Giveaway / Ellen Face Vintage

August 4, 2014November 11, 201411 Comments

When I received this top from the wonderfully curated shop, Ellen Face Vintage, I knew I wanted to shoot simple pictures, highlighting the beautiful detailing of this beaded wonder. I own nothing like it in my closet and took a real chance when I selected it, but when I put it on it made me feel like a princess, and I’m now wanting to fill my closet with beaded beauties just like this one.

Ellen Face Vintage is filled with pieces for everyone of every style – adorable 60s dresses, 70s airy boho, 80s glimmer and sparkle, 90s grunge and a ton of sweet accessories. It is always hard for me to pick from her collection because there are so many things I love. Lucky for all of you today, Ellen Face Vintage is having a giveaway! And one of you could win $25 to her shop to pick anything your little heart desires.

How to enter:

Check out her shop, and comment below with your favourite item (don’t forget to leave your email)
For an extra entry favourite her shop on etsy and/or follow on instagram @ellenfacevintage (and let me know that as well in the comments below)

* Giveaway runs until Sunday, August 10th. A winner will be selected on Monday, August 11th.

Top c/o Ellen Face Vintage
Skirt: thrifted via Common Sort
Hair bow: handmade

Carousel Antiques

July 31, 2014November 11, 2014Leave a comment

Even after several decades of marriage, my parents still learn new things about eachother. One thing they sort-of recently came to realize is that they both have a great deal of interest in antiques. Antiquing has become a regular thing for them, and it’s lovely to see them really share something together. I am the only one of their children that shows even a mild interest in this hobby of theirs, (maybe more than mild, almost everything I wear on my body is old, and my home is decorated like a grandmother’s) so while I was in Ottawa they brought me to an adorable antique shop located in the village of Franktown, in a historic building from 1832. Carousel Antiques was an endless cavern of exploration for me. To be honest, I don’t normally buy much when I go to antique shops. I get overwhelmed at how much i could buy, and instead buy almost nothing (unless its the best ever) and just take pictures of these delightfully cluttered spaces. It’s near impossible to get a bad picture when you photograph spaces like this. Carousel was filled with gorgeous wooden furniture in almost perfect condition, vintage clothing (!!!), kitchen and housewares that date from the 30s-50s, collectibles and more. My absolute favourite room was the one holding all the kitchenwares. They have mono-chromatically colour coordinated each corner of the room, which was so aesthetically pleasing to me (if you are looking for a specific colour of something, this makes it very easy). The red and yellow corners were the most prominent – we’re talking Christmas explosion and bursting sunshine madness. Unfortunately I did not find any pastel pink dishes that I so desperately wanted to find. Had they had a pink corner of the room, well I’d probably still be there, living in it. I did however come away with an amazing 1950’s beaded cardigan in pristine condition (im scared to wear it) and an adorable yellow floral apron to make myself look cute while baking.

If you ever find yourself in Ottawa (or Carleton Place or Smith Falls), it’s worth the drive. And the owners are super friendly and know their stuff!

9619 Hwy 15
Franktown (between Carleton Place and Smith Falls)
613-284-2695

Belle Vie / 16

July 30, 2014November 11, 2014Leave a comment

1-2. Over the weekend we shot Larkspur’s Summer Lookbook ’14. Gerald shot everything on 35mm, Leesa gave us beautiful Bridget Bardot inspired looks, and the beauteous Marta and I modeled. Things have been a bit difficult for me since Gertie’s passing, and I was considering postponing the shoot, but I’m glad I didn’t. It was a wonderful and much needed distraction.
3. Ryan spent the whole day on the beach with us while we shot Larkspur’s lookbook. It can be horribly boring to sit around during a shoot you have no involvement in, but I really appreciated him being there for me. Yes, that is his mexican blanket wrapped around his head. He is very good at entertaining himself.
4. For my birthday Ryan bought me a cactus and Meaghan got me a jade plant. I like plants.
5. Ryan had once claimed he had never tried a pickle before, which I thought was ABSURD! He kept saying he didn’t like them, but that made very little sense to me, since he said he had never tried one, so I made him eat one. It is still unclear whether he likes them.
6. This was the last picture I took of Gertie. It was on Tuesday evening, the day before she passed. She was looking to Ryan to give her a little taste of what we were cooking.
7. Cute cook in the kitchen.

Dear Ottawa

July 22, 2014November 11, 20142 Comments

I just got back last night from a very short but so so sweet visit to Ottawa. It was my grandparents 60th anniversary (crazy right!?), so I knew I had to be there to celebrate with them and the whole family. There were faces I hadn’t seen in years, so it was really nice to see how well everyone is doing, and how grown all my cousins are. Unfortunately Ryan was on call for work, so he couldn’t make it down, but I’ll drag him along next time to experience the country’s capital. I was pleasantly surprised to find my best friend Kristen and her other half Sergio were also in town to see Book of Mormon so I crashed their date after the show and we went to eat fancy tacos (no surprise there) at El Camino and sip some beers and bourbon sours. Our friend Jon joined us later in the evening, and honestly the night was so good. It was an evening full of nonsense talk (which is pretty much my favourite) and laughing till our cheeks hurt and our bellies burned. It’s tough sometimes, not being able to see Kristen whenever I want. What we have is really special to me and I miss her so much, but it’s nice to know that even if we don’t see eachother for months, we can always pick up right where we left off like no time has passed at all.

These photos are from some antique and vintage browsing I did with my parents on Saturday afternoon. I have a post planned for this place because it was super cute and full of treasures.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

*photos by my mom

Blouse: thrifted vintage
Skirt: thrifted Club Monaco via Common Sort
Bow tie: handmade
Shoes: Seychelles
Tote: Parkdale Flea

Styling / Audrey Kitching

July 15, 2014November 11, 2014Leave a comment

As I mentioned in my previous post, I spent the majority of Friday styling Audrey Kitching. Gerald found out he would be shooting her about one week and half before, so he got his regular team together (me and Leesa) and quickly planned a concept that ended up being so awesome! Audrey was a dream to style. Not only is she absolutely gorgeous, but she is so sweet and down to earth. I kept the whole thing a secret from everyone (except Meaghan and Ryan) until the day of the shoot, and it was pretty hilarious to see how excited some of my old pals from high school were about me getting to meet and work with her. She was a pretty big deal for scene kids back in the day and I had a ton of friends who loved her. She is obviously still very popular and I feel really and truly lucky to be able to say I got to put her in some of my gorgeous Larkspur garments and a darling floral matching set from Rosehound Apparel that I pulled from the lovely gals at Victoire (thanks ladies!). It was a beautiful day and perfect for shooting. I can’t wait until the photos are released. As you can see the concept was aviation and Gerald pulled out all the stops for it – including a giant model plane, a wicked airplane headpiece, flying bikes and an actual parachute from Leesa’s dad’s army days. This series is going to be a killer one, so keep a lookout for it!