Paddington House

Here are some pictures of a house I have been working on lately in Paddington in Brisbane. We painted the entire house {an old timber Queenslander} white and added colour in the furnishings we selected. We did a complete mismatch of scatter cushions on new slip covered sofas and armchairs and included some vintage pieces of furniture. Overall the client is extremely happy with her {new} 'lived in' family friendly look!!

New @ Black & Spiro

Large Male & Female Busts - $180.00 each

Hand Painted Fish Pond Stool - $275.00

Lrg Rabbit - $88.00, Sml Rabbit - $66.00 {Also available in red & white}

Pegasus Head - $140.00

We have some beautiful new things in store at Black & Spiro. I thought I'd share some of my favourite new pieces with you. Please note, all prices listed are in Australian Dollars. We can post any of these items worldwide and delivery to Brisbane metro customers is complimentary. Please email me anna@blackandspiro.com.au for further details.

Sam's Custom Bed

My friend just got a GORGEOUS new little puppy which she has named Sam! We decided Sam needed an extra special little bed so we ordered him in a cane bed and had a cushion made in blue and white Chiang Mai linen. Look at this super cute image of him in his beautiful new bed which my friend just emailed me. What a lucky little puppy he is to be sleeping on Chiang Mai!!

A Pretty White Cottage

Over the weekend I was having a little look on realestate.com and spotted this very cute house for sale in Clayfield in Brisbane. It has all the right attributes in my opinion - it's white, it's a cottage, it has a pretty garden and a pretty white picket fence...

Bathroom Furniture

James Michael Howard

I am very fond of placing small pieces of Antique furniture in bathrooms. I think it adds an element of coziness. It also adds interest and personality to a room which we usually don't think about furnishing.

Whether it's a small table {like above} to place some towels on & a beautiful tray with lots of perfume and lotion on for your guests or a lovely old chair upholstered in a pretty fabric, I think it's a great look.

In the Gumdale house I have been working on I suggested this concept to the client and she went with it. We painted the old pieces we found for her bathrooms white and they look fantastic.

So, if you have room for a lovely little old table or chair or even an old mirror in your bathroom my advice is...go for it!

Oh and while we're on the subject of furnishing bathrooms - I also love little paintings in bathrooms too!!

Passionate About Blue & White?

Well then you must get your hands on a copy of Carolyne Roehm's new book - A Passion for Blue & White. Look at this dreamy image from the book! I think my mother will flip out when she sees this post! I think this book would make for a wonderful Christmas gift! Jennifer over at The Peak of Chic has done a great post on the book today and Lily-G also posted about the book earlier this week too! Can't wait to get my copy!!

Cakes & Flowers {A Post by Felicity}

When I saw Vicky Crease's beautiful work on South African blog Anything Goes I thought she would be perfect for Absolutely Beautiful Things and when I saw her quote in one of her press articles .......

"I love to bring people joy"

I smiled and knew I had to contact her.

Vicky is a South African based cake artist and events coordinator who has created and styled events for Nelson Mandela, South African President Thabo Mbeki, Tiffany's of New York and Richard Branson. Here's a couple of questions I posed to her as well.........

Vicky, what project are you currently working on?

Amongst others........

Christmas at Cartier,

The Twelve Apartheid Heroes Gala Event for 800 guests,

the Reserve Bank Governors' Awards Ceremony;

and Miss South Africa.

Also lots of events for the FIFA Soccer world Cup in 2010

What is your favorite event that you have created for?

1. Nelson Mandela's birthday Cake

2. The Launch of Cartier

3. The Launch of Virgin Money in South Africa

4. A private dinner party for Celine Dion

What's your most popular cake that you make?

Definitely the Death by Chocolate double chocolate fudge cake with a decadent ganache icing, topped with a mass of fresh roses and drizzled with icing sugar.

What's the best thing about of living in South Africa?

The sunny skies, great climate, deliciously diverse food, fabulous South African hospitality and the fact that there are no rules within a design framework, thereby allowing you to express your creativity freely. Also, my fabulous family.....

What are 3 of your favorite fashion/homewares boutiques in South Africa?

My sister's store "Life" in Sandton for rare objects and stylish homewares,"Wizards" in Hyde Park for great fashion pieces and"Woolworths" for everything else (food, clothing, body products, linen, towels etc.)

Thank you so much for chatting to us Vicky, I'm sure Absolutely Beautiful Things readers would agree, your creations are works of art.

All Images Vicky Crease