Happy Weekend Announcement!!!

I'm skipping off early this week for a special long weekend so I hope you all have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you next week.

Oh and I am so thrilled to announce that next week I will be guest posting @ Design*Sponge so you must come and visit me over there at Grace's absolutely beautiful blog as I've got lots of wonderful things in store for everyone!!! I will also be posting as normal here at ABT too - a very busy and exciting week ahead!!!

xo
Anna

Bedside Table LOVE!!!

I am SO in LOVE with these bedside tables from C. Bell but again I have the problem with shipping from the US to Aus being WAY to expensive! Oh well maybe I might just have to find some old ones and paint them in a beautiful fresh green like these ones!!

Affordable Cushions

I think these very affordable cushions available online at Oxfam are fantastic! Priced at $6.00 each (cover only) I don't think you can go wrong. If you are wanting a bit of modern glamour on a budget these cushions are for you!!

Our New Fabrics Have Arrived!!!

Our beautiful new fabrics which we are importing from the US have finally arrived. I am SO excited and I am currently selecting which ones are going to make the cut for our next 3 window displays coming into the festive season. I must say I am finding it so hard to narrow down my selections!! The fabrics are all just so beautiful, fresh and Summery - so perfect for our climate here in Queensland! I'll keep you posted as to my final selections.

Bright Beautiful Cushions

Since our article appeared in Real Living last week I've had so many email and phone enquiries about our bright colourful cushions. Most of the enquiry is coming from Melbourne which funnily enough is known in Australia as a city that usually loves brown, black, taupe, muted colours not the pink, yellow, blue, orange bright colours which we love up here in the Sunshine State (Queensland). Maybe our Southern friends are getting a bit tired of black and brown and are needing some colour in their lives!!

Another Thank you!!

I just have to send another big thank you to Victoria at Sfgirlbybay for the huge and wonderful post she did on me and my Real Living feature at the end of last week. Thanks Victoria for all the lovely things you said and I must say I (and my mother & my husband) had a bit of a chuckle when you talked about my husband and the pink sofa - you're very funny!!

New Things @ Black & Spiro

Lots of gorgeous new things have been arriving in the shop these last couple of weeks. In particular I'm mad about the temple dogs, the houndstooth cushions, the colourful ginger jars and the aqua lamps in the front window set against Florence Broadhurst Japanese Bamboo. Lots of colourful things for Spring!!

Birthday Niceties - Part 1

I just had to share some pictures of some of the beautiful flowers I received for my recent 30th Birthday. I think everyone who knows me well always knows that flowers are one of my most favourite things in the world including my florist, Phoebe Stephens as even she sent me the little posie in the front - it was so cute!! I received 3 more bunches of beautiful flowers which I will post pictures of later today. I just loved grouping all of the lovely things together on my desk at work - they all look so pretty together!! Thank you to my very special friends and family for your lovely gifts which were way to generous yet so very special!!!

New @ C. Bell

I would kill for this set of 6 vintage bamboo armchairs currently on offer at C. Bell for US$950.00 for the set - pity about the shipping costs to Australia!!! The chairs look to be in perfect condition and are circa 1970. I'm sure they won't last long!!

New Look Design Sponge

I sat up last night until midnight waiting for Grace Bonney's launch of her updated blog: Design Sponge Online which went live at 10.00am in the US (12.00 midnight here in Australia) and it was well worth the wait. Her new site is gorgeous and in particular so fresh and inviting. I was also so thrilled to see Grace's 'sneak peak' inside her very own New York apartment. I have listed above my absolute favourite pictures but you must go and visit Design Sponge Online for the full inside view of her very stylish and inviting home. In particular, I love her zig zag floor rug, the ikat bed cover and her beautiful lacquered faux bamboo chairs oh and of course the rug on the floor in the dining room too. Congratulations Grace on the new site!!

Thank you!

Just a little note to thank everyone for the overwhelming support, encouragement and kind comments you sent me about my Real Living magazine feature. Your interest in me, Absolutely Beautiful Things and Black & Spiro really amazes and excites me so much!! Also, a special thank you must go to Courtney @ Stylecourt, Apryll Annie and Drey @ Bijou Kaleidoscope for your special posts on your blogs about my feature and also another special thank you to Jo @ Desire to Inspire for your package of scanned images of the article. You are such a wonderful community of people and I am continually inpsired by your beautiful blogs. Thanks everyone!!

Flowers via Housemartin.

Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness

Poster above available above from Etsy Seller - Project 8256

Emma Jane Pilkington via Stylecourt

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to help raise awareness Mrs Blandings thought it would be a great idea to post pink. Above I have posted some beautiful pink inspiration in honour of this very special and important month.

Please remember this one very important fact - the earlier Breast Cancer is found and diagnosed, the better your chances of beating it. For more information please visit the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Images above not otherwise noted are courtesy of flickr

Real Living Feature

Here it is...the magazine article as featured in Real Living magazine this month. A big thank you to Natalie & Deb at Real Living for featuring me in their fantastic magazine. BTW - if you wish to read the article just click on each of the pages above to enlarge.

Happy Weekend!!

I nearly fell of my chair when I saw these beautiful images on Mrs Blandings' Blog. Thanks for sharing Mrs Blandings!! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing you next week. Oh and by the way my Real Living Magazine artile is out thanks to Anastasia for letting me know. I will post a scanned copy of it next week once I receive my copy.

Reflection & Revelations

I was cleaning out some files in my computer the other day when I stumbled across these old pictures of Black & Spiro. I must say it's interesting looking back at your own work. I'm almost embarrassed to show these images. As I looked through the photographs I started to think about my style and how it has evolved so much in the last couple of years. I can see in these pictures that I have never been afraid of bold colour and bold pattern but I think I may have been a little cautious with what I mixed together which I feel resulted in a safe and almost uninteresting look. Nowdays I find myself mixing so many different styles together to create my own personal look and I finally feel as though I know what I love and I know my direction. This is something that has taken me 13 years of experience to find and now on the eve of my 30th Birthday I can say to the world I feel that my designs have matured and I also feel that I am completely confident in my design choices and I am also completely in love with my design career - here's to the next 10 years which I hope will be filled to the brim with exciting opportunities and lots of passionate design!!!!

Black & Spiro in Brisbane News

Our current shop display was included in the Home section of this week's Brisbane News magazine as above. I don't think the vintage lamp pictured is going to be with us much longer as we had 3 call enquiries on it today from the article. I'll be sad to say goodbye to this lamp as it really is a beautiful one off piece.

The Salvage Sisters

I just ordered this cute book for Black & Spiro and had to share it. We haven't received our copy yet so I can't give details. As you all know my style revolves around vintage finds and seeing potential in pieces which other people regard as junk so I think this book will be right up my alley. I can't wait to see what the Salvage Sisters find potential in and by the look of the fantastic pieces they have stowed on top of their car roof I think it's going to be an interesting read!!