Monthly Archives: July 2012

Capturing your family is an important part of making memories. While there has been a big boom in amateur photography over the past several years, getting professional family portraits done is still an important part of documenting that wonderful family that you have! While there are many wonderful photographers in Moncton we want to highlight for you our favorite local photographer, Steph MacKenzie at Wildflower Photography!

Stephaine MacKenzie

Although Steph has been heavily involved with photography since 2007, it was only 2 shorts months ago that she decided to follow her dream by leaving her job at an assistant manager and launching her photography business full time. That’s courage.

That’s not the only big change that’s been happening in this woman’s life, she’s also a recent newlywed to her husband Tyler. Steph tears up when she describes her husband. It has really been through his love, support, and encouragement that she’s been able to do all that she’s done in the past few months.

Although Steph loves shooting anything and anyone, she has a real passion for capturing families. The love for families shows through in her images which are full of natural emotion, fun, and life that you just don’t get in a Sears-portrait-studio setting.

You may be wondering.. How do we know Steph? We built her house! Her favorite part of her Martell Semi-Detached home is the kitchen and the walkin pantry. We were so happy to work on Steph’s home and are glad that she loves it as much as we do!

One of Steph’s passions is the mission of  ”recapturing beauty”. It’s this passion that drives her “Wildflower Project” which seeks to redefine what beauty is. The format of the project is simple, for every paid session that Steph does she gives one away to a woman (or women) in the community. These free sessions though are not your typical photoshoot. These photoshoots have no makeup or hairstyling … no ‘extras’. Dressed in a simple black T-shirt these community women are challenged to be representatives of true beauty. Beauty, Steph explains, isn’t in the external, it’s the internal. She really wants these women to be an example that beauty is in everyone and to encourage women everywhere to see themselves as beautiful.

Anyone can apply be a part of the Wildflower Project. To apply fill out the form here.

To check out more of Steph’s work and to learn about her projects, pricing, and more check out her facebook page here and her website here

We have so many awesome team members at Martell Home Builders that we just can’t keep it in! We want to share with you just how great our team is. That’s why we’re launching the “Meet the Team” blog series where we’ll introduce each member and tell you a little about them!

First on the docket is Natalie Davison, one of our Customer Experience Representatives. Nat describes herself as “hooked on houses”. Ever since buying her first home at the age of 23, Natalie has been obsessed (in the good way, of course) about everything to do with homes. From buying and selling to building, she loves houses. Though she had been studying for her realtor’s license since the age of 23, Natalie had a number of other jobs that just weren’t fulfilling. She knew that she wanted to work with homes and we were so happy to help make that dream come true.

Natalie also has two of the cutest little twin boys you’ve ever seen in your life, Jack and George! With the amount of energy that those two pack we’re always impressed at how  Natalie keeps everything together with flare to boot!

Natalie has an energy and a laugh that is absolutely infectious and we promise that you will love working with her as you build your Martell Dream Home!

Want to know more about Natalie? Here are some fun facts!

We’re SO excited to introduce to you the newest member of the Martell team… Zia Martell!

Zia was born to Pierre and Jess on July 27th at 8:08 pm. Pierre laughs when he talks about the day Zia was born. He and Jess both being entrepreneurs, after realizing that the baby was on her way they both continued working from home (and during their visits to the hospital) not letting a little thing like emerging life get in their way Jess did payroll and Pierre worked on building beautiful custom homes for people! Even better, they downloaded an app to track contractions while they waited! (I honestly didn’t even know that there was one!).

Jess working on her way to the hospital

When it comes to being an entrepreneur and a father Pierre describes it as… “a walk in the park”!  Contrary to the way some dads are thrown into fatherhood, to Pierre it’s in some ways like he’s being training for it his whole life. Both he and Jess are used to having to perform on little sleep because of the work it takes to close deals and generally manage a business. Staying up late at night for a baby is just part of the routine! (I think we’re all wishing we had had it that easy hah)

The hardest part about being a dad, Pierre says, is not being home to be a dad. While he still is lucky enough to be able to work from home more than many other people, Pierre still hold that the absolute best part of his day is getting to go home to his little girl.

Hope you’ve enjoyed your first introduction to little Zia and we’re sure you’ll be seeing more of the little princess!

We are pretty excited about our latest promotion & we’re sure that you will be too!

Brown, blue, or brick, it matters what your floors look like. Keeping your home looking fresh, modern, inviting, and clean can have a lot to do with what floorings you choose. No matter if your designing your new martell dream home or just spicing up your old one, choosing the right flooring is key.

Before choosing what type of flooring you should get, first you need to identify a feel or theme that you’re going for in the home as a whole and for the individual spaces (rustic, modern, country, etc). After you’ve chosen a theme or feel then it’s time to choose a type of flooring, will it be hardwood? Tile? Ceramic?

If you’re having a hard time choosing (and we know what a hard choice it can be!), we’ve pulled together a some images showing the different styles, themes, and types of flooring that you could be using in your home! We hope it gives you the inspiration your looking for and if you want more, check us out on Pinterest!

It’s hard to believe that you can get a hamburger at a Tim Hortons but at the Tim on Mountain Rd, Moncton that is EXACTLY what you’ll find! We’ve discovered that the store has been chosen to test market this new product to see if it peek customer’s attention and interest! Though it may look like a hamburger, this treat is made up of a regular donut cut in two ( the buns), a sliver of chocolate donut (the ‘meat’), and strawberry and boston cream filling (the ketchup and mustard respectively).

We encourage you to get out and try this treat before they’re gone!

Do you think the hamburger donut will be a hit? Will you be trying it?

Note: to maintain our journalistic integrity we tried them… they were delicious

Living a green life is about more than just saving money, it’s about minimizing as much as possible our negative impact on the environment around us. At Martell Home Builders this idea is more than just words, it’s action and we want to empower you to action as well. Besides purchasing a net-zero home (which you can definitely do!) there are other ways that you can minimize that negative impact.

In our first installment of the living green series we talked about how to live green in the way you wash laundry (check out that post here). Today, we want to talk water. In a Country covered in fresh water lakes, ponds, and streams, we often don’t fully appreciate how lucky we are to have access to clean water. By being intentional in our efforts to conserve water we are both ensuring a ‘moist’ future for our children and also expressing solidarity with those around the world that are less fortunate than we. So, without further ado, here are our top 10 tips on how to conserve water in your home!

1. Turn off that Tap! – We’ve all heard this one before (or at least should have) but turning of the tap while you’re brushing your pearly white teeth is a great step towards water conservation. You don’t need to hear a waterfall while you brush!

2. Don’t Flush Unnecessarily – Instead of flushing that kleenex away, just put it in the garbage and save water.

3. Basin, Not Tap – Wash your fruits and veggies in a basin or bowl instead of under a running tap.

4. Brick in the Tank – If you have a large toilet tank but a displacer inside of it to save water.

5. Brita in the Fridge– If you keep a jug of cold water in the fridge it will keep you from running it (until it goes cold) the next time you want a glass

6. Don’t Water the Road– Position your sprinkler so non of the water is getting wasted by watering roads, driveways, etc.

7. Big Close Drops –  Set your sprinkler or hose to dispense big close drops. A mist will likely be wasteful since a lot of it blows away!

8. Check– Check those valves and pipes for cracks and leaks

9. Long Lawn – Set your lawn mower to a high setting – longer grass = more shade = less evaporation!

10. Fish Food – Use your old fish tank water (when you’re switching it) to water your plants!

Check out more tips (100 to be exact) here!

We’re excited to announce that Martell Home Builders is officially on Pinterest!  Follow us to see real Martell Homes, read updates, get decoration inspiration and so much more. Click here to see our page and then click “Follow All” to get out updates. Happy pinning!

This month’s colour palette is called “summer shade” and whether or not that’s what you need, this palette will look great in your home. With the natural warmth brought out by the browns next to the water-like blues, this palette will subtly remind you of the beach all year round. We recommend this palette particularly for bedrooms in your dream home! To help you in with picturing how the summer shade palette would look, here are some ideas via Pinterest.

What do you think of our summer shade palette?

This Wednesday we held another fundraiser for our CIBC Run for the Cure team! Our great friends at Kent sponsored a delicious BBQ for our trades workers and we took the opportunity to sell some sweet treats to the men as well. We raised $133for our Run for the Cure team which is fantastic and we can’t wait for our next chance to raise even more. Check out the pictures below and then go here to donate to our team!