BLEND 2012

 BLEND 2012 was a huge hit this year! We were thrilled to work together with IKEA Canada for the second year in a row; they generously sponsored our event celebrating bloggers, designers, and leading industry tastemakers at the beautiful boutique hotel, the St. Regis.

via Christine of Just Bella

via Barbara of hodge:podge

via Barbara of hodge:podge

via Barbara of hodge:podge

via Sheila of SZinteriors

via Barbara of hodge:podge

It was a full house of talented people & a few very special guests! We were lucky enough to mingle with  House & Home's VP of Communications Mark Challen, House & Home Editor in Chief Suzanne Dimma, and designer & HGTV personality Tommy Smythe.

Mark Challen, Rosa of Flutter Flutter, and Suzanne Dimma

Danielle of Urban Walls & Tommy Smythe

Our fabulous special guests had such a way of working the room. A big thank you goes to each of them for making the night extra special!

via Barbara of hodge:podge

via Michelle of every little thing

The food & drinks at the St. Regis Hotel was fantastic! We were treated like royalty by everyone there ...

via Barbara of hodge:podge

And the SWAG! The bags from the fabulous people at IKEA were filled with so many goodies for each attendee to take home with them.

via Barbara of hodge:podge

So many items to list! We had a fab reusable shopping bag, LAPPLJUNG FÅGEL Reversible Cushion, VINÄGER Bamboo Bowl, GLIMMA Tealights, and VARLIG Tealight Holders in Pinstripe & Houndstooth from our sponsors IKEA. In addition to that, we had fabulous artwork from photographer Tracey Ayton, a 20% off coupon for Urban Walls by Danielle Hardy, Cloverdale Paint Artisan fan decks, FAT Paint chalk-style paint sample-pots from The FAT Paint Company (Victoria Lambert), purse size tape measures and free magazine subscription invitations from Stimuli Magazine, hand painted Annie Sloan Chalk Paint colour charts from The Passionate Home, and a set of 6 hand-rendered cards from artisit Michelle Morelan. Thank you to everyone who donated!

via Sheila of SZinteriors

And we had quite an amazing line-up of door prizes as well: we were lucky to have Delta Faucets return this year with very generous prizes, Christine of Just Bella {pictured below} won the Trinsic kitchen faucet with Touch2O technology!

via Kerry of First Time Fancy

Others who donated prizes inclue: IKEA's grand prize of a $1000 gift card & a $500 gift card, and fabulous goods from The Passionate Home, The Cross Decor & Design, Zoe Pawlak, Urban Walls, Once a Tree Furniture, Heather Ross, EdinHome, Nancy Marcus, Lulu & Drew, Indigo, and Spruce Collective.

via Barbara of hodge:podge

via Stephanie of Lulu & Drew

A huge thank you to Madeleine of IKEA Canada and her colleagues who made this event possible! We already can't wait to see what BLEND 2013 will have in store!!

If you would like to see more of the IDSwest 2012 show and our BLEND 2012 event, be sure to check out these posts by our members:

Sheila of SZinteriors here, here, and here

Stephanie of Lulu & Drew

Barbara of hodge:podge

Rosa of Flutter Flutter here and here

Danielle of Urban Walls

Nicole of Nicole Scott Designs

Christine of Just Bella here and here

Meesh of i dream of chairs

Nancy of Marcus Design here and here

Amy for Style at Home blog

Amy of A Design Dock

Jan of Poppytalk

and Karla, Barbara, Danielle & Victoria

Recap: IDSwest 2012

IDSwest 2012 has come and gone, and what an excellent show it was! Everyone from the seasoned veterans of design, to the 'Future Master's' were out representing the amazing talent we have here in Vancouver.

Our Canadian Design Bloggers West attendees were invited to tour the booths before the official opening on Thursday night, which meant ample room to explore & the perfect opportunity to snap photos before the crowds flooded the exhibits! A big thank you to the IDSwest event manager Leonie, and show director Jason, for making it all happen. Here's a tour of some of what caught our eyes {all images via members of the Cdn Design Bloggers West}:

via Christine of Just Bella

 

Nicole Tarasick pillows via Nicole Scott Designs

 

GE Cafe via First TIme Fancy

 

Montauk Sofa via Shelia of SZinteriors

 

Lovely ladies Sara, Christine, Amy, and Kerry

 

Mth Woodworks via Jan of Poppytalk, photography via Janice of Pinecone Camp

 

Phaulet via Jan of Poppytalk, photography via Janice of Pinecone Camp

 

Identity Apparel via Nancy of Marcus Design

 

Our very own members, Michelle & Rosa had their fantastic images of Kelly Deck's kitchen featured in the Globe and Mail!

 

Kelly Deck & AyA Kitchens via Michelle of i dream of chairs

 

Kelly Deck & AyA Kitchens via Rosa of Flutter Flutter

 

And of course on the Saturday, a highlight for all of us was taking in the seminar by one of our favorite Canadian designers, Tommy Smythe! He spoke on solutions for small spaces - a pefect topic for a city with so many condo-dwellers.

 

 

A HUGE thank you to all of the organizers at IDSwest that made us feel like royalty as we toured the show and took in the talks with VIP seating! And we have to say thank you to all of the out of town bloggers who came out to celebrate the weekend of design with us Vancouverites, it's so exciting to watch our community grow. We already can't wait for next year!

 

Be sure to pop back tomorrow for a recap of our fabulous IKEA-sponsored blogger event, Blend 2012!

 

and Barbara, Victoria, Danielle, & Karla

 

Mark your calendars for Blend 2012 ...

It's official, Blend 2012 is almost here! Our second annual event celebrating bloggers, designers, and leading industry taste-makers will be held on Saturday, September 29th, and members will find RSVP info via email soon! IDSWest will be in town, so it will be a weekend filled with exciting events.

 

 

 

And we are very honored and excited to announce that IKEA Canada will be sponsoring our night!  

 

 

 

We have been delighted to be working together with the fabulous people at IKEA to create an wonderful night merging bloggers, designers, photographers, and several very special guests at Downtown Vancouver's fabulous boutique hotel, The St. Regis {special room rate information to follow}.

 

 

 

Once again there will be fabulous food, design chat, even more door prizes than last year, and swag bags (Stuff We All Get) with way too many goodies to mention! In addition, several events will be taking place for the duration of IDSwest 2012. Check back for info on Media Passes & more.

 

 

Be sure to pencil it all in, and members can watch for more details to be sent via email. It will surely be another night to remember!

 

with Victoria, Karla, Barbara & Danielle

Jumping in with Both Feet!

It’s hard to believe that 2011 is only hours away from being over!

And now we’re jumping into a New Year… with both feet… ready to make things happen for ourselves and our new Network! 

A New Year means making plans and making things happen! So what would we like to make happen in 2012?

• Continue to pull Members together for occasional lunch and/or dinner gatherings
• Host BLEND:2012!!
• Organize and host blogging/photography/other workshops

What about you? What would you like to see our Network do in the New Year? Is there something in particular that you feel the Network should accomplish? How does the group ensure that our out-of-BC Lower Mainland Members feel included in what we plan?

Please share your ideas and thoughts! :-)

Wishing you, your loved ones and friends health, happiness, success & prosperity in 2012!!

Christmas inspiration from Ikea

Merry Christmas everyone! We want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your support & friendship this year. We are so excited for the things to come in the New Year! With just a few sleeps till Christmas, we are madly running around to finish off those long lists. Are you feeling the rush as well? Here are a few beautiful and inspiring holiday images, from none other than Ikea: if you're in need of last minute gifts, wrapping, or table top decor and accessories you will likely find it there!

Don't you just love the styling in these images? Visit Ikea.ca to see more lovely tabletop, giftwrap, and decor inspiration. And from our homes to yours, may you have a wonderful & safe Christmas holiday with those you love.

with Barbara, Victoria, & Karla

The Perfect Excuse to Get Together!!

There’s no doubt about the fact that our members love to get together, and we look for almost any excuse we can find to do just that!!

 

So can you blame us if we insist on getting together to celebrate Christmas?!

This coming Saturday afternoon, December 10th we’re gathering at Jodi* & Darryl** Bueckert’s lovely home and we’re going to have yet another fantastic time… because that’s what happens when we all come together!!

We also eat. MMMM!!

And this time we’re each bringing a nibbley to share. Cheese & crackers, veggies & dip, cookies, cake slices… just scrumptious stuff, I know it!

In the spirit of sharing and giving, members attending are also bringing both a $10 donation for the Union Gospel Mission and a non-perishable food item (or items) to be donated to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. Members – and our lovely blog readers – not attending the party are encouraged to make donations to similar community organizations!! xoxox

We promise to take lots of photos and share our fun with you!

Members… if you’d like to attend and you haven’t RSVPed yet, please get in touch cdn.dlbwest@gmail.com

Merry Christmas!

Victoria

w/ Nancy, Karla and Barbara

cdn.d&lbWEST Organizers

* Jodi Bueckert’s blog: The Simply Inspired Home
** Darryl Bueckert’s blog: DBueckertPhoto
Other mentioned members: Nancy Marcus of Marcus Design and Colleen Sawatsky from Vintage Home