Weekend Observations

How was your weekend? I hope you had a good one!

A little of my rain soaked weekend...

That was a little of my weekend. What did you do? Any of you getting anxious for spring, like I am? 

Back soon!

janis

'Tis the Season

'Tis the season for a little more Christmas. Happy Hump day, all!

I shot this story with my friend Heather Cameron and sister-in-law/sometime assistant, Kate Keeler. It's the 110 year old home of Colleen, owner of a shop called Roses and Rutabagas.  The full story is in the "100+ Favourite Holiday Ideas" - a special issue of Style At Home.

One of the things I like best about my job, is seeing all kinds of different Christmas decor. I love seeing everyone's take on the season. What's your holiday style?

Have a great day! Back soon.
Janis

A little Christmas for hump day

Happy hump day! How's your week going so far?

I shot this Christmas story last Christmas, for Style at Home, and it's on news stands now. It was such a dark and gloomy day, so my assistant, Karen, and I had to be on our toes. Long exposures and lots of reflecting! Thought I'd share some of the day with you....

Angela Robinson is a Vancouver interior designer, and she produced this story along with Jamie Deck. They created most of the props - love that. The bird's nest advent calendar was a clever idea!

Angela busy at work, attaching the birds nests while the little ladies of the house observe.

A little Italian treat, baked by the homeowner, to keep us going on this long shoot. 

Erin McLaughlin, editor-in-chief of Style At Home, vacuums up bits of nest before we start shooting. 

The kitchen smelled great. Cookies everywhere. Naturally, I was all over it. Angela kept the decoration simple, with a loose garland of cedar and glass ornaments for the window. 

A glimpse at some of the other handmade goodness that was going on for this story. Love the family's name spelled out in a variety of sizes and types of letters, for the front door. 

After a long day, the cookies/props could finally, be eaten. 

Check out the December issue of Style At Home - full of Christmas inspiration. 

Back soon!

Janis

A Morning at the Cross

Happy mid-week! How's your week going so far? Mine's another busy one, but fun. Thought I'd share some images from a shoot I did at the Cross - a lovely shop here in Vancouver. They have a great mix of  product that will suit the girly girl (or boy), to the not-so girly girl (that would be me!).

If you live the in the Vancouver area, I'm sure you're familiar with The Cross. If you don't live in the area, lucky for you they have an online shop. ;)

The winner of my calendar give away is......
Mise of Pretty Far West! Whoohoo!

Back soon!
janis

Baked

Well, that's a wrap for our labour day long weekend. Hope you all had a fun one! We've ended ours with a baby shower (for my new niece, Alice), and some really good cupcakes. I had to make sure the remaining cupcakes went with anyone but me. I cannot be trusted. The combo of almond and orange is just too much.

Almond Cupcakes with Orange Glaze - makes about 48 mini cakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond meal (finely ground almonds)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Orange Glaze

2 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
Food colouring

To make cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350f/180c.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add almond extract. In another bowl, whisk together flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt - stir into butter mixture alternately with milk, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of milk. Spoon batter into paper lined cupcake tin.
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until skewer, inserted in centre of cupcake, comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely before icing.

To make glaze:
In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients. You want this to be quite runny, not a thick icing. Spread over tops of cupcakes, and eat immediately!

These are so easy to make, and a recipe I use often! Again, almond and orange. Mmmm.

It's so late in the day, so I hope your Monday was a good one!

Back soon.
janis

Sunday Observations

Did you have a nice weekend? Hope so! I've been making pizza dough to freeze, and doing heaps of laundry. Pizza dough, fun. Laundry, not fun. Here are a few other things I got up to today...

What did you do today? If you're in Vancouver, are you pinching yourself over this beautiful late summer weather? 

Back soon!

janis

Small Space, Fabulous Style

I wanted to share this fantastic space with you. I shot Tamar's apartment, for Style At Home, and I have to say, it's one of my favourites. I could absolutely live here. Tamar Rosenberg, a visual artist and design consultant, has an amazing eye, and her collections and little vignettes are perfect.

Love the needlepoint portrait of Prince Charles, and her collection of red garage sale finds.

A red brick wall with 2 vintage chairs, serve as a fantastic focal point.

I think I need to go and colour code my book shelf. Great grouping of vintage glass on top too!

A very spare and tidy office space. Love that wallpaper. 

Tamar has created a bedroom that is calm and inviting, with a great mix of mid century furniture, and a happy collection of ornaments. I want that chair.

A simple, clean, and modern bathroom. 

A tiny, but well organized kitchen. I would love that portrait. Who is that man? 

I find Tamar's home so inspiring. It's amazing what she's done with just 725 sq ft. What do you like about her home? Let me know!

Back soon! Have a great day.

janis

Sunday Observations

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

Here are a few observations from my Sunday....

Check out Stepack, located here in Vancouver, here

For more Walrus, click here.

That was some of my Sunday. What did you get up to? 

One last reminder to enter the give away (sponsored by Frances Lincoln Publishers) for the book

"About A Village", by Eamonn McCabe. Click here, to enter! I'll make the draw tomorrow.

Back soon!

janis

Friday D.I.Y.

How are you all? Hope you've all had a great week!

I've had another bonkers busy shoot week, so lots of post production work as well. To take a bit of a breather from the computer, I decided to recover a lamp I've had for ages.

I started off by rolling the lampshade across a large piece of paper, tracing along as I rolled. I then pinned the paper template to the fabric, and cut out. I left about 1/2" on either end, then wrapped the fabric around the shade (wrong side out) and pinned. I then sewed the ends together, and slipped it over the shade. I've done this before with an even larger shade and it works really well. This is a lot less messy and toxic than using spray glue to attach fabric.
Thanks to Lili at The Spool of Thread, for suggesting I make my own binding and showing me how. I used white glue to attach the binding to the top and bottom rims of the shade. The whole process took about an hour.

I love these tiny air plants. I picked them up at The Hach, here in Vancouver. All they need is bright light, and a spritz of water.

Have a great weekend! Back soon.
janis
x

HGTV.ca Original Home Tour

Hi everyone! Hope you're having a great week. If you're in Vancouver, are you thoroughly enjoying the sunshine and the Canucks? I am. ;)

I wanted to share a few images of a pretty home with you, that I shot for HGTV.ca for their "Original Home Tour" series.

For the whole story, and many more images, please check out HGTV.ca!

Have a great day! Back soon.
janis