Here is part two of this weeks Santa Wish List. This one is for the dude in my life- Mr O. If only we had enough dough that i could treat you to a $500 man ax. Actually come to think of it I'd rather pool that into a weekend away in the woodsy woods somewhere. Nevertheless- some manly goods to make you smile.

1. Whiskey- Nothing says a mans man drink like a good ol bottle of whisky. This small batch distillery based in NY has great branding and spicy spirits.

2. Apron- Not just any apron, but a great woodworking apron handmade locally, for tough cuts and the odd meat roast on the barbeque in the winter months. A little blood never hurt anyone. Available at Union Wood Co.

3. Bike Wine Rack- for those summer picnics when the bag is just too full of farmers market goods to fit in that bottle of good stuff. This wine bar rack is ingenious and so subtle.

4. Chocolate- Husband and wife team who just launched Beta 5 Chocolates is creating quite a buzz around town in the decadent foodie circuit. Great name and I love the branding of these bars.

5. Man Tote- Ok, in all honesty, I would use this bag 90% of the time. But it could double as a great day bag to lug work gear and lunch wares to and from the ol 69' ford. Available at Mr Lees General Store.

6. Rainboots- Cheesy I know but she needs some... and so does he. I like how lightweight these are for trogging around in the slush or rain in. And Natives are locally made and available at Walrus.

7. Cologne- Last time we were window shopping at Old Faithful we came across this amazing smelling cologne. The name just fits the bill "Burning Barbershop" Neither O or I are a huge perfume fan, but this one is so subtle and old worldly it stuck with us for days. yummm.

8. Vintage Map- A little second hand shop hunting is always a fun adventure. This year I'm on the hunt for some inexpensive DIY type wall art for O's new wood-shop that he is making in the new year. I'm thinking some antlers, a plywood inspiration board and some vintage maps could fit the bill. Plus he can pin all the places we have been in the world and dream of trips ahead.

9. Bow Tie- I love these quirky bow ties from Something is Hiding in Here. Such a fashion statement for winter party's.

10. Ax- A true woodsman needs a good tool. These famous axes come in a range of sizes and are an investment for a well stoked fire. 

This holiday, really i'm most looking forward to that good ol' fashion family time. Christmas has always been a special time of year in our house. Lots of fireside time, reading, giggling and eating too much indulgent food. This year O and I are tyring to make all our gifts by hand. It has been fun and very rewarding. However I have to admit I've been to a few craft fairs and favourite stores and had my eye on some fun things. So here's my wishlist- to Santa Clause of course, who else would be able to deliver all this good stuff to one gal:

 

1. Rainboots- Living in Vancouver, with a stroller, a gal needs some good water proof boots. Ive had my eye on Hunters for the past few years. I like that they are tall and stylin'. Plus their timeless and built to last.

2. Calendar- I got one of these last year from Janis Nicolay at Pinecone Camp. I just love the cheery photos that greet me each month by my desk.

3. Maple Syrup- Little known fact about me: I have waffles and bacon pretty much every sunday morning. It is a ritual for O and I. He hates them, but loves how much joy it brings to my day. Would love to try some of this Noble bourbon barrel matured syrup.

4. Necklace- Not just any necklace. A local designer Henderson Dry Goods makes these sweet long chains. I love the old world quality and mixed medium process. Jane Austen is always good to wear close to the heart.

5. Soap- I am a total soap snob. There you have it. I love french triple milled soap and anything that leaves your skin buttery and smelling of a fresh shower. My favourite scents are: lavender, olive, musk and milk.

6. Yoga Pass- Before I had Luce I did yoga at Semperviva at least once a week, if not twice. I love the various studios and teachers. I am craving getting back into this again in the new year. Nothing like a few long hold poses to kick you back in shape.

7. Pencil Jar/ Flower Vase- I definitely don't need this by any means, but I have always loved Hayday Designs porcelain mason jars. So unique and delicate and great for multipurpose use.

8. Tea- I am a tea drinker. About 3 cups a day. I love all types, but my fave for an array of interesting selections are at David's Tea.

9. Print- I have come across this artist Jeannette from The Beautiful Project so many times, and always pause and stare at her amazing cards and prints. I couldn't find an image of the print I love (called Good Morning Sunshine), but her stuff is amazing.

10. Book- One of my most favourite authors, Adam Gopnik, has a new book out, fitting with the season called Winter. I heard an excerpt from this at the Massey Hall lectures and it sounds amazing.

Two shop owners chat with us about the belief that good design, really good design is long lasting. Big things. Small things. Always a pleasant surprise.

Who: Brandy Fedoruk & Rebecca Dolen

Where: Vancouver BC

What: Artists/ Store Owners of Regional Assembly of Text

Believes: All the best things arrive by mail.

Q: Can’t live without? 

 Brandy-  Olives.

Rebecca- Currently… Spice Box Whisky.

Q: Music or radio station currently coveting?

Brandy- Silence.

Rebecca- I’ve recently rediscovered CITR. Hello!

Q: How long have you been doing what you do?

6 ½ years. Yikes.

Q: What word best describes you?

Rebecca- Good Cop.

Brandy- Bad Cop.

Q: Perks and yucks about being self employed?

Brandy- Likes: seeing people appreciate what we do. Dislikes: book keeping.

Rebecca- Likes: having a totally flexible schedule. Dislikes: answering the phone.

Q: What advice do you have for recent art graduates?

Brandy- Follow through with your great ideas.

Rebecca- The possibilities are endless, for real.

Q: Your Illustrations are truly amazing- where do you go for inspiration?

Brandy- Old books, vintage packaging, dictionaries, travel.

Rebecca- Me too.

Q: Worst idea ever?

Brandy- agreeing to give a speech about our business. (don’t like that public speaking thing)

Rebecca- waiting almost a year before hiring someone.

Q: You guys are both friends and business partners- how do you make this work?

Brandy- Rebecca is good at telling me that I am doing a ‘good job’ about 10 times a day. And we have the same priorities when it comes to what we want from our business. Ie: Lots of travel time. Getting out of the city is inspiring and keeps us sane.

Rebecca- We really enjoy each others company, some of our best ideas have been thought of during off time over beers at the legion. Being that, talking business is our favourite past time, I’m so glad we have each other, or we’d drive our other friends crazy.

Q: Its coming up xmas time, my fave time of the year in your shop, what fun new goods do you have this year for sale?

 We screen printed some lovely tea towels this year. And have new cards and wrapping paper too.

 

Owen here- For the past 40 or so years, my dad has been driving east to Saskatchewan for his annual bird hunting trip. The average trip lasts about 14 days. He has spent 1 ½ years of his life out there. Despite his pleas to have me accompany him and his friends on their trek across the frozen flatlands, I never went… until this year.

Fortunately, I have a 1 year old girl, so the past year made the 4:30 am wake up call to set out the decoys in the cold darkness manageable.

I wish I had a truck all to myself so that I could’ve brought home a load of salvaged goods.

I feel that I should add a disclaimer here because our generation has lost interest and understanding for hunting.  My dad and I have never been “trophy” hunters, only food hunters to fill the freezers for the long winter.  That sounds ‘sappy’ but it’s true.  Besides the delicious goose and duck meat, the Hutterite Colony, who clean the birds, make blankets from the down feathers.  Oh, and don’t forget what pate is made from!  Nothing is wasted and at least they have a chance to get away (especially with my aim)… the same cannot be said for a chicken.

So is anyone hooked on the show american pickers? K so there is no question about it. Simply put- they are serious dorks. But come on- so fun to watch all the great old finds that come their way in middle america farm land. In lieu of our current obsession with this show, I thought I would share with you some of our favourite places to go pickin or antique-ing round here.

GARAGE SALES:

or "sailin" (as our aunty c likes to call it) are really the ultimate best places to score old goods. The seller has no overhead, usually wants to get rid of the goods that day, bargaining is free rain, which = mega scores at a fraction of the cost. The key is to get there early, get in and out and move onto the next and if you come across an estate sale- you've hit the motherload. A little secret- the best g sales are south of the border. I go every time we visit our cousins in seattle, and blown away by the finds.

USED BUILDING SUPPLY STORES:

The best one near vancouver is Jacks Used Building Supply. We often check this out when doing a "salvage design" garden projects for clients who want some vintage feel to their landscape. Finding old sink basins for planters, old signage to conceal a sight line, and old farmhouse lighting for a patio space.

Another good salvage store is the Restore. These are nationwide, but the two week like best are in Bellingham and Ballard WA. The one in ballard has a friendly cat named Ferdinand and some crafty staff who arrange the vintage items with such pride.

 VINTAGE YARDS:

I dont even know if this is the right term. Maybe, self proclaimed "Horders". These are the peops you see on American Pickers. The sentimental folk, who have an insane collection of goods, claim to be open for business, but then when you try to offer them a price for an item, they hold onto it like they never had any intention to sell in the first place. And rightfully so. They are really just collectors who want to invite you in, tell you the stories of the yee old days and then let you be on your way. Bless them. Nevertheless, worth a stop, and if your lucky, you may get to buy some gem after all. Granny and Grumpas is the best known secret in the valley. If you have an afternoon, head out to this farm yard of vintage goodness. Grumpa is slow & grumpy and granny is pretty much 100% deaf. They yell and bicker at one another, but love the company. Its quite a treat.

These last few images are from a trip I took two summers ago with my dad to Cooperstown NYC. We came across this neat old town, just in the outskirts. Met this wild guy, who was a true american collector. He even gave me an old dairy bottle to take back as a momento for our time back east.That's my dad below, peaking to see if anyone is home?

Its truly hard to comprehend how a whole entire year has passed. But here it is- Lucie Ella Black, officially 1 years old, just crawling, as sweet and cute as the first day we met her. Thinking fondly back to her birth, how powerful and magical the whole process was. A real little baby. A moment so clear and still, a frame in time that will never be lost. Crying, laughing and full of more love than we could never have known. She was perfect. Half of me, half of o. Happy Birthday sweet girl.

 

We had so much fun crafting out a farm/harvest theme party. Luckily we had sun, so the 30+ peops could fit into our tiny house.

Craft Table. Designed for the range of ages newborn- 5 year olds.

Eatz- we wanted to keep it simple so we served finger food and bowls of chili.

Outside drinks station

Squash bowling alley.

Bowlers at play.

We had tossed around the idea of renting a small pony, but given that luce will likely not remember much about this day, we opted for home made hay bale rides in o's wheelbarrels.

Ready for a ride.

The race.

Baby Francesca, not quite sure what she thinks of it all.

Scary Sachi with his face painted.

Grace blowing bubbles.

Youngest guest, baby Liam.

Blowing out the candle.

Cupcake, am I allowed to try it?

Yum, sugar.

Wow tastebuds.

Cupcake Cakes half eaten.

Farm animal parting gifts.

Presents!

A long time coming, but we finally did it! With lots of great input and help we present " the new and improved nesting journal". Ok, so there are a few small kinks that we are still working out, but for the most part, done. Some really beautifully designed blogs that inspired us for change:

bloesom kids, bookhou, canelle et vanille, follow studio, poppytalk.

Below is an image of where the creative process began. For all our design projects we start at the inspiration board. Being the super duper magazine collector that I am we had loads of inspiration images to pull from.

It is always a fun journey to re-brand and so interesting being on the client end of things. We wanted to keep the site still feeling like a journal blog and less like a website blog (if that makes sense). The challenge was how to keep it simple, with lots of white space, slightly pastel and girlie but still fit into our overall business brand with aloe. Without getting too descriptive and design geeky I will say simply this: We love it!

Thanks to the new domestic for some creative stylin, the font king mr matt kilburn & the techy master chris smith at aloe designs. Nice work team. Without your crafty skills it wouldn't have happened.

Tell us what you think. What works, what doesn't. We'd love your feedback.

A local building designer chats to us about designing for a better future, a greener future, where by small buildings offer achievable homes for city dwellers alike.

Who: Bryn Davidson

Where: Vancouver BC

What: Building Designer, Partner of Lanefab

Believes: Buildings are like time capsules that we’re sending into the future, and the future we’re sending them to is likely to be far more resource constrained than the one we grew up in. Green buildings make great time machines.

Photo credit: Venturi + Karpa

Q: What can a business like Lanefab do to be eco friendly?

A: In our own projects we work to create homes that are much more energy efficient, water efficient, healthy, and comfortable. Ultimately our goal is for the ‘green’ features to become so commonplace that they’re no longer considered special – they’re just part of the way that homes are built.  To those ends, we’re very open about the methods that we use – we publish all of our concepts and methods online - and we actively work with other designers, product manufacturers, and policy makers to make it easier for everyone to build greener.

Q: Is Vancouver a city that is conducive to laneway housing and if so why?

A: Vancouver is particularly suited to laneway housing in that it has this amazing network of underutilized lanes weaving through some of North America’s priciest real estate.  In a way it was almost inevitable that, after condos and basement suites, Vancouverites would start looking to laneway houses as a means to grow without simply expanding out into the surrounding farmland and suburbs.

Q: What other city in the world would you like to be implementing laneway homes?

A: I think it would be great to be able to do infill projects in Toronto, or New York, or – for that matter - any city that is big enough, old enough, and urban enough to support a more adventurous and exploratory approach to design.  

Q: Designer you most admire?

A: I studied under Patricia Patkau when I was at the UBC school of architecture, and I am still drawn to the inventive brand of west coast modernism that comes from her office. I also look to other west coast firms - like Battersby Howatt - for details and materials that express a warmer take on minimalist design. I also  love that there are Gehry buildings out there, but they’re not a reference for my work. In that vein, I also admire the community-based work of The Rural Studio (led by the late Sam Mockbee) and the water-centric urban landscapes of Herbert Dreseitl. Both employ a quirky inventiveness in addition to a broader humanitarian and civic agenda. 

Q: Where do you go for inspiration?

A: I come into contact with many amazing people working in the fields of urban planning, energy, food, and transportation.  In this way the work of investment banker, turned energy guru, Matt Simmons – or the work of local grassroots organizers – is as much of an influence as anyone in the architectural world.

Q: Dream project?

A: That’s a tough one as there isn’t any one avenue that I want to explore. I like designing small homes, and occasionally getting my hands dirty with the construction crew, but I also have an affinity for wrestling with big picture problems like ‘how do we create a logistics system that can move goods with less oil?’.   In a way, then, the dream project isn’t a single project – but having the ability to explore both the local and global at the same time.

Q: When not designing we can find you…?

A: Getting outdoors (skiing, biking, climbing, hiking) with my wife, Kamala. Traveling. Enjoying a nice single malt scotch, a hoppy micro brew, or a good dark roast coffee. Listening to NPR (National Public Radio from the U.S.) and – every evening – watching the Daily Show and Colbert for my dose of political catharsis.

Q: How do you deal with projects that go over budget?

A: As a design/build operation, our relationship to the budget is very different than if I were just doing the design. We operate on a fixed-price construction contract, so – if the project goes over budget – it comes directly out of our pocket (and you only let that happen once!) As a designer it is good to realize that there are many equally good solutions to a particular design challenge - versus becoming overly fixated on one particular (and often expensive) design feature. We are also able to avoid the typically antagonistic relationship that exists between many designers and contractors and so we can be nimble and creative in our response to budget challenges.

Q: Biggest Challenge you have with what you do?

A: On the logistics side, it has been a big challenge just dealing with growing a small business.  When you come out of architecture school you’re focused purely on design, but with a small business you have to focus on marketing, client relations, cash flow, book keeping, filing, and taxes as well as hiring and managing staff.  Those things were overwhelming at first, but now it has become an interesting challenge, beyond the designing, to create an effective, efficient, and green business. From the operations side, the biggest challenge (other than getting through the normal cash-strapped startup phase) has been dealing with outdated codes and risk-averse inspectors that have thrown up barriers to creating a greener product.

Q: What advice do you have for young architects graduating today?

A: Your architecture degree isn’t just about designing buildings. It’s about being able to solve problems using a non-linear, creative process. It’s about synthesizing a huge range of inputs into a coherent whole.  These are rare skills, and the challenges we’re facing in the 21^st century need to be addressed with this type of thinking.  For this reason, these are skills that can – and should – be applied to a wide range of fields even if they aren’t strictly Architecture. If you are set on designing buildings, and want to do your own thing, marry someone with a steady job (not another Architect)! Running your own business is often stressful, and frequently uncertain, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Earlier this summer we got commissioned to design and create some indoor planters for a new condo development on quebec and broadway called on que. The talented Tanya Mclean of Mango Designs was hired to design the entry way and display suites of this new build. We were super stolked to be working with her again, as we miss her around the studio. She collaborated with a bunch of local designers to implement some west coast eco friendly touches to the small entryway off quebec.

Handy man Owen from World Reclaimed aka Aloe, came up with the design of recycling pallets (which we constantly have in rotation in our storage area). He wanted keep the integrity of the simple pallet shape by reusing the reclaimed wood and even the original nails. Sourcing a pallet that had an original graphic stamp on it was part of the hunt. But we were able to find some great ones with character at a local stone supplier. The planters are situated in the window entry way of the building, housing some unique architecturally shaped indoor plants.

 

A recent trip to Northern California this past summer brought us back to a place I hadn't explored since I was quite young. We have family that live in Sonoma County- so, for a week in August, we got to explore the Sonoma & Napa Valley regions. Aside from great time catching up with cousins, aunts and uncles, star lit meals under warm skies, fresh country air, antique hunting and winery tours we had two major highlights- The first of which will be featured here.

We explroed the town of St Helena and stumbled upon some amazing grounds near by. And subsequently came back the very next night for an amazing meal and experience. The spot is known as Long Meadow Ranch with an incredible restaurant called Farmstead. The restaurant had an insane wine list, impeccable service and probably the best grass fed beef we have ever tasted. In addition, the site had edible gardens, a general store, a winery, and an area to host events. We fell in love with the design and every corner detail of this spot. Dreaming of when we can return.

The grounds. Notice the solar panels.

The signature wine cart truck. If only pick ups were made as beautifully now a days.

Feature wall above the outdoor bar with hung antique farm supplies.

Outdoor lounge. Mix of rustic farm style with modern comfort. Love the combo of weathered metal, industrial finishes and soft wood.

Horseshoe pit. Loving to design something like this in a clients landscape project. How fun.

Outdoor patio space.

The edible grounds.

The kids casual dining quarters.

Espaliered apples lined the restaurant space acting as dividers between tables.

An event space.

Reclaimed gate that hides the disposal area. Every detail thought out.

A spot to catch some shade. Love the use of eco turf. Urban Meadow.

The entry to the restaurant.

Grass gone to seed.