Super Class

How was your week? I nearly didn't make it to work on Friday as I locked myself out of the house with all necessary keys inside. My only hope was that our bedroom sliding door was unlocked. Unfortunately, accessing the bedroom courtyard involved jumping over a 6 foot tall fence with flip-flops on. To cut a long story short, I made it half-way over the fence with all four limbs sprawled along the top when my jean cuff got caught on the plank top and I was completely stuck.

Nobody could see me and we live in a quiet street so I became quite panic-stricken. I could only hope that by forcefully tugging my leg, while somehow balancing on top of the fence, that either my jeans would rip or that the top of the wooden plank would snap. I managed to finally pry myself loose after 5 minutes of persistently doing this without too much harm. Not bad for a short, middle-aged woman! Thank goodness, the courtyard door was indeed unlocked and I made it to work before my new assistant did.

Apart from that little adventure, the week ended well with a super creative group of people joining our screen-printing class yesterday.

I love these citrus-coloured floral prints from Lisa Davies, proudly seated below.

Two young mothers had the day off to screen-print with us. Caroline Taran successfully printed 2-colour floral designs.

Our other young mum was Anna Lahey whose colourful work included these negative and positive snake prints.

Tim and Teneale Muir of Wicked Child Designs are one of my favourite couples and screen-printed fun images all day such as bunnies.

Teneale's pink bunny is adorable and Tim's bunny is sitting in a cup of hot coffee. Tim is cruel.























Jealous? See available class dates here.

Stay Motivated!

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already, can you? This week I have been training a new assistant, sampled new product ideas, trialled a new seamstress (she's brilliant), found a neighbouring company to machine-cut our fabrics (yay, no more hand-cutting), sampled new fabrics and new ink colours all while trying to keep up with printing orders and my BYW homework. I am seriously exhausted but I have never felt happier because I can see wonderful things developing and I will share them with you very soon, I promise.

I am beginning to believe in serendipity because the assistant, seamstress and cutter actually all found me, exactly when I needed them to. My planets must all be perfectly aligned or something.

I will share another secret with you; if you work hard then you deserve to play hard! To stay motivated, it is crucial to always have something special to look forward to so that you won't mind working those long hours and several weekends in a row.

So with that thought, every single month and without fail, I treat myself to a pampering facial. I love it and it's not something that I have felt comfortable publicly declaring in the past because that confession has often been met with remarks like "Oh, I've never had a facial in my life" or "Aren't you lucky". Well, why haven't you had one? I highly recommend it and no, I am not so lucky. I just work hard and know that I deserve a little down time, don't you?

So this brings me to the other big event that I am looking forward to in March - I am attending Shannon Fricke's decorating workshop in Bangalow. Even more exciting, my newest friend Julie (see previous post) has enrolled for the same class. We will have so much fun and I have decided to stay a couple of extra days in the town so if anybody has any good Bangalow tips, do suggest.

Now, I have found a couple of interesting workshops that you can attend closer to home (in Brisbane, that is). Liz DeLuca of Creative Arty Facts is teaching a 2-part felted beads workshop at Mad Monnie. Week 1 will cover wet felting techniques and Week 2 will cover beading and embellishment. Dates begin early March so visit Liz for more info and to register.

How about this for an eco-friendly class idea? You can learn 5 methods of making your own rag rug using recycled materials over 4 weekly nights beginning February 23rd. To register your interest and to find out more, visit the TAFE website. Note: It seems like this link has been removed from site. I am guessing that they didn't have enough enrolments.

If you are teaching any or know of any interesting workshops or classes outside of Brisbane, please let us know. I would also love to know any other secret indulgences that you would care to confess.

Lessons Learnt

I'm going to share some lessons learnt from last Saturday's screen-printing workshop.

Lesson 1: Inspiration can literally come from anywhere and everywhere. This image of a laundry basket was the starting point for Julie Palmer's design.

Here's Julie busily cutting out her stencil.

Add a couple of birds and wow! This is not your average run-of-the-mill tea-towel. I see future competition here. You can find out more about Julie at her blog Olive & Joy.

The bird images were borrowed from fellow student Victoria Bansey, who I must apologise to for failing to get on film.

This is one of Victoria's cute bird prints.

Lesson 2: Using Permaset Aqua inks, you will need a 43T mesh screen for printing t-shirts and fabric. The "T" stands for the thread count per inch. Screen-printing with high thread counts will not allow ink to flow freely and will cause screens to dry out quickly.

Students often come from the Gold and Sunshine Coasts to our classes and we had a student from Germany last year but James Beattie has officially broken our record for travelling the farthest. He is visiting from England. James kept things simple with this abstract landscape print.

Lesson 3: Classmates make great screen-printing assistants if the teacher is hiding. James is holding the screen for Melissa Imsirovic who was printing her Ampersand design all over cotton jersey fabric. She will be sampling the printed jersey for her upcoming maternity wear range.

Lesson 4: You can easily print onto dark fabrics if you have the right inks. This was printed with Permaset Aqua Supercover inks. Although still water-based and solvent-free, they are not something I normally use for my fabrics as they are much more expensive and thicker than the standard range; fine for t-shirts but not so great for fabrics.

Lesson 5: Don't turn your back on your class. Students will kidnap your mannequin for their own evil purposes when you are not looking.

*Sniff* Bye Justine.

Screen-printing class update: Next 2 classes are fully booked but new date has now been listed for March 27th. Secure your place here.

European Linen

I have so much to share with you this week including images from my recent screen-printing workshop, my lovely vintage weekend finds, new fabric prints and other inspiring classes that you may like to take.

I will kick start the week by sharing these beautiful European natural linens with you. I'm always on the look-out for new sustainable fabrics that are suitable for screen-printing and it has taken me 3 years to find these perfect linens at a reasonable price.

These high-quality linens are accredited by MoL (Masters of Linen) part of a European regulatory body that assures quality control.

The Provincial Linen is going to be the basis of my new line of French-inspired housewares due to be released at the beginning of February. This natural flax fabric will be one of the fabrics featuring our new Cottage Garden designs but will be exclusively used for Thea & Sami homewares.

Gorgeous for rustic-inspired embroidery and other projects, you can purchase the plain fabric from here.

For a totally different look and feel, the Petersburg Linen is a lovely blend of white and natural woven yarns. I will be offering it as a basecloth to screen-print our designs for interior design. You can purchase it unprinted here.

And as an added bonus, both of these fabrics are pre-shrunk or sanforized and are a generous 150 cm (59") in width. For more information about linen, you may be interested in reading one of my earlier posts, Why I love linen.

As always, Thea & Sami on-line shopping includes free shipping within Australia (but not for wholesale orders).

Oh Baby!

Meet the newest member of our family! This is Matteo Jordan born last Sunday to my sister Christina and husband Roy. Doesn't he have the loveliest hair?


This is protective and older brother Joshua. I'm sure he can't wait until Matteo is big enough to play with him.

Speaking of families, most of you probably don't know that I come from quite a large one. I am the eldest of 4 and my parents come from families of 7 and 8 children respectively. I have 30 first cousins!

Now I want to tell you how much I LOVE being part of the blogging community. Much of my business comes from my blog followers and I like to support them in return. As a time-poor aunty who doesn't enjoy running around shopping centres, I was delighted to find an ace gift from one of my newest blog followers, Monique.

The above image is a Cuski comforter and it has to be one of the best inventions ever for newborn babies. Made from organic cotton, it has been designed to absorb the smells of the mother before being given to the baby to peacefully sleep with. As the baby grows, it can be safely sucked on, cuddled and loved. I bought it in the minty colour but other choices are available. For more information, check out Monique's on-line store Your Cheeky Monkey.

I also purchased this pack of organic and natural baby products here from my friend Lisa of Beautiful Baskets. I can't praise the exceptional service of both these lovely ladies enough. Please support small and local business!

Trying Not to Fall Apart

I have not wanted to be away from you for this long but my first official week back at work has brought all the stresses associated with working for oneself. Staffing issues, untimely fabric deliveries, frustrating server problems and machinery break downs and waiting for the repair man at 7.00 am are all contributing factors but I certainly won't bore you with the details.

I am excited that my new screens will be ready in the morning (in a few hours really) although with pending orders, we won't be able to print the new fabrics (see previous post) until next week. I am also trying out a new seamstress and have given her two new products to sample so fingers crossed on that one. More exciting still, I am collaborating with another designer on a new product range but alas, I can't reveal anything more at this stage.


Last weekend was my collage workshop and I have to confess that I was a tad disappointed, well more than a tad really. The class was not what I expected and I don't think that I learned anything new. It was very basic and the teacher did not or would not show us any of his work which was quite strange.

It was not a friendly class either as there were no introductions at the beginning. It made me happily realise that the workshops I teach are enjoyable because of the very friendly and social environment.

Day 2 of the workshop was even worse! I'm sorry but weaving strips of paper and creating 3-D pyramids out of cut cardboard seems very Grade 4 to me. Luckily, I found an ally in classmate Narelle Oliver (more about her later) who had the same bad attitude as me. We followed our own agenda after lunch. I can't say that my work here is spectacular as I need time to play around with and evolve my ideas, something I can't do in a class environment.


This is my fish but I like Narelle's fish better (below) so have included a couple of her creations here too.


The picture below is Narelle's Antarctic landscape made of torn strips of magazine paper in gray tones. The beauty of this photo is a little lost in blog translation. The imagery is much clearer if you see it from a distance.

I was so pleased to have met Narelle as she is a brilliant illustrator, author and artist.

The fox is an image from her children's book Fox and Fine Feathers. I am always impressed by the number of talented people we have in our lovely city. Visit Narelle Oliver.

For further inspiration, visit good friend Alarna Zinn and view (and buy) her beautiful Little Jane St. greeting cards designed with gorgeous collage.

Stay tuned as I introduce you to the newest member of the Samios clan and post pictures of my next Screen-Printing workshop on this Saturday.

Sneak Peek

Finally, I can show you what I have been working on.


These coordinating designs are part of the new Cottage Garden Collection, inspired by Hydrangeas and Peonies.

Of course, these will be available as fabrics but will also feature in our own range of eco-friendly homewares. I don't want to reveal too much but we have some exciting new products in the works.

Colours will not be finalized until I screen-print fabric samples later this week but I will definitely include the white on the black organic linen (see last image).

I have been playing around with product ideas and thought this fabric design would look great as lamp shades. Yes, no?

Tomorrow is day 2 of the Collage workshop so I will take some photos to show you.

Thank you to Konstant Kaos for including Thea & Sami on her post of Australian Textile Designers.

Grrr, am I the only one having problems with formatting blogger posts lately?

I'm Older Now

Hello everybody. We had a wonderful long weekend. Our lovely accommodation with its quiet, green surroundings was almost too relaxing. We read and slept a lot and even the dog chilled out on the veranda although she did "escape" twice.

This was our backyard view. I am finding it difficult to switch back into work mode now. However, I do promise to show you new fabric designs by the end of this week. They will be screen-printed next week. We are awaiting new coloured, organic base fabrics as new designs will be printed and available as eco-fashion fabrics too.

Today is my birthday and my sweet girl Elessa treated me to high tea at High Societea in Clayfield. It is one of our favourite places in Brisbane and ideal for special girlie meet-ups. Of course it was perfect.


I'm not sure what the deal is with my lah-de-dah pose but it could that I am older now (I am in my forties, after all). I have noticed that the following now apply:

• I need reading glasses
• I can't remember where I have put things
• Weight no longer "falls off" like it used to
• Hair dyeing is no longer an option but a necessity
• I prefer to stay home in the evenings unless I plan ahead and have a nanna nap
• Shoes are chosen for style only after comfort needs are met
• As above for lingerie and underwear
• I don't like lying in the hot sun anymore.
  

Have you been exhibiting any "older" behaviour?

Have a Great Weekend.

I hope you all have a great weekend! As mentioned here, I will be away for a few days for some final rest and recreation before getting back into the full swing of things. It looks like we may even get some sunshine at last.



All on-line orders will be posted on Wednesday, 13th January. The 12th is my birthday so I am taking an extra day off. There has to be some advantage to being self-employed :)

If you were wanting to learn how to screen-print this month, I have had one cancellation for Saturday the 23rd. Otherwise, there are places available for the February class. Please book here.

BTW, the rodeo was great fun. I highly recommend it.

Vintage postcard image from here.

Fabrics and Scraps

The Thea & Sami fabric scrap packs have been popular so I have added new packs here.

There are so many things you can do with fabric scraps and this adorable fabric bowl is one great example. You will also need a clothes line for this. The tutorial is available from Craft Stylish.

For more creative ideas on using up fabric scraps, visit Crafting a Green World here and here.

New in store are the Eco-Fabric Packs. These are mixed packs of printed organic and sustainable fabrics containing larger pieces than the scrap packs. Some of the one-of-a-kind fabric mixes include discontinued prints so be quick to get your choices.

Please note, that once the item is sold, the system will not allow you to purchase it. I will be adding new packs as required and as time permits so please be patient as I'm a one-woman operation right now.

Have you heard about Sew It Together? It is an event to be held in Melbourne for the first time on May 14-15, 2010 that will bring together sewing and craft bloggers from around Australia for the first time in a purely social setting. As I will be in Melbourne for the Stitches and Craft Show (May 5-9), I thought I would stay longer to participate. We are one of the proud sponsors of the crafting session on the Saturday. Each participant will receive a special gift from Thea & Sami. It's a secret at this stage as I haven't even designed it yet but it will be craft-related.

Speaking of crafting, we are introducing new Craft Kits this year and I hope to have new products ready by February.

Just a reminder that The Fashion Sale is on-going too and I have been adding new items as others sell out. Please be keep checking for updates.

Shaping the Domestic Goddess

I used to be able to do this and I will again.... soon. I have promised myself that I will get back to exercising so visited the Pure Health gym at Coorparoo yesterday. I have done 3 of their Pilates classes already and they're great! I tried out the first class for free and then purchased a 10-class pass which is better (I think) than having to commit for a year. Most gyms in Australia will offer you a free trial class if you ask.

If I were in Brisbane this weekend, I would be attending Michelle Vandermeer's book-binding class. How beautiful are these leather-bound journals? This is a great opportunity learn from a pro as Michelle lives and usually teaches in Sydney. Some places are still available if you visit Michelle's blog: Shelbyville.


Have you ever wanted to make the perfect cupcake? These delights were made by The Cupcake Company here in Brisbane and they teach classes! To register your interest, visit here. For classes in Perth, visit Babycakes and in Melbourne, check out Crabapple Cupcakes.


There are numerous places to learn sewing such as The Thread Den in Melbourne and here in Brisbane, I can personally recommend Ana Fataccioli's classes. Ana (pictured) is a professional pattern-maker and also teaches pattern drafting. Visit her website here. In Melbourne, you can learn how to draft your own patterns at Designer Stitch.

Even better, certain Melbournians (you know who you are) can stop harassing me now as Screen-Printing workshops are starting at Ink and Spindle's studio this month. Of course, I am still teaching screen-printing in Brisbane.

Do you know of any other great workshops? Please let us know. Oh, we're going to be a nation of super-skilled domestic goddesses this year!