Bonjour mes amis, how are you? Well and full of energy to start the new year I hope. My two week computer hiatus has come to an end. It was really great to take the break. While I was not blogging or checking emails I was reading, napping, eating, and enjoying some quiet time with my parents and french boy. I am settling in nicely to Sydney life. But this time, for the first time, I feel foreign in my own home town. It’s a strange feeling, but also rather exciting – I see the area with fresh eyes, and yet every space is filled with memories.

French Boy and I have been having two breakfasts a day – a light one before we take a long walk on the beach and then one after that which is a little more extravagant – white peaches, mango and banana with french toast, or avocado and eggs on thick buttery toast, and so on. This is the city for breakfast, there is no doubt about that.

I will be back again soon as there have been a couple of lovely surprises that I want to share with you. Until then, welcome to 2010! May it be a year filled with love and happiness for all of us…

xx

PS how gorgeous is the little guy in the first photo? He lives in this tree and comes out at dusk, climbs up to the tallest branch and gazes out at his surroundings. I’ve grown attached and love to watch him while he wanders around his home. It’s possum magic.

click here to see the original post for this image.

Well mes amis, this is it, 2009 has rolled on by. I cannot believe it is December and that the end of the year is near. I am about to hop on a plane to the other side of the world, to “my other life” down under and so I will bid you farewell for the year, here, today, as I have decided to take a little time off. I will only be taking a couple of weeks holiday as I have lots of work to do in 2010, but two weeks is two weeks and I am very much looking forward to it. I have had an extraordinarily busy year and my body, mind and spirit are in need of some serious rest and recreation.  I will begin posting intermittently at the beginning of the new year while I am in Sydney.  I’ll be there for a couple of months this time ’round. I’m so excited to be heading to sunshine, sea and sand.

click here to see the original post for this image.

But this is not the only “something wonderful” I have to tell you. Cast your mind back to well, around the beginning of this here blog, two years ago. In January of 2007 I announced an idea I’d been forming for an art project that involved you. I asked you to send in photos of your wandering hearts. Do you remember? Well the idea took off, and went completely out of control – I received so many images that I lost all ability to keep up to date. All the while I was consumed with the task of writing my very first book Paris: Made by Hand, and then my second to be published this coming April  – Amsterdam: Made By Hand, as well as keeping up my freelance styling work here in Europe. But it got crazier – in between all that I was asked if I would write another book. A book about my own personal journey of how I got here: the journey of  following my wandering heart. Today is the first time I’ve been able to tell you this “something wonderful” that I’ve known for a while now, I was just waiting to catch my breath.

And although at this early stage I cannot reveal much, I wanted to let you know about it since you have all been such a wonderful part of this journey – dear friends who have been encouraging me every step of the way, lifting me up, holding my hand, and guiding me gently.

So, what will this book be about? Well, here is a little description…

“This is a beautiful, lavishly photographed, illustrated and designed book by Pia Jane Bijkerk. It is a travel memoir, a love story, a story about searching for home and making homes in new places, a photographic love letter to the charms and delights of Paris, France, Amsterdam and Italy, and a story of finding inspiration in the everyday.”

I am very pleased to announce that My Heart Wanders will be published by Murdoch Books and will be released in 2011.

While I am writing and shooting it over the coming months, I thought it might be a lovely idea to open up the initial blog project again, and post images that you sent in as there were so many that I was not able to post and now that the book has evolved into a more personal journey that marks the beginning of it all, I will be able to share the first fabulous group of images sent in from around the globe.  So starting in 2010 I will re-open the artist studio as a place for wandering hearts. I will post an image every day or so that was sent in during the initial project, and then you will be welcome to send in more images throughout the year.

I also want to take this opportunity as my last post for the year to say thank you: for everything. Your kindness, your encouragement and constant presence this year here in the (blog)house has been overwhelming. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that this blog would be the catapult for so much wonder in my life. You are without doubt, the best readers a blogging girl could ever have.

Have a fabulous festive season. See you in the New Year!!

xx

It’s that time of year again my friends! Whatever “that time of year” may mean for you. For me, it’s about holidays  – taking the time out to rejuvenate and reflect on the year passed. It’s a time for sharing, and giving – spending time with my family and friends. For those of you who are new to the (blog)house, my enhance the everyday holiday gift & decorating guides are a week-long series of posts, where I’ve put together ideas for your holiday gift giving, and holiday decorating. But it’s also a little more than that… perhaps you’d like to know what makes the enhance the everyday gift guide  different to other gift guides out there?

It’s simple: everything you will see in the next coming days are not only la classe, which means they are totally hip and stylish and chosen at the hand of a professional stylist BUT… and here comes to best bit… everything you see will fit all my necessary requirements for consumer items: that being vintage or handmade with recycled/renewable/biodregradable material and therefore sustainable.

Why? Because all ‘things’ should be. It’s as simple as that.

Last year’s gift guide says it all, you can click here to read more about it.

Before we get started though, I would like to share some simple gift shopping tips for you. Follow these tips and you will not only find the best gifts you have ever given, but you will also be helping our economy and environment:

1. shop locally: Support your local boutiques and artists + craftspeople. Most homewares boutiques these days stock vintage or locally handmade items so ask for these items when searching for gifts. Use my upcoming holiday gift guide as inspiration, and for the past one click here.

2. two words: Kris Kringle. If your family and friends don’t already do so, suggest ‘kris kringle’ from this year on – host a bbq or small get together now (thanksgiving is usually perfect for this) and have each person pull out a name from a hat. Each person then purchases a christmas gift for the person they selected from the hat, and only spend the amount allocated. The gifts are much more thoughtful and valued.

3. Create a wish list.To save on buying (and unfortunately receiving) gifts that are unwanted and therefore end up in the trash, make a wish list and pass it to those who you know will be buying you a gift this year. That way you receive what you want and your gift-giver is content to know that you will love it. You can also then be selective on your wish list and pick items that are sustainable.

4. Vintage or handmade with love. Last but not least, source out vintage (ie second hand) or items made with renewable/recycled/biodegradable materials. This might seem restrictive but there is so much scope in this that you may not be aware of including food (hampers!) and wine. Etsy and Dawanda are just two fabulous online sources for finding such goodies, and I have picked out some of my favourites from these great web boutiques, as well as from a few of my favourite boutiques around the world. And since I have readers in both the Northern and (sunny) Southern Hemisphere, I have tried to give you a selection that incorporates both warm and cold holiday climates, and local shops.

Happy gift giving, mes amis!

Next up: gifts ‘for the home’ (click here and here to go to last year’s ‘for the home’ gift guide!)…

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All photographs and styling by Pia Jane Bijkerk. Props include: a crap crab! apple branch, baker’s twine, vintage French lace ribbons, turkey feathers, vintage wallpaper for gift wrapping, and baby silver baubles.

Last night was the final episode of Ray Mear’s Northern Wilderness. It was set on the west coast, around vancouver island and on the mainland. The scenery, as always, was breathtaking. Among other things Ray went berry picking, hand carved a lid for a cedar box, was taken to a sacred island to view an ancient totem pole, made a beautiful basket from the bark of a cedar tree,  stood underneath a cedar estimated to be around 2000 years old, and cooked halibut in little leaf parcels, in the sand, on the beach.

A medley of photos from my times spent on the west coast of Canada. And yes, that’s me in the kayak, with short hair,  about 4 years ago. The sunset is on Chesterman’s beach, Tofino, and the sea lions and bald eagles (two bottom shots) are around nanoose bay.

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In honor of Ray’s awesome series, I thought it would be nice to show some photos from my personal album from various trips to Canada. Although I lived on the east coast for a few years when I was younger, these shots above and below are from my west coast travels in more recent years.

a peek through the mountain tops of whistler, on my way ziptrekking – an amazing experience.

There were no black bears on Ray’s series, but here is one I ‘met’ in the wild a few years back. He was on the search for salmon, and I was in a canoe, very calmly paddling first in his direction, until we spotted him, then casually out of the bay. We ended up about 10 meters from him, in water. And then later we crossed his path again on land, only 10 meters too. The land sighting was a little worrying, but he seemed quite nonchalant about the whole thing.

This is one of my favourite photos  – and favourite moments – ever. The water, as you can see was glistening, reflecting the light and creating a spectacular mirage-like effect over the ocean. We were out in a little dinghy when we came across this special place, aptly named “mistaken island”. I wanted to stay there forever.

And above is a little view while coming down from whistler and back into vancouver. It’s a magical place, don’t you think? If you haven’t been, I highly recommend you go sometime, and if you haven’t seen Ray’s show, you can watch the full series here if you live in the UK, or you can buy it here.

Thanks Ray! Can’t wait to see where you go, what you create, and what you cook up next.