What happened to Christmas?

Every year I say the same thing. The frantic build up to the big day then poof! it's gone. For the last few days I've been sure not to waste any of the cookies that were happily baked by friends and family, as well as my own sugar cookies. I'm starting to get pimples. All I've done since Christmas (other than eat cookies), is knit scarves, watch It's A Wonderful Life and clean up the house. I haven't even picked up my camera. Poor Canon. Canon and I have a shoot to do tomorrow, so we'll catch up then.

My husband and I are not fans of Boxing Day/Week/Month - it's kind of depressing to me. The picture above kind of sums it all up. I've never been able to wrap my head around shopping the day after Christmas. I would love to hear from those of you that do. Am I missing something, like free shoes and purses somewhere? 

FYI - There are a number of theories as to what Boxing Day is all about. One theory is that boxes were placed in churches, and people placed money and food in them for the poor. The boxes were opened on December 26th, the Feast of St. Stephen, and distributed to the needy. I quite like this theory.  Anyone have any other theories to share?

One last thing to share before 2010. We were mooching off my brother at his restaurant last week and after mooching, we walked by the upholstery shop that is reupholstering my chair. I took in some beautiful blue fabric from Maharam, along with my sad little chair, a few weeks ago. They told me it probably wouldn't be done before Christmas (it wasn't), but I didn't expect to see it sitting high up on a shelf looking so lost. Cheer up chair, it won't be long now!

On that note, Happy New Year everyone! I'm so looking forward to 2010!

How did it happen so fast?

Every year I ask this same question. I really do need to get on the Christmas thing in November, not the week before the big day. Panic shopping = refunds on the 28th.

I'm working on Christmas crackers today. This year I picked up some great little surprises for everyone. Warning: Any family member reading this post, should stop reading now as your cracker surprise will be spoiled. If you continue to read I will know, and so will Santa. Believe.

Found some cute flower clips and rings at H&M, vintage scarves at Mintage, robot magnets at Nood to name a few of the treats. This year, I'm using brown kraft paper, silvery grey yarn, and I cut out tree shapes (see above) from Vogue magazines, to decorate the crackers. Picked up the snappers at Urban Source, made the tissue paper 'crowns' and fortunes, and inserted them into a lovely toilet paper roll. If you are making your own crackers, make sure to take off any bits of paper from roll as this looks a little bottom shelf.

Not a good look. Do remove excess paper from roll before making your crackers.

Robot magnets, snappers, mini pens, vintage scarf and finished cracker.

Last note before Christmas. The cookie baking segment on CTV news, went well! Tamara Taggart made it very easy. Huge thank you to Karen, my sister, for doing the segment with me and making some cute aprons the night before. Kate, thank you too for all your help as well. Wink.

Tamara, me, and my sister Karen making yo-yos. Picture taken by Louise Hartland

Have a fabulous Christmas everyone! Back next week.

yo-yos and a cookie with a name I can't pronounce

Hope all of you lovely bloggers are enjoying the festive season, whatever holiday you may be celebrating!

I've been trying to get all yuletidy and festive, but I've got another non-holiday shoot today (though I'm extremely thankful for it, H&H), and I've been feverishly perfecting my yo-yos. You Australians will know what I'm talking about. They seem to be a very popular "biscuit" in your part of the world. I will be baking these cookies with my friend Tamara Taggart, on CTV news this Friday. She is the fabulous weathercaster for the evening weekday news program. Tamara is baking cookies all this week with some pretty talented ladies, so I'm nervous. First hour of the show, yo-yos, second part, cookie with a name I can't pronounce. Cuccidati (Italian fig cookie). Any helpful hints out there? My Italian blogger friends, help me!

Spiced yo-yos

On the home front, we've managed to decorate a bit, but feel we still have a lot to do before next week - the official countdown to Christmas. My husband and I don't get too precious with the decor, as we tend to like the natural look, mixed with our tree full of glass ornaments collected over the years. I have to see those every year or it's not Christmas to me. 

The floral arrangements are a mix of Canadian and Australian greens. Sweet vintage fawn from my pal Heather. Happy glass ball a gift from my friend Sarah.

Final notes. A huge thank you to Jana, of Rooted In Style, and Lori, of ChicGeek Designs for both doing a post featuring my work. Very sweet women. Love them. Check out their blogs for heaps of beautiful inspiration!

Have a fabulous day everyone!

Not quite Rockefeller, but we did have Elvis

Elvis Costello that is. Elvis and his wife, Diana Krall, were the special guests at the Amacon Christmas tree lighting celebration at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Unfortunately, their mission was only to push the big red button, to switch on the lights, not to do a festive duet. In just it's 3rd year, it doesn't quite have the panache, or the countless superstars, that Rockefeller has, but it's a start. 

Now, back to Elvis. I adore Elvis Costello, and have grown to be o.k with his wife, Nanaimo BC native, Diana Krall. She did look pretty last night. I was only about 12 feet away from them, so I took lots of pics. Please allow me to show you a number of them!

To Mise of Pretty Far West: Since I was in a sparkly mood after the tree lighting (and Elvis), I decided to go by a couple of the houses, from my last post, to show you what they look like all lit up. Enjoy! I think I prefer them in the light of day, all exposed and self conscious.

Festive Observations

This has been the busiest week. I had plans to post before now, but I had an unexpected crazy (good crazy) shoot week. Must be a Christmas miracle, as it's usually a little quiet this time of year. Hallelujah! Shot stories for House and Home, Sunset and a happy family portrait session.

Needless to say, my weekend was spent with the computer working on hundreds of images. I had to take an eye break so I rugged up, grabbed my camera, and took a walk through my neighbourhood. I love my neighbourhood.

Feast your eyes on these over-the-top, a touch crazy, but festive houses. I don't know the homeowners, but I'd love to meet them all. I did meet two young girls running around with extension cords at the house above. They told me they had been working on the display with their dad. So sweet! Do you put this much effort into adorning your front lawn? I know we don't. If I could get my mitts on a glowing choir boy or girl, I'd be all over it.






I also checked out Walrus on one of my "eye breaks". Wow! They have some fabulous gift ideas. Love that fox face necklace! I hope my husband is reading this.


I've got to get back to sorting and colour correcting now. On a final note, if you're in the Vancouver area on December 14th, check out the extremely popular quiz night at The Cascade Room. They've paired up with Warner Brothers for a special quiz night to promote WB's upcoming Sherlock Holmes. You could win passes for 4 for the screening on December 21st and more! See you there!

I hope all you lovely bloggers are well! Looking forward to having some time to catch up and read your fabulous blogs. 

Melbourne vs Vancouver

These two lovely cities do seem to battle it out for top spot on the "most livable city" list. My husband is a Melbourne boy and I'm a Vancouver girl, so it makes for a fun rivalry. Vegemite vs peanut butter. We're back in Vancouver now, so back to November rain (isn't that a song?). I like to think rain keeps the skin young and fresh. One can dream.

I shot over 700 images while in Australia, so I thought I should show you a few more pics. Perhaps one more post next week as well then straight into Christmas!

These happy little boxes of hope look like they've never seen any post other than birthday cards, and postcards from faraway places. Certainly never an overdue hydro bill. Postboxes, like these, are dotted all over country roads throughout Victoria. Love the rakish look they all have.

This is Nelly the goat. She was the sweet and happy natural lawnmower belonging to Rob's sister Cathy, her husband Peter, and kids Frankie and Tom. Nelly passed away last week. She was about 20 years old. I feel bad because I yelled at her when she chomped on one of my lenses. Sorry Nelly. R.I.P.

I'm a little bit country

Well, Kyneton has proved to be a pretty fabulous little town. Love it. No big box anything here, just great independently owned shops, cafes and restaurants. Piper Street is where it's at.

Newly opened Kabinett is owned by Melissa MacFarlane and Frank Moylan, previous owners of the Royal George Hotel in Kyneton. Incredible mix of vintage pieces sourced mostly from Eastern Europe and Australia. I adore this shop. I have my eyes on a vintage map of Australia, and two happy blue enamel light fixtures (not pictured unfortunately).

 
Little Swallow Cafe has quickly become our spot for coffee and delicious breakfasts. Love the decor, so simple.

If you visit Kyneton, and you should, check out no. 2 sweetheart for pretty organic fashion and beauty products (I'm wearing a sweet little bamboo top right now!), Slow Living is a great restaurant that uses local organic produce and meats and makes a fab coffee too.

Have to dash. Off to Tahbilk to sample a few wines today. 

A Day on Earth

I found my personal mecca the other day. We went to beautiful Daylesford, about 90 minutes out of Melbourne, and checked out Shed 4 - A Day on Earth. I think I heard angels singing. This shop (it's actually a huge warehouse) is owned by David Bromley, a fabulous British born (raised in Australia) artist. He really is one of my favourites. 

The warehouse was full of vintage crates, old worker's lockers, David's art, pottery and even a couple of Japanese coin operated kiddie rides. Absolute heaven. So sad to leave it all behind.

A fabulous box table featuring art by David Bromley, coin operated kiddie ride, and the chair that I can't get out of my mind. Love that colour.

Vintage paddles adorned with Bromley faces (my friend, Nikki, would love these), the backside of a plate, and a quartet of illuminated children. My husband plans on purchasing the blue girl. We adored her. Wouldn't she make a fabulous "greeter" in a front hall?

The last few days have been incredible. The air is so clean and fresh here in Kyneton, and the smell of gum trees is amazing. Ahh, Australia.

I'm leaving on a jet plane

I feel so out of the blogosphere loop! In the freelance world, it can be all or nothing. This week has definitely been an "all" week. Haven't had any time to tend to my blog or read any of yours, unfortunately. Sob. 

We leave for Australia tonight (whoohoo!), and I managed to make myself crazy(ier) by accepting a last minute shoot for House and Home today. Must get shots to them for tomorrow. Good thing our flight is at 11:45pm. Oh, and did I mention that a certain wall, in our kitchen, has been painted three times during the week? It will remain the colour it is now ("cloud 9") until, at least, the end of this year. It's hard to choose a colour sometimes, isn't it. Please someone agree with me.

I have my Christmas cards and tags ready to go. The tags are trimmed in "snow" glitter, and I think I still have some in my eyes. This year all proceeds will benefit the Vancouver Food Bank as well as a couple of local public schools for their "Snowflake Socials". Public schools need more money! They will also be available at the Cross, McBurney Junction, and Little White House.

If anyone knows of some fab new shops or restaurants, in Melbourne, please let me know!

I hope to blog a bit while in Australia...we'll see how it goes. Take care everyone!

A rock 'n' roll and crafty weekend

Occasionally, my husband and I have our very own crafty days. We don't have kids, but some would think we do. The image above might be why. Those toadstools really did look like a Smurf house. Makes me smile.

This past weekend, besides trick or treating with our nieces, nephews and a few good friends, we got crafty. Rob worked on his upcoming show at Public, and I worked on a series of Christmas cards.  

For one of my cards, I painted and papered my birdhouses, and made festive wreathes to adorn their front door pegs. If a bird did indeed decorate for Christmas they would most certainly use snow berries, twigs, and tiny conifer cones, wouldn't they? Rob and I hiked into a nearby forest to shoot them. The light was low and so pretty. I'll show the finished cards later this week.


Rob's got another show coming up at Public Lounge in Vancouver, opening November 8th. It's called Fragments in RPM - "A new exhibition of prints and poster remnants, exploring musical memory and the visual attachment we give to sounds." If you're in Vancouver, go and check it out!


Now, back to painting my kitchen. I'm making quite a mess.

Fright Fest

From Christmas to Halloween. So much can change in a week. I do love a good "scary" movie with lots of mayhem and suspense, but no slashing. Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and Saw (all 5 or 6 of them), to name a few, are unwatchable (new word). 

It's Fright Fest this week, on a certain movie channel, so I thought I'd list a few of my favourites, partly because of how they look. Very stylish. The photography, sets, costumes, are pretty spectacular in these particular films, even if you don't like this genre.  Do you have a favourite horror movie? Do tell.

Rosemary's Baby 1968. Love her pixie cut, sweet little outfits, sets, and her neighbours. Ruth Gordon is amazing as Minnie Castevet.

The Birds 1963. The hair, suit and all those crows. Spectacular. Edith Head was the costume designer for Tippi Hedren. I love Edith.


Ahh, the Innocents 1961. I think this is my favourite film out of this bunch. Deborah Kerr is fabulous, as are the spooky children. Martin Stephens, who plays Miles, is especially spooky.

 

Heather Cameron and I shot this story for Gardening Life with the help of Kate Keeler, my nephew Jake and sister Debbie, a couple of years ago. We set up a movie screen in amongst Heather's blueberry shrubs. Naturally, we had to feature The Birds. 

Happy Halloween!

Deck the Halls

I can't believe how fast this past week has gone. Where did it go? Since my last post, I've worked with my friend Heather on web images for Missing Goat, shot a bathroom with Nancy Riesco for House and Home. (yes, I have a glamorous life), and finally wrapped up my new promo piece (merci, Rob).

As we head into the weekend, I thought I'd get you all into the "deck the halls" spirit. This lovely home is featured in the current Canadian House and Home magazine. I shot this story last Christmas.  How time flies. Homeowner, Darci, is co-owner of the Cross , a beautiful home store here in Vancouver. They have recently launched their new website and online shop.

By the way, thanks so much to all of you lovely bloggers for your helpful hints regarding my "upholstery fairy" post. It's all underway, so I'll be posting the makeovers soon.  Looking forward to catching up with all of your blogs, over the weekend!

There is no such thing as an upholstery fairy

I've been thinking of painting the living/kitchen area of our home. I say this, but I probably won't get around to it until the new year, at the earliest.  This is the frustrating part of my job as a lifestyle and interiors photographer.  Too many options and sensory overload, so it's difficult (for a person like me) to make that final decision. Yikes.

This problem has really been driven home by a few items languishing in our garage. One of the many items is a chair (above) that I've been wanting to reupholster for over a year. Unfortunately, I've learned that there is no upholstery fairy that will take care of this for me. Dreams shattered. Same goes for the shadeless vintage lamp (below), and the piles of fabric that I've collected. You never know when you might want to make a cushion or a sweet bistro curtain. I have never made either. 

I almost forgot all the wallpaper (see some of the "collection" below). Speaking of wallpaper. Is it too hideous to paper a wall that is dangerously close to a toilet? When boys pee.... well, you know. I would love to cover one tiny wall, in our powder room, with vintage Japanese wallpaper. Hmmm.

To wrap up, I'm hoping that now that I've put it out there, I will have to tackle these little projects. Fingers crossed.  

Shadeless lamp.

Dust covered, new and vintage wallpaper.

Thankful

We're heading into a long weekend here in Canada. It's Thanksgiving. I love this time of year. Nothing but heaps of stuffing, cranberries, stuffing, sweet potatoes (soaked in maple syrup), and stuffing.  A true carb delight. 

My post purchase doubts have kicked in a bit this week (thanks to blasted Ebay!), so I have felt like a greedy guts. I'd like to remedy it a bit, by declaring my thankfulness for a few things in my life. I'll try not to be deeply mushy, or too wordy!

I'm very thankful for....

My husband, friends and family here in Vancouver and Australia.  

Having 13 years with our fabulous dog Plugger.  He passed away this summer. We really miss him.

Plugger

The lovely people that have purchased some of my prints over the last week. Pictured below is the Chinatown series and a couple of Fallen Ladies.

Having a roof over my head is pretty good too.

Speaking of having a roof over my head...

 

If you live in Vancouver, check out gratitudeweek.org and please donate. Their slogan is "Give a dollar. Give a damn". If you live here, you know we have an unacceptable homeless problem. For a rich city like Vancouver, this should not be happening. It's bunk. With the Olympics coming, it can only get worse.

Another fabulous organization, you all might like to check out, is kiva.org. 

As a wedding gift, for my brother and his wife, my family lent money to a lovely woman, in Honduras, so she could open up a beauty salon.  The money was repaid in just a few months. It's a fascinating site to go through. Please take a look. I'm about to donate to a man that simply needs a couple of goats. 

Have a great weekend! Happy Thanksgiving Canada!