Erin Dollar

Renegade Holiday Market in LA starts tomorrow!

December 7, 2012

Have you been to Renegade Craft Fair before? It happens in lots of different cities (Chicago, Brooklyn, even London!) This weekend, Renegade Craft Fair is hosting a holiday sale in Los Angeles State Historic Park, and I’ll be selling lots of Cotton & Flax goodies all weekend long. When I get a free moment, though, I’ll be doing my own holiday shopping, and I wanted to share a few of the booths I’ll be visiting.

The illustration above is from Small Adventure, who I share a booth with at Renegade LA. I love her illustrations, and she’s always coming up with wonderful new cards and prints. The postcards are from Paper Pastries, another LA favorite of mine. Paper Pastries is a must shop for anyone who loves snail mail and stationery. The print is from Margins Imprint, and is a hand pulled silkscreen lunar calendar for 2013. I gave these as gifts last year, and they were a huge hit.

I’ll be visiting the SQIRL Jams booth as well, to pick up a few gifts for me, myself, and I. Their strawberry rose jam is out of this world.

Print of the Week – Wayne Thiebaud’s sweet prints

December 7, 2012

While my favorite Wayne Thiebaud works remain his crazy cityscapes, with their bizarre angles and warped perspectives, I am growing ever-fonder of his series of works involving desserts. When I spotted these prints, which he created in 2006 at Crown Point Press, I knew I had to share them here for Print of the Week.

The first image is titled, “Cupcakes and Donuts,” the second, “Dark Cakes and Pies.”

Note to all my Los Angeles local readers: Don’t forget to swing by Renegade Holiday Market this weekend to see Cotton & Flax in person. Also, if this post made you hungry for sweet treats, stop by Matchbox Kitchen‘s table at another great holiday market, Work/Shop, which is also happening on Saturday. Her baked goods are my favorite!

New coasters, and an Autumn cocktail recipe.

December 6, 2012

Do you want to know Cotton & Flax’s top selling item this season, hands down? My new 100% wool felt coasters, hand silkscreened with my original patterns. If you follow me on Instagram, I posted a few snippets of the felt when I was whittling down the color choices, and when it finally arrived at my door. The wool felt is a luxurious material to work with. It’s beautifully thick, and the colors are a great match to the fabrics I’m using for the rest of the Cotton & Flax collection.

I did a few different photo shoots for these coasters, one of which was styled with a delicious seasonal cocktail I found on Pinterest (via The Tampopo Post) not too long ago. It’s 2 parts fresh apple cider, two parts ginger beer, and one part Kentucky bourbon…yum. I love this cocktail because it’s perfect for LA winters… when it stays above 60˚ most days, it’s hard to justify making a Hot Toddy. The new coasters will keep your wooden tables safe as you enjoy hot and cold beverages all winter long.

Shop for Cotton & Flax coasters here.

Gift Guide for the Beer Enthusiast

December 5, 2012

I know I published a strikingly similar gift guide a couple weeks ago, but I recently visited Portland, Oregon (my hometown), and decided to do a Pacific NW version of the perfect gift for anyone who loves a good brew.

1. Rogue Chipotle Ale
2. Cast Iron Bottle Opener from Schoolhouse Electric
3. Wool Felt Coasters from Cotton & Flax

This is the fifth gift guide I’ve posted so far this holiday season! See all my gift guides here!

Grown Up Gift Guide

December 4, 2012

Can I share a secret? My apartment still doesn’t make me feel like a grown-up. I’m stuck in the post-college phase of home decorating – including a half broken IKEA couch and an assortment of dishes from four different thrift stores. I know I am not the only one out there coveting a more “grown up” home, so I thought I’d put together a gift guide for anyone looking to make their home look a little more put-together.

1. Cushy hand-knit throw blanket (DIY!) from Purl Bee
2. Custom Terrarium from Chaparral Studio
3. Wooden spoons from Schoolhouse Electric
4. Throw pillow from Cotton & Flax
5. Chemex coffee maker from Schoolhouse Electric

Free Patterned iPhone Wallpaper – Divided Diamonds

December 3, 2012

You didn’t think I forgot to post the December iPhone wallpaper, did you!? No way! For any new readers: as a thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with the Cotton & Flax blog this year, every month I offer a little thank you gift for your support – a free downloadable iPhone wallpaper background designed by yours truly!

Click here to download the Cotton & Flax Divided Diamond iPhone wallpaper.

This month, the wallpaper background features a diamond pattern that came from last year’s collection of textiles. While I’m no longer printing this pattern onto fabric, I thought it would be fun to bring it back for one last hurrah!

This wallpaper should work for most cellphones, not just the iPhone (although it may get cropped depending on the screen size). In the future, I may even create wallpapers for your computer desktop or iPad, too! For now, I hope you enjoy this little extra. There are lots of other free patterned iPhone wallpapers to download, as well!

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!