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April recap

May 1, 2016

Block printing supplies

April was a big teaching month for me! I taught two workshops, one private workshop at an awesome creative company downtown, another at Makers Mess. Sharing my love of printmaking with others is such a privilege, and I can’t wait til my next workshop (TBD, likely sometime in July here in Los Angeles).

Printed tote bags Cotton & Flax notebook - Perfect for your favorite boss

Another April highlight was chatting with Sarah Cooley for her podcast, From Maker to Manufacturing. We covered a lot of ground in our chat, and it was great to talk about the sometimes maddening process of growing Cotton & Flax from a smaller e-commerce brand to having my work carried in shops all over the United States.

Spring floral doodle in a Cotton & Flax notebook

This month, I have a lot of travel plans — visiting New York to check out a few trade shows, and then headed back to Portland to spend some time with friends and family. I’ll be ramping up studio production quite a bit, as well, to get new products ready for West Coast Craft, which takes place June 11th and 12th in San Francisco. Can’t wait for all the fun projects I have in store for summer!

Upcoming workshop at Maker’s Mess!

April 12, 2016

Curious about block printing? Join me on April 30th for a fun block printing workshop in LA! I’ll be leading a fabric tote bag printing workshop, where you can meet and mingle with LA creatives, all while learning a new skill.

We provide all the materials and tools you’ll need, just bring your creativity.

March Happenings at Cotton & Flax

April 3, 2016

March was a crazy month at Cotton & Flax HQ – exhausting, but a lot of fun, too. The business turned 4 years old – and I turned 30!! This month was full of great milestones.

Some great conversations happened in March. I was a guest on two new podcasts: the “Why do we have things?” podcast, and The Crafter’s Box podcast. I love having the opportunity to talk about the work I’m doing at Cotton & Flax – sharing my ambitions as a business owner, the challenges of running a business as a solo-entrepreneur, and getting into more detail about my creative vision for the company. If you listened to either episode, give me a shout on Twitter or Instagram – I’d love to hear what you thought!

I also taught three different workshops in March, which is definitely a new record for me. I taught a block printing workshop for The Crafter’s Box, which is now completely sold out. I also taught an online intro to screen printing class with CreativeLive, which is the perfect place to start if you’ve ever wondered how I print everything you see in the Cotton & Flax shop. That’s me above, posing for a photo before the class began.

The third class I taught in March was a business class for creative business owners, called Connect with your Customers on Social Media. It’s a great workshop for any small business owner who is looking to make deeper connections with their customers, and provide real value with each post. I’ll be talking more about the classes I taught on CreativeLive in a future post, so stay tuned.

Another fun opportunity that came my way last month was an Instagram takeover of the Etsy Success channel! I took over their feed for a day, and shared some snaps from behind the scenes here at Cotton & Flax. It was great to meet so many Etsy sellers (and shoppers!) during the takeover.

There are lots of fun things planned for April, so stay tuned for some new products, plus a Spring sale! Don’t forget to follow along on Instagram to get more frequent updates about what’s happening at Cotton & Flax HQ.

Creative Hobbies + New DIY Projects

March 11, 2016

It’s been a creative whirlwind in the studio lately! After four years of designing and producing textiles for Cotton & Flax, I’ve been branching out in 2016 by taking on projects that are stretching my creative muscles. While I’m still creating lots of new work for Cotton & Flax, this year I wanted to spend time learning some new skills. I love taking up a new creative hobby — it brings fresh ideas to all my creative work!

One way I’ve been trying out new techniques is through a new creative subscription box called The Crafter’s Box. I was introduced to this company last year, and I’ve tried three of their craft projects: Rya Weaving with Maryanne Moodie, marbled clay pots taught by Emily Reinhardt, and this giant arm knitted blanket taught by Elise Blaha.

The quality of the materials in every Crafter’s Box has been amazing. Supplies and materials are sent along with instructions for each project, and they source materials from some of the best manufacturers around. The wool roving and yarn was particularly gorgeous, and I’ve been saving up the leftovers from my projects to use for something special.

I’m excited to share that I am partnering with The Crafter’s Box this month to teach block printing! When you sign up for a subscription to The Crafter’s Box, you’ll receive all the materials and supplies you’ll need to create a gorgeous block-printed linen table runner. You’ll gain access to an exclusive video tutorial showing you how to carve a linoleum block, and print a repeat pattern of your own design.

Sign up to receive this block printing kit today, it will only be available to purchase for a week or so! This box is an incredible value, so if you’ve been dying to take one of my classes in LA, now’s your chance to have me beamed into your home studio.

DIY Personalized Sketchbook

March 30, 2015

Create your own patterned notebooks!

I often experiment with hand-carved stamps to try out new patterns that I’m thinking of adding to the Cotton & Flax collection. It’s a quick and easy process that lets me see results right away, rather than taking time to burn a new silkscreen. I decided to try out a new technique: printing my original patterns on blank notebooks!

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Patterned Tote Bag Workshop in Los Angeles

March 23, 2015

For all you LA folks who want to learn about printing patterns on fabric, I’ll be teaching another workshop at Common Thread Studio on April 17th! This class will be focused on creating your own patterned tote bag using hand carved linoleum blocks, and you’ll learn the basics of block printing on fabric in a fun, casual environment.

Sign up on the Common Thread Studio site to reserve a spot in the workshop! If you want to sign up with a friend, use the code BUDDY10 to save 10%!