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!

Round-up of April Workshops at Oil and Cotton

Thanks to Scott Horn for a wonderful introduction to leather working, tooling and dying. Look for more leather workshops this summer and fall. Above, Scott shared examples of leather tooling made by his grandfather as well as his own work.

If you missed our popular Bicycle Basket Class, be sure to register for the New England Tote on May 19, 10-4pm. Master weaver Jan Schmidt will take you through the "ins and outs" of weaving your very own basket from start to finish.

This past Friday evening, Andrea Estrada taught students their "abc's" one stroke at a time. Andrea's next class, Pen and Ink Calligraphy, will delve into ink and metal pen nibs.

Paper Artist Brooke Herrin taught a class of lovely the ladies how to transform the mundane into something beautiful. Here, students are toning coffee filters with color before forming delicate paper roses.

Master seamstress, Casey Stallings unraveled the mystery of inserting an invisible zipper. Join our Fiber Arts Circle on Thursday evenings for more fiber related classes this spring and summer.

Paper Flowers and Calligraphy this Friday Evening

Join us this Friday, April 27 6:30-8:30 for an evening of flowers and flourishes. From the humblest of materials come the most beautiful bouquets. Instructor Brooke Herrin will teach you how to create life-like roses made of coffee filter paper and floral stems. The filter paper allows you to easily paint your flowers like real roses. You can use these paper beauties for so many purposes. Try them as wedding flowers (bouquet corsage, or boutonnieres), a Mother's Day present, to decorate a gift package, or to brighten your home. Click here to register today!

If flowers are not your cup of tea, perhaps fine flourishes, ink, and fancy pens are your calling. Learn the art of fine handwriting with instructor Andrea Estrada. In this workshop students will learn flourished Italic and layout for printing cards and stationary. Take-home practice materials will be provided and all materials included. ALL LEVELS WELCOME! Click here to register today!

Students that have taken Andrea's previous calligraphy classes receive $5 off of this class by entering the code: scribe. Intro to Calligraphy students may be interested in Andrea's next class, register for both and receive a $5 discount.

Happy Mother's Day!

Celebrate your MOM! Thoughtful gifts and class gift certificates are available at Oil and Cotton. Join us this week and make a gift from the heart for your mom, grandmother, sister, or loving other. Friday from 3:30-4:30 ($10) learn to make a paper flower bouquet from tissue paper and vintage book pages. This class is open to all ages. Preregistration is recommended.

Make a Paper Chandelier this Friday evening from 6-9pm ($50). Learn the traditional art of the pajaki, a paper chandelier. Use various materials such as tree branches, feathers, decorative papers, twine and shells to construct this sweet interpretation of an old fashioned craft. Register here.

Paper Stars, Fancy Snowflakes, and FELTING!

 

Learn the Danish folk art of the woven paper star this Friday! Register here online. Students will also learn how to make FANCY snowflakes to decorate gifts, trees, hearth and home. Learn about Wilson A. Bentley, the first person to capture a photograph of a snow crystal in 1855. WOW!

http://snowflakebentley.com/WBsnowflakes.htm

Join us this Saturday from 1-4 for our third FELTING class! This class will explore the elements of drawing translated through the process of felting. We will build upon the techniques learned in flat felting basics. All levels are welcome, no previous felting experience is necessary. Click here for online registration.

Papel Picado...

Yesterday was spent exploring the art of papel picado. Thanks to our nomadic helpers, Hailie and Marla. Look out for these gals in Marfa this weekend!

In preparation for our fall classes at Bows and Arrows we made a string of papel picado and big dream catchers. Leather cut-outs, feathers, painted sticks and magnolia pods were used to decorate the dream catchers. Contact Alica and Adam at Bows and Arrows to register!