Guest # 1 - Faux Fuchsia

Faux Fuchsia was so gracious in accepting my invitation to be involved in our recent online store photo shoot at the beautiful Seaforth Cottage.  If you don't already know about FF then make sure you head over to her very popular blog http://www.fauxfuchsiastyle.blogspot.com/ where she takes her readers on her daily journey talking about everything from gardening through to fashion.  She certainly has a wonderful way with words and is very witty and often has me laughing out loud.

So FF I would love to know....

What has been your most memorable Christmas?
I've spent a few Christmases in Hong Kong with my sister and her her husband who live there and I always have a wonderful time with them.  It's cold there and I love wearing all my winter clothes and enjoying how cosy everything is.

 What is a Christmas tradition in your family?
My family lives all around the world so we decided a few years ago in the spirit of thrift to only give presents to the children and not to the grown ups. We already have everything we want anyway and our birthdays are our big present giving times. And because I follow a Retail Christmas, I action the tree as soon as Christmas stuff appears in the shops. This year I put it up in October.

Where are you celebrating Christmas this year?
I'm not sure where I'll be celebrating Christmas this year but I am so excited to be sharing my baby's first Christmas. I have lovely memories of Christmas Day with my family where my Mum cooked a beautiful traditional roast lunch and made a pudding and we were all so excited to see what Santa left us under the tree. I can't wait to share these traditions with my son.

What are you giving for Christmas this year?
I'm not sure what I'll be giving for Christmas because I haven't started my shopping yet but I really do love to give books as gifts.

What do you hope to receive for Christmas this year?
Now that I have my baby, there's nothing more in the world I really want. Although jewellery is always welcome!

 What does Christmas mean to you?
This is my first Christmas as a mother which I am very excited about. It used to mean time off work, travelling, cooking huge feasts, beach holidays and lots of presents but I think this year the focus will be on the Baby's First Christmas, and creating special memories for him. Everyone has told me that having a baby at Christmas time makes it so much more fun and special.


FF, I'm sure you are going to have a very special Christmas this year with your beautiful baby boy.  Thanks so much for being part of our online store Christmas/Summer photo shoot.  It wouldn't have been the same without you!!
xx
Anna

PS.  If you haven't already visited our online store, here's the web address - http://www.absolutelybeautifulthings.com.au/

Summery Daze

I must admit I am in a bit of a Summery daze.  After a very hectic couple of weeks all I can think about is going to the beach for a few weeks at Christmas.  I can't get it out of my head.  I am so desperately longing for the holidays to roll in.  Not long now.  I thought I'd post a few pictures I have been saving for Summer. 

BTW - I will be posting some fun interviews here this week from my Summer Vignette guests.

xx
Anna

images 1,2,3 via milenachka, image 4 matchbook magazine via notestosarah, image 5, 7 - rachel mcginn photography, image 6 via chance via matchbook tumblr, image 8 via cottages and gardens mag, image 9 via pretty stuff tumblr

Florence Broadhurst for Kate Spade

As an admirer of Florence Broadhurst patterns, I was so excited to see an email in my inbox today from Signature Prints sharing their very exciting news.  They have collaborated with Kate Spade for Kate Spade's year of pattern in 2012.  Apparently Kate Spade is working with The Florence Broadhurst Library to create one-of-a-kind products for 2012.  12 of Broadhurst's extra ordinary designs have been selected!!  Wow - exciting times ahead for our fabulous Australian friends!!  Can't wait to see what they have in store for us!!

xx
Anna

Seaforth Cottage

Jane & Neville {above}

Janes Lilies {above}

Harry on the front steps {above},  He looks like he lives there!!

Me with Max and Charlotte {above}


I have long admired {actually, ever since I was 14 years old} the very pretty cottage which is located diagonally opposite my parent's house.  It is called Seaforth Cottage and was built C.1897.  It has been owned by Jane and Neville for the past 30 or so years and they are some of the most beautiful people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

As a young girl I would often talk about the pretty white cottage across the road.  I even told Brad when we were looking for our first house years ago that if that house ever came on the market then I would really, really love to live there.

I recently plucked up the courage and went over and introduced myself to Jane and Neville.  We sat on their front verandah and I asked them the huge favour of whether I could use their beautiful home for our upcoming Christmas/Summer photo shoot for our online store.  I explained to them that I had always loved their pretty cottage and I would often wish I could go inside to see what it was like and what lovely things they had furnished it with.  There was absolutely no hesitation and they offered their home to me with open arms.

One of the most beautiful things about Jane and Neville is their generous spirit.  Jane is actually a potter and an extremely talented one at that.  She holds classes for a couple of ladies in the street one morning a week in her gorgeous white timber shed at the back of the house.  You might have noticed the pottery animals on the verandah under our Christmas tree over at the online store.  Well, those are Jane's.  She has lined her entire verandah with her pretty and enchanting pottery animals.  I told her I wanted to take them all home with me!  She laughed.

I should also mention that next year Neville turns 100.  I really couldn't believe it when Jane told me. 

We had the most glorious day setting up our Christmas/Summer vignette on their front verandah and front lawn.  Did you notice the beautiful garden in the pictures?  It is amazing to say the least.  When we were there all the November lilies were beginning to flower.  It is just so beautiful and rambling and imperfect.  Just the way I like gardens to be.

I hope you enjoyed hearing a little bit about the beautiful house we used for our online vignettes this season.  I feel that Seaforth cottage was the perfect setting for our photo shoot.  It gave us that beautiful, lived-in, comfortable, old family house feel which is exactly what I wanted this season to reflect...a place where good times are shared and memories are made.


xx
Anna

Above are some of Jane's pieces.  They are so gorgeous!!

Pip Boydell Debut Exhibition @ B&S

Thursday night just gone we were so thrilled to open the debut exhibition of paintings by Pip Boydell at Black & Spiro.  It was also a night for our clients and friends to view our 2011 Black & Spiro Christmas windows which we unveiled over a few bottles of champagne.

Pip's paintings were a huge hit with 70% of them now sold.  There are 29 pieces in total and I have to say that each and every piece is absolutely divine.

The orchid in the blue and white pot was the first to sell and I think we could have sold it 10 times over.  The pink lilies were snapped up very quickly.  I think they were my favourite painting of the night.

My other favourite piece, the red geranium, hasn't sold and I am so tempted to whisk it away.  I just love it so much!!



The beautiful Agapanthus is also still available.  I love it too...

The pretty teacup was also one of the early ones to be snapped up.

Here's a snapshot of one of our front windows.  Thanks Pip for painting the beautiful and vibrant fabric back drops for us.  Sorry these 2 photos are a bit smudgy!!

Here's our other window...

Our amazing paper/fabric chandelier which our friend, artist Sue-Ching Lascelles collaborated with us on is certainly bringing lots of people into the store.  It's so bright and summery and festive.  She is so clever. 

Oh and here's a shot of our back bedroom.  I am so desperately in-love with the 4 cushions on the bed.  I really, really want to take them to our cottage at the beach for our bed.  So gorgeous!!

Hope you enjoyed seeing the pictures of Pip's exhibition and our Black & Spiro Christmas display!

Thank you so much to our beautiful clients and friends for coming along and supporting us and Pip last Thursday night.  It was so great to see you all.

xx

Anna

All images thanks to Elouise & Harriette B.

Some Favourites

I thought it might be fun to share some of my favourite pieces from our Summer Vignette.  I must say we had so much fun putting together our collection of special things for this season.  There are so many things I absolutely adore.  One of my most favourite things is the beautiful embroidered tablecloths.  When we found them I was so excited about them.  Although we featured the red one for Christmas I really love the blue one.  They are so gorgeous and so beautiful in the flesh.

I also love the calico love heart decorations which Kelly at Black & Spiro hand-made and Harry & I decorated with felt pens.  I really wanted to encourage a hand-made Christmas decoration which you can purchase and then enjoy decorating with personal messages and illustrations with your children.  The other thing I love about them is that you can tie them onto your tree or you can use them to tie around your table napkins.  You could even write each person's name on them as place cards for the Christmas table setting.

Did you see our beautiful blue and white zig zag dinner plates which we have had made in Mexico especially for our online store?  They are another favourite of mine.

I hope I'm not boring you with my favourites.  However, these very special hand-made vases are also another favourite.  Hand-made by members of an art's collective for adults with developmental or intellectual disabilities, the sale of these beautiful blue and white vases supports a community of artists right here in Brisbane which I think is a wonderful thing especially at Christmas.  They make such a great gift and are so reasonably priced for what they are!

What's your favourite thing in our Vignette this season?  I would love to know.

xx

Anna

Christmas/Summer Vignette Now Live

I am excited to advise you that our Christmas/Summer Vignette over at the online store is now live.  This season we moved into heritage listed Seaforth cottage where we celebrated Christmas with lunch on the front lawn with our family and friends.  We are also very thrilled to be able to present 6 vignette pages full of lovely things for you this season. 

I would like to thank Jane & Neville for allowing us to use their beautiful house for our Christmas/Summer vignette.  I would also like to thank Paul Hunt, Josh Jones, the glamorous Faux Fuchsia, Christie Nicolaides, Charlotte, Harry & Max for being part of our Vignette this season.  I will be posting some interviews with these very exciting people over the coming days as well as an interview with Jane & Neville.

I hope you enjoy our new season vignette.
xx
Anna

The Beach

We went to the beach today as we had to do a few things over at our beach cottage.  Gosh it was beautiful.  I really didn't want to leave.   

We have a very, very big week this week with Pip's Exhibition at Black & Spiro this Thursday night along with the installation and unveiling of our Christmas Windows and also the launch of our Summer/Christmas vignette over at the online store.  Fingers crossed everything happens like it should.  I am slightly, actually no, I am very anxious!!

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the store this Thursday night.  Thank you for the wonderful response we've had. Whenever we have events at Black & Spiro I always worry that nobody will turn up.  The girls think I should be more worried about where we are going to put everyone.  Oh well, I should just stop worrying I suppose!!

I think by Friday I will be ready to head over to the beach again and have a few days away with my boys...that will be so nice.

xx
Anna

Happy Friday!

What a week!  It's been madness to say the least.  I thought you might like to see this little snippet of our Christmas/Summer Vignette which will go live over at the online store next Thursday. 

Something very exciting and new for this season is we have people in the vignette including some very well-known Brisbane fashionistas, my children and their friend Charlotte and even I make a little appearance...eeeekk!!   

We also have a beautiful live Christmas tree which is filled to the brim with colourful decorations, some of which we have hand-made ourselves. 

This vignette is definitely my favourite one yet.  I can't wait to launch it next Thursday!!

Hope you have a great weekend. 
xx

Anna

image - elouise van riet-gray

Love This

I really love this space by Sara Tuttle.  I think it's the lamp, the Chinese cabinet, the star paperweight, the pink roses and the blue and white drum stool oh and the pile of books which really take my fancy!!  Thanks Kate for the link.
xx
Anna

via ivillage

Happenings

I may be a bit quiet here on the blog over the next week or so.  When my schedule gets completely crazy it's always the blog that tends to get put on hold.

However, it's not all bad news because in just over one week's time we will be launching our Summer/Christmas Vignette over at the online store.  I am very excited about this vignette because we have gone outside to shoot this season's collection at a beautiful heritage listed seaside cottage.  There will be lots of beautiful and exciting things which will make up 3 vignette pages this season so make sure you keep checking here for updates on the launch day/time.

Another very exciting thing we are gearing up for at Black & Spiro is the debut exhibition of paintings by Pip Boydell and of course the unveiling of our 2011 Black & Spiro Christmas windows which we will be doing on that same night - Thursday 3rd November, 2011.

We can't wait to have, what I hope will be, a fun night with our clients, customers and friends.

So there's lots to do and lots to finalize.

Hope to be back here soon!!
xx
Anna
PS - I would like to thank Jen from Interiors Addict for the lovley interview she did with me on her blog last week.  If you are at all interested in reading it click HERE..xx
image - via

Dear VL

Dear Vogue Living,

I love you so much.  Your October issue is divine, divine, divine.  You just get better and better.  Thank you for being my little package of joy.  You are the best.

xx
Anna

White Slip Covers Gone

I'm throwing in the towel.  I can't stand it anymore. 

I have always, always, always loved white slip covered chairs and sofas.  I just love them.  I don't ever get tired of them.  I can change the look of them by throwing a new cushion on them.  They can be placed in any room in the house because they go with everything.  They are perfect in every way except for 1 major problem.  

White Slip Covered Chairs + 18 Month Old Baby + Big Golden Retriever = DISASTER

On the weekend the filth and grime of my white slip covered armchairs in our lounge room got to the point where I couldn't stand it any longer.  I ripped off the covers and threw them into a big tub of cold water with lots of Nappy San.  After a day or so of soaking I removed them and lay them out onto some towels on a big table and let them dry.

Tonight I put the covers back onto the chairs whilst they were still damp so that they would fit back on perfectly.  I was so relieved to see them on the chairs looking all white, fresh and pristine.

I walked away from the chairs for approximately 3 minutes.  I walked back into the lounge room and there it was.  Smack bang in the middle of the seat of one of the freshly washed chair covers was a big dirty 18 month old hand print of biscuit smudged right into the fabric.  I couldn't believe my eyes.

I ripped the covers off the chairs and I have vowed and declared - THAT'S IT.  No more white slip covered furniture.

Tomorrow I am going to work and I am going to select a fabulous patterned fabric to cover the chairs in which will disguise the dirt and grime. 

Good-bye pretty, simple, elegant, interchangeable, timeless slip covers.  I promise you I'll pull you out again someday when it's safe!!

xx
Anna

Megan Morton

I think that Megan Morton is one of the most stylish women I have ever met.   I know it's a big call but I spent a couple of hours with her earlier this year whilst she was working on a very exciting project and I have to say that she is so gorgeous and so clever. 

Although it was a day which was extremely rushed for me and I was completely flustered, she just seemed to take it all in her stride.  Nothing seemed to bother her.  

Even though I only spent those few hours with her I felt like I had known her for years when she left.  It was as though a little breath of fresh air came into my life that day.  She inspired me to say the least.

I loved seeing the photos of her house in Sydney on The Design Files recently.  In particular I loved this photo of her console table which is filled with beautiful things and so beautifully placed. 

I will be sure to post more about Megan Morton here as her exciting project comes to fruition.

xx
Anna

Saturday Musings

I find that I am constantly intrigued by the collections of things people have in their homes.  It's so interesting seeing what people surround themselves with.  Home to me is the most important and special place on earth.  Home is where I find solace, rest and happiness and home is where I surround myself with only the things I love.

The more I help people decorate their homes, the more I try to impress upon them that it's not about having the latest and greatest.  It's about filling your home with things you absolutely adore, cherish and hold close to your heart. 

Photographer Oberto Gili's New York home was recently featured on NYSD and to say I was intrigued by his collections is an understatement.

Throughout the article he talks about his idea of home and I was particularly interested in this quote which he said a landscape gardener friend of his once said -

“Unless a home becomes a love affair, it is not a success.” You have to love every single little thing—if it doesn’t have a memory, a story, it doesn’t count.