere from a single line of text to a long paragraph description of the scene on the front.

Similar to my collection of security envelopes, I find myself wondering, who was responsible for designing these things? Who picked the fonts? Who wrote the copy? Are there still many people who do this particular job? I’ll have to do more research on this topic…
Don’t forget: I’ll be selling at Renegade Holiday Fair in San Francisco today and tomorrow, so stop by and say hello if you live nearby!

Print of the Week – Glenn Goldberg Monoprint

After a couple weeks of featuring artists I’ve been fans of for years, I thought I’d share a print from an artist I only became familiar with recently: Glenn Goldberg. The monoprint with with woodcut and relief details above is titled, “Wish #9,” and is part of a series of wildly detailed abstract prints. Goldberg’s work reminds me of needlepoint or richly detailed floral motifs from Indian art, and the way he seems to stitch together these pieces makes me wonder if he might have an interest in textiles like I do. I’d love to get a chance to see some of his work in person, I’d bet that the textures in his pieces are even more impressive in person.

Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco is this weekend!

Yet another weekend of craft fairs for me! This time it’s one of my favorites: the 4th Annual Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco Holiday Market on December 15 + 16! It will be hosted in the Concourse Exhibition Center (a cozy cabin of a venue, I really love it) from 11am-6pm both days. I’ll have lots of textile home goods available for sale, so if you live in the Bay Area, come by and say hello!

Here’s more from the Renegade SF website:

You’ll find 250+ of today’s very best indie crafters, exciting interactive workshops, music, food, booze + plenty more. Strolling among the carefully curated booths at the SF Holiday Market, you’ll see some of the very best in contemporary handmade crafts. Add to that a free-to-use photobooth and some excellent shopping music, and you’ve found the very best spot to get your holiday shopping done!  It’ll be a festive handmade holiday in San Francisco.

Renegade SF is always one of my favorite shows to participate in. There are so many talented artists and makers in the Bay Area, and I love having an opportunity to talk with so many like-minded people in one weekend. If you’ve never been to Renegade SF, this year looks like it’s going to be the best show yet!

Snail Mail Saturday – Special Delivery

I love this vintage stamp, which I found on sarcoptiform’s Flickr. It’s hard to describe why I am still such a strong snail mail devotee, in an age where email and Skype make communication easy and fast. This vintage stamp really evokes the special quality of receiving a letter: seeing your friend’s handwriting on the envelope, the beautifully illustrated stamps, opening the letter to read what your friend took the time to share with you. It’s similar to the slow food movement in that way, made all the more wonderful by the fact that every aspect is thoughtful. A letter shows a special dedication of time, a thoughtfulness that makes it much more meaningful than a casual email.
Have you sent any snail mail this week?

Just a reminder: I’ll be selling all my Cotton & Flax wares at Renegade Holiday Market Los Angeles this weekend, so stop by and say hello if you live nearby!