A Little Bit of Aqua

It seems I am inspired by touches of aqua. Scrolling through my picture files I notice I have lately saved quite a few aqua interiors as inspiration. I thought I would share a few with you.

Image 1 - via Interior Divine Blog, Image 2 - via Mrs Blandings Blog, Image 3 - via Patricia Gray Blog

Friday Flowers

I just arranged these pretty flowers in a little blue and white delftware vase which was recently given to me by a lovely reader who came to Brisbane to visit Black & Spiro. What a lovely surprise it was to have received such a beautiful gift! Happy Weekend Everyone!!

xx
Anna

Success!

Well, we finally did it! We were shooting for a "Raffinato" style piece of 30" in the "perfect world", 27" up to 30" in the "normal world". We were about 29 1/4" before cold working. We ended up with 28" exactly. Not the 30" but close. Actually we were over 31" before we transfered. Our glory hole is only 24-26" deep. We had to keep 3 torches on it to keep it from cracking. (You can see the picture) This was our third attempt. We (Micah, Krista, and I) had glass on the pipe about 3 1/2 hours with about 1 hour prep time before that. I would say for where we are now, a 28" finished piece is about 10 times harder than a 15"-16" piece. As we progress, I know that will change. After that we blew a 16" piece and that used to be stressful. No stress. It felt like nothing on the end of the pipe. we guess the finished piece weighs between 12 and 13 pounds. Doesn't sound like much weight, but wait until you get that stretched out 30' on the end of the blow pipe with a thick moile, and the glass moving. Anyway, we want to thank Roy for helping (actually he did it and we barely helped him) cold work the piece! Roy did a great job! Roy, you the MAN! Here are a few pictures.

Auckland Finale

We certainly had a great few days in Auckland and it's surrounds and we are excited to be heading back there later this year to discover some more beautiful places New Zealand has to offer.

One of the things I liked in particular was the architecture in the places we visited. Their attention to the details of their homes impressed me very much. I also loved the established trees which lined the streets.

Whilst watching my brother surf at Raglan, Harry presented me with this wild flower/rock creation he made to thank me for a wonderful family trip away. And it was such a lovely family trip away!!

Aquasphere foutain.

The moment I laid eyes on this fountain I was intrigued. I finally found the source and Allison Armour is the artist behind it. Check out her site she also has some amazing sculptures that have become objects of my desire as well. Enjoy, Heidi

Images via Allison Armour.

Visiting Auckland - Part 4

My brother Nick lives and breathes surfing so on Easter Friday we hired a car and drove from Auckland down to Raglan which is world renowned for it's consistent left hand surf breaks. It was actually a sight for sore eyes as it was a freezing day in Raglan and my brother entered the water with no wetsuit {he had forgotten to bring one with him} - the only surfer in the water without one on! Onlookers couldn't believe he was going in. He caught a few waves and exited the water saying that it was the coldest he had ever felt but thrilled that he had surfed Raglan!

Raglan itself is quite a sleepy town but so pretty and remote. I think I could get lost in a place like this!

Visiting Auckland - Part 3

Taking a ferry out to Waiheke island is a must do when visiting Auckland. We arrived at this beautiful island after a 40 minute boat trip across Auckland Harbour. Upon arrival we jumped straight into a taxi which took us on a very short tour of the island before dropping us at Mud Brick Winery where we enjoyed a long lunch amid beautiful surroundings.

I particularly loved the houses on Waiheke. There are some extremely beautiful new modern homes as well as some gorgeous renovated beach cottages which New Zealanders call Bachs.

This house above was my absolute favourite house which we spotted on Waiheke. It was very hard to get photos of it as it is surrounded by the most beautiful trees and gardens. Can you spot the outdoor fireplace? It overlooks the beach and bay. I absolutely loved this house!! What is it about simple white cottages with black and white stripe awnings?! They get me every time!!



This house and the one below were right down on the waterfront with a pretty, narrow laneway in front of them.

Waiheke's beautiful vegetation is certainly what makes this island so special. As you can see from the photos I have posted above there is no shortage of beautiful trees and gardens. I think this place is heaven on earth!