Hello Friday

Thanks so much for all the nice comments and emails about my Morocco and Paris posts. I have one more I'd like to share and it's all about Fes and the Middle Atlas mountain area. Still trying to digest that leg of the journey ;)

Have a great weekend...if you're Irish, I have no doubt you will!

Weekend Observations

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you had a great weekend.

It was the perfect weekend (nothing but rain), to stay in a finally get some things done. This is some of what went on around here...

I think our outdoor furniture should come inside now. Summer is over. 

Finally painted out the dark brown (why did that happen?) wall, and made a blind for my office. Makes 

working a whole lot more pleasant now. I've had this Hawaiian bark cloth languishing in my closet for a years, so thought I'd do something with it. I can only sew uber basic things, so when I say this blind was easy...take my word for it ;) For the how-to, click here.

That was my weekend, along with a project for Poppytalk to be posted this week. What did you get up to this weekend? 

Have a great day! 

janis

Weekend Observations

It's nice to be back! I hope you had a great weekend.

Slowly getting back to normal around here. This weekend, I worked on the shoots I had last week, lounged around a pretty beach, and checked out some wall garden action.....

Check out Rose and Pistols here. 

Shot for Style at Home and Today's Parent.

These really are the last days of summer around here. The smashed sand pail sort of said it all, to me! Crescent Beach is about 45 minutes south of Vancouver. A beautiful spot. If you visit, don't miss Hooked Fish Bar. We had fish tacos and fish & chips. Yum. 

What did you get up to? If you're in the northern hemisphere, were you trying to enjoy the last bits of summer too? Fill me in. 

Have a great day!

janis

Weekend Observations

I'm a little late with this one but, technically, it's still the weekend (Canada Day weekend) ;) How was your weekend?

I received a copy of Canadian Living magazine (thanks Brett!) featuring a story I shot awhile back. "Trash to Treasure" features the talented Colleen Sawatsky, of Vintage Home, and her patio make-over.  Heather helped with the styling. Here's a peek....

I also added some prints to my etsy shop. A series of images of Salton Sea and a couple of pink houses....

Thanks for stopping by!

Back soon,

janis

Back Soon!

A Perfect Edible Garden

Wow, this week has been busy. How has yours been?

I wanted to share some images of one of the best little urban gardens I've shot. So many clever ideas. The homeowners, Caitlin and Owen, are the talented landscape designers of Aloe Designs. I can't believe how much food they grow in a small urban garden. It can be done!

As the message states, it is friggin' adorable in there. Love the shed. 

They grow edibles in anything and everything. Large tin cans, vintage buckets, and an inset in their dining table. 

 The talented duo designed the beautiful dining table and the bench seating lifts up for storage. 

Just a small sample of some of the organic food they grow. 

Aloe Designs are putting on some great workshops, so if you're in the Vancouver area, check them out. I took the seed bomb workshop awhile back. Click here for workshop info. 

Back soon!

janis

City Living in Gastown

How was your weekend? If you're in Vancouver, did you enjoy the warm sunshine? Ahh.

Thought I'd share another lovely home with you, to start off the week. I shot this huge space for Style At Home, for the current issue. Designed by architect Omer Arbel, it's filled with light and all kinds of beautiful details. Here's a peek...

The bedroom overlooks one of my favourite spots in Vancouver - Blood Alley. Intriguing name, isn't it? 

Great use of an antique cabinet. Perfect in the master bathroom. 

The kitchen can open up to this indoor/outdoor patio. 

The "living" wall is filled with strawberry plants. 

Think you could live in a space like this? I think I could. For the whole story, check out the March issue of Style At Home. 

Have a great day!

Back soon,

Janis

Sunday Observatons

I hope you all had a great weekend! I've been indoors most the day, working on an upcoming post for one of my fave blogs, Poppytalk, and cleaning our house. Took a quick break to enjoy the sunshine, so I just have a couple of observations to share. Thought I'd spare you shots of scrubbing bathrooms ;)

Sunday Observations

I have to admit, I was very happy to wake up to side-ways rain, as I had heaps of editing to do from the past week. It's amazing how fast things can snowball. Ouch.

Other than editing hundreds of images, this is what I observed today......

I sewed up a set of coasters, with vintage fabric, and baked some house shaped cookies, to add to a house warming gift. I love the abstract floral pattern.

That was my Sunday. What did you get up to? Hope you had a lovely day!

Back soon.

Janis

Sunday Observations

A fantastic mid-century shop called "Wow", here in Vancouver. 

That was a little of my Sunday. Got up early to watch the 9•11anniversary event, hung out in the garden, looked for bedside tables, and played with my film cameras.  What did you get up to? Hope you had a perfect weekend!

Back soon.

janis

Concrete and Orange

Ah, mid-week and a long weekend ahead. Hope your week is going smoothly so far!

Just wanted to share a few pics of a house I shot for Evoke International Design (my husband and brother's company). My love of concrete continues...

The landscaping was designed by the talented duo at Considered Design. 

That's it for today! I've got to head out to shoot a garden, for Style At Home, while we have some perky light. Tried this morning, but had to abort the mission. Please don't rain, please don't rain. 

Back soon.

janis

Sunday Observations

Oh Sunday, you always seem to appear out of nowhere. We had a bit of summer today, so we took advantage of it. It was a great day! These are a few of my observations for today...

VanDusen Botanical Garden has been around since the 70's, but is now in the middle of a huge rejuvenation project. The image at bottom left, is a model of the new Visitor Centre. Apparently it will be 

Canada's first certified "living building". It's quite an amazing project. Click here, for more info.   

The Found and The Freed, is a fantastic "pop-up" shop here in Vancouver. It's in Gastown, and will be there until July 16th. If you're in the area, I highly recommend it! Lots of great stuff. I found a really well used, "hovis" bread tin so, naturally, I had to buy it. They've sold heaps, but will be adding more great "found and freed" stuff over the next week. See you there?

At the end of the day, we popped by our favourite neighbourhood shop, Walrus, to visit with our friends, 

Caroline and Daniel. Couldn't go empty handed, so we shared a bottle of Prosecco with them. Nice way to wrap up the weekend! While there, I noticed they have a great selection of "plants in a bag, bottle or box". Love the hydroponic herbs (top right), in a recycled wine bottle, and would love the "gingko tree-to-be". Any of these would make a perfect hostess gift...or any kind of gift for that matter ;)

One last thing: I did a post for Poppytalk today. A little long weekend travel inspiration for this summer. Check it out, if you have a moment. Have you been to Tofino BC? Let me know!

It was so nice to just hang out this weekend and relax. What did you guys get up to? Fill me in!

Back soon!

Janis

A Legendary Architect's Garden

I had the honour of shooting Arthur Erickson's garden, last year, for Canadian Gardening (May 2011 issue). He has designed incredible buildings all over North America. Two of those are the Museum of Anthropology, here in Vancouver, and was co-designer of Simon Fraser University. Personally, I would love to live in one of his homes. They are simply stunning. Arthur was still designing, right up to his death, in 2009 at 84.

Karen York, who wrote the story, was told about some legendary parties that Arthur would throw. My favourite is the one where he brought in black swans for the pond and the famous ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev, danced over the moss mound. Oh how I would love to have been there. Can you imagine?

If you're in the Vancouver area and want to check out the garden for yourself, they do offer tours.
Click here for details.

Have a lovely day! Back soon.
janis