Going Places

I wish I could visit this lovely new store in Flinders, a sea-side village situated in Victoria's beautiful Mornington Peninsular. It's a little too far for me to just pop over so for now I am content knowing that a selected range of Thea & Sami hand-printed home-wares will be there instead.
















The store Zeega exudes old-world charm and stocks its own exclusive label of boutique ladies clothing made of beautiful natural fabrics such as linen (my favourite) and hand-made accessories such as canvas bags. All Zeega products are made on the premises by owner Kathy Subic. Other stylish items in store include hand-crafted jewellery by local artisans.

















Here's Kathy hard at work at the cutting table in the store's workroom.
















If you are lucky enough to visit Flinders, please pop into Zeega and say hello to Kath and Kim for me!

Store location is:
62b Cook Street
Flinders, Victoria
Australia.

Let me know if you do visit!

Waste Not, Want Not

I love decluttering and really wish I had more time to do so. Following the success of our Scrap Packs at our recent Open Studio, we have packed and packed several more. Many of these off-cuts are discontinued prints. They are now available for purchase in our on-line store now and more will be added as required. I will also have them on hand at the next Young Designers Market at Brisbane's Southbank next Sunday.

These scraps are ideal for small projects such as covered buttons, magnets, brooches and appliqué work.

Stay posted for more fabric packs and new Thea & Sami stockists.

Who's That Girl?

My parents were leggings and now I'm a groovy head band.

Don't you just love it when you can save your fabric off-cuts? I have been packing ours into fabric and scrap packs which are popular with crafty types but not so easy to do with the jersey pieces. The head band was my contribution for the goody bags at last week's ABCD (Artists+Bloggers+Crafters+Designers) meet-up. I wanted something original that represented our work. The head bands were a hit and I have now listed them here in the Thea & Sami on-line store. Great stocking fillers, don't you think?

I was very impressed with the number of goodies that were upcycled from other crafters & designers present at the event. For images of the event and of the items, visit Bondville or Udessi. Steph from Bondville and Kim from Udessi always organise these great meet-ups and I am already looking forward to the February one.

Thank you to Curlyhead aka Eleni Papadatos for being my gracious if, at times, reluctant model. Eleni is leaving for Africa for 6 weeks next Monday so we wish her a Bon Voyage and safe journey. I was a little panicked about being left alone but my little possum is coming home from Melbourne soon so will be helping me print (snaps for Elessa).

Pop Art Girl Dries Dishes

Pop Art Girl is back! She used to be seen about town on art skirts but now she is back to help you with the dishes. Printed on natural linen tea-towels and easy to ship to friends near and far. Purchase towel from our on-line store.

Also available now is the new Spoon & Whisk print on natural linen or hemp/organic cotton tea-towels.

Delicious Runners

New table runners have been added to our collection. The runners have been quite popular and make the ideal Christmas gift. What I like about them is that they suit and fit just about any table. It doesn't matter if they are shorter or longer than the table. I keep one on my coffee table.

The new Spoon and Whisk table runner is printed on a lovely weight of hemp/organic cotton fabric. The organic cotton really makes this fabric soft. The runner is available in Really Red, Burnt Orange or Cocoa Bean. Or you could make your own home-wares, curtains, aprons etc by purchasing the fabric here. Available in 1/4 metre minimums.

As you can see, we have been using up the red ink lately. The mushrooms runner is printed on natural linen and would brighten up any table. Also available in a brown colourway and as a fabric.

Don't forget that shipping is always free for Australian buyers on any purchase in the Thea & Sami online store. International buyers will be notified of extra postage costs, usually only a little more after Aussie sales taxes are deducted from your order.

I'm off to another busy day today. I am attending the Artists Talk at Artisan this morning and am especially looking forward to the Brisbane ABCD meet up tonight. I have to finish making my contribution for the goody bags. Sorry that I can't show you what that is yet but it is a surprise for the recipients.

The highlight of my day may be my much-needed facial this afternoon. Are you doing anything special today?

Cutie Patootie

How sweet do I look in my lovely new dress? My name is Madeleine and I am wearing my new dress made by my designer mum, Petra and featuring Thea & Sami's baby-soft "Pets and Bones" muslin fabric in lolly pink. The contrasting neck ruffle was hand-stitched by mummy too.

Thanks Madeleine!

Proud mama, Petra Jones is the talent behind Mooce Baby and was won of the winners of our new Pets & Bones hemp/organic muslin and was happy to trial the fabric. 1/2 metre was more than enough for this sweet dress. The fabric is very lightweight making it ideal for those hot summer days and can be gentle machine-washed.

If you are looking for a lovely eco-friendly fabric that is kind to sensitive skins, you can purchase some "Pets and Bones" muslin, also available in Jelly Green, through the Thea & Sami store.

Winner & Grinners

I really appreciate your comments on what colourways to print our new Spoon and Whisk fabric in. The three colourways, based on popularity will be burnt orange, red and brown. We already printed the red and brown yesterday on the hemp/organic cotton and it looks fab. I will be mixing up the burnt orange ink tomorrow to print the rest. Stay tuned.

The winner of the blog giveaway is Simone of Beach Vintage, chosen from the list of commenters using random.org. Simone will be receiving 1/2 metre of Spoon & Whisk in her colour choice. She is very creative so I am looking forward to seeing what she will do with it. Check out her blog if you haven't already. I will have more freebies for all of of my readers later this week.

Thank you to all the lovely people who came along to my Open Studio Day yesterday. The following images are some of the bloggers who were at the morning session. Click on their names to visit their blogs. Photos are courtesy of professional photographer Catherine Lowe who came along for a visit.

Melanie Gray Austin of Kimono Reincarnate and her lovely mum, Cynthia.

Esther Daley of Daley Star and Teneale Muir of Wicked Child Designs.

Emma Gascoyne of Up in Annie's Room (I'm wearing my new brooch today, thanks Emma) and Daneve Frankish of Chicuff.

My star printer and partner (see first image for seamless squeegie passing) Voyt Reich and printer-in-training Sandy De Vetre who was showing off her first fabric yardage printing handiwork.

Melissa Hoedel of Taybian Design and Miss Photography, Catherine Lowe of Celebrations Studio and her perfect accessory, baby River.

Next Open Studio will probably be in February and I will be planning some Screen-Printing workshops for January.

Lick This

Lick our spoons because they are delicious!

Our Spoon & Whisk screens arrived yesterday so we wasted no time in setting them up and testing the print with red ink on white linen. Unfortunately, I have temporarily run out of hemp/organic cotton and new stock didn't arrive yesterday as expected. With preparations for the Thea & Sami Open Studio Day tomorrow, we won't be able to print the burnt orange colourway (your most popular choice) until next week now.

I also had a tea-towel screen made with the design in a larger scale; the utensils are 16 cm (6.3 inches) in height. The utensils on the fabric are smaller at 10 cm (4 inches) making the design ideal for quilting and small projects too.

Here comes the little assembly line of natural linen towels through our textile dryer, required to cure the ink. This first batch of tea-towels and the very limited-edition white linen fabric will be available for purchase at our Open Studio Day tomorrow and will be listed on the website next week. I will be adding another colourway to the tea-towels.

Clearance items at our Studio Day will include lining fabrics for $2 metre, plain organic cotton ladies and children's (size 8 - 12) t-shirts for $9 each and lots of fabric remnants and other goodies in our Bargain Box.

Don't forget that the Fabric Printing demos will be at 11.00 am and then at 1.00 pm. You have until the end of today to enter the Blog Giveaway.

The Wallpaper Project

Also opening tonight at Artisan (see previous post) is The Wallpaper Project. The project, a unique and groundbreaking blend of contemporary art and interior design, is the result of a partnership between The University of Southern Queensland and Wilding Wallpaper Design & Production. Click here for more information.




 
















Photo above is Aviary by Tiffany Shafran, wallpaper design, 2009. 

ARTIST TALK : Thursday 19th November 2009, 10:00am - 11:00am

Simon Mee, exhibitor and co-curator will discuss the origins of the project, the rationale for the selection of the artists and the challenging process of getting contemporary art wallpapers into production. Anne Wallace, designer, will discuss her work in the exhibition and the crossovers between contemporary art and interior design

There are limited places so please rsvp to info[at]artisan.org.au by Tuesday 17th November (I just did). Admission is free and the exhibition continues until 24 December 2009.

Photo above is  Wolfdream Wallpaper by Anne Wallace (in collaboration with Aaron Hill), wallpaper design, 2009.

You still have one more day to enter my Blog Giveaway.

Cherish

Cherish is an annual event held at Brisbane's (m)art at Artisan and features new hand-made products, chosen from Australia's best emerging and established designers and makers especially for the Christmas shopping season.

Above image is Paper Sculptures by Richie Ares Dona.

The opening for Cherish 2009 is Thursday, 12th November from 6.00 - 8.00 pm and is to be opened by David Clark, Editor of Vogue Living.

If you are in town, come along to see the beautiful gift ideas, enjoy an evening of networking and free wine & nibbles :)

The location is:
(m)art at artisan
381 Brunswick Street,
Fortitude Valley
Ph: (07) 3215 0800

Selected Thea & Sami items are included in the show so Curlyhead and I will be there. Say hello! Don't worry if you can't make it, the lovely products will be on show (while stocks last) until Christmas Eve.

Above images are as follows:

L-R (from top) Symbiosis by Katrina Tyler; Necklace by Jane Pollard, Electirc Mavis, Pink by Gregory Bonasera; Cobalt Striped Vessels y Sandra Bowkett, Rings by Meghan O'Rourke; Coloured leather cuffs by Rooband; Laptop bag by Ernesh Mode and Stackable Stools by Jason Bird.

And don't forget about our Open Studio Day. Thank you to all have emailed or commented that they are attending. You can rsvp here.

Eco Mama

I love going to the beach and Byron Bay is one of my favourite destinations. Sunday was an especially good day as I was able to mix pleasure (day at beach) with business to personally deliver an order of Thea & Sami hemp/organic cotton homewares to Eco Mama, a lovely new store that just opened in the town.

The shop is located in a lovely old house and is the brainchild of owner Mia Maddison. The address is 7 Marvel Street, Byron Bay. For enquiries, contact Mia on 0410 616 441.

Featured wares include hand-made items by local designers using sustainable materials and recycled fashions and vintage goods such as Glomesh purses and other bags.

I love these little ceramic bowls by Zani McEnnally and the salvaged wooden display table.

If only I had the figure to wear these retro crocheted edge, chamois bikinis.










I don't surf but I can appreciate the beauty of this surfboard made of balsa wood, a sound environmental choice.

The winners of the Pets and Bones fabric giveaway are announced here. You still have time to enter my other blog giveaway.

Shoe Art

OMG! How hot are these? They really belong in an art galley and that's exactly where you can see these "La Fortuna" boots. Opening tonight at KiLN Gallery in Paddington (Brisbane) is the "To Have and To Hold" exhibition featuring wonderful hand-made shoes from Pendragon.

Pendragon is made up of shoemaking designers Jackie Orme Ward and Adrian Lockwood. They are based at the Sunshine Coast, here in Queensland.

I love their "Marie-Antoinette" shoes too.

How exquisite are the details on the heel?

It's no wonder that with creations such as "Sea-Slug" that Pendragon is often called upon to create for theatre. The exhibition at KiLN runs until November 29th.

Spoon & Whisk

My house is a mess and my bookkeeping hasn't been done for the last quarter but I have managed to finally do a new fabric design! Let me introduce you to "Spoon & Whisk". This is quite an achievement as my biggest frustration is not having the time to do new designs. I have so many half-finished ones in my files, I kid you not!

So I asked Curlyhead to draw some cute kitchen utensils for me as I really like her drawings. I then played around with colouring some, placement and repeats and am quite happy with this now.

I am planning to have the screen for these ready for printing early next week so am wondering about colours? I really like retro colours like burnt orange and brown.

Red prints are always popular and I know many of you like green.

For your chance to be one of the first to own some of this fabric, please let me know what colour you would like to see printed. This will be printed on hemp/organic cotton ideal for homewares and kitchen curtains. This blog giveaway will end next Friday 13th November (lucky day for someone) and the winner will win 1/2 metre of "Spoon & Whisk"

If you're in Brisbane, you will be able to acquire some of this fabric at our Open Studio Day. There will be lucky door prizes so come along. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

Printed Organic Kids

We have now printed our Pets and Bones design on lovely muslin, suitable for infants and children's wear. Also ideal for cot sheets or baby slings. The woven fabric is 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton and is incredibly soft. The hemp has the added bonus of being naturally antibacterial and antifungal even after repeated washings.

The design is a collaboration between graphic designer Liz Christiansen and Thea Samios and is now available in our on-line store.

Available in Lolly Pink or Jelly Green, the print is a generous 145 cm ( 57 inches) in width. I have decided to give away 1/2 metre of each of these to two followers to sew, test and promote the finished product on this blog. This will be instead of my usual monthly giveaway. To clarify, each successful follower will receive one of the coloured fabrics each.

There is a condition in entering this giveaway. The children's garment or product must be completed within 2 weeks of receiving the muslin and will remain in the property of the maker. The maker will provide a photo, preferably on a model. Please do not enter if you cannot meet these requirements. While I appreciate how busy we all are, you can also understand that it is of no benefit if the project remains unfinished for 6 months.

If you are willing and able to meet the requirements, please leave your comments with colour preference (green or pink) below by Friday and I will ship the fabric early next week to two of you.

The design is still available in organic cotton jersey in our store. The jersey fabric is NOT included in the giveaway.

UPDATE: The winners are Petra of Mooce Baby (pink) and Michelle (green) of Buttontree Lane. I can't wait to see what you make, ladies!