JuBella.com – Get Your Creative Dose

So, as I mentioned before, I have lots and lots of interviews that I have been collecting as we were getting Jubella ready for launch. One of them is an interview I did with Victoria, aka sfgirlbythebay quite a while ago. She took some time to chat a bit about her design inspiration and all things lovely about living in San Francisco! Obviously, for anyone hooked to the design blogosphere, Victoria is quite the inspiration and I am so honored that she took out a few moments of her time to give her creative dose & to grace the pages of Jubella! So, here you go, be inspired by her San Francisco Suite that is filled with so much charm, character, style, and creative decor!

Jubella: How long have you been keeping your design journals?

Victoria: I have been keeping ‘Idea Journals’ with daily journal, sketches and thoughts for over 12 years. The design/inspiration journals I started about two years ago. I used to keep all my tears from magazines etc. in folders, and then it came to me that I could paste them into these journals and have an on-going record of my taste (which is constantly evolving) and what’s inspired me over the years.

Jubella: What elements do you like to include within them and do you have a favorite one out of the bunch?

Victoria: I keep tears from magazines and catalogs I get that I think I may like to work into the design of my home, or maybe even a friend’s home. I also keep ideas that I think I might be able to use down the road should I move into my own home. I also keep photos, drawings, quotes, sketches – anything that sparks my interest. Even fortunes from Chinese fortune cookies. I don’t really have a favorite – certain pages really stand out for me when I go back and look at them.

Jubella: How often do you incorporate elements from your design journals into your own home?

Victoria: Quite often. I am constantly changing and re-arranging my rooms, changing out color schemes and mood, so there’s lot of inspiration from these journals reflected in my rooms.

Jubella: How would you describe the style of your home & what is your favorite spot/room?

Victoria: I saw the book ‘Bohemian Modern’ by Barbara Bestor featuring the fabulous modernist homes in and around Silverlake, CA. When I saw the gorgeous photographs and her definition of ‘BoMo’ I knew that was what my style was. I’d never really had a name for it before that – I always just called it flea market eclectic. It’s really about creating a space that’s self-expressive, comfortable for entertaining, and enjoying the simple pleasures of your surroundings. Home has always been important to me and is my safe haven from the hectic world.

My favorite room is the living room. I scored some great mid-century modern white vinyl chairs and a great flokati white fluffy rug on craigslist and I can sit and look at them with lots of pleasure. It was one of my better finds. The bay window and doors to the little terrace bring in lots of light as well, so it’s a room with lots of good energy.

Jubella: What are some of your favorite pieces and why?

Victoria: The mid-century modern chairs and flokati rug as I described above for sure. I also have an art deco buffet I found at a yard sale about 15 years ago. It moves everywhere with me. I got it for $5.00 – it was covered with white paint, so I stripped and sanded it and polished it up. I love it! I also love my kitschy portrait of ‘Rico Suave’ I found at the huge Alameda Flea Market. He’s not really Rico – I just named him that. I wish I had more great portraits like this one and am always on the lookout for inexpensive ones.

Jubella: What boutiques, on-line shops, and other resources did you utilize the most when it came down to decorating?

Victoria: My biggest resource is craigslist.com. I find everything there, even my apartment and my dog, Cooper. It’s the best and you can find really great deals. I also shop the Alameda Flea Market on the 1st Sunday of the month – it’s another great resource for vintage finds. As far as retailers go, I frequent Ikea, and a lot of little boutiques around San Francisco. I love Nest, Swallowtail, The Apartment, X21 and Timeless Treasures, all of which carry fun vintage finds.

Jubella: What do you love most about your apartment and living in San Francisco?

Victoria: My apartment is really pretty special. I love the tall 13′ ceilings, the ton of light I get through the living area windows and the copper-faced fireplace is lovely. My neighbors are also pretty amazing. We have a wonderful sense of community; we call our two ’sister buildings’ Buchanan Manor. We look out for each other and have fun BBQ’s and holiday parties. When I broke my ankl and couldn’t leave my apartment for six weeks. One of my neighbors organized a group to take turns walking my dog and helping me out. I am so grateful for them.

The location in Pacific Heights is not as diverse as I would like, however it’s beautiful and very centrally located. Living in San Francisco is amazing. Clear blue skies (I grew up in smoggy L.A.) and fresh air are great, and you can walk just about everywhere. The things I love best about San Francisco are all the diverse neighborhoods. They’re all so unique, whether you go to the Haight for second-hand threads, or North Beach for excellent espresso, it’s all very small-townish. San Francisco is only 7 miles by 7 miles, so you can get around really easily as well. And, just a few minutes over the Golden Gate Bridge and you can find yourself immersed in nature – Mt. Tamapalias, Marin Headlands, Muir Woods – it’s all so close and such a great quick escape from the city when you need it. I love being surrounded by water. I find it very peaceful. And I think my personality suits the pace of this city.

Jubella: Why is creativity important to you?

Victoria: I’ve always been creative, even when I was little. I was always involved in extra curricular art classes. My mother is an interior designer, so I think it’s in my genes. I’ve always found logical solutions to problems, but think from a right brain perspective. I just find artistic, creatively talented people fascinating and inspiring to be around, so that’s pretty much who I surround myself with. Most of my friends and colleagues are photographers, art buyers, painters, fashion designers, writers, or work in a creative field. I just get excited seeing what they’re up to and feed off their creativity.

Jubella: Top 3 design / creative inspirations?

Victoria: I love the Bohemian Modern book I mentioned above and all beautiful homes photographed inside – that really inspires me and makes me wish I owned my own home. I love seeing my friends’ homes – there’s a few that I always aspire to. There’s always one or two aspects of their homes I admire – a lot of them are very minimalist – something I struggle with. I also really love the studio of designer Amy Butler. I like how she manages the mixture of vintage pieces with fresh, modern color. I really think she has a great eye.

Jubella: Favorite color combinations?

Victoria: It changes – all the time! Right now, I really love lots of white as a ‘base’ color for my furnishings. The I accessorize a lot with slate greys, soft blues with small spots of olive green and yellow. Ask me next month and it will probably have changed. Aqua and green seems to always be a predominant part of my decor.

Happy Friday everybody! I thought that I would end the week with a few images from my recipe journal. I started this journal as a way to keep lovely images of food to inspire me with my own dishes that I fix at home for my family. Usually the images consists of desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Most of these images & collage are from the Fabulous Donna Hay! I love that magazine…the photography and food styling alone just makes my mouth water.

I would like to know, how do you all find inspiration for the meals and desserts that you cook at home? Do you have recipes that have been handed down to you from family? How do you keep your recipes written down, on pretty recipe cards, or do you jot them randomly on notebook paper? Sorry for all the questions, but I am curious to know how others find inspiration for your meals!

I hope this will inspire someone to create a special meal or yummy treat! Have a lovely weekend everybody and I will be back Monday with a couple of creative interviews and fresh new posts. I am off now to go play in the sandbox with the little one! Thank you all so much who come by to visit JuBella…she just loves your company!

Alicia Bock takes some of the most beautiful and dreamy photographs. I love the photos of the ferris wheels. Her Etsy shop is filled with lovely imagery and are quite affordable!

I am usually not a huge fan of purple, but I could not resist posting this living room designed by Designer Evelyn Chin! The colors are amazing and I love all of those pillows in the window seat! Drool!

This particular recipe is fantastic for making with your children. Our little one LOVED it. You can get really creative with the recipe. We made both chocolate(pictured above) and vanilla and it was so good. Making this outside makes this treat even better for the little ones! However I will be investing in an ice cream maker soon, but like I said, it is fun to do this one with your kids!

Homemade Ice Cream

½ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

3 beaten egg yolks

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups chilled whipping cream

Bag of Ice

Rock / Ice Cream Salt

ziplock bags: sandwich and gallon size

1. Put the sugar, salt, and milk into the top pan of a double boiler (you can use two pots to do this should you not have a double boiler. Just add about 3 cups of water to your bottom pot and plate your other pot on top). Stir the 3 beaten egg yolks into the milk and sugar. Cook the mixture over boiling water for about 2-3 minutes or until you see bubbles forming around the edges. Let mixture cool to room temperature. Remove top pot and stir in the vanilla extract and the heavy whipping cream and stir together.

2. Pour the ice cream mixture into a plastic zip-lock sandwich bag and seal tightly. Fill a gallon size food storage zip-lock bag about one third full of ice cubes. Add a cup of rock salt. Zip the large bag closed, and wrap it in a towel to keep fingers from getting too cold.

3. Now squish and shake your bag, making sure that the ice and salt contacts the little bag as much as possible, and that the little bag gets lots of friction, this keep the ice crystals tiny, making it very smooth. Shake for about 10 to 15minutes. Voila! You’ve got some delicious homemade ice cream. Yummy!

Note: Ice cream will be soft, we preferred ours to be a bit firmer, so let your little bag sit in the freezer for about 20 minutes to an hour to get your ice cream much firmer to scoop up with an ice cream scoop!

Chocolate Ice Cream: Just add about ¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa to your mixture before putting it in your little bag. Proceed with directions.

Strawberry Ice Cream: Mash 2 cups of strawberries with 1/4 cup of sugar and add to your mixture before putting it in your little bag. Proceed with directions.

I love the colors and design of this room by Designer Amy Lau…

Once upon a time long long ago I had dreams of becoming an Architect. I use to render tons and tons of dream homes and floor plans at my drafting desk in which my parents bought me one Christmas along with a fresh set of prism color markers that came in a holder that spun around (I miss that table). Anyhow, I started writing Architects in what had to be the 6th grade, asking them for advice on colleges and portfolio preparation. I would flip through the pages of the Architectural Digest that my parents subscribed to just for me! (ahem, yes I was in the 6th grade reading Architectural Digest:). I would jot down the names of all of the Architects that I liked. Well to make a long story short, I received some fantastic responses from some of my favorite and influential designers that really did inspire me to reach for my dream. Although, once I reached high school I decided that architecture was not my cup of tea(much to technical & detail oriented), so I turned my eye to Interior Design, and once again I flipped through Architectural Digest (because in the 90’s there were not nearly as many design magazines as there are now) and wrote down all of the Designers names. So I thought it would be fun to highlight a couple of them who I remember being ecstatic about & who took the time out of their busy schedules to write a young lady who they had never met back with autographed catalogs and solid words of advice.

First off is Architect Steven Ehrlich. I still love his contemporary style…clean lines, and industrious organic color palettes. Simple, modern, and super fresh!

Next is Designer Juan Montoya of New York. I must say that the majority of his decorating style is no longer of my personal taste, however I wanted to highlight him because he played a major role in the Interior Design industry and like I said, I was truly stoked about receiving a letter back from him!

So, that’s all. I want to give a big thanks to Juan and Steven for giving a young girl great design to be inspired by! I received many more, but these two had the most up to date sites/portfolios to highlight, after all it was in the 90’s when I wrote them. Another Designer who wrote me back was Janet Bussell, who was the Designer for Chers Malibu home. I was really excited about that one! Oh, and by the way, I did not do Interior Design either…in the end, I found my passion in Textile & Fibers! It fulfills all of the artistic ideas that are dancing around in my head…Go figure! But obviously I still carry a special love for all things interior and architecturally inspiring and will still sketch up an imaginary floor plan or residential design in a heartbeat!

I am beyond stoked about Lena Corwins new book entitled Printing by Hand: A Modern Guide to “Printing with Handmade Stamps, Stencils, and Silk Screens”. It is set to release on July 16th, but you can pre-order your copy now by Clicking Here. I am a big fan of Lena’s work, so I cannot wait to see what she has stored in this publication!

German based label Feinedinge (which means fine things) is ever so lovely. The Designer behind these beautiful pieces is Sandra Haischberger. My favorite of the newest pieces would definitely be the porcelain butterflies. So pretty and whimsical!

Aaah! Take in the fresh and airy decor of upstate New Yorks Bed & Breakfast: Breathe-Inn, I love the simple & quaint serenity of these rooms along with a slight sparkle of Moroccan and eastern influences from the lighting to the textiles. The clean white walls and the pop of color of the bed spreads and art are wonderful. You can’t beat prices starting at just $150 a night. Most plain Jane hotels could cost around the same price and you better believe that you won’t be seeing any Moroccan lanterns, plush textiles, and hardwood floors in those rooms nor would your breakfast consist of choices like: fresh frittatas, strawberry mimosas, freshly squeezed antioxidant juice, or scrambled tofu, which are all whipped up by celebrity chef Marlon Aitchesson. Yep…Gotta Get There to Breathe Inn that sort of relaxation!

I love these lovely little bouquets from floral designer Virginia Wolff.

Summertime is pretty much here and that means that the sweet smell of honeysuckles are in full bloom, cool glasses of fresh lemonade, ice-cream, and candlelit porches filled with laughter and friends, and but of course something sweet to top it all off! What should it be you say? Rhubarb! Rhubarb is a vegetable plant in which you can only eat the stems, as the leaves are quite toxic. The beautiful red stems are packed with nutrition and is a bit tart, so when added with a bit of sugar, you get the perfect filling for a scrumptious rhubarb dessert. Here is a great video recipe of cook Annabel Langbein of New Zealand. She is one of my favorites among many others and I thought this Rhubarb & Yoghurt Crumble Cake sounded absolutely divine and perfect for a summer get together with friends and family! For more recipes using rhubarb, check out this cookbook: Life’s Little Rhubarb Cookbook: 101 Rhubarb Recipes

Rhubarb & Yoghurt Crumble Cake

Prep 15 minutes
Cook 50-60 minutes
Ingredients:

140g butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp natural vanilla essence
3/4 cup plain yoghurt
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 stalks rhubarb, thinly sliced, or 190g berry fruits or other chopped fruits
Topping:

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup slivered almonds or chopped walnuts
4 tbsp flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
60g butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180-C. Grease a 25cm spring-form or loose-bottomed cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Beat butter and sugar together until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Beat in yoghurt then add sifted dry ingredients and stir gently to just combine (mixture will be a thick consistency).

Spread into prepared tin and sprinkle over rhubarb.

Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over cake. Bake until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Stand 15 minutes before turning out. Allow to cool before cutting. Store in an airtight container.

Serves 8-10
Variations:

In summer I like to make this cake with stone fruit. Use 6-8 stoned plums or apricots cut in wedges in place of rhubarb. In autumn use feijoas or apples cut in chunks in place of rhubarb and flavour crumble topping with 1 tsp ginger in place of cinnamon.
Copyright Annabel Langbein Books 2000 – 2007

Cookbooks by Anna Langbein:

Cooking to Impress Without Stress,

Assemble: Sensational Food Made Easy,

Desserts.