Creativity.

Image via Heidi Claire.

Curb appeal.

I was browsing through iVallige's home and garden section when I found this gem. I have seen it before and fell in love. A-M if you are reading this, don't hate me but I think that this color combination might be a great candidate for your house. Beige with white trim and navy blue accents. Here are some of my favorite houses that are oozing with curb appeal. Enjoy, Heidi

Image via iVallage Home Inspiration Gallery.

Image via iVallage Home Inspiration Gallery.

Image via iVallage Home Inspiration Gallery.

Image via Architecural Digest.

Time Out

Hello again. I have decided I need some time away from the blog. I'm not sure when I will be back but I would like to thank you all for your encouragement and support over the past 2 1/2 years. This journey has certainly been a fantastic one.

If anyone would like to keep in contact with what's happening at Black & Spiro please email kelly at kelly@blackandspiro.com.au so that she can add you to our emailing list. This year we have started emailing all of our customers intermittently images of our new stock and jobs we have been working on so do make sure you email Kell so that you can be kept in the loop.

Also, my Black & Spiro website will be up and running in a couple of months so do stay tuned for that.

I do hope to come back soon but I just need some time to re-assess what I am doing and where the blog is going. I hope you understand.

xx

Anna

See You Next Week!!

Wow it certainly has been a busy day today. I drove up to Peregian Beach {1 1/2 hours North of Brisbane} this morning to look at a gorgeous beach house one of my clients has just purchased. It's going to be a great project and I can't wait to start putting the scheme together!! I drove back down to Brisbane this afternoon and gosh I must say I was exhausted!!

Well that's it from me for this week as I am leaving for Sydney again in the morning. I am really looking forward to it as I'll be with my 3 Black & Spiro girls and a friend of mine is also joining us. We're catching up with another Brisbane gal tomorrow night for drinks so there will be lots of fun in amongst lots of hunting for beautiful things. I have a huge list of things to hunt down for clients and I'm so much looking forward to meeting some new clients down there too....It certainly is going to be very busy!! I'll be back here next Tuesday.

Oh, and I'm leaving you with this beautiful room by Phoebe Howard....I think I'm obsessed with her work {Mum you should definitely check out her site as I know you'd love her work too}!! Hope you all have a fun weekend!!

xx
Anna

*Reminder

This is something I really need to try to do more often!! How about you?

image via ffffound.com

Phoebe Howard's New Blog

Totally in love with U.S. Designer Phoebe Howard's new blog, Mrs Howard Personal Shopper written by Leah Kennelly!! Click HERE to check it out!!! I love this ink blue and white room above which she recently posted...especially the high gloss paint on the walls!!

City Apartment

Here are some {not so great} pictures of an apartment in Brisbane city which I finished late last year. The owners, who are a professional couple with no children, wanted a comfortable apartment with a slight Eastern influence. It's a little bit different to my usual style....I suppose it's a bit more modern, clean line and definitely not as colourful which is nice for a change!!

Appointments in Sydney

Image - Anna Spiro - Hawthorne House

Goodmorning! How are you all today? How was your weekend?

This week I'm heading back down to Sydney with the Black & Spiro girls to do some more buying for the shop and for clients. The girls are all very excited about our little trip as am I!!

I thought I would extend an invitation to anyone in Sydney who would like to make an appointment with me as I am going to be in Sydney from this Friday 20th February through to Tuesday 24th February. I am already meeting with a couple of clients on Sunday 22nd and thought I would let you all know just in case there is anyone else needing some help with their homes/offices.

You can email Kelly in my office to find out details and/or to make a time..... kelly@blackandspiro.com.au

Hope you all have a great Monday!!

Platter, Platter, on the wall .......

We are in platter mode for a few sessions again. We have sold so many platters (rondels) that the walls are looking empty. I haven't been taking pictures of the platters since I had previously taken so many and we had moved on to try the mastery of other things, but these three came out so vivid and wonderful I wanted to photograph them for posterity.

Happy {Love Filled} Weekend!

Hope you have a wonderful, happy, love filled Valentines weekend!

I think a special love note makes a for heartfelt Valentines gift...If you look closely into my office artwork wall above {click image to enlarge} you will see a little love note I created last year for Pia's upcoming My Heart Wanders project! Can you see it?!

Image by Photographer Elouise Van Riet

Gage d'amour

Image - Anna Spiro

Here's a little Valentines tablescape I created today. Gage d'amour {meaning pledge of love}.

Today I Love...

This Samantha Hahn print...

Something New

Here is a new cane vase with a window. It is about 16" tall by about 6" wide at the widest part. Thanks to Andy and Roy for the help with the Sandblasting!!

Why Don't You...

Image - Thayer Photo

Invite some friends over this Valentines Day and dance the night away!!

An Alternative

Image - Jon Jensen Photographer via Frolic

These tough economic times call for alternative, less expensive options when decorating our homes.

I usually like to have fresh flowers at home each week but I must admit I have been restrictng myself from buying fresh flowers in an attempt at being less extravagant and a little more budget conscious.

However, cutting back on beautiful fresh flowers from the florist doesn't mean we have to go without! It just requires a little more effort on our own behalf.

If you too love having fresh flowers/foliage in your home this is what I suggest.....

Image - Francios Hallard via Moo Management

Head out into your garden and see what you can find. I went out into my garden today and came back inside with some wonderful foliage from my Travellers Palm. It really is amazing what you can find and don't be too picky. Just grab a large bunch so that when you get it inside you can bulk it up in a vase/jug.

I thought this picture {top} would inspire you....I love the blue and white jars filled with lots of beautiful green leaves...so fresh and so gorgeous and by the looks of it these arrangements have been created just by using fresh garden foliage!!

BTW - Courtney has offered another wonderful alternative to fresh flowers over at Style Court this week too.

*Reminder

"All you need is Love...."

John Lennon

Image - Thayer Photo

Inspired by Blogs

Sharnel's creation above using Ez's printable tags


Image above - via Ez @ Creature Comforts

Blogs certainly are a source of inspiration for so many people. With the demise of many favourite U.S. magazines more and more people worldwide are turning to Blogs to get their inspiration fix.

Over the few years I have been Blogging there have been more and more Blogs pop up which has certainly put the pressure on people like myself to think outside the square and to be continually inspiring for readers.

I think it is so interesting to see just how creative Bloggers are becoming. One such example of this is Ez over at Creature Comforts. She never ceases to amaze me. Her creativity and the effort she pours into her Blog is second to none.

My friend Sharnel was recently inspired by a post Ez at Creature Comforts did offering free Printable Valentines Teabag Wrappers and Tea Tags. Can you believe this? Ez created these amazing little things for her readers to print out and make. Now there's creative thinking for you!

Anyway, Sharnel emailed me a picture of what she created today using Ez's printable Tea Tags. She plans on giving them to her children to take to school to give to their teachers for Valentines Day.

As Sharnel said...."I thought it was a sweet way to show our appreciation for all the good they {teachers} do each day for our children. They can sit down and have a cuppa and bikkie!!"

So, if you would like to create some pretty Valentines Tea Tags click HERE to be directed to Ez's post.

You Mean The World To Me...

I very much like these pretty Valentines boxes D.Sharp created for Kate's Paperie. Add some chocolates, lollies, jewellery, a love note, a dinner invitation, a quote, a poem or a special vintage keepsake and voila you have the perfect Valentines Day gift for your loved one!

Send Cupcakes...

Sharnel & Keren at The Cupcake Company are donating all proceeds from their Valentines Day cupcake orders to the Victorian Fire Appeal so make sure you call them today to place an order!! My husband has just ordered some for all of the secretaries at his work....together we can all help our friends in Victoria!

**Click on brochure above to supersize contact details!

Little Happy Things

It may sound funny to you but these tiny little boxes which I bought in the South of France last year make me happy. They sit in a small cluster on my coffee table at home and each night I sit and I look at them and the pretty colours they throw. I think it is really interesting to think about the small things in our homes which make us happy on a day-to-day basis. What little things in your home make you happy?


Image - Anna Spiro

A Cry for Help

My heart goes out to all of those who have lost loved ones, their homes, their lives, their towns in the worst bush fires Australia has ever seen. This is a very hard day for so many Australians.

Find it in your heart to give even if it is only small it will help in some way. I was so taken by Judy at Lily-G's generous donation of the remaining sale items in her homeware/furniture store which she is going to pack up and send down to Victoria. I hope we can all find a way to help our fellow Australians.

* Donations to the Red Cross fund can be made using a secure online donations form or by phoning 1800 811 700.

* Donations to the Salvation Army fund can be made by calling 13 72 58 or via http://www.salvos.org.au/

Image via Lolita

Still Loving...

It seems I still adore Kelly Wearstler's trellis wallpaper. My heart skipped a beat when I stumbled across this gorgeous, understated stairwell {belonging to Beautiful Living}covered in KW's well known paper.

Dreaming...

What are you dreaming about today? I'm dreaming about Round Hill Hotel in Jamaica!!

Updating ABT

Image - Anna Spiro

Over the next couple of weeks you will notice a few little changes and updates to ABT. As you may have already noticed I removed my very outdated and disorganised blogroll this week which I am in the process of updating. Please bear with me whilst I do a little house keeping on the blog!

On another note, I thought I would show you one of my most recent finds {the vintage Cockatoo above} which I have placed into my bookshelving at home. I am having so much fun adding new and interesting bits and pieces to my shelving. It's like an ever changing gallery of things which I continue to move around!!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend!!

And finally for this week...

Pink & White Lace Vase

Heres the white cane lace vase that was pictured earlier with the pink (which is really stiff white with Amethyst Blue overlay on the stiff white) and made to cane.

A Successful Treasure Hunt

Hello again! I'm back from my whirlwind trip to Sydney. I had the most wonderful 2 days on my own pottering around visiting a few of my favourite Sydney haunts. I found some wonderful treasures for Black & Spiro and a few very special pieces for clients! It was such a successful little trip.

Michelle Adams' talk was very inspiring. I was lucky enough to spend some time chatting to her prior to her presentation and she is just as I imagined she would be...so passionate, stylish and dare I say cute as a button!

I picked up a gorgeous book, Parisiennes - A Celebration of French Women to add to my ever expanding collection of books and loved this quote above. It was so in tune with how I felt while I was away. Spare time/pottering time/treasure hunting time is such a luxury for me and these last couple of days in Sydney certainly felt supremely sublime!

Micah's Platter and Vase

Here's a new vase sculpture and a twisted black/white cane platter that Micah did. He's ahead of me when I was only blowing as long as he has been.

Off To Sydney...

Nate Berkus

I'm off to Sydney for a couple of days to find some treasures for clients and for Black & Spiro. I'm also heading to Michelle Adams' seminar which I am very much looking forward to. I'll be back in a few days. In the meantime check out this cute vintage suitcase Natural Home has brought back to life using one of my favourite Schumacher fabrics! How gorgeous is this?!

xx

Anna

Another Cane Lace Vase

Here we are doing our 2nd cane lace vase. This time we cased the white with amethyst blue. Once it cools you can see the amethyst blue better. A photo of the completed vase will come in a day or two. This time when making the cane, we did not gather clear over the spiraled color. Hence not clear gaps between the canes in the vase. I think I like the clear gaps better.