Prints Charming

Thank you thank you thank you....

 

At the end of a immensely busy 2009 it's time to stop and say THANK YOU to all that have supported Prints Charming over this past year. 

Thank you to all that came to our annual Market Day. It was such a busy day so to all the new and familiar faces that queued, thank you. To Heather and Margaret for being our "check out" girls. Market Day just isn't the same with out you both.

To our wonderful women that have helped us so much over the past year. Jacqui for keeping the "office" and us going, thank you.  Customers who pop in on saturdays will have been lucky enough to meet Sarah 1 and Sarah 2. Thank you for imparting our enthusiasm for fabric and all things crafty on. Thank you to Zoe who keeps us young on Wednesdays! Sandra and Beverley for generously sharing their knowledge with all that came to their classes.

There is alot happening next year and there will be even more thank you's then, all will be revealed......

On that note we are on holidays. School has finished for the year for our kids and so today was our last day in the studio. We are off to spend the summer with our families. Swimming and thinking of stitching, eating and thinking of designs, relaxing and thinking of crafting, all ideas that will be put onto fabric in 2010.(maybe there are a couple of projects packed in the suitcase!! it's a long time with no stitching)  Reports of the two clans holiday activities next year.

The shop will be closed from today and will re-open on the 1st February 2010.

So wherever you are reading this one final thank you, thank you for reading our blog and being part of Prints Charming. Our class list for next year will be released when we get back to the studio.

Have a wonderful Christmas and restful New Year,

Happy stitching

Cath and Kirsten

 

Stitchin' Mission

We often have lovely visitors to our store and last week was no exception. Linda dropped in last week all the way from Iowa in the US. She's here visiting family and is also involved in a wonderful charity called Stitchin' Mission teaching beginner quilting to students who in turn donate their gorgeous quilts to others in need.

What a great way to learn a new skill and give back to your local community. Check out her blog for more info.

Here she is visiting Prints Charming.

Have a great week!

Are you a crafty minx?

The weather is starting to heat up in Sydney along with the workload here in the studio. We're getting ready to do the final count down for Magnolia Square as we madly print and pack goodies for you all to see from Thursday 19th to Saturday 21st Nov. Check out the official site for more info.

We also had the wonderful oportunity of going to Kelly Doust's media launch of 'The Crafty Minx' which has been published by Murdoch Books. Check it out for more inspiration on creative ways to recycle pre-loved items and turn them into gorgeous new creations.

Sofia, Kirsten, Kelly, Cath and Vivien.

Here we are enjoying the yummy cakes!

The media launch was held at Julie Paterson's store - Cloth fabric, which of course is always great to visit. It was really good to catch up with Julie and we're loooking at doing some colaborative projects together next year.

Kirsten, Julie and Cath.

Another exciting bit of news this week was a feature that came out on Prints Charming in Quilts and More which is a US magazine that is part of Better Homes and Gardens Creative Collection. So look out for it at your local newsagent as we have seen it for sale at local places.

There are two Prints Charming projects featured; a quick 'how to screen print the Prints Charming way' and also a quilting project.

  

Here's a sneak peak at some of the fabo new things we'll have at Magnolia and also our market day in the studio on the 28th November.

Kaleidoscope Napkins

 

That's all for today,

Happy Crafting.

Preparing for Market Day

Full steam ahead in the studio as we prepare for our Market Day. We've all been working really hard...

...especially the little man below, working so hard he fell asleep in the cosy quilt. Must have been the comfort of curling up in a hand made item that did it!

Have you ever seen Kirsten in speedy mode, printing her heart out? Now you have...

New goodies getting packed, ready to sell...

We'll also be at Magnolia Square the week before so, as you can imagine, we've got lots of work to do!

Stay tuned for more sneak peaks over the next few weeks. And of course, for those of you who live too far away to come in for Market Day, we will have new product in our online store soon.

Happy stitching

Market Day November 28th...don't miss it!

Art and About

Last week Bowie Style, who writes a gorgeous blog - print & pattern did a really nice write up on Prints Charming, so a big thank you to Bowie.

Check out her latest blog for some great inspiration. And if you're not from her part of the world (UK) try not to be too jealous of the great Anthropologie store that has just opened in London!

On the weekend, Kirsten and her family went to the Art and About festival put on by the City of Sydney. A fabulous event showcasing a huge variety of art and artists. Sadly many of the events are now finished but check out the website for more upcoming events.

They had a wonderful time and here are some fab shots of the I heart kings cross exhibition. This creative project was developed by Michelle McCosker and Alasdair Nicol from artist collective Reef Knot. 

Here's one that reminded us of the great Dr Suess...

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.”  Dr Suess.

 

Pearl and Lucy in tree hugging mode.

The trees on Kings Cross just got dressed up...

 

Have a great week

Lucy stitching it up!

It was a couple of days before the end of term, a bit tired and frazzled so a day at the studio for Lucy. Hanging out with mum was prescribed. Stitching was the cure.

These motifs are just perfect for all ages to learn basic embroidery stitches on. Lucy decided she would start this as a Christmas present for her teacher. The motif is the guide and with a little or alot of stitching they still look wonderful.  The embroidery hoop is a great help for little hands. It makes the fabric much easier to hold and keeps the panel at the correct tension so stitches aren't pulled too tight and the panel ends up a little too gathered.  This lessons the chances of  "Mum I can't do this" being cried out and then the project being given up in frustration. Lucy worked at this for a good couple of hours happy and content creating her own embroidery. Hot chocolate helped as well.

There is still some stitching to be done but there is a such sense of satisfaction in hand made. On returning home Henry,5, not to be outdone by his sister started one for Uncle Morgan and well it kept him still for hours! We love that.

Inspired by all this stitching by little hands we have put together a kit which together with the stitching guide including you can create this.

 Happy stitching Kirsten, Cath and Lucy.

Can you PYOF?

Our PYOF (print your own fabric) went off with a bang last Thursday.

It was a great sunny day to print and apart from the roadworks on the street out the front, very peaceful and productive. (The trucks did come in handy though; to amuse the various toddlers who popped into the store with their mothers in tow.)

The screen printing class is our most popular class - 4 students come into the studio and learn how to hand screen print using the paper cut method we often use here at Prints Charming.

Posted below are shots of their great work.

The beginning of Rebecca's design...yes it all starts with a sketch!

Onto the screen...

And voila! The final product...

Marni's design

more colours getting printed...

Burcak's design...

Jane's design with a little help from Cath blow-drying the print to help speed up the process.

And last but not least, a photo of Karlyn's gorgeous quilt that she has made since completing a screen printing class here in March.

For inspiration check out our March post to see the beginning of the project.

That's all for this week, have a good one.

Have you been "Guerilla-ed"?

Our roving IT guru (Aka ST) was guerilla-ed this week by the fabulous grrl+dog who happened to be passing by Sydney Uni doing a spot of guerrilla knitting.

If you are not at all sure what we're talking about you must check out her blog to see the fabulous things this creative knitter is addding to Sydney , bit by bit....

We love this form of creative abandon, send us photos or links of anything you spy in your travels, we're always on the lookout.

Have a great week.

Cool Quilts

Last Friday the studio was buzzing with action with some very busy quilting going on.

Beverley has been teaching a quilting class over the last few weeks and below are shots of some of the quilts the students are making. The course has covered the basics of quilting including choosing your fabrics, techniques and individual guidance along the way. Of course the best bit is that after all the hard work, you get to go home with a quilt to put somewhere special.

This is Nicola's quilt so far...

Tamara's handywork....

Tanya's quilt....

Fiona's quilt top is finished and at the quilter so no photos of it yet, but stay tuned....!

We always enjoy visits from all our customers and friends and pictured below are some  special Prints Charming friends. They dropped in all the way from Switzlerland while on holidays in Australia. Don't the girls have gorgeous happy smiles?!

Take care and enjoy your week :-)

PS: For those of you who asked where to buy the Heart mobile kits showcased on our blog a few weeks ago, they are now available to buy online here at our PC store.