What's Happening

Kicking off our new series highlighting our amazing retailers and partners, we got together with Sandra from The Woods for a quick Q&A. 

Tell us your name, the name of your store and its address?

Hi. I’m Sandra Wood and my shop is The Woods at 910 Valencia St., SF, CA 94110.

Tell us about your store?

We’re a family-owned lifestyle shop with cool apparel, accessories, and gifts for littles and grownups.

Do you have other locations?

No, just this one!

Why did you decide to open a shop like this?

I live in the neighborhood and wanted a shop like this. Someplace where I could discover cool things for myself and my family, find local makers and independent brands.

What’s the story behind the name of your store/brand?

It’s my family’s name… the Woods. :-) We live a few blocks away from the shop which is amazing, and we see our neighbors and school friends around all the time. I wanted to put our mark on the shop. I also loved that “the woods” could mean more than just reflecting our name. 

I didn’t intend for the shop to take on any woodsy theme at all. But, things just kind of happened… my nephew, Jeremy Kim, is an art school-trained illustrator who is also a talented finish carpenter which is really a magical combination. He did all the interior work, using everyday plywood for the cabinetry and flooring. The flooring is actually exterior siding that he finished beautifully. I really liked the look of pale wood against crisp white walls.

Then, I saw this artist, Chad Hasegawa, who is based in the Mission who does these incredible murals of bears. I saw his work at Incline Gallery and had to track him down to do a mural at the shop. He does a lot of street art, so his technique of using thick exterior paints and even rollers for bold strokes was paired with a soulful treatment of the eyes and nose of the bear that really drew me in.

What do you look for in the brands and products you carry?

We lean towards women-led, independent brands. Local as much possible. Innovative. Quality textiles, social awareness, environmentally conscious. Cool style. 

What are you eating, watching, reading or thinking right now that we need to know about?

Watching? Reading? Haha, so little time. This morning my daughter watched Despicable Me while I was making french toast. I wasn’t really happy about it, and probably will try to limit it from my daughter’s rotation. There’s a scene where some boy has a crush on a girl and keeps banging on her door to get her to like him and eventually comes with his mom to increase the pressure. No means no asshole! 

It’s been a two year long process to open this shop, so it’s finally such a joy to have the shop open. I’m paying attention to what people are interested in so we can continue to stock up the store and reorder popular items and styles as quickly as I can. I’m also planning our opening party, so it’s really a whirlwind right now, in between the less exciting things like setting up garbage service and wifi. 

Since I’ve been so busy and also trying to juggle being as present and engaged with my family as they (and I) need, I’m indulging in more self care. I tried a CBD-based period relief tincture recently and it was really really nice. I’ve never thought of myself as an anxious person, but I have to say that the CBD just adds a dash of mellow that feels amazing.

Throughout the shop building process I’ve been leaning heavily on Garden Creamery’s vegan ice creams. Like, I go by myself without a child with me. Like, when my husband and daughter spent a day away together, I had a double scoop for dinner by myself. I’m partial to the tea flavors, Lychee Black Tea, Earl Grey, Thai Tea, in that order. They have the world’s best mint chip, but I’ve been laying off dairy. 

Thank you!

If you are in the Bay Area, definitely stop by The Woods and see for yourself. Follow The Woods on Instagram (@shop_thewoods) and Facebook (@thewoodssf) and show them some love.

Photos by Emily Trinh Photography.

[Arianna Orland] I’ve never had a studio of my very own. Sure, I have a desk at home and a computer. Yes, I have an office where I go to my day job. And like a lot of people, I work where I am, whether I’m sitting at a coffee shop, in an airplane or firing off an e-mail as I walk down the street. But most of my personal artistic pursuits have required something bigger: an enlarger, a bandsaw, a guillotine, a Vandercook, an orca. Machines epic in name, size and scale that demand square footage and inspire me to print, trim and cut paper. Because of this need to seek out a place to work, I’ve found myself in some unusual circumstances.

As a photographer, I needed a dark room. That led me to a community space in the heart of the San Fernando Valley that served as a rec room for a senior citizen program, where I met some fascinating — and much older — friends. When I made large-scale interactive installations, I needed a wood shop. That led led me to a collaborative workspace in Brooklyn called 3rd Ward, which was under construction at the time. I found myself jockeying for a spot in the single available power outlet in the dead of summer with no ventilation. My love of letterpress led me to the San Francisco Center for the Book, because I needed a Vandercook.

I started printing letterpress posters about four years ago. Feeling depleted from being a graphic designer who spent most of her time focused on client work in the interactive space, I was looking for a way to get back to the roots of my craft, to touch paper again and move my focus away from the screen.

I’ve worked in at least 10 collaborative spaces over the years. With no place to call my own, I’ve had to seek out the company of others, make do with the banged-up equipment available, and see the possibilities in what’s at my disposal … rather than all the trappings of the perfect tools or space, we sometimes think we need to be truly creative. There’s something about going to a collaborative studio that offers a sense of community — even when working by oneself — that staring at a glowing rectangle can’t match.

Now I’m back at the Center for the Book working on a brand new edition for Paper Jam. [Like its companion products, the new edition will be available in Felt & Wire Shop.] The Center is a lovely place in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco. There are four Vandercooks, board sheers from the 1800s, a manual guillotine and all the type, reglets and furniture a girl could ask for. They have open press night a couple times a month when they rent presses by the hour. I book time whenever I can. I usually go after a full day’s work and print late into the night.

I use the same drawer of wood type, the Hamilton Gothic 10 line. That’s my font. I love the silkiness of the wood and the straightforward and simple quality of the letterforms. I also love that the drawer has no K‘s or I‘s. I had to buy those letters on eBay, and on the posters that use those letters, they don’t quite match. I’m OK with that.

A couple months ago at the Center, I was lucky enough to meet Jen Pham-Corbett from Farewell Paperie … turns out she was the print monitor on duty. Check out her work via the link — so beautiful! When I rented a desk in Brooklyn a couple years ago, the woman sitting next to me turned out to be Swiss Miss, design blogger extraordinaire! We are all so lucky to have Tina’s amazing blog to gobble up everyday. Thank you, Tina. I’m really excited to announce an upcoming poster collaboration with her. Stay tuned for details.

I guess I view the term “studio” loosely; it’s more a state of mind I achieve when I stop thinking and am totally immersed in the act of creating. My studio set up is atypical as compared with some of the other artists featured on Felt & Wire, but I think it’s fairly typical for a lot of readers. Basically, you can make work anywhere. I do. I hope you do, too. Go out and make things. Start now.

This article was written by Alyson Kuhn and originally appeared on Mohawk’s Felt and Wire blog in August of 2011.

I spy our Today was a Good Day poster on the office walls of Alison Damonte Design. We first met Alison a while back when our prints were featured in one of her amazing interior design projects, Eicher's Disco.

Check out her site to see more of her incredible projects.

Exciting news! Our wall graphic collaboration with Blik is now carried by Urban Outfitters.

We’ve been UO shoppers forever and it’s a huge thrill to see 4 of our designs carried in their online store including Everyday I'm Hustlin, Thinkin of a Master Plan, Yes Yes Y'all, and Can I Kick It // Yes You Can.

Check out these pics below. Now get to stick in’.

Thanks to Swiss Miss for featuring our tote in her Small Business Saturday roundup. We are in such good company. What an honor, Slow Factory and Nic Annette Miller are some of our favorite maker friends.