Blog - Cotton & Flax

Erin Dollar

Renegade Craft Fair Los Angeles is this weekend!

Cotton & Flax at Unique LA

(Pictured above: an only slightly sleep-deprived textile designer [aka, me!] at the helm of the Cotton & Flax booth at Unique LA over the weekend. Photo by Danni of Oh Hello Friend)

Today I am happy to announce that Cotton & Flax will be participating in the 3rd Annual Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Market in Los Angeles on December 8 + 9, from 10am-5pm each day at the Los Angeles State Historic Park. I’m so excited to be selling my new line of home goods in person, I love having opportunities to meet my customers and talk shop with other vendors.

If you live in LA, you should definitely stop by! I love doing my holiday shopping at Renegade, there are always lots of talented artists selling their wares. I’ve been participating in Renegade LA since it’s beginnings, and I think it’s just getting better each year. As of right now, the weather looks like it’s going to be great (70’s and sunny!), so you could even take the Metro (the fair is right near the Chinatown stop), and stroll around the park all afternoon.

Snail Mail Saturday – Gift Guide for the Snail Mail Enthusiast


Just another gift guide for your favorite snail mail enthusiast! The set of colored pens from Le Pen (#1) is definitely on my wish list. They come in the best colors, and rank among my all time favorite pens. Had to include a set of Cotton & Flax postcards, of course (#2). Finally, my favorite sheet of USPS stamps from 2012, the Earthscapes series.

Don’t forget: Cotton & Flax will be a vendor all weekend at Unique LA! If you live in Los Angeles, I hope you’ll stop by, and get your holiday shopping started with this celebration of local makers.

Free Patterned Printable Gift Tags

Regular readers know I love to give away freebies when I can (you’ve seen my series of iPhone wallpapers, right?), and for the upcoming holiday season I’m happy to offer my readers these free printable patterned gift tags. I’ve selected six of my favorite patterns from the Cotton & Flax 2012 collection to feature for these tags, I hope that one of your favorites is included, too.

These tags can be printed on a variety of colored papers, although I am partial to brights and natural kraft paper. If you’re feeling extra crafty, you could even use them with some handmade stamped wrapping paper (remember my DIY gift wrap tutorial from earlier this year?)

Click here to download the .pdf file of the gift tags that you can print at home. Downloading should begin as soon as you click the link. I just ask that you please use these tags for personal use only. Thanks!

After printing on the paper or cardstock of your choice, just cut along the edges, use a hole-punch to create a hole near the top, and thread through some ribbon or twine and you’ve got a great set of gift tags for all your holiday gifts. Enjoy!

Print of the Week – Etchings by Kiki Smith

I know we’re deep into a week of gift wrap related posts (there’s one more later today!), but I didn’t want to skip Print of the Week – it’s one of my favorite weekly traditions here on the blog!

I’ve been a fan of Kiki Smith’s work for a long time, but I am always surprised by how prolific an artist she is. The two etchings above, from a series of handcolored etchings she made called “Touch,” are new to me. I love the fine detail in Smith’s work, it’s easy to imagine her laboring over prints such as these.

Her drawings are similarly detailed and lush, like this one titled, “Deer Things.” I love how magical and delicate her work feels, and the contrast between that softness, and her strong feminist views that are often on display in her work.

Furoshiki Gift Wrapping

I have been looking for gifts to bring to holiday parties this year, and after reading a little about furoshiki, or fabric gift wrapping, I had to try it with one of the Cotton & Flax tea towels. I think it turned out nicely (it kind of looks like a person wrapped in a cozy blanket!), and gives that gift for the host or hostess a little extra oompf.

You could also really easily wrap a cookbook in a tea towel, another great gift combination for the cook or foodie in your life. There are lots of guides to furoshiki on YouTube, definitely worth checking out!

Find Cotton & Flax tea towels here.

Creative Yarn Wrapping

Did you happen to see this great pom-pom wrapping DIY project floating around Pinterest? Shauna and Stephen from Something’s Hiding in Here had a similar idea a while back too. I was inspired to combine the festive pom pom decorations with my own hand stamped gift wrap as a different take on this fun wrapping paper that has been making the blog rounds lately.

I started by making some simple polka dot wrapping paper using just a new pencil eraser, and a standard stamp pad. You could even do something more intricate, by following my DIY hand stamped gift wrap tutorial.

Then I created a few pom-poms (you can find lots of tutorials online, Martha Stewart has a good overview here.) After wrapping string around the package a couple times like a ribbon, I tied the pom-poms to the top of the package to complete this dotty package.

This is an easy way to wrap larger gifts, and an affordable alternative to some of the fancier gift wraps out there. It’s easy to customize with your loved one’s favorite color, too!