Ink+Smog Editions Gift Guide

Here are some gift ideas from local Los Angeles makers that we love!

1. Long fringe necklace  - cobalt+natural ombre by Cathy Callahan
2. Hexagon Dreams iPhone 5s case by Abstract Graph Designs
3. Mini Bauhaus kids t-shirt by Tiny Modernism
4. Maru organic baby one-piece in neon pink and orange by Belly Sesame
5. Brass triangle ring by Honey My Heart
6. Cinerama Dome print by Ink+Smog Editions
7. Brushstroke Linen tea towel by Cotton & Flax
8. Ring Mountain in Lavender and Ring Mountain in Yellow and White by Funsize Ceramics
9. Balsam Fir Sachets in Indigo Dyed Linen set of 2 by Minor Thread

where to find us this winter

It still doesn't feel much like fall here in Southern California, we've been enjoying warm dry days and only somewhat cooler evenings for the past few weeks. But that time of year is right around the corner, in fact it's here already!

Take a quick look at where we'll be popping up over the next few weeks, and if you're in Los Angeles come say hi! We'd love to see you and catch up!

Makers Market // West Elm // Saturday November 28 // 8366 Beverly Blvd. 90048

Our first event of the season is the Makers Market at West Elm on small business Saturday, coordinated by the Academy of Handmade. Come on by to see some of the new items that we'll be previewing and to support the local economy.

You can RSVP here!

Holiday Marketplace // Grand Central Market // December 5-6 // 317 S. Broadway // 9a-6p

We'll also be taking part in the second annual Holiday Marketplace at Grand Central Market in DTLA. We LOVE Grand Central, it's a favorite place to eat out and bring friends and family when they visit. We're really looking forward to spending two whole days there!

We'll also be offering a very special limited edition Grand Central Market neon sign print as well as debuting even more new paper goods. Come say hi and see what we've been working on!

Holiday Pop-Up // LA County Store // December 12-13 // 4333 W. Sunset Blvd. // 12-4p

The third and final event of the season for us this year, will be a pop-up at the lovely Los Angeles County Store in Silverlake! Come say hello and get your letterpress calendars before they disappear in 2016! We will be setting up shop on the Saturday of the two day event.

You can RSVP here!

We're spending lots of time in the studio these days, working on new items that will launch in 2016 as well as printing up some new pieces that we'll have with us this winter.

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Best,
Rosemary+Robin

what we're reading these days

On the heels of our busy October, we've been laying low as much as this busy holiday season will allow. One of the things we've been doing is catching up on our reading. Here's a little taste of what we've been perusing.

3 things that are inspiring us this week

watercolor

Both of us come from a fine art backgrounds. In fact, we met while we were both getting our Masters of Fine Arts at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan just outside of Detroit. We take turns photographing, sketching out ideas, drawing out designs, carving out linoleum and creating vector images for all of our projects.

Lately, we've been drawn to including watercolor in our letterpress designs. There's something about the tactility, the unpredictability and the variation in color. We think it works really well with the crisp, bold imprint of letterpress. Stay tuned for some new watercolor/letterpress projects in the new year!

Sketching out some watercolor ideas. We've been very inspired by our summer seasonal Heath Ceramics vase, we love the splatters of glaze!

changing seasons

The little dips of cooler weather we've been getting here in Los Angeles have our minds turning to comfy, cozy thoughts. Our fingers are crossed for the cool rainy weather promised for later this year by the El Nino weather system that should be headed our way this winter. In the meantime, we're enjoying the warm sunny days and cool nights.

A rainy day outside of our studio in DTLA.

Stanislav Pinchuk's delicate hand poked tattoos

We have both fallen in love with the tattoo work of Ukranian-born artist Stanislava Pinchuk (who goes by Miso). She has been trading hand-poked tattoos for things she wants or needs for the last few years. We love the delicate lines and intimate scale of these mini works of art.

Home-made tattoos: A map walking the New York Highline drawn from memory, as a constellation. On my beautiful studio mate @karleee. Traded for a bright white crystal that looks just like a skyscraper. (photo: Stanislav Pinchuk, @m_i_s_o on Instagram)

what we've been up to lately

Thank you to everyone who turned out to see us on Saturday at Eastside Handmade in Highland Park.  As always, it's great to see you and meet you all in person!

The view from our table at Eastside Handmade.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, we needed to take a little bit of a break from the blog after our October small business cleanse. We've also been busy getting ready for some holiday popups and getting to work on our new collection that will launch in early 2016!

L-R: our set up at Eastside Handmade with our indigo ice dyed table cloth, our 2016 indigo watercolor and letterpress California calendar.

One of the questions we've been getting a lot, both at Eastside Handmade and on social media, is how we dyed the table cloth for our new display. So we thought that we'd share a few of the pictures from our experience with ice dying. You can also take a look at the ice dying instructions from Food 52. Or check out our project idea board on Pinterest for more fun projects we're thinking about doing.

L-R: fabric covered in ice, indigo sprinkled over the ice cubes, the finished product.

Our first step was to run our fabric through a wash cycle, then we soaked everything with soda ash. After wringing our fabric out by hand, we arranged it on dollar store wire cooling racks set atop aluminum foil containers. We then covered our fabric in ice cubes, and sprinkled the indigo dye on top. It's a good idea to sprinkle lightly at first and then add a little more here and there to create areas of more intense color. As the ice melts, the dye disperses into the fabric. We let the ice and dye do their work for about 24 hours. Then we washed everything out by hand until the water ran clear and put it all through the washing machine with some soap. And that is pretty much that. It was a really fun project. And we think it matches our 2016 indigo watercolor letterpress calendar perfectly! Each calendar was embellished with a watercolor flourish before it was put back through the press. We love how they turned out. They've been super popular, but there are only a limited number of them so hurry and get yours before they run out!

L-R: 2016 calendars, Rosemary painting the watercolor flourish with help from the babe, a close up of the watercolor embellishment. 

We hope you're having a good fall, it's been on the warm side here for the past few weeks. We're very much enjoying the cool turn the weather has taken over the past few days, its just the right kind of weather for printing!

Best,
Rosemary+Robin

30 Day Small Business Cleanse: Day 30+1

Yesterday: Yay! You made it! Take a look at the list of goals you made on Day 2. Where have you succeeded and where have you come up short? What 3 steps can you undertake to maintain this momentum or what can you do to help you reach your goals if you weren’t able to within these 30 days.

It's hard to believe that we've only been working on this project for thirty days! We've learned so much over the past month, both about our business and about ourselves. We have a much better understanding of where we were, where we are, and where we're going.

Looking back over our list of goals for this cleanse, we've definitely made some headway on all of them. We're much better organized than we were, we've cleaned out a lot of the dead wood and identified other areas that we weren't aware of that need a good airing out. We have a much better understanding of where we are, and a clearer idea of where we want to be. And we are putting our new mantra into practice, asking ourselves before we start a task, are we working smarter, or just harder.

All in all, it's been a very successful exercise. We feel much more responsible about how we're running our business, we've gone back to better work habits and we're incredibly excited about the future.

Thank you so much for tagging along, we can't wait to show you what we have in store over the next few months, so stay tuned!

Best,
Rosemary+Robin