In preparation for the Etsy Fait au Québec show - coming up this weekend in multiple Canadian cities including Montreal –  I thought it would be a nice occasion to finally create some greeting cards out of my photography, since clients frequently ask me about cards. As a writer, I would love to actually write messages inside these cards, but in order to first test out the images and the product itself, I decided it might be wise if these first limited edition greeting cards were blank, creating the opportunity for your words to take center stage.
​
That being said, I still wanted to do something special and meaningful with these cards, to celebrate the act of giving and receiving, of making time to say what we feel, of communicating the old-fashioned way, and the simple act of treasuring our loved-ones.

In light of this, I have decided to launch an initiative called “Cards for a cause” and to donate proceeds from my card sales to a cause I hold dear.

My wholehearted goal is for this to become a tradition (with a different cause every year), so I will need your support in making this happen!

Partly because September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and partly because it is a cause that is meaningful to me, I have chosen to donate to Ovarian Cancer Canada. 

Ovarian Cancer is considered the deadliest women’s cancer, largely because it is not easily detected in its early stages. The symptoms are easily confounded with other diseases and often detection is only confirmed once the disease has begun to spread. Additional research is needed to improve screening methods in order for ovarian cancer to be detected reliably and early on. There are different kinds of ovarian cancer and several risk factors, including family history of female cancers. Ovarian Cancer Canada has been working hard in recent campaigns to increase awareness of the disease and to educate women to become familiar with signs and symptoms, with the hope of increasing the likelihood for early detection.

I will launch my new greeting cards this weekend at the Etsy Fait au Québec Montreal market, held at the Technopole Angus on Saturday (10am to 6pm) and Sunday (10am-5pm). If any cards are still in stock after the event, I will add them to my Etsy shop and you will be able to purchase them online.

They are impressively vibrant, square, 6x6 inches in size (including a white border) and blank inside for your heart’s message. They feature many of the popular images from the Veni Etiam Photography collection, as well as some images that are not part of the collection, such as colorful Montreal or international scenes, foodscapes and daily details. If you really fall in love with these cards and don’t want to give them away, you could also keep them and frame them. Each card with its envelope costs $6 or 3 cards (of your choice) for $15. 

I hope that you will stop by the market this weekend or, if you’re not in Montreal, that you’ll keep your eye out on my Etsy shop next week.

Together we can make a difference. It truly starts with a big heart and a small step.

Thank you for supporting Cards for a cause. Please share this post (or those on my Facebook and Instagram channels) to raise awareness for this initiative and for ovarian cancer.

With much love and appreciation,
​Kristina

Following a beautifully fruitful vacation in Greece and Germany this summer, I combed through the several hundreds of #venivacay photographs on my computer and chose the ones that spoke to me the loudest! I have freshly updated the collection (and my Etsy shop) and am excited to introduce the following photographs to you! Each of them is available fine-art print, canvas, acrylic, aluminum and wood, in various sizes. 

One fine-art print of these newcomers will tag along with me at Etsy Fait au Québec Montréal the weekend of September 24-25th. Come see what they look like in person!

Browse the Veni Etiam collection here or on Etsy. When in doubt (about mediums or sizes or frames or decor), feel free to write me and I'll gladly help! 

​Stay in touch!

I love stories. I love to write, more than anything in the world. I actually think that my photography developed to complement my writing, rather than the other way around.

The photographs you see have a story behind them, and that is why each of them has a title. Of course, some of the titles are totally self-explanatory, whereas others have a deeper meaning, at times in another language (more on that in an upcoming post!). 

I share some of those stories with you in my "Made Me Look" series, where I tell you about that micromoment where I decided to snap the picture. But, I thought I'd start a series called "What's in a name?" to do just that -- describe the reason for the title. 

You can follow my new series on Instagram (#whatsinaname_venietiam). If you're curious about a photograph and would like it to be subject of a post, drop me a line! I'd love to hear from you. 

I thought it would be fitting for the first post to start at the very beginning. Why the name "Veni Etiam"?

The concept of Veni Etiam Photography is to bring the feeling, beauty and color of places around the world into your everyday space, to uplift and inspire you, letting you reminisce or dream. I chose the name "Veni Etiam" as it is a Latin phrase meaning "Return again". Each time you return to a place, you discover something new. No place is ever the same (and neither are you), and this is at once beautiful and tragic. "Veni Etiam" is also an expression that has been used in literature to describe Venice. As Venice is my deepest inspiration, this is my tribute to Her. 

Stay in touch!

You've surely heard about Etsy.

Whether you swear by it or have only a vague concept of what Etsy is, you probably have heard more talk of Etsy in the last couple of years than ever before. 

Etsy is an online marketplace where people around the world connect to buy and sell unique goods from independent entrepreneurs around the globe. Actually, it's more than a marketplace -- it's a community -- of makers and shoppers who are committed to the sustenance of original, high-quality creative goods that are made with love and can't easily be found anywhere else.

One wonderful community feature on Etsy is that sellers can belong to a team, either based on their craft or based on their region. Teams are a great way to connect with other shop-owners, to share resources and advice, or meet up to network and socialize. As Etsy sellers range from being hobbyists to established entrepreneurs who are able to focus on their Etsy business as their sole occupation, there are always plenty of tips and tricks of the trade to share and new features to learn about. 

When I first launched Veni Etiam Photography in 2015, I started with my website and online shop. Only a few months later, I was drawn into the world of orange! When I first opened my Etsy shop, I decided to sell "small" accessible items there (small fine-art or metal prints and magnets) and to focus on my larger wall-art on my main website. What attracted me most to Etsy was the simplicity of its online platform (it has been SO easy and so fun to create and maintain an Etsy shop!) as well as the sense of community that was immediately apparent to me and that I thoroughly enjoy to this day. 

Now comes an important announcement! 

The next Etsy market in Montreal will take place in less than TWO weeks, on the weekend of September 24-25th. The event is called Etsy Fait au Québec Montreal and is a nation-wide event simultaneously held in multiple Canadian cities. The Montreal show will take place at the Technopole Angus (details on flyer below). More than 75 local artisans will be present under one roof to sell their creations and there will be entertainment and workshops for the general public. This will be the third annual September market organized by the Etsy Montreal Team. Over the last three years, these events have consistently attracted over 7000 shoppers during a single weekend. Oh, and it's free!

Don't miss it!

Stay in touch!

It all started at a market I did this summer. A lovely client came by with her husband to purchase a custom set of prints for their home. They patiently and enthusiastically browsed through the hundreds of fine-art prints I had with me that day, commenting on them, comparing them, trying to decide which one spoke to them the most. They debated the decor of the room, the size of the walls, the harmony of various prints. Finally, they settled on a set of three, and when I saw them side-by-side, I felt inexplicably giddy! I had never noticed how harmoniously those prints went together, and the reasons the happy clients gave me for their choice truly made my day. So, thanks to that couple, I thought of this contest for anyone who would like to buy a set of prints (because I love feeling inspired by you!). 

Participation is simple. If you've purchased a set of prints from me, just fill out the form below. Please make sure to refer to the prints by their title, so I know which ones you're talking about ("the one of the sea" or "the one of Venice" would unfortunately not narrow it down for me!). If you inspire me, you'll win a FREE 8x8 print of your choice. 

Unlike most things in life, this contest does not expire! Thanks for taking the time to inspire me!

P.S. This post, and the form below, are bilingual (English and French). Answer in the language of your choice - we love all languages here. 

Tout a commencé lors d'un marché artisanal cet été. Une cliente super sympa est venue avec son mari acheter une série d'affiches pour leur maison. Ils ont regardé avec patience et enthousiasme les centaines d'impressions sur papier texturé que j'avais sur place ce jour-là, en les comparant, en commentant, en essayant de décider comment ils les encadreraient. Ils ont parlé de la décoration de leur chambre, la grandeur de leurs murs, l'harmonie des images qu'ils regroupaient ensemble. Enfin, ils ont choisi une série de trois et quand j'ai vu les images ensemble, je me suis sentie inexplicablement heureuse! Je n'avais jamais remarqué que ces images allaient si bien ensemble et le raisonnement des clients m'a fait plaisir. Ainsi, grâce à ce beau couple, j'ai pensé à ce concours pour tous ceux qui achètent une série d'affiches (j'aime ça me sentir inspirée par vous!).

La participation est simple. Si vous avez acheté une série de photographies, vous n'avez qu'à remplir le formulaire ci-dessous. SVP assurez-vous de noter les titres des photos, pour que je sache exactement desquelles vous parlez («celle de la mer» ou «celle de Venise» ne serait malheureusement pas informatif pour moi!). Si vous me inspirez, vous gagnerez une affiche 8x8 de votre choix GRATUITE.

Contrairement à la plupart des choses dans la vie, ce concours n'a pas de date d'expiration! Merci d'avoir pris le temps de me inspirer!

Why is it that some places simply call you and end up on your bucket list? 

I have experienced it and witnessed it in others. I'm not talking about those places you've added to your list after seeing your friends' Facebook posts or reading article after article about it as the place garners more touristic attention. What really fascinates me is that inexplicable "oh!" that prefixes the name of a place when you talk about it longingly, while somewhat unsure of how it ended up achieving "dream status" with you. Mine have always been (in no particular order): Istanbul, Croatia, Sardegna, Prague, Sicily, Malta, Chicago, Prince Edward Island, Curaçao, Granada, St-Petersburg, Egypt, Morocco, Cyprus, Corsica, Corfu.

Corfu...

Corfu town felt surprisingly familiar. It followed the "formula" of a port city, particularly an Italian port city (my expertise!). It had all the necessary ingredients: old city walls, weathered façades -picturesque with their shutters, balconies and fresh laundry - local tavernas with tables spilling into the alleys and squares, church towers and their resonating bells competing with the crashing sea and restless seagulls, cutlery clinking at dusk, cruiseships docking at dawn, the sound of sandals slipping on cobblestone and locals greeting each other over the heads of a dozen other people, sunset light and souvenir shops, suitcases rolling and cats meowing for food, multilingual menus and English graffiti, fresh fish and seafood, urban beaches where you must share the water with anchored boats, starlight and moonlight, couples strolling and children playing until way past their bedtime. ​

There was a distinct Venetian influence that brought an extra smile to my face now and then.

The rest of Corfu island felt less familiar to me. For one, the island was greener than other maritime places I'd visited, unlike Puglia for instance. Some towns and beaches we chose to visit were refreshingly quiet - except for the deafening cicadas! 

I had always wondered how some travellers felt content to vacation at the same spot every single year, when there is so much of the world to see. Experiencing Corfu, I suddenly got it...along with the urge to buy a villa that we stumbled upon on a mountain road (#dreambig). 

We spent a lot of time with locals, talking about their lives, tasting their oils and wines and jams, feeling connected over very little in common. Language was no barrier to communication and genuine hospitality. Several times, we were moved by the approachability and generosity of the locals, and felt beautifully comfortable on the island. 

Corfu was a dream. Now, it is a place that makes me breathe deeply at the thought of it, that relaxes me straight into my fingertips and that makes me dream of a life experience where I, too, can feel connected to the land, to the sea, to beauty that comes alive through its people and its places. 

My favorite images of Corfu island will soon be added to the collection, for purchase in different sizes on fine-art textured paper, canvas, acrylic, aluminum or wood. Stay tuned on the blog, on Instagram and on Facebook to find out which scenes could be yours to bring home. You'll also be able to see them in person at the next Etsy Fait au Québec show in late September. (Psst: Don't risk missing out: Sign up for the VIP newsletter and receive a promo coupon to celebrate Greece's debut to the collection!)
​
Here's a sneak peak of just some of the newcomers to the collection. 

Stay in touch!