While exploring the Finders Keepers Market last weekend, I came across a gorgeous little stall featuring lots of delightful letterpress goodies > hand made limited edition prints, stationery, invitation packs & gift cards … something seemed familiar, it later occurred to me when I returned to the office on Monday, QH actually featured this talented local studio in our ‘Made with Love’ feature in the Autumn 2011 issue on page 40. Bespoke Letterpress Boutique is a letterpress studio based in Brisbane … QH loves our local designers!

Above: A must have for any book collector > 8 pack of letterpress adhesive book plates, printed on 300gsm 100% cotton paper. Each pack contains one of each of 8 vintage inspired designs, and comes packaged in our gorgeous kraft wrapping, with red stitching. Buy these online here : http://bespokepress.bigcartel.com/product/letterpress-vintage-bookplates-8-pack

Bespoke Letterpress Boutique: “We print the old fashioned way, using antique cast iron letterpresses, printing on luxuriously thick 100% cotton paper, mixed with patience, perfection and a whole lot of love. We cherish the craftsmanship of letterpress, however what sets us apart from other letterpress studios, is that we are not just printers - we are also highly awarded graphic designers.” … we are excited to feature them + some of our favourite items on the blog this week!

Below: gift tags, swine, jewellwery + quirky gift cards! Spend some time on their website and find your very own printed and pressed treasure for your home online here: http://bespokepress.bigcartel.com/ (BLB ships within Australia and Internationally) or visit their lovely blog here: http://www.bespokepress.blogspot.com/

Thanks for visiting, see you next week!

Joanne - QH online
Something you want us to know about? Email us web@queenslandhomes.com.au

For more than a century, Swiss fabric company Jakob Schlaepfer has been creating fabrics that defy the imagination. With exquisite embellishments, whimsical prints, hand crafted patterns, and eye-popping artistic flair, their fabrics are renowned as some of the most ground breaking textiles in the world.

From the Haute Couture collections of the biggest names in fashion - including Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Lacroix, Marc Jacobs and Prada to name just a few - through to decor collections that bring a world of fantasy to interior design, Jakob Schlaepfer fabrics are always opulent, and ever exquisite.

Consider this: fabrics made of metal that weigh only 5 grams per metre; a design with over a million sequins per square metre; or the overlapping, reversible paillette embroidery of the award winning Pollock collection, that can be turned by hand from one side to the other, from one colour combination to the next - bright to matt, from plain to printed, from shimmering to iridescent.

Each handcrafted design is more extraordinary than the next, and can be used in everything from wall coverings to drapery and upholstery!

> Find Jakob Schlaepfer decor fabrics from Lusso - an exclusive stockist in QLD.

> Check out their showroom at The Brickworks, Southport on the Gold Coast.

Sunshine Coast based Seven Dandelions specialises in designing and producing stylish, contemporary handcrafted lampshades.

Owners and designers Kelly Edington and Jenny Coleman have a knack for transforming any shade into a striking statement piece, allowing customers to choose from their collection of pre-made lampshades, or employing them to custom-make totally unique shades using their fabrics, or your own.

Retro prints, chinese silks, hand-printed cottons and lots of colour are a Seven Dandelions specialty. Head to their website (sevendandelions.com) and begin your own design process!

Estonian designer Pavel Sidorenko loves vinyl records - and he has found a very cool way of immortalising them as retro-cool, laser cut Re_Vinyl Clocks.

His silhouettes take the form of everything from animals to ink, to kitchenware and rock’n'roll imagery.

You can buy them online through the designer’s website and he will ship them direct to our shores - and with a huge collection of different designs to choose from, recycled records could become your latest infatuation!

Visit www.pavel-sidorenko.com for more info + product prices

The collaboration of Armadillo & Co was born between friends Jodie Fried and Sally Pottharst from a mutual love of earthy homewares and a frustration at the lack of good quality, hand crafted woven rugs on the market.

They wanted honest designs that combined both aesthetics and ethics. So what they couldn’t find, they decide to make themselves.

Moving on a few years and the Armadillo & Co brand has become a much loved and sought after name for pure wool, jute, cotton and hemp rugs in Australia.

It’s not only the beauty of each piece in the collection that has our little home hearts swooning, but the Fair Trade and sustainable practices that go in to the creation of every handmade rug - all Armadillo & Co rugs are produced to the IFAT Fair Trade Standards, and each rug comes with the KALEEN label to ensure there is no child labour used in the making of these rugs.

In fact, Armadillo & Co also give back to their weaving communities in India, where their rugs are made, by running a school project and funding community based initiatives that keep their workers employed and their families well supported.

As the Armadillo & Co team say, they aim for their rugs to ‘lie lightly on the earth’.

Lovers of organic interiors and pared back, earthy style will love the Armadillo & Co collections. We’ve got them on our ‘lust’ list!

Check their collection out and try not to fall in love too - www.armadillo-co.com

When you really think about it, all those discarded, used coffee cups you churn through on your daily trip to the local espresso really add up to a whole lot of rubbish.

The more eco-aware might like to turn to BYO coffee cups, like the fabulous re-usable ones from Hookturn Industries, which are made of food grade silicone, designed to look exactly like a take-away coffee cup - albeit in some pretty funky colourways! - and keeps your coffee warm and your fingers cool.

Eco-friendly, user friendly, heck they’re even dishwasher friendly.

You can get your mits on them for only $10.95 at www.hookturnindustries.com.au.

We LOVE a chunky ring! So it was list at first sight when we laid eyes on the super sized Oblong Ring from Pod People’s Designs.

Available in a range of vibrant hues, this silver and resin ring is bang on trend with a graphic-inspired shape and fresh burst of tropical colours.

They’re each hand carved, high-polished and then set in solid sterling silver, and cost $127. Now to choose which colour!

Check out the full range + more on their website: www.podpeopledesigns.com.au

We’ve featured the beautiful range of hand printed, organic fabrics, tea towels and homewares from Brisbane bespoke studio Thea & Sami within the pages of Queensland Homes, so it was with great pleasure that we received word that they now have their very own showroom/studio.

The newly opened space welcomes anyone who is interested to see where they design and hand-print their limited edition ranges, and they also offer workshop space for those who want to create their own projects.

You can find the new Thea and Sami studio at Unit 1,6 Jones Road in Capalaba.

Phone Thea on +61 (0)411 270 263 for more info, or email her at thea@thea-sami.com.au.

www.thea-sami.com.au || BLOG: theaandsami.blogspot.com

We want it right now, on our couch!

One can never have too many cushions, we say! And right when we’re looking for new season updates, along comes the fab Australian textiles company XAVIER&ME, with their swoon-worthy designs and lusty patterns that are so hot right now!

This year, it’s all about the shapes, angular and sharp patterns. And these guys have got it all! The ‘Modern Glamour’ and ‘Painted Garden’ collections have been printed in a mixture of bright and muted colours.

Each cushion is finished with a backing of Hemp and Yak Hair which feels like linen and only gets better with age.

All cushions are handmade in Sydney by XAVIER&ME.

Check them out at www.xavierandme.com.au.

We love this beautiful TOTEM Tree Romy Boesveldt and Ilya Yashkin of Kids On Roof, Amsterdam. We spotted TOTEM on the green-design hub and online shop State of Green and it’s a nifty concept - different models that can be displayed on their own or brought together and given life with your own imagination in to any kind of setting.

Comprising over 170 sturdy recycled cardboard pieces, the Tree includes 2 birds, a birdhouse and mushrooms growing on the tree trunk.

Kids On Roof donates 5% of its profits to specific Unicef projects and uses 100% recycled cardboard and 100% Biodegradable materials.

Check out some other cool items available on State of Green!

Eco cool, cute and creative design for playful kids and adults alike - www.stateofgreen.com.au.