Thursday, December 20, 2012

Holiday Cards and Paper Goods




Holiday cards are a sweet and inexpensive way to let your family know that you are thinking about them every holiday season.  Leaving a special message dedicated to them is always priceless. It may be too late to make the whole family unique handmade cards, but it is not too late to pick up printed holiday gems from Oil and Cotton!

Oil and Cotton is proud to welcome the fun and quirky holiday cards made by 
Squeeze My Hand Letterpress & Custom Design. These wonderfully printed cards are our new favorite gifts around. They are so perfect for saying "Merry Christmas!" to all your loved ones and have a humorous yet classic sensibility. So come and visit us and find the perfect collection of holiday cards for your special people.


Oil and Cotton also carries holiday gift tags made by Lilco Letterpress. Lilly is a design, printmaker, and all around creator. Her projects are created by hand carving linoleum blocks and are hand powered from start to finish.  


Her gift tags would make a great accompaniment to a Lilco Letterpress's prickly pear or agave linocut poster!


Monday, December 17, 2012

Wood Shop


The Wigwam pop up shop was a great hit  last week. The shop was filled with wonderful handmade and vintage curiosities for the community to enjoy.   We want to thank Malina Pearson and Ariel Saldivar for adding a little magic to our Oil and Cotton space.



 But don't forget that the Oil and Cotton's Holiday Mercantile is still going on!!! We reorganized the shop and it looks sharper then ever. So come on down to check out all of our special gifts and creative kits.   
  
While you are here, you will want to take a look at Oil and Cotton's  large array of wooden toys and novelty items from brands such as, Imagination kids and Caden Rose. Wooden toys inspire creativity, imagination, and are eco-friendly. These stacking rainbow puzzles are beautiful sculptures as well as fun toys. This rainbow is made from sustainable harvested wood, AP certified non-toxic paint, and rubbed down with a homemade natural wood polish made from beeswax, jojoba oil, and essential oils. These toys are perfect and safe for little hands! 


This beautiful handmade cherry wooden rattle combines natural textures and sounds. Babies love the smooth feel of this rattle and it is just the right size for their little hands. Wood is naturally anti bacterial so this item is  perfect for safe teething. 


Sunday, December 16, 2012

Color in Depth with Rebecca Carter

In anticipation of this Spring's Color-in-Depth course starting Wednesday, January 23rd, this series of blog posts shares some of the exercises and student work from the class. Registration is now open.

In Class Color Sorting Project
Starting with this:

 We work together to create this:
Color in Depth
Wednesdays, January 23-May 1, 6:30-8:30pm
14 Week Series, No class Wednesday, March 13.
Instructor: Rebecca Carter


Using David Hornung's Color: A Workshop Approach as a text, this course focuses on the subtleties of working with color. In addition to various in-class exercises, students will complete a series of small gouache-on-Bristol board color studies to practice mixing paint and combining color. Students receive a painting kit that enables each person to begin the course with a set of M. Graham's handmade gouache paints with 6 prismatic co-primaries (warm & cool) as well as a set of earth tone primaries. Through series of readings by artists and theorists, students are also introduced to conceptual writings on color from art history and contemporary art. Beginners are welcome. The studio environment is casual yet intentional. For information on the scholarship position, contact Rebecca at rebecca@rebeccacarter.org
Supply kit is $150 and includes all the paints, the bristol board, and a few other useful tools.
Kits will be available the third week of course so that we can determine how many before we order.
Course fee is $450 + $150 for materials.

www.rebeccacarter.org

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Take-Home Fun at Oil and Cotton


Today was a busy day at Oil and Cotton, with activities and workshops running from morning until evening. First, we joined Esther Kao for a leather workshop, taking home handmade key chains and wallets for our friends, family members, and key/wallet-deprived acquaintances. 

Next, Lisa Huffaker stopped by to teach a paper snowflake making class. We used the snowflakes we made in Lisa's class to make everything from beautiful holiday cards to templates for elegant cake designs. 


After stuffing our faces with a piece of our chocolate-filled collaboration (shown above), we joined Jessica Trevizo for a screen-printing demonstration. 


In reward for participating in this test of upper-body strength (in which Sarah Westrup excelled and intern Paige Walton demonstrated need for improvement), we got to take home bags, tees and shirts featuring Jessica's original designs.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

WIGWAM Pop-Up Shop is Back at Oil and Cotton on Thursday,December 6th!



You're invited to
join the Grand Opening reception for the WIGWAM'S four day pop-up shop.  Guests are encouraged to shop, enjoy music, sips, and bites. 

Grand Opening: Thursday, December 6th , 7:30pm -10:00pm
 Closing Reception: Saturday, December 9th TBA   

The WIGWAM pop-up shop brings together many Texas artists under one roof to offer a unique and wondrous shopping experience. Beautiful handmade goods such as leather crafts, sculpture, vintage trinkets, mixed media art, jewelry, printed matter and more will be available for sale at Oil and Cotton from
 December 6th to December 9th .

Monday, December 3, 2012

Oil and Cotton's Holiday Mercantile


Oil and Cotton's annual Holiday Mercantile Sale will be going on now until December 22Our shop is all stocked up with creative kits, artists provisions, and unique gifts for everyone.

To celebrate the winter season we will also be holding free workshops and demos throughout the week.Donations for the free workshops and demos are welcomed. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to a charity of the instructor's choice.

FIVE DOLLAR DROP-IN DEMOS WITH OIL AND COTTON




Thursday, December 6th

7:30pm-8:30pm Mylan Nguyen Gift Tag Demo

7:30pm- 8:30pm Paper Star Demo with Shannon Driscoll

Friday, December 7th
4:30pm – 5:30pm After School weaving Demo with June Covington
Saturday, December 8th
11am- 1pm Leather Hand-Stichery with Esther Kao Demo
3:30-5:30 Calligraphy Demo with Andrea Estrada
4pm-6pm Screenprinted Totebag with Jessica Trevizo Demo



Oil and Cotton Creative Kits make special gifts for "do it your sELFers" and budding artists. Kits come with helpful instructions and are made with love and care right here at Oil and Cotton.
Learn to make a cute leather bag, a stylish stocking, or even your very own zine.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Holiday Calligraphy



Instructor Andrea Estrada taught a beautiful holiday calligraphy card-making workshop to Melissa this afternoon! Andrea will be returning to Oil and Cotton this January to teach an Introduction to Calligraphy class.