…so, as I mentioned last week, here are a few behind the scenes from my last shoot with maria magazine. I only had my mobile phone with me to take photos with at the time, and I was very sick with the flu you might recall, so I could only capture a few shots on this particular occassion, but I hope you appreciate them none the less.

Above you see some photos of the table while I was getting it ready. I was standing back, visualizing what colours I wanted to be prominent. I loved the colour of the rosé we were featuring (more about that in a moment), so I made that the prominent colour for the table setting with white and cream as the backdrop, and a splash of green for Spring! A sprinkle of rose petals here, and an antique knife and fork there.

Can you see the photographic equipment outside the window, ready for our outdoor shots? Below are some behind the scenes photos of the outdoor table where we shot the savoury tarts with smoked chicken, dill and goat cheese (recipe here)…

…as you can see Jeroen is ‘making Spring’ with his light set up! clever thing he is. meanwhile, I manage to find some Spring-like flowers in the garden store the day before, so I was busy picking flowers off and ‘sticking’ them on not so flowery plants on the table. Just another one of my stylist’s tricks!

…we had a baby on set! who doesn’t love a baby on set? unfortunately I was too sick to go near baby Yannick, otherwise i would have smothered him in cuddles and kisses. So hair and makeup stylist Mascha, Yvette and her mum did a great job at making up for my lack of affection.

In the second photo Mascha is doing Fleur’s (incredible red) hair. Fleur (the mother of baby Yannick) is the star of our shoot – it is her wine we featured! She actually has an award-winning wine named after her, how awesome is that? Fleur’s family owns a beautiful winery called Domaine de L’Amaurigue in France. Yvette came up with the brilliant idea to shoot a Spring Ladies Lunch based around Fleur’s wine, a delicious rosé, perfect for Spring! Yes of course I tasted the wine, and it is indeed delicious.

The third photo is behind the camera, the fourth is the tarts in the oven, fifth and six are the table setting again. Below is a sneaky shot I took of Yvette in the kitchen while I was standing outside freezing my buns off! I rather like this artsy shot…

I hope you’ve like these behind the scenes photos! Click here to see the full magazine story. And here if you’d like to see more of my behind the scenes photos.

Oh i can’t believe it’s already Friday! Where did the week go?

(blog)pal joanna, author of one of our favourite blogs called a cup of jo and glamour magazine’s blog smitten, asked me last week if I might like to participate in her new series on smitten called “one thing that makes me smile”. She asked me to write a paragraph or so about something I do or like that makes my life happy.

Would you like to know what I said?

Well, click here to find out!! I’ll give you a clue: It has something to do with this photo above.

Thank you joanna!

xx

PS a new behind the scenes up next!

I just felt like shouting that from the (blog)house rooftop.

Spring was only just emerging in the haute fagnes forest in belgium where french boy and i spent our very restful, computer-free weekend. We walked, talked, explored, sat in the forest, listened to the birds, caught some afternoon sun on the terrace (I’ve got colours), and slept. It was just what we needed – some time away from the city hum and crazy work commitments. We stumbled upon a castle, hidden deep inside the forest, and as we climbed the ancient stone stairs I imagined myself as a maiden, standing on the landing, hoping with all her heart to see her warrior lover come over the hill. I asked French Boy if he would come back for me and he said “without a doubt”. I said, “would you be missing a limb?” and he asked “would you still love me if I was?” and I said “without a doubt”.

A walk in a forest in spring is such wonderful medicine for the heart and soul…

my second (blog)video debut! sans bangs this time. 🙂

xx

PS can there be a “second” debut?! here was my first in case you missed it.
PPS erin had to chop alot of this one so there is quite a bit more that came out of my mouth than what you hear, so i will make sure i do an actor’s edit for you, in a month or so.
PPPS oh, would you like to know the dialogue topic this time? it’s about artist’s block! check out it out here and let me know your thoughts on the subject.
PPPPS thank you erin!!