Screen-Printing for Curtains

I want to say that I won't be screen-printing today after printing like a maniac all week but with a couple of new screens coming today, it may be hard to resist.

It was exciting printing the Iron Flowers linen fabric yesterday for my living room. I need to finish painting it next Monday but at least I won't have to do any sewing. The curtains and roman blinds will be made by Janneale, over at Miraje Home, one of our lovely customers.

Even more exciting, for me, was printing 30 metres of our Marguerite design (on Sage Green linen) for a home in country NSW. I can't tell you how honoured I feel that the owners chose our fabrics for their curtains over all the big brands out there. I will definitely share photos once I can.

Don't forget that the Studio Shop is open today (and tomorrow) so if you drop in, I will gladly have a break and a cuppa with you :)

French Checks Now Available

I'm addicted to screen-printing checked fabrics. It's been so much fun seeing what works together. We now have a selection of these 2 colour prints available for purchase on our website. We have called them "French Checks".

There is quite a bit of work in doing these prints. The linen fabric has to be printed once with the French Stripes large screen and then the fabric is cut, turned and printed again with the second colour. Thus, the fabric can only be sold as a panel with a maximum printed area of 140 cm (55 inch) square. You may also purchase a 1/4 panel.

I love the detail in this and they way the red ink sits over the creme ink, not covering it completely.

I would love to see what people come up with. At Thea & Sami, we are having tablecloths, cushions and lampshades made so I can't wait to see those finished.

Hope & Me - Launceston

Remember these gorgeous paper flowers from my trip to Tasmania?

I can now reveal that they were photographed at Hope & Me, our newest stockist in Launceston. I love this store and so will you. Let me show you around.

Did you know that baby shoes grow on trees?

I'm really loving touches of yellow this season.

Oh hello young man. Lindi McMahon, the clever store owner painted this jewellery wall display herself.

You will find a bunch of sweet smelling natural soaps, custom gift-wrapped with our screen-printed, natural linen. More Thea & Sami products will be in store soon!

You will find Hope & Me in the Quandrant Mall in Launceston. That's Lindi behind the counter. For more information and to keep up with regular updates, LIKE Hope and Me on Facebook.

Neighbourhood Brekkie Gem

Did you have a nice weekend? I did as I've taken back my Sundays to do NOTHING! I'm always so tired by the end of the week and really do need one whole day to recuperate. Mondays will now be for working on home projects and (boring) housework.

Voyt and I love having breakfast around Brisbane's various haunts on Sundays and discovered a real gem yesterday in Coorparoo. Ave Cucina and Coffee Bar is your friendly neighbourhood cafe for a quiet breakfast second to none.

Voyt ordered the Rosario eggs and thoroughly enjoyed them

and I had the Pera and Mela (pear & apple) with crunchy oats, honey and mascarpone. YUMMY!

No breakfast is complete without great coffee and I can guarantee that you will have one of the best in town here.

Back to my studio-free Mondays, I'm painting the living room blue today. Luckily, it doesn't need priming so I'm taking it at an easy pace. I have enough deadlines to adhere to so I don't mind if I have to continue next week.

The windows and trims are now all beautifully painted white but the fly screens are still brown. I didn't think that through did I? I will now have to spray paint those white. Does it ever end?

Jig Living

As many of my regular readers would know, I just adore decorating with vintage items.

How versatile are these old ammunition boxes available at our newest stockist, Jig Living in Moree, NSW?

Owner Jacqui Eather has such a keen eye for style.

You will find a selected range of Thea & Sami hand-printed lampshades and linen homewares in store.

The exterior looks inviting too. I would love to visit but it's a little far for me to just drop in. I hope that those of you who are closer do visit and say hello for me!

For location details and updates, visit and like the Jig Living Facebook page.

Images courtesy of Jig Living.

New Vintage Book Launch

On Thursday night, Elessa and I had the pleasure of attending a book launch for interior stylist Tahn Scoon's NEW VINTAGE book. The launch was hosted at Les Salles in Paddington (Brisbane).

This really is a beautiful book and it's all been photographed in Brisbane by Anastasia Kariofyllidis.

Tahn has included some great projects and you can learn how to make your own upholstered linen bed head.

or how to recover a drop-seat chair among other things.

Yes Karl Hilton, a soap on a rope is very amusing.

Here is the talented author Tahn Scoon signing my copy of her book. You can email Tahn to buy your own signed copy.

Lampshades

I'm loving aqua right now and it seems like I'm not the only one.

I've just added this new Fretwork Aqua printed lampshade to our range.

Look out for our new checked linen lampshades coming soon! You may also choose your own colourways so please contact me with any enquiries.

To make room for new lampshades, some of our current stock is now on sale. Small ones here.

Medium lampshades on sale here. I will add more as time permits and don't forget that we can make any of our fabrics into lampshades for you. Just ask nicely :)

Painted Entrance Doors

I have always loved painted entrance doors.

Image from here.

Dublin doors image from here.

I believe that painted entrance doors should be bold and bright don't you?

I am so excited that we finally have a painted entrance door and white French doors! I'm sure that our verandah will look even better once we get these exterior walls painted off-white.

In case you're interested, the colour of our front door is Taubman's "Mamala Bay".

I wasn't sure if painting a country style, wooden door with a Kookaburra stained glass window would work but I'm pleased we did.

This is what the front entry looked like before (image from real estate site). I'm afraid the look is just too "lumberjack's cabin" for my liking so everything is going to be painted!

I just need a wee break so have told the painters not to come back for a couple of weeks. I will be painting the furniture myself (all in good time).

Checking In

Did you have a nice weekend? I have been busy at home and will finally have a new fabric design to screen-print next week.

Meanwhile, it looks like we will be printing more checks this week after all.

We sampled this red and navy mix on Saturday and quite liked it. A good friend will be using it in her new product range. I'm not allowed to tell you more than that right now but all will be revealed in good time :)

Modern Wedding Style

If you're looking for modern wedding ideas, you will love the work of Lily Chic Events & Just Call Me Martha who worked together to create this beautiful reception.

The white frames feature our Peacock Party fabric in Teal.

Cakes by Just Call Me Martha.

How amazing is this vintage brooch bouquet by Lillybuds? To see more of the event details, read the blog post on Sweet Designs by Amy Atlas.

By the way, the Peacock fabric is also available now in pretty colours on white linen.

Event Photography by Lily Chic Events.

Because Mistakes Happen

I am drowning in fabrics. I mean pieces and pieces of fabrics. I need your help!

This week, a big mistake happened. Our studio junior set up for yardage printing but miscalculated in her measurements. The result was that our fabric repeat didn't work so I'm left with several 1/2 metre pieces of beautiful Hydrangea creme printed linen. Priced at a bargain $36. Please give one or two a home. Purchase here.

You may also purchase other remnants and scrap packs here. There are just too many to list. You will need to visit our studio to get more bargains.

Circular Cushion

You're a clever lot and I just love seeing what you do with our fabrics.

Marcia made a circular cushion from our Marguerite navy print fabric. Marcia plans to finish with a button in the centre.

It had never occurred to me to make circular cushions but I really like the look. What do you think?

So for all the blue lovers, you can now buy the Marguerite print on white linen.

Also available black print on natural linen. Don't like sewing. We have Marguerite linen cushions for you too.

Yay! Today is Friday and the studio shop is open for visitors. See you from 10.00 am onwards. Our location is here.