Cool Product Displays

Continuing from yesterday's theme of photographing your products in innovative ways, I have been thinking of impressive product displays. How do you best display your products to attract people to your trade fair booth, market stall or a physical store?

American Fabric Designers sure know how to put on a show as the following Quilt Market display booths will attest. While it may be difficult for us Independent Designer/Makers to replicate on the same level, we can certainly borrow ideas such as beautifully framed posters, finished products and perhaps smaller props as I can't imagine any of us carting sofas to the Stitches and Craft Shows.


Heather Bailey's booth is full of eye-candy. Good lighting makes a big difference.


Don't you love the vintage inspired clothes line? That is a strip of real grass underneath.

More framed posters from Amy Butler. This is a great idea as it also saves on floor space.


This booth display of Lila Tueller's fabrics makes me want to get into that bed. Do you have great ideas for your next booth? This has inspired me to get back to work on designing new fabrics.

All photos are courtesy of Lila Tueller.

Cool Product Photography

I hope you have enjoyed your Christmas breaks without too much egg-nog, family stress or in my case, sugar overload!

I have been thinking about new fabrics and products for 2010 but also of interesting ways of photographing products. I thought I would share some pictures that inspire me.

Cute, cute and cute! I ADORE these sheep and their gorgeous hand-knitted sweaters. This was found in the Nov/Dec 07 issue of Selvedge Magazine and from this knitwear company.

I'm not sure if this zebra is real or not but I really love the idea from Bennison Fabrics.

Do you see a theme developing here? More cool animals (is this a fox?). This is the photography for the "Animals with Eyepatches! Yes!" tee by Brock Davis at Threadless.

More fabrics and no animals! This is the Osburne & Little Ad campaign from 2005.

I would love to know if you find any other cool product photography.

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to pop in to wish you all a Happy Christmas and/or holidays with your loved ones!!















Elessa and I have been busy baking today using Cathie's delicious gingerbread recipe. Thanks Cathie! Now we have to go and make some icing and I have to finish sewing my mum's gift.
















I will catch up with you all again next week! x

Sunnyboys

Anybody who grew up in Australia will be familiar with Sunnyboy frozen ice treats.


Clever Michelle Law of Buttontree Lane has taken inspiration from the original iconic form to create fabric versions complete with zippers for storing all kind of goodies.


This lovely model is made from the Thea and Sami Pets and Bones hemp/organic cotton muslin that Michelle won in our giveaway a few weeks ago. It was was sold at Michelle's first craft market (in Canbera) with the proceeds appropriately donated to the RSCPA. I'm happy to have been a small part of that and hopefully Michelle will be using more of our fabrics soon.


To purchase any of Buttontree Lane's creations, visit Michelle's Etsy store.

The Green Grocer

Don't you just love Victorian buildings? Melbourne has so much of this wonderful architecture and The Green Grocer is one such example.

Located in North Fitzroy, The Green Grocer is Australia's first fully licensed organic café offering simple innovative cooking with fresh organic produce.

A range of take-home meals are produced in-house using the best of organic ingredients. The shop also has a selected range of lovely eco-friendly gifts that now includes Thea & Sami's hand-printed linen tea-towels :)

There is a wine room that stocks an extensive range of organic wines, produced from fruit that is grown and harvested without chemicals and processed with the minimum use of preservatives.

If you are looking to learn more about cooking with organic ingredients, classes are hosted at the Green Grocer featuring guest presenters from the organic food industry. To check for classes and for more information, visit The Green Grocer.

In Good Company

The December issue of Down Under Quilts features 20 Australian designers of contemporary fabrics and I feel honoured to have been included along with the likes of Ink & Spindle and Kristen Doran.

You can view the current issue on-line by visiting the website. Subscribe to the newsletter for free access to the on-line version of the magazine for 6 months.

I was delighted to see the work of other blogging friends in this issue too, such as these lovely selvedge shopping sacks by Linda Robertus. The story includes the tutorial for these. Photo is courtesy of Linda and you can can visit her blog here.

Many of you will have seen the famous selvedge chair from Jodie Carlton that did the round at the Australian Stitches and Craft Shows this year. Photo is courtesy of Jodie and you can visit her blog Ric Rac.

The most exciting news is that a class mate of long ago found me again thanks to the Down Under Quilts article. So yes, if you went to Dubbo High School, that is me. Here's a big, special hello to Amanda Colwell (nee Fuller) who is an avid quilter.

Now, I have to start designing new fabrics for 2010 over the next few weeks and more homewares.

Let Me Count the Ways

I took a long weekend off for the first time in months! Feeling refreshed, I spent the better part of today taking photos and loading new items for the continuing Thea & Sami on-line Fashion Sale.

Let me introduce you to the Free Spirit Vest. It's made from 100% green or black organic cotton jersey and is versatile with a capital V. Here are some suggestions we came up with but I'm sure you could think of more variations.

Tied at the waist over a t-shirt and paired with our Just Chilling Skirt, modelled by the lovely Belinda Forster.

Letting it all hang loose.

For a dinner date you could pin the lapel to one side with a brooch. Hand-made brooches available here and here.

Beat the heat by wearing the Free Spirit Vest tied at the back. VERY Limited stock available. See other sale items here.  Thank you to Elessa (my girl) for being my gracious model today.

Please be patient and keep checking back as more products will be added to the Fashion Sale.

Don't Eat the Chocolates!

These chocolates are not real but the amazing creations of textile artist Robyn Rich who uses fabrics and other materials to achieve realistic interpretations of foods. The chocolates are made of satin lining and cotton embroidery thread.

How exquisite are the cabbages? All creations are quite labour intensive. The cabbage for example is made of 100% cotton cheese cloth, cotton wadding, wire, thread and paint. Each cabbage takes about 13 hours of work! Robyn begins with very plain fabrics then stitches and paints them.

Where does the inspiration come for this work? In Robyn's words: "My inspiration initially came from volunteering my time at The Johnston Collection and creating a whole Christmas Dinner with a group of my friends out of fabric. Then after seeing peoples' reactions and how they were fascinated by the food, I decided to continue and see what other foods I could create. I am also constantly fascinated by peoples relationships with food, it gives us life, but it can also rule our lives.

I have never had a good relationship with food as so many foods have made me sick, because I have Fructose Malabsorption. I developed quite a fear of food, so I think this is my way of dealing with it, I have looked at its aesthetics and its beauty and brought that to life. My aim is to make people take notice of foods beauty and hopefully to make them smile. My food won't make anyone sick, it won't leave a bad taste in anyones mouth, it won't put on calories, and it won't go off. It is a lovely alternative to flowers in the middle of the table and a plate of cookies on the sideboard make you look as though you are always baking, I even have a trailing pea vine that winds it's way around a light fitting in my kitchen instead of a ceiling rose."

Lamb Dinner - so realistic, don't you think?

Jam Tarts - notice the lovely beading on top.

Robyn's work is available exclusively from Zeega or you can contact her directly through her website. All photos are courtesy of Rich Creations.

So Excited!

I'm so excited that I have successfully enrolled in the "Blogging Your Way" classes beginning in January that I can hardly contain myself! The classes are being run by Holly Becker, author of the ever-popular Decor8 Blog and Leslie Shewring, a colour expert who writes A Creative Mint. Places are limited so check it out now. (Course is now sold out).


I am a bit of a geek because I love learning new things. Yesterday, I completed the last in a series of Export workshops held by Trade Queensland. I can thoroughly recommend these if you live in our state and want to learn how to expand your market beyond our shores. Information and dates of future workshops can be found here.

Psst, have you read my previous post for your free Textile Magazine offer?

Free Textile Magazine

If you love textiles, papermaking, quilting, basketry and other fibre arts then you would enjoy reading the Textile Fibre Forum Magazine (TAFTA). I have been a subscriber for 5 years and am always inspired by the diversity of the artisans featured. The quarterly magazine includes news and events from around the world and advertises textile tours and suppliers of felting wool, dyes and yarns, etc.

I am helping with a much-needed subscriber drive to keep the magazine going and to attract a new generation of readers. Thanks to the generosity of editor Janet de Boer, I am very excited to offer my readers a sample issue of the magazine. To receive your free issue, please email your details to Janet: tafta[at]iinet.net.au with the subject "Free Sample Mag - Thea".

This offer is open to all readers. Australian readers are kindly requested to help with postage costs (if possible) by forwarding $1.50 of unused stamps. If you like what you see, please consider subscribing to future issues.

I have selected the following images from stories in the current issue.

Fibre shoes by Therese Flynn-Clarke. Part of a series made from materials including stitched leaves and raw Nepalese silk. Image by artist.

The INTRODUCING SPECIES shoe by Beth Hatton is based on a early convict shoe pattern. The artist believes that the convicts were responsible for spreading weeds via their shoes and so has created these from indigenous grasses and weeds. Image by Ian Hobbs.

Hand-felted jacket from New Zealand artist Raewyn Penrose. Raewyn is leading a New Zealand tour for felt makers. More information here.


FISH FILE is part of an exhibition of Hand Made Artist's books by Sandy Gerritsen and Mo Skett at the Gympie Regional Gallery recently. Materials used are driftwood, woven wax linen and relief prints. Image by David Skett.

To read more, please subscribe to TAFTA.

Classes Blast Off!

So you can sew, knit, crochet and bake but can you screen-print?






















Our popular Introduction to Screen-Printing Classes are starting again in January. Dates available are Saturday, January 23rd (only 1 spot left) or January 30th (fully booked). There is a 10% discount for early-bird payment before Christmas. Reserve your spot here or if you know somebody who would love to spend the day screen-printing, you can contact me to arrange a gift voucher.

For inspiration, see what clever folk have created in our previous classes here. Rocket was designed and screen-printed by former participant, Petra Jones.

Stay tuned because tomorrow I have a blog giveaway for ALL of my readers!

Christmas Shopping

Many designers and makers of fine hand-made goods will be at the Young Designers Market today selling original and locally-produced designs. The Market is located along Little Stanley Street in South Brisbane opposite lots of lovely cafes and restaurants. Today will be hot so I thoroughly recommend an ice-cream waffle cone from Movenpick. My favourite is the Pistachio. Delicious!



















Don't forget to say hello to me at the Thea & Sami stall. I will be selling hand-printed tableware and other goodies to tempt you including many organic cotton t-shirts at giveaway prices.

Why I Love Linen

I have had a long lasting love affair with linen. Nearly all my clothes are linen and I never tire of it and anybody who has worn it will understand why. It is luxurious and cool to wear and I don't mind that it wrinkles; it is a sign of the real thing.

I am often asked what linen actually is so have decided to write this post and to highlight its benefits. Not to be confused with cotton, it is spun from the Flax plant and its earliest use dates back to 8000 BC. The Ancient Egyptians loved it!

As a natural fibre, linen is non-allergenic, anti-bacterial, bio-degradable and recyclable. It absorbs dampness & dries quickly making it the best choice for tea-towels. It is 3 times stronger than cotton, yet will become softer with each wash while lasting much longer.

Linen is an ecological champion thanks to its all-natural farming procedures. It is a renewable crop and unlike cotton, requires no irrigation and very little pesticides or fertilisers. It makes me wonder why we don't grow flax instead of cotton in Australia? I think we could in our cooler states. Flax produces no waste and some of the wonderful by-products include nutritional linseed oil and flax seeds. Hurrah for flax and linen!






















From a crafter's point of view, I love the natural texture and colour of linen and it is ideal for embroidery and wonderful for screen-printing. Fellow Brisbanite Rebecca Cason of Edward and Lilly chooses linen for her wonderful hand-embroidered products. This is Kitty and is available through her Etsy store or at the BrisStyle Market this Saturday.


















Tasmanian Lisa Kingston also uses natural linen for her hand-embroidered Christmas decorations. See my earlier post about Lisa for more information and how to purchase.

Searching on Etsy, I found this delightful machine-embroidered wallet from LB accessories.

How innovative is the typewriter pillow from Track and Field Designs, also on Etsy?






















I only use natural, unbleached linen now for our hand-printed linen tea-towels (not bleached). Spoon and Whisk design is shown. Purchase printed towels on-line or through our retailers. I will be at the Young Designers Market in Brisbane on Sunday with lovely homewares, fabric packs and lots of drastically-reduced sale items (mainly clothing).

Inspired to make your own linen creations? Purchase fabric here. More natural linen fabrics are coming soon!