Sorry I’ve been MIA for, like, over a month.  Hokey doodle.  No one reeeally wants to read a post of excuses for an absentee blogger, right?  So, long story short: February and March were crazy months that have many things I’d like to forget.  Plus I’m all pregnant and stuff (20 weeks already!) and have been super sick.  Plus the whole busy thing… blah blah blah. And the whole “introspectively thinking about why I blog/should I blog/what I blog”…

But I promise to update soon.  I have so many things to tell you about the progress on our farm house.  (Yippee!!!) And now that I’m typing I realize how much I miss this.

Some of you wanted an update on the progress of The Case of The Stolen Picture, so here you go…

I posted last week about finding a picture from my blog (of our nursery) on a store’s website.  The picture had been used without consent and did not give any credit to me or this blog.  It was a weird feeling - violated, flattered, annoyed, and funny.

On Facebook it created quite a conversation: they had some nice stuff… I should get store credit!  Was this an outrage or a compliment?  Someone’s 4-year-old daughter rightly concluded that they were pirates.

My own son was infuriated.  He told me we needed to “tell them to give that back!  That’s our condo!  Give our picture back!” ;)

First thing I did was e-mail them politely but firmly telling them that the picture was mine, was obtained without permission, and they needed to either remove it or credit it.  And I waited until the end of the week… there was no response.  So I tried phoning the store on Monday.  No answer.  Left a message on the machine.  No response.  I was beginning to wonder if the store was even still in business.  

That’s when I contacted Lindsey (from Little House Blog) and Jennifer (from Rambling Renovators) via Twitter.  They’re like the big sisters of Canadian design bloggers, giving tips about blogging and planning events like BlogPodium.  And they’re awesome.  Within minutes they responded with some great advice on what I should be doing.

Lindsey pointed out that if they didn’t respond I should get ahold of their website host.  Good call.  And Jennifer pointed me to this helpful article about what to do when your content is stolen.  I was glad to have a variety of options on how to proceed.

I decided to give them one more try - I sent a much more firmly worded e-mail then called the store again.  This time someone answered.  I can’t say the conversation was the most pleasant.  The woman on the other end seemed rushed, annoyed, suspicious, and awkward (I mean, how awkward to realize you’re a skeezy pirate!).  I tried to be firm but polite… but it was strange.  I felt nervous being so confrontational.  She hurriedly told me they’d take it down and hung up.

Click.

Wait a second!  No click!  I wanna’ know: were you oblivious to the fact that taking my picture was wrong a la Judith Griggs?  Or were you evilly plotting this scheme with ill intent?!  Where did you find my picture?  Why did you take my picture!?  I felt very unsatisfied.  

By the day’s end the picture was still up.  And after the very brief and none-too-happy phone call I decided to hit “send” on my e-mail to their web host.

Then, yesterday I received a phone call from the store owner.  She told me that she was aware of a phone call I’d had with her employee and just wanted to know more.  I once again explained that the picture was mine and was taken without permission, and that I’d tried several times through e-mail and phone to notify them of that.  She apologized and explained they have trouble with that e-mail address and that the picture had been taken down.  She also told me that she’d spoken with her lawyer who’d informed her she was not in the wrong because I didn’t have any kind of watermark on it (um… sorry, but that is not the case.  In Canada, once a person creates an original work in compliance with the Copyright Act - blog writing and photography included - it is copyrighted.  I own the rights to it.  Period. )  She assured me that no malice was intended but that they found the picture and really felt that it fit the look of what they were going for.  Overall she was professional and polite (even though she did try to put the onus on me for not marking my photo) and I was feeling better.  I told her that I had given them permission to continue using the photo as long as they gave me proper credit and referred her to my original email.

So… I consider the whole matter dealt with.  I won’t be posting any rage-filed attention-seeking complaints on their Facebook page now. ;)

And let this be a lesson to us all:

1. Bloggers, stand up for your original work, and
2. Pinterest is not a source.  Go find out where a picture is from and credit it appropriately.

The End.

So a while ago I posted about how to search for an image’s original source through Google images.  I realized I could plug in some pictures from my own blog, and because I’m curious (and a little narcissistic) I thought I would give it a whirl and see if any blogs had featured anything from me. 

And I found this:

You see that big picture on the left of the sweet little nursery?  Ahem.  That was our nursery.  And it is featured on the main page of a Toronto retail store.  Sorry… what?  No one ever contacted me about this, nor is any credit given.

So I need some serious reader feedback.  What should I do?  What would you do?  I know I’ve got pictures on this ole’ blog that are uncredited from long ago.  And whenever someone contacts me about giving credit, I’m grateful. But in my case this is a retail store, not a no-profit blog.  Should I ask them to remove it? Credit it? Pay me?  (Yes… they should pay me… one million dollars…) ;)

Well, I’m off to Google image search more of my pictures now.

New header… that is all.

So I’ve popped in to post a few pretty pictures lately, but I’ve been largely MIA from blogging.  Lots of stuff going down that I hope to write about sometime soon.  But for now (while both kids are napping) I’ll try to give you an idea of what’s happening (while sprinkling in some Instagram pictures.  Cuz that’s what bloggers DO now.)…

…We are TRYING to sell our condo.  Suffice it to say that people are dumb with money.  Three offers so far, and no one’s been able to follow through. :P  More on that saga later.

…If not being held back by selling our condo we’re TRYING to look ahead to building our house.  That involves:

• Some cool changes to our floor plan that I’m stoked about.  I’ve been spending a lot of time with my pad of graph paper lately.

• Trying to really define what I want the house to look like.  Lots of it will be figured out when we actually move in, but there will be a lot of decisions that need to be made this fall when we order it.

(You can read about my house rules here, and maybe you remember my [slightly outdated, and still very “just dreaming” 20 Things series?)

• Learning about trees.  That’s right.  My little brother’s girlfriend Becky is super awesome (and has a degree in landscape design) and helped me get going on our shelterbelt plan for our farmyard.  She basically helped me pick the least terrible trees that the PFRA offers (Hey!  They’re free!) and think of a few ornamental ones we’ll add in the future.  She’s the best.  And now I’m really excited about our trees.

(I’m hoping the PFRA peeps will appreciate the drawings of tiny cows and colour coding.)

• Getting excited for travelling to Alberta this fall to order our house. (!!!  If only our condo will SELL!)

…Also I’ve gone back to work part time.  Mostly painting for VBS decorations these days, but I look forward to fall when the work of curriculum planning begins.

I’m a messy painter.  And sometimes it gives me cool neon modern art manicures.

…And I’m working on my first REAL (i.e. I have a budget and I get paid) design job.  Which is cool.  I can’ wait to share about it.  For now, though, know that I got this AH-mazing rug for a great deal, and even better customer service:

…And I’m working on a graphic design job for a cidery out in B.C., Canada.  Would I like to draw pretty pictures of barns and apples?  Why, yes, I would.

…AND it’s summer.  So.  Trying to enjoy as much of that as possible with my awesome, hilarious, getting-more-fun-by-the-day kiddos and my dear husband.  

We went camping.  And it was so fun.  And this moment of me cooking breakfast on a Coleman stove at a picnic table was pure bliss.

After a long evening of bedtime antics.  These two are so funny.

Paintings.  Baby L’s first.  I don’t want to speak too soon, but she’s obsessed with pencil crayons, markers, etc. these days.  Fingers crossed she’ll be an artist.  Fingers also crossed that she doesn’t draw on every wall in the condo before we sell it.

…Harvest is just around the corner, so I won’t see too much of Sean soon.  Actually, I won’t see a lot of Little M either, as he thinks he is integral to the combining operation. 

The hubster checking his crops.

Did I miss anything?  Hmm… a dear friend is planning a wedding, and we will soon be moving, and I threw my daughter’s first birthday party (one!! already!!!) and I’m reading through Romans, which is blowing my mind these days.  So that’s all cool too.

Catch up with y’all later.  

(And in the mean time I’ll try to share some pretty pictures.)

OK, peeps of the inter-webs.  I’m gonna drop some science.

(That’s right.  I just wrote the nerdiest sentence you will hear today.  And depending on your circle of friends, maybe all month.)

There is officially now NO excuse to post pictures without giving original sources and credits.  Because the good people of Google have offered up another crazy, how-is-the-Google-so-smart, completely FREE service.  It’s been around for a while.  And it’s pretty rad.  And it is fighting the good fight against people sourcing their pictures to “Pinterest” or “unknown”. *shudder*

It’s so freaking/unbelievably easy.  Let me show you.

For starters, let’s dig into my old “home inspiration photo” files on my computer. (Whoa… do you remember life before Pinterest?  When we saved pictures ONTO OUR COMPUTERS?!)  Long ago his lovely bright picture was dragged (drug?) and dropped into my photo file because I loved it.  But afterwards (especially 6 years later) I had no way of ever remembering which website I got it from in the first place.  But I’d love to share it with you.  But I no longer post pictures on my Tumblr that don’t list at least one of the: publisher, designer, photographer or stylist.  Darnitall.  

Photograph by Luis Rivera for Real Simple

But wait!  I found the source!  How did I do it?!? Check. Check. Check it out:

Look at the Google home page. Look up up up to the black menu bar and click on “images”.  Now you’ll be on the Google Images search page.

 You notice that little camera icon that I subtly highlighted for you?  Click on it.  You know you want to.  And you are magically transported here:

Now, I prefer to upload an image.  But you can paste the URL.  Whatev’s.  I usually drag and drop the image onto my desktop, then click “choose file” and upload it.  When I do this the computer cooks up some possibilities of where this image came from.  After it does this, you need to sift through the search results with a bit of discretion:

Look for a reliable source first - a big time blog, or magazine site, or the portfolio of  a designer/photographer/stylist/etc.  If one of these pops up it should either be or list the original creator of the image.  SCORE.

If none of these pops up, look at the other blogs that come up, or Pinterest accounts, and see if they included links to the original source.  (And give ‘em mad props if they do.)

Now, it isn’t always that easy - and you’ll need to use a bit of savvy and discretion:

• Sometimes the image may be from a hip magazine in, say, Norway.  And I don’t know ‘bout you, but my Norwegian’s a little rusty.  So you’ll have to try and figure out the source with an online translator.  Good luck with that.
• Sometimes the image is not professional.  The small-time blogger decorated that room and photographed it herownself.  Give that person the original source credits if you’re sure of this. (i.e he/she writes “Check out what I did in my living room!”)
• Sometimes websites are dumb and look somewhat professional but do not actually own the image and do not list any sources.  Shake your fist and wrinkle your nose at them.
• Sometimes you will find a whole bunch of people linking the image back to a certain blog - but that blogger did not create the image.  It’s just that they posted it, and everyone else got it from them.  Boo.  You should keep looking for the actual source.
• Occasionally you will find a dead end.  Maybe somebody scanned the picture from a book or magazine.  Or maybe the original source is now gone.  Occasionally you’ll have to abandon posting a picture, because you just can’t find the original source.

Photograph by Steven Brooke for Coastal Living

Mmhmm.  And this one…

from Martha Stewart Living

What a beaut.  And this one!

Photograph by Stacey Brandford for House & Home, October 2005, via Design Maze

Yesss.  I want a fence like that.

So, go Goog it up.

I’ve been playing around.  I know this is a bit different from the previous look, but I’m feeling springy… Let me know what you think… is it too distracting/busy?  I’d really like to customize/clean-up/reorganize my right side bar, but that requires knowing html. :P  

-Justine

Thanks, ladies!  Hopefully this week is better.  Still can’t see my dashboard pics on my phone. :P

Since going credit-only it’s made it tougher to reblog lately, since many a beautiful picture on my dashboard doesn’t have all the sources I’d like.  So I thought maybe I’d point you to a few of my favourite Tumblerers… (p.s. I follow a bunch of really great Tumblr blogs that you should check out on my page, but for this I stuck to ones that feature plenty of interior design and update somewhat regularly.)

tinywhitedaisies - a daily dose of happy with all things pretty and sweet.  like a sunny tea party in an English garden… love this one.

Georgiana Design - elegant architecture and traditional design.  like a black tie dinner party at a grand estate.

greenlikebathwater - exactly how it sounds.  a bit of everything fresh, cool, vintagey.  like sitting with your toes in a sparkling blue-green river on a summer day.

bloom (meggielynne) - a well-curated collection, with some personal notes along the way.  like sitting in a cozy den (probably wearing a herringbone tweed jacket) on a worn leather armchair sipping coffee.

everythingcharming - a restrained aesthetic that I admire.  (white lovers rejoice!) like being curled up in a warm bed with crisp clean sheets on a snowy winter day.

la belle vie - all things pretty, feminine, and frenchy.  like a bouquet of pink roses delivered to your sparkly little pied-à-terre in Paris.

thedecorista - a whole lotta’ glam, colour, and trendy cool design.  like wearing your red high heels to a swanky soiree.

thelittlecorner - a new favourite for me.  like a barefoot brunch of poached eggs on toast and homemade jam and scones (offered in a basket lined with a linen ticking towel) at a weathered wooden farmhouse table.

Inviting Style Inside & Out (The Lisa Porter Collection) - like vacationing on the East coast in a stately grey shingled cottage with bright white trim, and sand and a bright yellow bicycle on the front yard.

Think Decor - all interior design, and ALL good.  like curling up with a stack of your favourite shelter mags and daydreaming about all the ways you’d decorate your dream house.

That’s all for now.  I may share more later.  DO you have a favourite Tumblr with lots of interior design pics you’d recommend?

Hey cool blog readers and Tumblrers!  Follow me on Twitter, if you like!  I don’t promise to be profound however. ;)

I’ve been waiting for it to hit this number. :)

Thanks, tkdnut for being #1111!  But mostly thanks to all the readers (Tumblr followers and non) over the last two years!  Never thought Birch & Lily would get this big. :)

(Graphic by Justine Taylor)

OK, folks.  The time has come.  Or, actually, it’s long overdue.  This blog is going credit-only.  

THE BACKGROUND:

Bloggers, (and worse, Tumblr bloggers) have a bad rap about posting pictures (or other stuff) without giving its original source to the readers.  I’ve done this.  And I’ve grown increasingly uncomfortable with it over my 2 years of blogging.  You see, posting a picture without giving credit to the photographer, the designer, the stylist, the publication… it’s just not fair.  We bloggers can take someone else’s idea, creativity, hard work, style, and piggyback it with the quick click of “reblog”.  We get hits, and followers, and traffic on our blogs while the creators go unrecognized - essentially robbing them of the credit (and potential business) that is due them.

THE CHANGE FOR ME:

So from now on I will only post pictures that I know of the original source.

By giving credit I don’t mean just the blog the picture came from (unless of course the blogger is the original creator).  If I were to get a picture from a blog I’d say “via _______”, but still need to give credit to the original creators of the image.  Sometimes you can’t get all of the sources (ie. only the photographer is listed, or some magazines own the images and don’t list the photographer or designer).  The truth is we can’t always get everyone in (what about the stylist?  Or the lighting guy!  Or the homeowner!?  Or the caterer!?!).  What I aim to do is give at least one of these sources, and more whenever possible.  That way, if you wanted to track down the artist, say, you could contact the designer directly to find out. 

This also means that I won’t be reblogging uncredited images.  (Eep!)  That’s too bad, because I won’t be able to post a lot of lovely work out there.  But I have to draw the line.  And if someone I follow does not regularly credit the images they blog I’ll likely unfollow, since they aren’t a useful resource to me.

And by listing the source I want to do more than just the click-through link.  While it’s great that a click of the picture can bring you to the original source, if you’re like me you don’t often click on pictures to find out the source.  I want the credit to travel through the blogosphere with the image, so I’ll write it below the picture.

I also ask that if you’re going to use an image you find on my tumblr site that you also include the credit (I know some people like to erase the text below the pictures). If you don’t mind I’d appreciate that you list the credit plus “via Birch and Lily” (or “via Justine Taylor”), but your priority needs to be recognizing the work of the original creators.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

I have a lot of old stuff on my blog that is not sourced.  If you come across an old post with an uncredited image and know where it came from, PLEASE let me know.  Put it in the picture “reply”, leave a comment, or message me with a link. 

What about Pinterest?  For me Pinterest is a personal tool for myself.  I use the boards to organize ideas and inspiration for my own projects and save the poor hard drive on my computer.  So I may post pictures on my Pinterest boards that are uncredited (though I’ll be trying to move away from this), but I will not bring them to my blog which is intended for public enjoyment.  (This is something I’ll be simmering on for a while though… is it possible to keep private Pinterest boards?)

SORRY IF YOU’RE BUMMED…

…or angry, or offended, or think I’m going “holier than thou”.  But I’ve gotta’ do this, and hope other bloggers will do it too!

Kapish? (“Kapish” quote from the character of Uncle Jesse Katsopolis, played by John Stamos, from the television show “Full House”, created by Jeff Franklin and writers include, but are not limited to: Jeff Franklin, Dennis Rinsler, Marc Warren, and Ellen Guylas.) 

OK, that last part was a joke.  I won’t go that crazy. ;)

Hey there.

My name is Justine.  In case you forgot about me.  I blog here.  In theory, anyways.

I thought I should check in with you all and let you know that I’m still alive.  And still have every intention of continuing to blog here - I just need to take care of life as it demands first. Consider this a bit of a blog sabbatical.  A “blogbattical”, I like to say.  (Because I’m a nerd who often makes up words inserting “blog”)

So I’ll be back.  Maybe this week.  Maybe in a month or two.  I do miss this terribly, but other things are a little higher on the to-do list these days, like:

• enjoying every minute I can with my two beautiful children.
• spending every moment I can with my kind and gorgeous husband.
• enduring every stressful second of raising a baby (I don’t do the baby stage well, unfortunately, and right now she’s teething like a… um… like a baby getting 4 teeth all at once.)
• surviving serious sleep deprivation. (Example above.  Not so good with the creativity these days.  Actually not so good with the thinking in general.  It’s been a bad stretch the last few weeks between Baby L being up, Little M waking through the night, and my own bit of insomnia thrown in.)
• cleaning my house.  This is an impossible, never-ending task with a  two-year-old tearing around.  I want to go back in time and say to the pre-kids me, “Just clean your house.  It’ll take no time at all.  It’s so eeeeeasy.  And it won’t be when you have a two-year-old.”
• blogging.  Wait.  What?  Oh, not here.  Over at UsedEverywhere.  Straight up, folks, I get paid for that.  And not for this.  So.  (Tell me how to feature ads, and then pay me to advertise cool stuff.  Not dumb stuff.  And then my blog will start making money.  And then blogging will move up my to-do list.  Cool.  Good idea.) ;)
• home projects.  Whoa baby, when I DO start blogging again I have some cool stuff to show you.  I’ve been chipping away at many projects (with the help of our team of free babysitters.  Family and in-laws rock, peeps).  Hopefully in the new year I’ll have a bit of a living room tour with some major changes we’ve made(and are making), followed by dining room and bedroom.  hopefully.
• church stuff.  Sean and I are teaching grades 4-5 Sunday school together this year and I’m loving it.  I’ve worked with these kids since they were tiny, and it’s so good to stay involved with them, even on my maternity leave.  Plus mom’s group, and my sweet care group.
• Aaand that’s kind of life right now.  Oh!  And another reason my blogging’s been slow this fall?  My computer was broken.  But I got my Christmas gift from Sean early, and this it’s inaugural blog post.  It’s big, and silver, and has a cute little apple on it.  (Traded in the macbook pro for an iMac.  A desktop makes more sense to me with growing kiddos around.)

SO!  check back in a while, OK?  I promise I will too.  And if you’ve only recently started following my blog, a big fat apology.  I’m not usually this lame.