Fashion Rocks the Convent

Thea & Sami has been invited to participate in a Frugal Fashion Parade. You may be wondering what our organic garments have to do with being frugal? Surely, anything that can be worn for a long time and not categorized as disposable fashion, is frugal indeed.

The fashion parade is taking place on Sunday, 23rd October at lovely Benedict House in Queanbeyan, New South Wales. Please click here for more information on the fashion parade and the participants.

I love buildings with a history and Benedict House was originally built as a boarding school by the Good Samaritan Sisters. It has had a colourful history including having former Australian Prime Ministers, Ben Chifley named after it and Paul Keating as an owner in the 1980's.

You may be excited to know that the gallery not only sells lovely jewellery but also runs regular beading workshops so you can make you own masterpieces. These delicious images are borrowed from their website here.

Back to fashion, don't forget that Botanique is on tomorrow night although I believe they were close to being sold out.

Our Summer organic fashion collection is now in-store at Bliss Ecowear!

Market Gallery

Udessi is fast becoming synonymous with the best in Australian Craft and Design. The on-line gallery has beautiful work for sale, hand-selected by owner and accomplished ceramic artist, Kim Wallace.

I was recently invited to join the good company so look out for a selection of Thea & Sami homewares, tote bags and fabrics to be listed on-line at Udessi soon. Meanwhile, you will be able to find our products at the Udessi market stall this Sunday at the Portside Boutique Markets. This frees up a lot of much-needed time for me so I won't be continuing with my own stall.

Kim (on the left) is joined by artist Renée Treml at Udessi's market stall last month.

'Vintage Lace' blue stoneware bowl by Kim Wallace. Above images courtesy of Udessi blog and website.

If you are visiting the markets this Sunday, check out regular Sharron Tancred who can be found painting one of her commissioned artworks. Sharron's business Works For Your House specialises in designing and creating unique art pieces to suit your home decor.

Reincarnation

In a previous life, I was a tea-towel but my clever owner Tania has transformed me into the loveliest apron.

It almost makes me want to cook and clean, the key word being almost. Visit Myrtle and Eunice for more pics.

Tania won the tea-towel as last month's lucky blog follower. This has reminded me that I have neglected to draw my lucky follower for this month. Follower No.122, come on down. Oh, that's you Margaret at Konstant Kaos. Thank you for following the Thea & Sami studio blog!

Your Christmas Bird

Love Christmas? Check. Love embroidery? Check. Love natural linen? Check. Then you will love these adorable Christmas ornaments from little and big k's etsy store.

Creator Lisa Kingston recently purchase the natural linen from Thea & Sami and was kind enough to show me her wonderful creations when she was visiting the Young Designers Market last month. All the way from Hobart, Tasmania! Her whimsical drawings are adorable. I love the Christmas Rooster.

And of course the Christmas Dog and Cat.

And who says that a turtle can't be part of Christmas?

Speaking of ornaments, Anna Bartlett is looking for some crafty types to test-drive her screen-printed Angels softies kit.

Beachy Prints

Yesterday was a day for playing with prints. I love screen-printing in layers and here are the results.

The deck chair and beach umbrella that I asked Eleni, aka Curlyhead Design, to draw for our new range of beach-inspired "Summer Days" totes. I haven't finished sewing the bags yet but will do so tonight in time for the Young Designers Market tomorrow. They are made of a sturdy organic cotton canvas and are washable.

It was Eleni's idea to design the retro bathers print. I couldn't decide between black or red so have done a few of each. Which do you prefer?

And with my current fish obsession, I had to print them over the stripes too. I am thinking summer deck cushions.

For you clever crafty types, I'm off to pack some fabric packs. If you're in Brisbane, I hope to see you tomorrow at Southbank!

Get Creative

How cute is this felt camera case? You can make one yourself. The instructions are available in the latest issue of Get Creative or on their website here.

Admittedly, I was not previously familiar with this magazine but I am loving my October issue.

I recommend the article on handmade home decor featuring wonderful talent such as Thea Samios with her lovely hand-printed linens and homewares.

In good company with Susan Wasinger author of Eco-Craft, featuring 30 eco-friendly projects for you home. The book's cover project shows you how to paint wine bottles for reuse as vases. This project is available for download through Susan's website here.

I have done the research for you and found that ordering this book from Amazon.com is cheaper than buying locally for Australian buyers. The exchange rate is favourable, even with the added shipping costs.

Get Creative magazine is available through Spotlight, Borders and selected newsagents.

Catch a Fish

The ugly Thea & Sami studio wall is no more.  We have painted it white and proudly added our own art work.  This is the Fraser Island design printed on organic cotton twill and stretched over an art canvas frame found at our local dollar store.  The design is also available for purchase in our on-line store in hemp/organic cotton.

This is my favourite fabric at the moment, especially in "Aqua Sky". 

As our base fabrics are all white, I have created this as a reverse print so that the background can be any colour we choose to use.  Of course, more ink is used in the screen-printing so this design is more expensive than others.

We have included a neutral shade appropriately named "Sandy Beach".

Or do you prefer our "Starfish Pink", cleverly named by Eleni of Curlyhead Design to fit in with our beachy themes?

I am checking out some local manufacturers today to help expand our home decor range with cushions, etc. I am thinking of stretching some fabric over canvas to sell as artwork too, what do you think?