Friday Follower - Holly

The three girls were shocked at the surprise announcement. "But I thought he was dead!", exclaimed Suzy.

This set of three 25mm badges has been created with illustrations cut from a vintage book and are the creations of Holly Leonardson - this week's featured Friday Follower and a fellow resident of Brisbane (yay!) And please don't argue with me that it isn't Friday as it still is in some countries so forgive my tardiness as I have been out of town and away from a computer.

Holly creates accessories influenced by some of her favourite things such as animals, vintage children's books, colourful fabrics, buttons and handwritten mail under the brand of Pannikin. You can find and buy these items through Holly's Etsy store.

Let's find out more about young Holly and her inspirations for Pannikin:

1. Pannikin is such a cute name. Where does it come from?
Pannikin is the name of a street I lived in as a little girl. I found it appropriate due to the nostalgic childlike nature of my accessories.

2. You have some lovely original products. What is your creative background?
Ever since I was little I have been creating. My favourite thing to do was to draw and colour in and my parents were always encouraging of my artistic and creative abilities. My first job was at a bead store, which ran a variety of classes. I was taught many jewellery making techniques ranging from wire work, to working with polymer clay, working with sterling silver and so much more. The great part is that all this was taught by my new found friends/work colleagues, who are professional jewellery designers, makers and artists.

3. What is your design process. Do you find vintage items and then get the idea for a product range or is it the other way round?
I don't really have a set process. My mind is a little overactive at times and I find it hard to keep up with all my ideas, so keeping a small art diary on me at all times is a must, for sketches and my excessive (but handy!) list writing. For example, with my badges, I go hunting for all kinds of papers and fabrics and try to experiment with different sources, like old comics, novels, vintage wallpaper, fabric and printing. Other times I like to bring home a whole wodge of supplies and just play around with them until a few ideas form.


4. What else do you do when you are not making things for Pannikin?
Unfortunately this isn't my full time job. I work full time in retail to pay the bills and work on Pannikin as much as I can when not at the dreaded 'day job'. I really like exploring as many op (thrift) shops and antique stores as I can. It's almost like a game of hide and seek!

When I can, I love to draw. Soon, I will have a few tote bags screen-printed with my illustrations, so keep an eye out for them - I'm very excited by it all! Other things I like to do include poking around on Etsy, listening to music, seeing my friends and baking. There is nothing better than whipping up a batch of fun little cupcakes and sharing them around!

5. Do you have any future plans for your craft business?
The goal is to successfully work from home and to be my own boss; I couldn't think of anything better than that! (Except maybe having my own brick and mortar store full of wonderful handmade creations, mainly by Australian artists and designers).

6. Is there something interesting about you that you could share and that isn't common knowledge?
I have an ever expanding bow-tie collection. There is a drawer in my wardrobe entirely dedicated to them! I like traditional bow-ties that wrap around the collar of a shirt or dress, but I also love making my own bow-tie brooches from any kind of fabric.

Thanks Holly, we look forward to seeing new ideas and products. To read Holly's blog, visit Pannikin.

All photos are courtesy of Holly Leonardson. From Top to Bottom: The Surprise Announcement Badges, Hedgehog Necklace, Plastic Owl Brooch, Old MacDonald's Farm envelopes.

Cute Screen Prints

I always look forward to seeing what people will screen-print in my workshops and I think you will enjoy the following creations from last weekend's talented group.

These cute prints belong to Nikki Fletcher. The 2-colour tree was printed onto a linen skirt found in an Op Shop (Thrift Store).


The three friends all drove from the Gold Coast for the class. From L to R; Tam of IIIIME, Mia Faulks and Nikki Fletcher who all meet weekly as part of a crafting group. Take note of Nikki's glitzy apron, made from cast-off tent fabric.

Katrina Stirling was another talented lady from out of town. She screen-printed seed pods onto a linen tea-towel. The printing bled through to simultaneously create a textured print on the paper underneath. Don't you love these kind of arty accidents? Katrina is an artist so check out her blog.

Another seed pod from participant Nicki Laws, also from out of town. I'm so flattered that you all drove so far ladies! I'm so sorry Nicki, I could have sworn I had taken a photo of you. Never mind, I will be blogging about Nicki's amazing textile prints in a future post. This was screen-printed onto some of Nicki's leaf-dyed fabric. I believe that the print bled a little because the fabric may not have been completely natural or the dyes may have formed some kind of barrier. You cannot print on scotch guarded fabrics, for example.

If you are in Brisbane and want to join us for a day of screen-printing fun, you can book on-line here for March. My current schedule probably won't allow me time to teach a class in April or May but we will be demonstrating our fabric-printing at our next Open Studio Day. Save the date for Sunday, April 11th. More information will be posted closer to the date.

Friday Follower - Sandra

It's been a while since I have put the spotlight on one of my talented followers but I have been wanting to get back to doing so by introducing a weekly column entitled "Friday Follower".

I love finding out more about my followers who are such a creative bunch and hope that you will enjoy and be inspired by them too. First up, we have the lovely Sandra Eterovic of creative hot spot Melbourne.

What doesn't this lady do? She paints, she designs and she knits!

Sandra's creations are available through her etsy shop.

Make Your Own Man incorporates 4 species of the Melbourne modern male.

I love this lady's sense of humour so let's ask her some questions and find out who she is:

1. How did you make the decision to start your etsy store?
I thought that etsy would be a good precursor to selling my work in a retail environment. Besides being a bit shy about going around selling things, I love being part of a network of creative people from all corners of the globe.

2. Do you have a design background?
I studied art history at university but then realised that I felt happier making things myself rather than writing about what others had already made.
I then did a general art course at TAFE (Technical and Further Education) and got a job in the fashion industry through my Illustration Major, designing motifs for men's boxer shorts!

3. I love your painted mirrors and get the impression that you have a great sense of fun! How did you come up with the idea?
Thanks Thea, that's lovely! I was in a shop looking at some round canvases and thought they might be nice for paintings of faces. Holding that thought, I then spotted some round mirrors, and automatically transferred the idea to that medium. Obviously then the viewer's face would become part of the experience and therefore it made sense to just paint part of a face or head. It is funny how ideas come about, isn't it?

4. What else do you do?
I work part-time at Seed designing children's t-shirt prints and fabric yardages. I have also designed bed linen, toys, accessories, greeting cards and product packaging for the brand.

5. Do you have any future plans for your craft business?
I would like to sell in a retail environment as well as online. Melbourne is a great craft city and I would be very pleased to have my products in one or two of our beautiful stores! Sometimes I dream of having a little atelier too, like the craftspeople still do in Florence.

6. Is there something interesting about you that you could share and that isn't common knowledge?
I like to bake cakes. My current winner is the Pink Coconut Ice Cake from the Women's Weekly. If you ever come down to Melbourne we can have a few slices with a cup of tea. Thanks Thea!

Well, thank you Sandra. I never say no to cake and tea so I will take you up on your sweet offer when I visit in May (Stitches and Craft Show people).

Next week's Friday Follower may be a day late as I will be in Sydney.

Iron Man

You can't imagine how thrilled I am about this.

No, I'm not talking about the man although Rick is very nice and who I call upon whenever I need any metal work done. He did not want to reveal his face because he doesn't want any more business - can you believe that? I'm just fortunate that his workshop is only a street away from my studio so I can go and harass him when necessary.

What I am excited about is my new rack that will now organise my large fabric screens for easy and safe access. I have waited so long for this and I love it.

I must now apologise if I wrongly led you to believe that you would be seeing an iron man in speedos but I'm not that kind of blog.

Thank you to all who commented on what colour-way to add to our new designs. Great minds must think alike because we were considering a burnt orange and most of you suggested a yellow/orange colour. We are calling it Marigold in keeping with our theme.

The winner of 1/2 metre of our new fabric is Pesky Cat Designs of New York. Blog followers that were randomly selected for a mystery prize are Maisy and Alice and Chek Designs. Please contact me with your postal details and congratulations.

I appreciate all of you who do follow my blog and buy our fabrics!

Naturally Stylish

We printed our new organic cotton/hemp jacquard last week and loved it so much that we whipped up these stylish scarves to show off.

Yes, this is Natalie again, my new part-time model.

The scarf features our new Cottage Garden design and is available in 3 colours, Rouge, Sage and Teal. This would make a beautiful gift that you can now purchase on-line.

If you wish to sew your own eco-friendly accessories or garments, you may purchase the printed fashion fabric here. I will be adding the base (unprinted) fabric to the on-line store during the week.

You still have a few hours left to enter my blog giveaway.

Who's That Girl?

Is it normal to have a girl-crush on your studio assistant? I'm not sure but I know that I have been having so much fun going to work lately along with super-versatile assistant, Natalie Lane.

On Thursday morning when Natalie came to work, I announced that we were going to do a photo-shoot with me as the photographer/stylist and her as the model.

Natalie is such a great sport as we took our fabrics and draped them all over her in the local skate park at Alexandra Hills, while attracting the attention of a few teenage boys (not sure why they weren't in school) and with amazing results, don't you think?

I have updated our homepage with this same picture. The caption reads "surround yourself with organic goodness". The image will also be used in a couple of ads that I am designing, one for eco-fabulous Peppermint Mag and the other for Mixtape Zine.

I love that Natalie likes doing all the things that I don't necessarily enjoy such as mixing ink colours and testing them until we think they are the right shade. Much more time-consuming than you may imagine. And yes, she is this cheery all of the time!

I first met Natalie when we both won Memento awards in 2007. The awards, now longer in existence, were given for Australian-made souveniers. Natalie won one for her "Down Undies" digitally printed gift pants and I for the Brisbane Skirt.

Natalie actually attended one of my screen-printing workshops and began working part-time for me soon after, in 2008. I trained her to print large screens for fabric yardage with me.

I was so excited when Natalie called me before Christmas, after returning from a long European trip, as previous assistant (and cousin) Eleni announced that she will be concentrating on full-time studies this year.

The above images are from a project Natalie worked on called 2 Series. The plastic earrings were recycled from discarded domestic packaging. Natalie is a crusader for the environment and this is something that was important to me as an employer.

So who is Natalie Lane? Well, let's ask her.

1. What are some of your achievements to date?

In 2008 I graduated from Griffith, Queensland College of Art, with a Bachelor of Design - Majoring in Product Design. I was proud to receive the Design Studies Medal for outstanding academic achievement in my program. In 2007 I received a first place at the Memento Australia Awards in the Emerging Queensland Designer Category. This is actually how I met Thea as she won an award for her Brisbane Skirt the same year.

2. What do you do outside work? I started dancing when I was a ‘little one’ and still do. This year I am teaching Tap Dancing to kids and hopefully soon beginner adults. Tap is my favorite style because you’re creating a visual performance and sound too.

3. Share something interesting that people may not know about you? Hmm, I didn’t really grow hair until I was three!

4. Why did you choose to work at Thea & Sami? Thea and Sami was appealing for a number of reasons. I was impressed that they used organic fabrics and water based inks for the environment and came to realize that they also much nicer and less toxic to work with. I enjoy creating things by hand so studio work is perfect. As Thea and Sami is a small business, I get the chance to perform a variety of tasks (from mixing colours to modeling) so my days are never dull.

5. What are some of your other plans? I am also in business with my friend Melanie Foote who I met in first year at university. We are currently in the early stages of developing a product range made entirely from recycled household plastics. The first product is cabinet/door knobs! We hope to supply these to interior designers, furniture manufacturers and home renovators. We just thought of the name ‘waste-not-want-knob’ which gave us a laugh.

Thanks Natalie! I'm sure that your name will be one to watch out for in the near future.

I'm saying a quick hello to Holly and fellow students here from my Blogging Your Way class as this interview also counts as my homework this week :)

More Sampling

Today was spent cutting and printing more linens for sampling. I seem to get so much done when I'm in the studio alone.

I printed the front of these linen tea-cosies with a small screen.

Here they go through the textile dryer. It looks like they're being gobbled up, doesn't it? I can't wait to see these finished but I still need to cut new fabrics for the bread baskets to be picked up for sewing on Thursday.

This is the Cottage Garden print on black organic linen. I will definitely have a wrap dress made from this.

Stay tuned for our new range of coloured organic cottons and don't forget to put your 5 cents worth on my previous post for your chance to win my blog giveaway.

Periwinkle and Basil

Periwinkle is my new favourite word. I just love saying it. As mentioned in my previous post, the colour is featured in Thea & Sami's new Cottage Garden fabric collection. I think I first heard the word when I discovered Laura Ashley and owned one of her decorating books from the 80s.

Being a true nerd, I needed to know a little more about the flowers that are commonly used as a ground cover. The plant is native to central and southern Europe and can be used for medicinal purposes when dried.

Our new Hydrangea fabric is now available printed on hemp/organic cotton. One of the colours we have chosen is the Periwinkle. This looks so pretty and is perfect for European-inspired Country Living.

The colour of hydrangeas range from pinks to blues and everything in between and can be controlled by adjusting the pH level of your soil. Blue flowers bloom when the soil is acidic. Am I the only one that thinks that is truly amazing?

Our second colourway is a green inspired by basil, an aromatic herb usually found growing in every Mediterranean garden. I love fresh basil in tomato salad.

Our Cottage Garden design is now available in the hemp/organic cotton fabric too and hand-printed in our studio with toxic-free, water-based inks. The printed colour seen here is Basil Green. Both fabrics are offered in either colour and designed to complement each other, making them ideal for home decor projects.

The designs have been printed on organic cotton canvas and organic fashion fabrics and I will be adding those to the website soon!

We are still to include a third ink colour to the palette for the hemp blend fabric so please leave your suggestions by next Tuesday week (Feb 16th). One of you will be randomly selected to receive a 1/2 metre of your choice to play with. All blog followers (no need to comment) will also go into the draw for a mystery gift. Please ensure that I have a way of contacting you if you don't have a blog link.

Giveaway winners have now been announced.

Images sourced from here and here.

My Inspiration Board

I had so much fun putting together this inspiration board for week's Blogging Your Way homework. Decor8's master blogger and teacher extraordinaire, Holly Becker, is one smart cookie and is challenging us to think about how we would like our blog to look. This was the main purpose of this exercise and something that I hadn't really thought about until now.

I have incorporated some of my new hand-printed fabrics in my collage. Inspired by cottage gardens on either side of the English Channel, my board comprises of traditional periwinkle tones as well as natural and striped European linens.

I enjoyed this exercise so much that I have decided to do something similar for a couple of magazine ads that I am designing this week. I will share once I have them done. I recommend that you make your own inspiration board; it really does help you see things clearer. Update: didn't have time to do a collage for my ads. See this post.

I need to apologise if you braved the rainy weather to visit the Young Designers Market today for I had to call in sick and I didn't open shop :(

Jesse Lino Prints

I would like to say that these lovely ladies are my work but I would be lying. Inspired by vintage sewing patterns, they are the creations of talented South African Jesse Breytenbach whose blog I have been following for a while now. Jesse is an accomplished illustrator and print maker who uses the block printing method for her fabrics.

I am very impressed by the even spacing achieved here.

Yep! All lino blocks are hand-carved.

Jesse's Chocolates print on cotton. Ironically, Jesse has authored a graphic novel named I Don't Like Chocolate available in her etsy store here.

Is there no end to this lady's talent?

Jesse has started another blog called Print Specs that reveals what materials printmakers from around the world use. If you visit, you will see a picture of me having a bad hair day, which is typical of most days really.

All photos are courtesy of Jesse Breytenbach.

Thank Goodness

I'm thankful for the lovely designers that are sewing our hand-printed fabrics because I just feel like things aren't happening as quickly as I would like over at the Thea & Sami Camp. Am I just impatient or do many of you feel frustrated that you're not where you would like to be at any given time?

On a positive note, it is gratifying when people choose our fabrics and to see what they make with them. I love this bag by Margaret at Konstant Kaos using our Marguerite print in red on hemp/organic cotton. Fully washable, this creation will be one available at the Northside Makers Market in Melbourne on Saturday.

Margaret has also created a range of ever-so-wicked Wizard of Oz bags and purses. Fun!

We make our own range of hemp/organic cotton tea-towels from our printed fabrics but I love the retro spin the Shimi girls have put on theirs. The set of two, comprises of a bamboo fabric hand-towel featuring our Fretwork design in red and includes a tea-towel in the same fabric.The sets are also available in other colours here.

I spent some time looking around in the Shimi store and discovered that they have a range of very innovative maternity fashions and for new mothers. How stylish is the LBD - that's short for Little Breastfeeding Dress. The cleverly designed split-level front allows for discreet baby feeding.

Speaking of markets, I will be peddling my wares in Brisbane this Sunday at the Young Designers Market. If you are in Southbank, please say hello. I will be sewing some new products tomorrow and will bring plenty of fabric and scrap packs along for your crafty types.