Secret Garden Tour of La Jolla

When Vignettes’ super-star designer/dealer Barbara Gray of Cottage White Interiors is not tending to her design empire in Scottsdale, Arizona, or working magic in her spaces here or in La Jolla, she’s involved in a multitude of other amazing design projects. Somehow she keeps it all together and every project is even more tres magnifique than the last. Uber multi-tasker is a complete understatement and designer to the stars is just one of the many chapeaux she wears.

Recently she asked our resident artistic genius, Karen Lampard of Café Paperie and me, to come on board with her and her associate, Krista Niskanen, to design and stage a courtyard and home for the highly anticipated, annual garden event - the Secret Garden Tour of La Jolla, now in its’ fourteenth year.

Every spring, the La Jolla Historical Society extends a rare invitation to the public to stroll behind the garden gates of some of La Jolla’s loveliest private estates and their secluded gardens. This year it’s being held on Saturday, May 19th from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Past tours have showcased some of La Jolla’s largest estate gardens as well as intimate cottage style, romantic Mediterranean, formal French and English gardens. The locations are kept secret and are revealed on the day of the tour.

That day, the gardens are beautifully enhanced with music performed by local musicians and with artists on site capturing the gardens on their canvases.

In the weeks leading up to the tour, designers make a floral blueprint and plan outdoor staging concepts, dramatic floral elements and elaborate tablescape compositions.

And that’s where we come in.

In our very first brainstorming session we decided then and there that no idea was too ‘over the top’ - and we haven’t stopped since. Weaving nature in and out as both backdrop and center stage - our secret garden is being artfully transformed into -
 Le Jardin de Repurposed Magique.

With Karen as our rainmaker, we will be unveiling some very imaginative settings which may stop traffic.

That was our goal.

***

Ticket information at:

www.lajollahistory.org

Or 858-459-5335

We hope to see you there…

And with Vignettes’ name attached -

You can count on this being something to behold!

Top Photo: Tim Walker

Bottom Two: Pinterest

No Ordinary Bunny

Of course we couldn’t present an average, run of the mill bunny/lapin for your Easter brunch centerpiece - Oh, Mais Non! So here they are, created from children’s books and newspapers, bejeweled and dressed up in their Sunday best.

Introducing our all-star, bunny/lapin line-up - worthy of your centerpiece or center stage and eager to lead the Easter parade.
Catch them before they hop on out.

Joyeux Paques!

Bonjour Printemps

Spring has arrived at Vignettes and the weekly flower deliveries from Café Paperie’s amazing, new floral line are works of art unlike any you’ve ever seen!

Each flower is created from raw muslin, cut out petal by petal, handstitched onto a wire stem and then hand-painted with pastel watercolours. Loose threads, ragged edges, tiny beads that glisten like dew-drops, all in the softest palettes, bloom into flawless floral fantasies that look like they were just gathered from a perfectly untamed, secret garden in Paris.

Whether you pick out a single stem, gather a charming nosegay, or carry a one-of-a-kind, tattered muslin bouquet at your wedding ~ these fleurs are guaranteed to delight and certainmente add the gorgeous factor to any setting, real or imagined.

Mother Nature is smiling.

Petite Chic

Presenting: Mademoiselle Jasmine Sophia, Age 6

This fabulous, 1st grade, French-at-heart, little Miss learned of our Valentine Soiree while on daily walks by the shop with her Mother in January. She decided then and there to attend ~ but not in an ordinary fashion ~ Oh Mais Non ~ but fully decked out as
Mini Marie Antoinette. (Complete with wig!) So tres chic!

She went on to host a Valentine party the next day for all her little gal pals. Ooh La La!

I think this pretty much proves that while some women cultivate their sense of style over time ~ others are ~ definitely born with it!

Belle Fleurs

We have the most beautiful blossoms blooming in the shop maintenant ~ but these are no ordinary fleurs mes amies!

These fabuleux flowers come in a variety of size, shapes and palettes and many boast vintage rhinestone brooches and pearls in their centers and feature hand done calligraphy, antique French book pages and French sheet music for their leaves and stems!

These bejeweled fleurs make for very chic decorative accessories that can be placed amongst any décor or style and easily hold their own. The best part is ~ they command enormous attention ~ while requiring none! C’est si beau.

Shakespeare said it wasn’t necessary to “Gild the lily” but he hadn’t seen these be-jeweled objets d’art!

Come in and pick your bouquet magnifique.

Next Week: We Debut ~

Cafe Paperie's AMAZING Hand-Torn and Watercoloured Muslin Roses