You all know that I love shopping locally and I love handmade goods, so when a business offers me the best of both worlds, I am SOLD! That’s why I’m so enamored of RUSTIC INK CO., a Clark-based business that sells the cutest and coolest rustic burlap prints for your home or office. Seriously, as soon as you see one of these prints, you’re going to want one.

Cristin Sedelmaier launched Rustic Ink Co. in January of 2015. Someone had posted on a local buy/sell/trade Facebook page that she was looking for a unique engagement present. In response to that request, Cristin posted a picture of a monogram print she had made on burlap as an anniversary present for her own husband. According to Cristin: “From that little post, the responses were overwhelming . . . More than 40 people requested a monogram print, and Rustic Ink Co. was born.”

Cristin has been crafting for as long as she can remember. “Starting as a child, I was always coloring, cutting, pasting and creating. I took all the obligatory art classes in High School and College, and always enjoyed them. But for me, many things that I have made started out with, ‘I think I could make that!’ To me, that is the most enjoyable part of crafting – I love the process of designing and seeing what will and won’t work. I also love technology and graphic art design. Rustic Ink Co. is a blend of graphic art and crafting, my two artistic loves.”

Cristin was born and raised in Cranford and moved to Clark when she got married. She says: “Both towns have that small-town feel that I love so much.” Several of my local friends own her print featuring the coordinates of Cranford–Cristin can do it for any town, and it makes such a wonderful family heirloom or a unique gift for that person who already has everything (we all have those people in our lives!!). 

Cristin has a large repertoire of prints with designs and phrases ranging  from monograms to children’s sayings to famous quotes. If you have an idea for a print, don’t hesitate to run it by Cristin! She says: “I especially like custom requests because I get to know the customer throughout the design process. One particular custom order stands out – I designed a poem written by my client’s grandmother who had recently passed away. My client gave the printed poem to members of her family for Christmas. I felt privileged to be chosen to document her work.”

As luck would have it, the bestselling item at Rustic Ink Co. is the very first item Cristin created, the couple’s monogram! I can’t think of a sweeter or more personal gift for any bridal shower, engagement, wedding, anniversary, or even housewarming.  Recently, Cristin’s Star Wars family print has become very popular, as well as her NJ Home print featuring the silhouette of NJ, which can be customized for any state or country.

I just placed an order for my own custom print from Rustic Ink Co., but you won’t find a photo of it in this blog–the wording is a tad too … shall we say … salty. But I will tell you that the recipient of the print is going to flip her lid when she opens it!

You can view more of Rustic Ink Co. on the etsy shop: rusticinkco.etsy.com. Follow Cristin’s facebook page for frequent updates on new designs and current promotions:  facebook.com/rusticinkco.