ABOUT
"A journal to inspire people to explore the extraordinary in the ordinary, discovering a little of the magic in everyday pursuits. Creative ideas to achieve simple, mindful, remarkable and rewarding experiences."
Vivien
The Editor
I was born in the UK and lived there for more than half my life, and I am now based primarily in Vancouver, BC, Canada. I have always said that "you can take the girl out of Europe but it is hard to take Europe out of the girl". I am lucky to visit the UK quite often and, as it is only a short hop to France, Spain Italy and other European countries from London, I take every opportunity I can to get my fix of the diverse European cultures. I hope to highlight some of my travel experiences in the journal.
I am self taught in the kitchen, although I have taken a few cooking/baking courses over the years. Some of the best taken were at the Raymond Blanc Cookery School, based at the beautiful Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire. I have a few recipes I truly love that I have learnt from family and others and, which through experimentation, I have made my own. I am always drawn to the easy, tasty and remarkable ones. Hence, I have quite a limited repertoire, but I am more than happy to let you share in my discoveries.
My love of art has prompted me to to take various art courses at UBC, Emily Carr, and ACAD. I am noted for always titivating my surroundings wanting to enhance everything around me. To that end, I have honed my amateur graphic art and decor skills, once again I am happy to share some of my ideas with you.
Raison d' tre
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When I was a young girl I believed that there really were fairies at the bottom of the garden! I like to think this was a metaphor for appreciating what lies behind creativity and style, that there is often some undiscovered essence which is the secret to making special whatever you create, present and experience.
After having spent many years in the corporate world, about 25 years ago I decided to start working for myself and leaning into my creative passions. I set up a creative studio for designing stationery, invitations and event planning.
Over the last 10 years, I established a high-end shortbread cookie company (Péché Mignon Kitchen). I sold this company in 2023 and the cookies are still out there! I have loved being a creative and discovering the extra touches that lie behind making things easily remarkable.
This year’s project has been to set up Péché Mignon Life, a Journal in which I will be putting together some of my favourite things and hopefully inspire you to call on your own creativity to make the ordinary and everyday memorable and fun. You will be amazed how, with just a few simple actions, you can truly create magic.
Come with me on my journey and let’s have some fun. By sharing the ideas in my Journal, if I can just light up a few moments of your week, I will consider myself to have succeeded.
some more thoughts
By leaning into a creative mindset we can all elevate our experience of the ordinary life. Creating beautiful and remarkable things without it taking too long, costing too much or requiring supernatural skills!
NB. I only do easy and if I get hijacked by my issues with inertia I break down things into very small steps and then swallow the frog. I find that part way through the steps I am flowing and having fun!