Denim & Fretwork

Another lovely submission for our Merry Month of Creativity. This lovely bag was made by Margo of The Climbing Tree using our Fretwork red printed hemp/organic cotton and organic cotton denim.

Look at the details! The bag was quickly snapped up last night through the Gossamer Dreams website but if you will find similar fabric here or on our Remnants page.

Merry Month of Creativity

I can't believe it's May already! All through the month, we are asking you to submit your Thea & Sami fabric creations, big or small. We'd really like to see what you do with our fabrics!

First entry is this stylish phone case by Kristy of Monkey Mia Creations. The fabric used is the Marguerite screen-printed linen although Kristy loves to buy our Scrap Packs for her little projects. Are you inspired? Get creative!

With readers' help, we will select a grand winner to win a $200 gift voucher (that's a lot of fabric) and 5 runners up will each receive win a Fabrics Scrap Pack. 

Entries close midnight (AEST) on June 1st. Submissions must not have been featured on our blog before. Winner to be announced June 4nd. Email your photos to thea[at]thea-sami.com.au or post on our Facebook Page.

New Linen Napkins

I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day. Hubby did well by surprising me with the sweetest nightie and hand cream from Crabtree & Evelyn, a store he knows as one of my favourites.

I'm delighted to say that our new 'Lilacs' linen napkins are now available for purchase in a variety of colours here.

Pure white on natural flax linen is timeless elegance, don't you think?

We are now offering a custom-colour printing service if you would like to use any of our eco-friendly napkins for your special event. They would be perfect as wedding favours for guests to take home. Discounts are available for bulk purchases so please contact me to discuss your ideas.

We have discontinued the Rose napkins so if you would like to grab a set while stocks last, they are going at less than 1/2 price over on our Sales Page.

We have some very exciting news as Thea & Sami will be part of a MASSIVE giveaway hosted by Lily Chic Events later today. Details to follow.

Thank You Madison & Blog Followers!

Last week, another high school student spent some time doing hands-on work experience in our studio.

Madison was such delightful company and very eager to learn as much as possible during her short stay. On her last day, I let her choose some screens to play with.

She printed two of my old t-shirt designs. Pretty good, hey?

And chances are that if you buy one of our white Butterfly tea-towels, it was also printed by Madison. You can have a job with Thea & Sami anytime Madison!

And yes, I still have to post images from our printing workshop last Saturday. That will have to wait until tomorrow as I really should keep working on my new fabric designs but I did want to post the Blog Giveaway I promised you. This is in celebration of 500 wonderful blog followers. Yay!

The prize is a one-of-a-kind "Marguerite" linen tea-towel and a set of Marguerite linen placemats, all hand-printed in red.

To be in the running, simply leave a comment on this post. It can be feedback on my blog, website, products or just to say hello! As this giveaway is a thank you to my blog followers, it's only fair that you are one.

* Please make sure that I have a way of contacting you so leave an email address if you don't have a blog.

The winner will be randomly selected on Sunday,19th December (Aussie date). Yes, yes, I will ship anywhere. Now go away as I must get back to work.

This giveaway has now closed. Thank you to all who commented. The winner was announced here.

The Winner Is....

Thank you to all of you entered my Blog Giveaway and for your valuable feedback. I have used Random.Org to pick the winner. Commenter no. 8 is Creative Controller. Congratulations!

True Random Number Generator

Min:


Max:


Result:
8

Powered by RANDOM.ORG


If you are attending my Open Studio, you will have another chance to be a winner. All attendees will receive a ticket to go into the draw for a $50 Thea & Sami voucher to send as you like. Thank you if you have already RSVP'd. I want to make sure that we have plenty of refreshments available :)

Earthgirl Fabrics

Earthgirl Fabrics is an on-line fabric and notions store based in Melbourne and is now stocking Thea & Sami linen tea-towels.

Owner Annabel Jones lives with her husband and two children, aged 6 and 8 and has been running Earthgirl Fabrics for about 18 months now. As we love to know the people behind small business, I asked Annabel to tell us a little about herself. In her words:

"My mum taught me to knit when I was at primary school (I used to knit in the playground and later on the train on the way to high school!) and to sew (I used to sew my own mini skirts!), but it wasn't until I found craft blogs on the internet a few years ago that my obsession really took hold. Life is very busy with parenting, helping out at the children's school and running the business (as well as sewing when I get the chance), but I love what I do and feel very lucky to have opportunity to combine work with my crafting passion".

I have listed some of the goodies that you will find at Earthgirl Fabrics. A collection of the cutest ribbons. I think my favourite is the LOVEchirp from Farbenmix Germany.

A selection of lovely sewing patterns. If you do have the time to sew and to read books on picnics, the Reading Pillow is a novel idea from Sew Liberated.

If you like the idea of quilting but not cutting, then you may like the City Weekend Charm Pack. The sweet pre-cut squares are part of the lastest fabric collection by Oliver+s for Moda Fabrics.

You could end up with a quilt like this. I love the white background.

Now for the best part. Earthgirl Fabrics is hosting a blog giveaway and the prize is a Thea & Sami hand-printed linen tea-towel of your choice. What are you waiting for? Visit Earthgirl Fabric blog to enter. The giveaway is drawn on Tuesday, September 28.

My regular Friday Follower column will resume in a couple of weeks. Today, I am taking the rest of the day off to spend with my daughter. Happy Friday!

Images are courtesy of Earthgirl Fabrics except for tea-towels image by me (Thea).

Blog Giveaway

Over the next few weeks, I will be reviewing our product range. Some designs and fabrics will be discontinued and priced to clear. If you are able to attend our Open Studio this Sunday, you will have first pick of these. Otherwise, you will be advised when items are listed on our Sales page.

Pop-Art Girl has to go! I am giving away 3 such linen tea-towels to my blog readers. One will be given to a randomly-chosen follower as I have yet to draw my monthly giveaway.

In celebration of positive changes in my life and business (more announcements coming soon), I would love to hear about any decisions that you too have made or are now inspired to make in order to simplify your own lives. Share your comment here by next Thursday, 8th April for your chance to win Pop-Art Girl. I really look forward to reading your thoughts!

Please note, that for this giveaway, you should be a blog follower and I need to be able to contact you (if you win) so please leave an email address if you don't have a blog link.

Thank you to Daniele of Lace and Bark for her lovely blog post yesterday about Thea & Sami.

Winners have been announced.

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.

Free Textile Magazine

If you love textiles, papermaking, quilting, basketry and other fibre arts then you would enjoy reading the Textile Fibre Forum Magazine (TAFTA). I have been a subscriber for 5 years and am always inspired by the diversity of the artisans featured. The quarterly magazine includes news and events from around the world and advertises textile tours and suppliers of felting wool, dyes and yarns, etc.

I am helping with a much-needed subscriber drive to keep the magazine going and to attract a new generation of readers. Thanks to the generosity of editor Janet de Boer, I am very excited to offer my readers a sample issue of the magazine. To receive your free issue, please email your details to Janet: tafta[at]iinet.net.au with the subject "Free Sample Mag - Thea".

This offer is open to all readers. Australian readers are kindly requested to help with postage costs (if possible) by forwarding $1.50 of unused stamps. If you like what you see, please consider subscribing to future issues.

I have selected the following images from stories in the current issue.

Fibre shoes by Therese Flynn-Clarke. Part of a series made from materials including stitched leaves and raw Nepalese silk. Image by artist.

The INTRODUCING SPECIES shoe by Beth Hatton is based on a early convict shoe pattern. The artist believes that the convicts were responsible for spreading weeds via their shoes and so has created these from indigenous grasses and weeds. Image by Ian Hobbs.

Hand-felted jacket from New Zealand artist Raewyn Penrose. Raewyn is leading a New Zealand tour for felt makers. More information here.


FISH FILE is part of an exhibition of Hand Made Artist's books by Sandy Gerritsen and Mo Skett at the Gympie Regional Gallery recently. Materials used are driftwood, woven wax linen and relief prints. Image by David Skett.

To read more, please subscribe to TAFTA.

Classes Blast Off!

So you can sew, knit, crochet and bake but can you screen-print?






















Our popular Introduction to Screen-Printing Classes are starting again in January. Dates available are Saturday, January 23rd (only 1 spot left) or January 30th (fully booked). There is a 10% discount for early-bird payment before Christmas. Reserve your spot here or if you know somebody who would love to spend the day screen-printing, you can contact me to arrange a gift voucher.

For inspiration, see what clever folk have created in our previous classes here. Rocket was designed and screen-printed by former participant, Petra Jones.

Stay tuned because tomorrow I have a blog giveaway for ALL of my readers!

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.

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!

Table Runner For You

We have been working hard here at Thea & Sami to expand our range of hand-printed loveliness. To help us spread the natural hand-made goodness, I am giving one lucky person the chance to win a beautiful table runner printed in navy on natural, unbleached linen, featuring our popular "Marguerite" design.



For your chance to win; choose from one, two or three possibilities. Firstly, you may blog about this giveaway (and let me know). Secondly, become a follower and get another entry or tell me if you already are a follower.

Thirdly, leave a comment telling me if you enjoy shopping on-line and if there is a reason you wouldn't shop from a particular website. I truly value any feedback, in particular to the Thea & Sami on-line store. The blog giveaway is open to Australian and International friends. Please ensure there is a away of me contacting you if you don't have a blog link.



In addition to the table runner, I will still be sending out my regular monthly mystery gift to one of my regular followers to say thank you! I will be closing the giveaway on Wednesday, September 9th at 9.00 p.m. (Australian EST). Good luck!

Blog giveaway has now closed (9.9.09). I will draw and the winners in the morning. Thank you to all who commented, linked to this post and followed!

High Tea Around the World

Many of you will know of Sophie Isobel's lovely blog - Her Library Adventures.  If not, visit it now!

Sophie is a delightful girl with a wonderful imagination largely inspired by her love of reading. She teaches English, enjoys writing and spends her free hours creating the sweetest brooches.

Sophie has served her new Spring range as high tea. How clever.



Sophie has used Thea & Sami hand-printed linen scraps to create the new City Collection.  This is especially exciting for me as part of my design philosophy is to be as environmentally friendly as possible. It's wonderful to see our off-cuts upcycled so beautifully.

New York brooch.



Tokyo brooch.



Explore brooch from the Petite Scrap range (not Thea & Sami fabrics).
 

You may also commission Sophie to make an exclusive brooch for you as I did here.

What is your favourite city in the world?  For the chance to win your own handmade Sophie Isobel brooch, answer the question at her blog giveway.