Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Come Celebrate Our Boho Chic Summer


The stage is being set for our summer launch party on Saturday, June 9th and it’s shaping up to be a tres visual feast for the eyes with a return to 1930’s Bohemian Paris.
Enter our faded world of dreamy, gauzy furnishings and décor oozing with romantique glamour that blurs the lines between indoors and out.
Think you’ve seen a fabulous tent before? We have the ultimate one for candlelight entertaining that is guaranteed to cast a magic summer spell on everything beneath its’ gossamer netting.
My new obsession and the hottest trend on the French Riviera ~ ‘Crochet Overlay’ will be on full view everywhere and on everything especially at our Textile Patisserie ~ where you’ll see, layer after layer of beautiful, vintage passementerie ~ thanks to my picker in Paris who just shipped me a container full! (Merci beaucoup mon amie Amelie) Fillet lace bon bons ~ that are just too beautiful for words.
Outside, our custom French Cabana is being staged from floor to ceiling by designer Sandra L. Finn of Chateau et French Industriel and will be the perfect setting for Miss Heather Bullard, the beloved superstar of the creative arts community and the wunderkin of the publishing world.
And alongside the cabana we’re also featuring ~ Therapie ~ a mobile fashion boutique on wheels recently launched by designer/stylist Kelly Carney. This ingenious mobile concept is a 27 foot RV that has been gutted and transformed into a glamorous fashion boutique complete with chandeliers, dressing rooms, hardwood floors and hundred of style choices. For the summer soiree Kelly will feature an entire line of 1940’s inspired resort wear. As part of her staging, vintage Vespas will also be on hand for photo opportunities.
With French champagnes and lemonades pouring all day and alfresco canapés in every dealer’s space – there is no better way to kick-off summer 2012.
Here’s to a tres chic Bohemian summer!  




Thursday, May 24, 2012

Faite Accompli ~ Secret Garden Tour 2012


Let’s just say that Karen Lampard of Café Paperie, Barbara Gray of Cottage White Interiors, Krista Niskanen and I left NO STONE unturned in our well-publicized, collaborative design effort staging Barbara’s magnificent ocean-front home, courtyard and pool area for the 14th annual ‘Secret Garden Tour of La Jolla’.
Our Dream Team worked for 3 solid months getting all of this perfectionner, sharing a common goal and a beautiful camaraderie along our creative journey and the end result was one of those rare
projects where the sum total was even greater than its parts.
Four designers working side by side, doing what we love in a seamless collaboration ~ and the beauty of it all?
We even amazed ourselves at what came forth.
*
That might just be the ‘secret’ to the Secret Garden Tour.  
Enjoy.





























FOOTNOTES: Once again, the paper performance art and original floral designs created by our resident artist/designer at the shop, Karen Lampard, left attendees awe-struck. Her tablescape in the dining room was sheer artistic genius created with layer after layer after layer of intricate detailing and carefully crafted scenes from "A Milliner's Garden" that literally danced across the table and looked as if it had come straight out of the Pageant of the Masters or Anthropologie's corporate office. Her au naturelle pillow created from real, over-bloomed roses held it's own on the sod 'bed' and her couture mannequin all dressed up for the garden party in fresh flowers, ivy, Spanish moss and ferns elegantly completed the boudoir vignette.
Many of her scenes have now been recreated at the shop ~ Come and see them while these fabulous works of art are on view for the next 2 weeks. Then, we re-stage for our Seaside Summer Fete being held on Saturday, June 9th from Noon to 5:00 pm.
We hope you're planning to attend ~
Summer needs a proper launch and we know just how to do it!

Saturday, May 19, 2012

The One And Only ~ Heather Bullard


Who do you get when you cross Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray and Annie Leibovitz? …
The hardest working girl in show business ~ the amazing Heather Bullard!
We are beyond thrilled that Heather would take the time out of her warp-speed busy schedule, jetting all over the U.S. on photo shoots and launching a new magazine, to come to our summer kick-off soiree on June 9th. It’s a huge honor for us and sheer bliss to her throngs of followers.
This gal’s repertoire is mind-boggling: She's the publishing world’s ‘It’ girl, her fascinating lifestyle blog, http://www.heatherbullard.typepad.com/ filled with what’s hot, happening and meaningful is legendary, she’s an amazingly gifted writer, an award-winning photographer and her finger is on the pulse of everything that matters and trending in the home and garden universe.
On top of that, she has a wonderful family that she lovingly writes about (she just returned from a memorable trip to Paris with her daughter) ~ she knows what’s important in life ~ is as humble as they come and ~ she’s drop-dead gorgeous.
Move over Martha ~ Heather has entered the building!
 Magnificent styling is her sweet spot and everything she touches takes on the look of a high-end, luxury photo shoot; from masses of flowers in a zinc tub, to state-of-the-art chicken coops, to ironstone bowls of blackberry cobbler. (The berries were picked fresh from her garden, of course!) She has an eye for all the details, both grand and petite; she dots her calligraphied i’s and crosses her old English script t’s with a signature flair that comes from being a world class photographer who uses the lens to paint and shoot amazing pictures. She is a contributing editor for Country Living Magazine, travels all over the U.S. on photo shoots and somehow managed, in her spare time, to publish her first magazine, that truly stands out from them all ~ ‘Souvenir’ a gorgeous, glossy, visual feast overflowing with beautifully photographed home and shop features, travel destinations with the vintage shopper in mind, delicious recipes, unique craft how-to’s and fabulous decorating ideas.
Just like its founder ~ It’s the whole package.
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Come and meet Style Maven Extraordinaire ~ Heather Bullard
at our Seaside Summer Fete on Saturday, June 9th.
She’ll be showcased in our custom, French cabana
with a Meet and Greet from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.
You won’t want to miss this inspiring day!