BC Observations

Happy BC Day to my fellow British Columbians! Hope you're enjoying your long weekend.

A few weeks ago I headed out on a road trip, with with my mom, 2 of my sisters and a nephew. We were taking my mom on a "sentimental journey" to Kitimat BC, about 1400km from Vancouver, and we only had a week to do it. She had lived there for a few years, as a teenager, when the town was brand new, and for one year "reigned" over the town as Miss Kitimat. Pretty cute. The town of Kitimat was created to support the aluminum smelting industry in the mid-50's. Before that, it was a tiny fishing village. Here are some pics of our road trip to northern BC....

An abandoned old church near Lytton BC. 

The Fraser River.

Barkerville is a national historic site of Canada located along Williams Creek. It's an old "gold rush" town built in the 1860's. Many of the original town's buildings still stand today. Incredible history. 

The old Canadian National train station. 

Kitimaat Village, just outside of Kitimat. 

What I really noticed is that since the town was born in 1954, the architecture is very much of the era. Loved it. Even the abandoned buildings still looked great. I'd love this one to be turned into some kind of accommodation. 

A-frame architecture for the First United Church.

This is Miss Kitimat (aka my mom) taking a look at what was the town centre, where she was "crowned". 

Victoria BC Observations

I was in Victoria for most of the weekend, to shoot stories for a couple of magazines. Always nice to spend a few days there. It's so easy to get around, lots of great little cafes and restaurants, shops, and the scenery is stunning. Here's a little of what I checked out, when I wasn't working....

It was great to see that one of my favourite shops in Vancouver has opened up in Victoria. The Regional Assembly of Text has taken over the lobby of a beautiful heritage office building on Johnson Street. They just fold it up and tuck it all away at the end of the day. Stop by and use the vintage typewriters to create your own buttons, or pick up one of their fantastic notebooks, recipe boxes, or wrapping paper. Most of the products are the creation of shop owners, Rebecca and Brandy. 

The weather was perfect to have lunch on the wharf, at Red Fish Blue Fish, a water front restaurant made out of a cargo container. We had a bbq salmon tacone, salad, and a roasted rhubarb & vanilla creamsicle. Beyond delicious. 

After wrapping up a shoot, that had started at dawn, we lounged around at Saxe Point. Such a pretty spot to relax and hang out until the next shoot.

The Milkman's Daughter is a perfect mix of fashion, vintage, books and upcycled furniture by Janice of Modhaus Designs. It's owned by the women of Smoking Lily, another great shop in Victoria and Vancouver. I loved the stacking boxes with screen printed illustrations. The exterior of the shop is pretty spectacular too! 

Have you been to Victoria? A super short flight from Vancouver or Seattle, or take the ferry (I'm not too keen on flying in tiny planes). The bonus with the ferry is that it's not uncommon to spot a pod of orcas....pretty magical. 

Now to start editing the shoots....so much to sort through. Have a great day!

janis

Weekend Observations and Links

Hope you had a great weekend!

It's absolutely pouring rain here at the moment, but we did manage to usher in summer with a little sunshine on the weekend. Good thing, as I had a shoot with the talented team of Gallant and Jones. Nothing says summer like a beach chair on the beach...

A little link love too...

Noodle Bar party at Poppytalk. So flipping cute. 

Beach House in Brazil at Design Elements. I can dream...

Flower Power at SF Girl by Bay

Have a good day! Back soon.

janis

Happy Friday

Have a fun, first weekend of summer! 

janis

Hello weekend, and welcome Fall!

I can't believe fall kicks in tomorrow morning. Love this time of year. Do you? 

Back next week!
janis

Baked

It's been so hot the last few days, so it seems strange to post this particular recipe. I made some chili and creamy cornbread for our camping trip last week. Froze both, so they kept everything else cool as well. Tastes even better when eaten outdoors!

Vegetarian Chili - serves about 10

1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
1 large yam, chopped in 1/2 inch cubes
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
2 red peppers, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 cup cooked quinoa (follow package instructions)
2 cups black beans, cooked (fresh or canned)
1 cup red kidney beans, cooked (fresh or canned)
1 796ml/28oz can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat oil over high heat. Add the onion and cook until just tender. Stir in the garlic, jalapeno pepper, yam, carrot, red pepper and zucchini. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, cooked quinoa, chili powder, and cumin. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on low, for about 30 minutes. Serve with creamy cornbread.

Creamy Cornbread - makes one 8x8 pan or 24 mini muffins (I ended up doing both)

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 284ml/10oz can of creamed corn (old school!)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chili flakes (I made a batch without, so kids would eat)

Preheat oven to 400f. Grease and line a square pan or muffin tin with parchment paper or paper cups.
In a large bowl, mix together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and chili flakes. Combine well, then add sour cream, egg, creamed corn and oil and stir until just blended. Pour into an 8x8 pan or spoon into mini muffin tin. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until just a little golden in colour or a skewer, inserted in centre, comes out clean.

Weekend Observations

I hope you had a great weekend. If you're in Canada, you're probably still in weekend mode due to "civic" holidays. I'm heading out for a mini camping trip but, before I hit the road, here's a little of what my weekend looked like....

Checked out Duchesse, a lovely new "vintage and such" shop located in Chinatown. If you're in the Vancouver area, it's definitely a must see. Owners Anna McLean and Anna Maclellan, have put together a fantastic collection of vintage clothing, accessories, home wares, and furniture. The shop was designed by their friend, Ricky Alvarez. The shop itself has so many inspiring design ideas.

I love the chevron wall, made with various tones of plywood. 

A great shelving unit made of old school chairs, showcases vintage office accessories, shoes and lamps. 

Played around with a sunography kit. Have you every tried sunography? I did a little of this kind of printing as a kid. I still think it's magical. You just lay an object on top of the paper and allow to sit in full sun for about 10 minutes. Rinse with cold water and, voila, you have a print. 

Made a few origami boxes for tea lights in the back yard. I love the glow of colour. 

What did you get up to this weekend? If you're in Vancouver, did you manage to check out the Pride parade? Heard it was a good one! 

I'll be back next Friday. Until then, have a good week!

janis  

Hello BC Day Long Weekend!

How have you been? Hope you had a good week.  I've been shooting all kinds of stories recently - everything from Thanksgiving to Christmas to a winter d.i.y. Sometimes you just have to shoot wintery stories in the summer. Lots of fun, but left no time to blog. Thanks for all your lovely comments and emails...always perks me up after a long day!

janis
x

Weekend Observations

Monday seems to have popped up rather quickly. Last week had been a full shoot week, so I did a little editing on the weekend, and lounged around at a beautiful park. Quiet and lovely. How was your weekend?

Most of last week, was spent shooting beautiful linens for St. Geneve. There is something to be said for well made linens. I wanted to throw all of mine out, when I got home. It's also pretty great that it's a local company. They make amazing linens, pillows, and duvets. I wanted to pinch a certain silk filled number. It was incredible. 

After a crazy week, it's always nice to hang out at a place like this. Whytecliff Park is about 25 minutes from Vancouver, near Horseshoe Bay. It's a great place for scuba diving too (we used to scuba dive often). If you find yourself in the area, you really should visit. 

That's it for today! Have a nice Monday. 

janis

Weekend Observations

I hope you had a great weekend! What did you get up to?  My weekend included a little live painting, a new "girl crush" and a touch of wild nature.....

We went for a bit of a hike at Lynn Headwaters, in North Vancouver. It's about a 25 minute drive from our home in Vancouver. Pretty stunning place. Dense, mossy, loveliness. 

I was familiar with Zoe's work, but I hadn't met her in person. She was painting all weekend at the Fours Seasons in Vancouver, so we popped down to watch. I love her. She's mom to two kids, and a full-time artist. Her paintings are beautiful. If you're in the Vancouver area, she opens her new show on May 31st. Click here for more info. Hope to see you there!

Bye for now! Back soon...

Janis

A Varied Week

Hi Everyone! How's your week been? Hope it's been a stress-free one. I can't believe it's Thursday....and I'm leaving for Disneyland with my husband, sister, and our nephew Jake. He's so excited (and the adults are too, we just don't admit it ;) )

Thought I'd share some images of my week with you. I've had a real variety of shoots over the last few days. Here's a snippet of them.

I shot some pretty products for Principessa Beauty...

a fun story for Anthology magazine....

and a bunch of different locations for a travel story for Sunset magazine....

Also, if you feel like being creeped out, check out a Halloween post I did for Poppytalk. Spooky dolls, anyone? While you're at Poppytalk, you should take a look at all the submissions for her Autumn Colours Week. So many pretty pics from so many camera happy people!

That's it until next Tuesday. What are your plans for the weekend? Where ever you are, and whatever you do, have fun!

Take care,
janis

Baked

Hello Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend. We've been enjoying a very late summer, here in Vancouver, but I'm kind of looking forward to fall, I must admit. We saw heaps of B.C. apples at the market this weekend, which put baked apples in my mind. If you have any leftovers, they are perfect for breakfast too. ;)

Baked Stuffed Apples - makes about 6

6 medium gala apples, cored (not right through)

1/2 cup rolled quick oats 

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1/3 cup chopped mixed nuts (I used pecans, cashews and almonds)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

pinch of salt 

Preheat oven to 350f/180c.

Mix together all ingredients, in a medium size bowl. Core each apple (not right through to bottom!), then cut the hole just a little wider, to allow for more filling. 

Spoon mixture into each apple, filling to the top. Place in a glass 8 inch by 8 inch baking dish, and cover with foil. I also always place a pan of water on bottom rack of oven to create a little steam to help bake apples. I was told this years ago, and I continue to obey. 

Bake apples for about 60-75 minutes, depending on type and size of apple. Keep checking so they don't turn into apple sauce. Yikes. Allow to cool, then serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle a little maple syrup over top. Yum. 

It's like an apple crisp shoved into one little apple! I've also made these with cooked quinoa as well. So good, and even better for you...didn't want to get too carried away. 

Have a great day!

Back soon.

Janis