Botanique Fashion Parade

One of the annual events I like to participate in is "Botanique" at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens at Mt. Coot-tha. This is quite fitting for me as my "Marguerite" print was inspired by photos I took at the gardens last summer.

The event invites local textile artists to create garments with a botanic theme to be paraded on the evening of Tuesday, 13th October at 6.30 pm in the lovely Japanese Gardens. Wine & Nibbles are provided, of course!

The garments, many one-of-a-kind, will be available for sale on the evening and over the following 5 days at the "Botanique Bazaar" held at the adjacent Richard Randall Studio. Tickets are $25 each, if paid before Oct. 5th or $30 after that date. For ticket sales, please ring Bettina on: 0405 402 340. All funds directly benefit the Botanic Gardens Trust Fund.

Other participants include the wonderful Beatrice Jackson, whose hand-woven scarves I blogged about here and local artists Candice Herne and Sophie Munns.

BTW... do you like the new look of my blog and website? I used the wonderful services of Lynda Briggs of Exquisite Expressions on high recommendation from Sandra of Pepperberry & Co. Thanks Sandra and thank you Lynda!

PS. I did lose some of my previous links in reformatting the blog so if you notice that yours is now missing, please let me know. Hope to see you at Botanique!

Kimono Reincarnate

With Brisbane's Young Designers Market on again next Sunday, I thought I would introduce you to my neighbour from the last market. Melanie Gray Austin creates the most beautiful jewellery, recycled from kimono fabrics collected during her years for of living in Japan. Her label is appropriately named "Kimono Reincarnate".

These hand-made kimono flowers make up this stunning "kanzashi"

Kimono brooches and necklace from Melanie's market stall last month.

I bought these fabric-covered pegs for myself.

This week I will be unveiling some new hand-printed products in time for next weekend's Young Designers Market. I wonder who my new neighbour will be?

The 2010 Diary

You may remember me blogging about this Diary 2010 Project in the past; it features pages designed from over 300 designers and artists worldwide. The diary is now available for purchase and is published in English, French and Spanish. You can order your copy here.

The Thea & Sami page is for January 12th so I am looking forward to seeing it. Other blogging friends with a featured page include; Curly Head Design, Emily Pickle and Faith, Hope and a Whole Lotta Love.

Not for the Chromophobe

I had a fabulous day today after the dust had settled in Brisbane. I had been out and about, showing my wares and ended up on the other side of town. My road lead me to Threads and More, a lovely craft haven in Sherwood.




I was reminded of how much I love colour!

Eye candy wherever I turned.














When I saw this gorgeous rug, I enrolled for the next crochet class on the spot. I have been wanting to learn all year but weekend and evening classes don't suit me so I am going to the beginners' class next Wednesday morning. Do you want to join me? Check the class schedule.




















Kim McAlavey and Anissa Rossington were the friendly staff members (wo)manning the shop today. Anissa has begun writing a store blog and also one of her own; Softie Nation.





















I have dreamt of the perfect chandelier and I think this could be it. This was one of the permanent fixtures at "Threads and More" but I want it.

Next week, I hope to reveal a couple of design collaborations I have been working on.

More Inspirations

Continuing from yesterday's post, here are more inspiring images from last week's screen-printing class.











How effective is this image from creator Liz Hooper? I love the hand-cut lines of the design. The original idea was more complicated so I suggested that we use a snippet of it.




















This is Liz proudly sporting her freshly painted printed tote bag.




















Can you believe the detail on this 2-colour print? I do have clever students. Designer Josh Tracey did an excellent job of registering the print like a pro. He would also like to make it clear that this is a moose, not an elk.















And I love the fluid lines of this guitar printed by Mel Kearns, reminiscent of a Matisse collage.















Here is Mel and Josh relaxing after a productive screen-printing day wearing their own exclusive designer t-shirts.

Blast Off

Our screen printing class was a blast last Saturday! The eager participants were keen to try out their ideas and wasted no time in putting their newly acquired skills to good use.

Petra Jones is expanding her Mooce Baby range to include more designs for boys. I think the spacecraft themes would delight any youngster, don't you?

I'm always impressed with what a hand-cut stencil can produce. This is a screen-printed line drawing of Petra's dog Tyson.














Here is the lovely lady herself on textile-dryer duty.

Now I have to get back to updating my website but more workshop photos will follow tomorrow so stay tuned.

Psst, do you want to screen-print? There are still places available for the next class.

Print With Us Tomorrow

Do you want to have as much fun as this lady?

I have one spot left for my screen-printing workshop tomorrow due to a late cancellation. If you are available between 10.00 am - 3.00 pm and can make it to our studio in Capalaba, please join us for a great day of creativity.

Call me on 0411 270 263 to reserve your spot.

Shopping at New Farm

If you love books (Sophie, this one's for you), homewares and lovely things in general then you have to visit this gorgeous store next time you're in Brisbane. New Farm Editions is located in one of the city's beautiful riverside suburbs and is the ideal location for upmarket gift shopping

I am delighted to say that New Farm Editions is the latest stockist of Thea & Sami homewares. The shop also offers some of the loveliest cards in town including the Little Jane St. range from sweet Alarna Zinn.

I have always loved this coin purse card. The original image was created from a collage of real sequins! I send a big kiss and thank you to Alarna for recommending this store to me.

This is the gracious store manager Karen serving another happy customer last night. Make sure to also say hello to the lovely owner Llian when visiting. Click here for more information.

Website update: I have been working behind the scenes to add the new fabrics but as the site is being revamped, this is taking longer than I expected with new links needed on all pages.

Thank you for your patience. Please contact me if you would like information on the organic fabrics.

Eco Birthday Gifts

It was my little possum's birthday on Monday. Elessa moved to Melbourne earlier this year as Brisbane was "too boring" and is now studying Nutrition at the Endeavour College of Natural Health. She loves watching shows like "The Biggest Loser".


I was sad not to celebrate with her but put together a lovely parcel of hand-made goodies for her. I bought a upcycled notebook made from an old novel that includes some of the original pages. The second one, "Legends of Greece and Rome" is for me as I love history. You can buy your own unique journal from Found n Bound.












Elessa asked for tea-towels and I know she loves butterflies so she got one of these but also one of these. I just discovered that my "Loads of Fishes" tea-towel was just featured on Apartment Therapy (why don't they ever tell you these things?)

Other goodies included a lovely set of these from Mimi First who was my neighbour at the last Boutique Markets and a pair of Thea & Sami red organic leggings.














Now for the wrapping. I used the poster from the latest issue of Frankie magazine. You can download this or other cool images as desktop wallpapers from here. The birthday card was one of my hand-made cards.


I will let you know how Elessa likes her parcel once she gets it. She isn't a regular reader of this blog so I am safe in revealing these to you. She only opens my monthly newsletters because she knows I can tell if she doesn't. Yes, a mother always knows!

Update: parcel was a success!

The Sheep's Back

I wish I could visit this lovely store in Yass, New South Wales. The Sheep's Back Wool Gallery is full of quality Australian-made products and Thea & Sami's newest stockist of hand-printed homewares.

If you're lucky enough to live close enough to visit, pop in to say hello to Kate and ask to see our range.

There is no website but the gallery's location is:

77 Comur Street, Yass NSW. Ph: 02 6226 3072.

Visit Finders Keepers for this great interview from our Brisbane stockist, Michelle at Nook.

See You Tomorrow

It looks like tomorrow will be another sunny day in Brisbane. What will you be doing? Thea & Sami will be at the Boutique Markets at Portside Wharf.

Other friends with market stalls include Shannon of My Girl with her collection of hand-appliquéd clothing for little girls.

Jaime Beattie and her lovely bags and accessories.

And the lovely Sandrine with her hand-felted hats and accessories.

I'm off to sew some lovely hand-made cards which will make their debut tomorrow. Of course, I will have my regular hand-printed homewares, fabric packs and fashions (many on sale).

Will I see you at the markets? My stall is outside the main market area, opposite the Portside boutiques. Trading hours are 8.00 am - 1.00 pm.

Big Night Out in Capalaba

As promised, here are images from our Organic Fabrics Launch evening on Tuesday, courtesy of the multi-talented Georgina Lewis. See more pictures over at Curlyhead Design.

I love this shot of our new organic cotton canvases and twills hanging on the rack! Please be patient until I list them onto the new website next week, I promise.

Lovely people, mainly interior designers and some friends who acted as professional party minglers, enjoying the evening over mini-bottles of pink champagne and hors d'oeuvres.

Aforementioned friends, Georgi (no e please) Lewis and Alarna Zinn of Little Jane St. fame.

Appropriately, Alarna and Eleni both wore Thea & Sami printed leggings to the event and showed off lovely legs. How hot are Alarna's heels?

The ever-supportive Voyt Reich, my partner in life and in the studio after hours. He actually has a day job selling commercial real estate. Here he is demonstrating how we print our lovely fabrics - I am on the other side of this screen (see below).

I think this is a ridiculous photo of me (thanks Georgi) but I had some champagne and it was a little weird screen-printing with an audience although we did appreciate the applause that followed.

PS. I apologise if my latest posts are looking weird (especially if you are using Explorer) but Blogger is not cooperating.

Drum Roll

It's time to announce the winner of my gorgeous hand-printed Table Runner. Congratulations to Shelley from Maine, USA. How exciting that my runner will be flying, not running (yes I'm corny), to the other side of the world.

I thank all who comment, followed me and spread the word about the giveaway. I wrote down all the names and allocated between one to three numbers to each entrant, according to the giveaway conditions. Random.org was used to come up with the winning number.

We will begin revamping the website next Wednesday with all your suggestions in mind. The new printed organic cotton canvases will be added and Fabric Sample Books will be made available for purchase too. But wait there's more. There are 2 additional mystery prizes to be given away. Closer to home; the monthly giveaway to one of my lovely followers goes to Tanya of Myrtle & Eunice and another prize goes to Jaqui of Inspire Home for being lucky follower no. 200.

I will be posting pics from the Fabrics Launch later this evening. Have to get back to work today after my day lounging at the beach yesterday (see previous post).

Battery Recharge

This was my view today. That's right, I took the day off and headed to the Gold Coast to relax on the beach. Bliss! Hubby accompanied me as he has been working weekends and after hours with me too. He called in sick from his day job.

Our new organic fabrics launch went well last night and I send out a special thank you to all my lovely guests and friends who came along for support. Of course, I didn't have the chance to personally take photos but you can see some over at Curlyhead Design.