Eek!

I am still not ready for my Interior Design Fabrics Launch tonight. Things have been going wrong but thankfully, I did have the studio plumbing problem fixed today.

I am still typing up fabric information and prices at 4.30 am. However, I just realised that it will probably be 5 days between posts if I don't do a quick update. I don't know whether you miss me or not but personally, I do get blogging withdrawal symptoms.

I had a great day at the Young Designers Markets yesterday. It was a lovely sunny day and it seemed that everybody was out and about enjoying the day. A special hello to the wonderful interstate customers who shopped from the Thea & Sami stall. Watch this space as I also met a couple of potential new stockists of printed fabrics and homewares.

Speaking of fabrics, Jodie of The Haby Goddess wrote a lovely post about Australian Textile Designers and included yours truly.

I leave you with a photo of my lovely vintage chair upholstered in the red Fretwork print. The chair is sitting on the Marguerite fabric printed in new colour "Sandy Beach", a lovely neutral tone. I think you can easily mix prints together if only one is a bold colour as demonstrated here, don't you think? These fabrics are 100% organic cotton canvas.

Thank you for your valuable feedback on internet shopping to date. Only 2 more days left to enter my Blog Giveaway.

Puppy Love

I wanted to share these moments of pure friendship between child and animal with you.



I stopped by to visit my sister Christina (hiding) yesterday and my adorable nephew Josh. He just loves his dog Kimba, as you can see. She is a Shetland Sheepdog.



Have a great weekend! Thea & Sami will be at the Young Designers Market on Sunday.

Domestic Goddess

I'm not really a domestic goddess; my house is actually a mess right now as I am busy preparing for my new fabrics launch next Tuesday evening. I have been shooting the fabrics in my studio and this photo came about purely by accident when Emily commented how cool it looked. I was ironing out the centre fold line and it reminded us of a 50's housewife. Can't you just imagine her pressing her curtains to perfection?



Hubby installed a curtain rod on my back wall and with the help of crocodile clips, I was able to quickly hang up the different fabrics to photograph in their entirety. My studio is located in an industrial unit so there was plenty of natural light once we opened the high roller-door all the way.



This is my pineapples design now printed on organic cotton twill. I would love this in my kitchen! I have custom-mixed this colour myself and have named it "Sunripe Yellow". Do you like that name? The yellow we used for the striped fabric is being called "Lemon Sorbet" courtesy of Melissa Healy of Futari Design who suggested it. I love coming up with names for colours - it's one of the fun parts of my job.

Thank you to everybody who has been leaving comments in regard to on-line shopping. The comments are so useful and I will be revamping the website with those in mind. Click here If you would like to offer your feedback too and have a chance of winning my beautiful hand-printed table runner.

Georgi No E Please!

I haven't followed my followers lately so allow me to present to you Georgi (no e please) Lewis, fabulous Furniture & Product Designer.



Georgi aka Georgina Lewis is one of the speakers at Pecha Kucha this week in Brisbane. I am looking forward to hearing all about Georgi's new environmentally-friendly children's table and chairs. The table, two large and two small chairs are all cut from a single sheet of sustainable ply. The idea is that the pieces slot together without the aid of glues or screws. You've gotta love that!

I have custom-printed an organic cotton tunic for Georgi to wear on the evening. It goes nicely with the whole eco-theme. I will try and photograph her and the design on Wednesday.



Georgi has also created an adorable range of small glowing critters that you can buy flat-packed and roll into tea-light covers. See Dino above and Sharky below. The collection also includes Squark (cockatoo). These are a great gift idea; easily posted anywhere in a small envelope.



Speaking of Pecha Kucha; have you heard about this great event? On monthly at locations around the world, it is a platform to give creative types the opportunity to sell themselves and their products. Quick and to-the-point, each designer/artist onlys get 20 seconds per slide, 20 slides in all. The next Brisbane event is on Wednesday, September 2nd at the Powerhouse at 8.20 pm. Visit here for more details. Attendance is free, just turn up! You can also visit the official Pecha Kucha site to see if there are any events in your area.

I have not had a good week and have planned to shoot pics of my new fabrics tomorrow. My camera clicker fell off but I have happily discovered that I can still take photos by pushing a large pin into the hole instead. This will be a temporary fix until I can afford the time to have it repaired. I have become so good at problem-solving. Necessity really is the mother of all inventions. Wish me luck!

Don't forget to enter my Blog Giveaway.

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!

A Rose Per Day

A rose per day keeps romance alive!



I had to share this heart-warming story with you. Tom and Joan Shovelton of the UK celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last week. For every one of those years, he has placed a rose on Joan's bedside every SINGLE day!



This is the happy octogenarian couple. Aren't they adorable? You can really see their true affection for each other. To read more of their story, click here.

Does your partner have a daily romantic ritual? I would love to know if there are more Toms out there!

Casual to Formal

I get by with a little help from my friends!

It's always thrilling when people like your work but I was especially touched when one of my oldest and dearest friends, Gloria Cassimatis, ordered a custom-made tablecloth and 8 placemats for her new kitchen. She and her table were models for the photo-shoot.

 
  
Unfortunately, not all photos turned out but considering it was evening and we were working with artificial lighting, I am quite pleased with this photo of my lovely hostess. Notice that her outfit just happened to be colour coordinated with the black & off-white placemats. Coincidence?

The fabric used was a eco-friendly blend of 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton and was hand-printed with our Fretwork design with water-based, toxic-free inks.



The printed tablecloth is perfect for a more formal dinner. Other tablecloths can be custom-made to your measurements. Contact me for a quote. If you would like to order for Christmas, please allow up to 6 weeks for production and delivery.

I liked how great these look so have listed the same placemats and tablecloth for sale in the Thea & Sami on-line store.