Decorate With Flowers

I can see the weekend from here! Hope you're all having a good week, so far.

I just received my copy of Decorate With Flowers by Holly Becker and Leslie Shewring, published by Jacqui Small and Chronicle Books. It's so beautiful! I had the pleasure, and honour, of shooting a few homes with Leslie and Jessica Senti (assistant to Holly Becker), here in Vancouver. It was such a great experience, working with these talented ladies, and inspiring to see Leslie in action. Here's a peek at a couple of our sessions....

Jessica setting the table with a mixture of brightly coloured flowers in a variety of vessels. Loved the plant pots covered in Liberty fabrics. So pretty. 

A pretty table setting in pink, grey, and a little neon pink. 

Jessica and Leslie, weaving their magic at the home of Katharine Horsman. 

Leslie, busy at work, creating mini bouquets of all shades of plum and purple dahlias, orchids, and scabious. 

Loved the beautiful bowl with a single large dahlia. Shot at the home of designer, Nancy Riesco. 

There are over 140 pages of beautiful, creative and inspiring ways to use flowers, throughout your home, and some fun DIY projects, in this book. You can find Decorate With Flowers at bookstores everywhere as well as Amazon. 

Have a lovely day!

janis

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Butter Baked Goods

Hello! I hope everyone's week is off to a good start.

I'm pretty excited to be holding an advance copy of the book I shot, Butter Baked Goods, by Rosie Daykin, published by Random House. We started shooting it in April 2012, and after about 20 photo sessions, and much "taste testing" (yum), it feels strange (but pretty great) to be finally flipping through a finished book. Thought I'd give you a bit of a peek...

Are you a baker? I love baking, but I learned so much, working with Rosie on this book.  I can't tell you how much I learned about icing, pastry and tempering chocolate, with all the how-to's. The release date is October 15th, but you can also pre-order here.

Have a lovely day!
janis
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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

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Weekend Observations

I hope you all had a lovely weekend! Here's a little of mine...

Nerissa Goco is the designer of these beautiful bags. Check out their shop here. 

See more of the Cross here.

This fun "guerilla gardening" workshop was put on by Aloe Designs. Guest speaker was author and blogger, Andrea Bellamy. Hands in this pic belong to Aynsley Tanner, my partner in seed bomb making. I can't wait to start tossing these randomly throughout the city. 

This book is so helpful if you have just a tiny space to work with. I've shot Andrea in her tiny garden for Sunset magazine - it's incredible how many edibles she grows. 

What did you get up to this weekend? Hope it was a fun one!

Back soon,

Janis

Weekend Observations

I hope none of you are suffering from  St. Patrick's Day "festivities"! We had a quiet one around here. It was nice, as this week is shaping up to be an busy one.

Here's a bit of my weekend....

While eating some of that chocolate, I watched this short film about the writer of this book, John Roderick an AP journalist, and his beautiful farmhouse. If you have 15 minutes, you should watch it. I loved it. Thanks to Walter, at Old Faithful, for telling me about it.

Minka from Birdling Films on Vimeo.

What did you get up to this weekend? Have a great day! Back soon.

Janis

Sunday Observations

Hope you've all had a nice, lazy, Sunday. I was planning on being completely lazy, but it hasn't quite worked out that way today. Such is the life of a freelancer!

Here is a bit of my day....

Home Made Home by Mark and Sally Bailey.

Heather Ross In House is located in Vancouver. 

Ami Mckay is an interior designer, based in Vancouver.

I was asked to be part of the "So Canadian, Eh" series over at HodgePodge. I can honestly say, I'm not used to being interviewed, but Barbara made it pretty easy. 

That was my Sunday. What did you get up to? Now, I must go and get lazy. 

Back soon!

janis

Computer Crash and a Good Book

Hope your week is going well so far!

I've had a day of my computer crashing before I've hit "save", while working in my boiling hot office (at home). I had to take a break, before I did something rash, so I poured my coffee into a jar, grabbed a blanket, my new book, and headed to the park. Best thing I've done all day ;)

I wanted to share this fantastic new book by Tereasa Surratt, with you. Tereasa is a creative director at ad agency Ogilvy, and owner, along with her husband, of Camp Wandawega located in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. The entire book is shot at the camp. It's a place I definitely plan to check out very soon!

They purchased the old camp, renovated the crumbling and very old cabins, and filled them with "found, free and flea" objects, spending no more than $150 per room. Amazing.  It's beautifully shot by a load of talented photographers. Here are a few snippets from the book...

This book is filled with inspiring images, tips and hints on navigating flea markets, collecting, and d.i.y's. For more on the multi-talented Ms. Surratt, check out her blog. Click here for a little more info on the book, and a very cute trailer.  

 Back soon!

Janis

Baked

Did you have a nice weekend? Hope so!

I baked a batch of these Chocolate Caramel Cookies over the weekend. They're not the prettiest cookie out there, but they taste pretty great. I've been baking slightly healthier treats lately, but sometimes you just need heaps of chocolate. I did make them with whole wheat and spelt flour though ;)

Chocolate Caramel Cookies - makes about 24

4 oz dark chocolate, chopped (about a 100 g bar)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour*
1 cup whole spelt flour*
* you can use 2 cups all purpose flour in place of the whole wheat and spelt. I was trying to feel less guilty. Yeah, right.)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large Caramilk bars, chilled

Melt the dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl, over a pot of almost boiling water, stirring occasionally. Let cool. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla, then melted chocolate.

In another bowl, whisk flours, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir into butter mixture until combined. Cover dough, and refrigerate until firm enough to shape, about 30 minutes.

Break each caramilk bar into separate squares/pieces. Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls, then flatten and place one square of chocolate in the centre. Wrap and seal dough around chocolate and place, seam down, on parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake in centre of oven, at 375f, for 10 minutes, or until edges are firm and centres are still soft. Let cool on pan for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!!

Now, about that give away for "About A Village", by Eamonn McCabe.

The winner is....
#20 - Marianne at Style For Living! Congratulations!

Welcome, Weekend

 In case you missed my last post click here, if you'd like to enter a contest for a beautiful book called "About A Village" by Eamonn McCabe. Give away is sponsored by Frances Lincoln Publishers.

Have a fun weekend! Back soon.
janis

Sunday Observations

Hello everyone! Here are a few things I've taken notice of today....

I hope I haven't jinxed this series now. Gulp. Go Canucks! Click here, for the pretzel recipe. Bags were just printed on my home printer. Easy.

I also checked out Marisa Seguin's Print Shop on Etsy. This girl is good. I love her city posters.

Click here, to check out her beautiful shop. 

Those are a few of the things I observed today. Oh, and Blogger still hasn't restored my missing comments. ;) What did you get up to? Let me know!

Back soon!

janis

A Rainy Weekend with Books

I hope you all had a fun Valentine's Day!

This past weekend was a rainy one, so it was a perfect excuse to pour through some wallpaper and design books to get some inspiration. I find it a little difficult to make a final decision when it comes to wallpaper. What if I put it up and it looks hideous?

Here are a few of my rainy weekend reads. They're not brand new so many of you may know of them, but for those of you that don't, I highly recommend them!

Pattern by Orla Kiely 2010

I was given this book by my friend, Nikki, who knows how much I love this woman. Orla Kiely designs everything from handbags, to furniture and bed linen. It's a good insight into how she works. This book is filled with beautiful images, and fits the bill if you love pattern, mid-century design and fashion.

Wallpaper by Charlotte Abrahams 2009


Page after page of stunning wallpapered rooms, unique ways to use wallpaper and samples of different styles of paper. Fantastic to flip through on a rainy day...or any day for that matter!

Florence Broadhurst  Her Secret and Extraordinary Lives by Helen O'Neill 2006

I've been obsessed with this woman for years. She was all shades of eccentric, and I think that's why I love her.  This book covers her life, from the early days as a singer, then to her days as a wallpaper designer to her murder in 1977. Her killer has never been found. Nothing like some design inspiration mixed with a little intrigue.

That's it for now! Have a lovely day.
janis