Sneak Peek & Open Studio

I have returned from Tasmania to a lot of work which is keeping me out of trouble. Unfortunately, I lost an entire day to a migraine on Wednesday. Fortunately, I have two lovely assistants to help me today and tomorrow.

Here is a quick peek of our new Blue Marine Cushions. They feature our Fretwork print on one side and the French Stripes on the other. I haven't listed them on the website yet but needed to quickly get images for a magazine for an upcoming Hamptons theme.

New table runners are coming soon too. If you are coming along to our Open Studio tomorrow, limited stock of these and other new products will be available.

For location and details on our Open Studio, please visit our Events Page. We will be demonstrating our fabric printing and would love to meet you. We have been preparing LOTS of fabric remnants and other goodies for you.

Creative Arty Facts has generously donated this hand-crafted glass bead lariat for our Lucky Door Prize. Each attendee will receive a free ticket for the draw.Thanks Liz!

If you can't make it tomorrow, our Studio Shop is also open today from 10.00 am - 4.00 pm. We're at Unit 1, 6 Jones Road, Capalaba (or Birkdale on some maps). I hope to see you!

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.

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.

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.

Save the date