Before & After for Friday

Hello again! That week flew by, didn't it? Is it just me?

I'm wrapping up a busy shoot week, with a little before & after inspiration brought to you by Peter Wilds, a great designer and pal. This is his office/studio, located in the Gastown area of Vancouver. I shot this story for Style At Home and it's in the current issue.

That's it for now! I'm off to Australia tonight, but I plan on posting from down under. I plan to do a little catching up with all of your blogs on my Christmas break too! 

Have a great weekend! Back soon.

janis

x

weekend observations

It was a busy weekend around here. A couple of shoots, and a best birthday present ever. My husband took me to see Paul McCartney for my day of all days. Sir Paul is still pretty amazing. Anyone else see him in Vancouver this weekend? 

Here's a little bit of the shoots I had...

Barefoot Contessa has a couple of locations in Vancouver. Have you been? Lots of great stuff for kids and men too! 

So many exciting things happening at Gallant & Jones! I've had the pleasure of shooting their beach chairs since the beginning, then onto trays and bags. These blankets are so soft and beautiful. Check them out here. 

What did you get up to this weekend? Did you venture into the "black Friday" shopping frenzy? If you did, was it all worth it? Let me know!

Have a good Monday!

janis

A Little Neon for Friday

I'm a fan of neon. I wish I could step into a time machine, and see what Vancouver looked like 50 years ago. Full of neon. If you're in Vancouver, and wondering what to do this weekend in side-ways rain, pop by the Museum of Vancouver and check out "Neon Vancouver/Ugly Vancouver", a permanent exhibit.  The M.O.V. still seems to be the best kept secret in this city. ;)

I took this picture on a chilly evening, while on a search for neon.By the way, Dayton is a Vancouver company that calls itself "stubbornly Canadian since 1946".  Love that, and I love those boots.

Have a great weekend!
janis

Weekend Observations

Technically, it's still the weekend here (Remberance Day long weekend) but why wait for tomorrow? Hope you've all had a good weekend!

As mentioned in my last post, I was hoping for a calm and quiet weekend, and that's what I had. Here's a bit of it...

The Cross is located in Vancouver BC. Click here for more.

I also did a contributor post for Poppytalk today. I transformed a vintage bench by using a simple photo transfer technique. Click here for the how-to and the finished project! 

Enjoy the rest of your day!

janis

weekend observations

How was your weekend? I'm still in weekend mode, as it's a long one here. Most of mine has been spent cleaning out the garage and editing pics, but I did fit in a couple of other things as well.....

Love vintage books sans dust jackets.

The wedding ceremony took place near the port of Vancouver, and the reception was at the old Salt building. Beautiful place. 

Are you still in weekend mode? What did you get up to?

janis

x

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  

Loft Loveliness

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you had a great week.

To wrap up the week, I thought I'd share a pretty loft that I shot for House and Home (Sept. 2012). This beautiful space belongs to Katharine Horsman, a fashion stylist. I met Katharine via the Cross and have since worked with her on this shoot as well.

I quite loved this bit of neon. Love how this looks. 

I really loved how Katharine mixed girly elements with things like a beautiful native head dress perched atop a piece of driftwood. 

Mini Mick Jagger, anyone?

What do you think? You can also see more over at House and Home, just click here for a video tour of Katharine's home. 

Have a great weekend!

janis

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

Baked

Ah, we're inching closer to the Canada Day long weekend. Can't wait. How's your week going? Hope it's been smooth sailing.

I baked a batch of Blueberry Almond Quinoa cookies...and they're not too bad for you. I've had two this morning already.  Good start ;)

Blueberry Almond Quinoa Cookies - makes about 20

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
4 large egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together, flour, almond meal, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, maple syrup, brown sugar and apple sauce for a couple of minutes. Beat in the egg whites and almond extract for another couple of minutes. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon, to combine. Fold in the quinoa, oats, blueberries and almonds.

Spoon large spoonfuls of dough onto prepared baking sheet, spacing about an inch apart. Bake for about 15-18 minutes, or until golden in colour. Place on a wire rack to cool...or eat immediately. Enjoy!

By the way, I'm over at Poppytalk today as well. It's a "Made in Vancouver" story about a couple of my favourite furniture designers from Bombast.

Have a good day! Back soon.
Janis

Weekend Observations

I can't tell you how happy I am that the sun is shining today. Ahh, I love it. Hope you all had a good weekend.

This post is a little about "baby steps", it seems. Baby steps with the weather inching towards being summery, getting organized, working on my sewing "skills" (ha!), and eating frozen yogurt pops instead of ice cream.....

My husband helped with finding a rod and hooks that would work with this cabinet. Merci, Rob. 

That was a bit of my weekend. What did you get up to? 

Back soon!

janis

Pretending It's Summer

Happy Friday! Did you have a good week? Plans for the weekend?

Thought I'd play a game and pretend that it's warm and sunshiny.  The rain has been pretty relentless (I still love you Vancouver).  Here are summers past in Melbourne, Hawaii, Naramata BC and, yes, even Vancouver....

All Shades of Seating for Friday

Happy Friday! Here's a peek at a design event to wrap up the week....

This was a sneak peek for IDSwest coming up in September. It took at place at the beautiful Inform Contract Space in Vancouver. Love that space. I could live in it. There was no shortage of seating.

A tour of the BENSEN factory. Incredible furniture designed by Niels Bendtsen. Amazing place. If you get a chance to visit this place, do. I'm pining for a certain sofa bed now. 

Click here for more info.

Click here for more about Bocci. 

Left: Socks + Furniture: An Exploration into the Banal. By Greg Papove

Right: Profile chair and lamp by Conrad Brown and Calen Knauf

Click here for more info on Future Masters vol 3.

(I also see a future baby in the pic on the right. Sorry, couldn't help it.)

All of these can be found at Inform Contract Space. 

That's it for this week. Have a great weekend!

Janis