Photo courtesy of Jonit Bookheim
Marni sits down with Jonit Bookheim, Partner and Director of Sales and Social Impact of Chicago-based, fair trade fashion brand Mata Traders. They talk what it’s like being an ethical brand in the fashion industry, what Jonit loves most about working with artisans in India and Nepal, and much more. READ FULL BLOG
Read MoreLanie Jansheski of Little Thistle Design
Lanie Jansheski is the whimsical creative genius behind Los Angeles-based floral and event design company, Little Thistle Design. From weddings, to pop-up events, to fabulous backyard soirees, Lanie and Little Thistle have the incredible ability to take your idea and make it ten times better than you ever imagined. (Full disclosure, Lanie, planned mine and husband's entire wedding, soup to nuts - all while 7 months pregnant!)
I sat down with Lanie at Jones Coffee Roasters in Pasadena to interview her over a cup of joe. I asked Lanie, who is in the midst of prepping for a fabulously spooky October Wedding gig, about her green thumb, discovering her love of event design, and what's currently trending in the wedding scene.
While I'm not a coffee snob, I am an ambiance snob. I like the ambiance here so much. The crowd is a funny mixture of old and new Pasadena. Hipsters in one corner, middle aged real estate brokers in the other corner. Sometimes there's a person playing the piano...
For flowers for my house, I love the Sunday Farmers' Market in Montrose. I go almost every week. The flower vendors there grow what they sell. For events, most people don't want to pay the extra cost of sourcing locally grown flowers, so I love Rios Flowers at the Los Angeles Flower Market, downtown.
I did a friend's wedding a couple years ago. It was so creatively fulfilling, and the look on the bride's face was priceless, so I thought...why not try to do more of this?!
photo via Little Thistle Design
I have a bunch of plants throughout my home. I love how they look, but it doesn't mean that I have a green thumb. I constantly replace plants that I've killed. If you're quiet, you can hear a plant I'm purchasing crying because they're going home with me.
It really depends on the type of bride that I'm arranging for - I mean, the DREAM would be to only have clients who have seen your work and trust your taste and style. They give you basic parameters and just say, Go! Create! And sometimes that happens. And it's awesome. And sometimes you get a people who micromanage everything. Or worse, want you to exactly replicate somebody else's work.
Our Wedding! Photo via Jason Hooper Photography
I'm colorful and whimsical. Bright and happy with a little dash of tongue-in-cheek. When I'm commissioned to do work that isn't my specific taste, I look at it as a creative challenge. At the end of the day, it's not my event. I don't have to love the pieces I work on or want it at my wedding, but I do have to love the faces of the client when they see what I've delivered.
Trust the vendors you hire. We are artists. Study our work, give us ideas of your style, then let go. You wouldn't hand somebody else's cake recipe to your baker, so don't design the flowers for the florist. Get a clear handle of what you like, then turn the reins over to the people you've hired. This will make the experience so much better for you...there is such a peace that comes from not having to make every. Single. Decision. That's how Bridezillas are born.
Sometimes you have to verbally bitch slap a bride when they spiral. As I once told a bride who was obsessing over how the shade of grey of her linens would look with her flowers, "I don't put out anything that isn't adorable. Your wedding is going to be beautiful. Take a breath and let this go."
I have two friends who own and run Sheldon Ceramics who are eloping in Malibu. I'm going to do the florals for their little reception using gorgeous Sheldon Ceramics vessels...so excited!
Our side project, Department of Tiny Dinosaurs will be at the Jackelope Craft Fair November 12 & 13 in Pasadena's Central Park. Come by and say “hi” and take care of all your tiny dinosaur terrarium needs!
Little Thistle's side project, Department of Tiny Dinosaurs
I'm seeing a lot of California Rustic Chic. I think it's beautiful, and I’d also love to see more realistic representations of a bride and groom rather than a duplication of a Pinterest Board. That's what makes an upcoming October wedding gig of ours so exciting. The bride and groom are pretty dark, so there'll will be a lot of spooky elements to their wedding...imagine if Anthropologie did a pop up in a haunted mansion....
Photo via Jason Hooper Photography
Photo via Jason Hooper Photography
Photo via Little Thistle Design
Architecture student and artist Silvia Garcia blends sketch and collage work to create mixed-media architectural drawings. Her Balenciaga-inspired mixed-media sketch.
Barcelona architecture student, Silvia Garcia's, mixed-media architectural sketches have recently gained attention a continent away from her home in Spain. Meow Magazine, the Mexico-based fashion magazine, published Garcia's work in promotion of the exhibition of iconic Spanish fashion designer Cristobal Balenciaga's work at the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City. The Mexico City exhibit marks first time Balenciaga's work has been showcased in Latin America.
I sat down at Kindness and Mischief Coffee here in Highland Park to interview Garcia over a cup of joe-- or, well l was at K&M, Garcia was at her favorite cafe in Barcelona, Foxy Bar. I asked Garcia, who studies at Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona, about Balenciaga, discovering her love of architecture, and what's hot in Barcelona's architecture scene right now.
Its relaxed and easygoing atmosphere. I don’t like coffee but I’m a teaholic!
Foxy Bar, Barcelona. image via @wearefoxy
I sketch when I see something I like whether it is on the street, in a cafe, at a friend’s home…
I remember as a kid going to design and architecture showrooms with my mum and really liking it. When I grew up I realized architecture fulfilled many of the things I was interested in. I’m passionate for it.
I relate to his work in terms of simplicity and accuracy.
Balenciaga coat. image via Museo Arte Moderno
Yes, definitely it is. It all works together. You can’t create a good design if you’re focused only on how it’s going to look, because it will fall apart if it doesn’t have a good structure behind it. And vice versa, if you only think about the structural aspects you might end up with say, an ugly facade and, let’s be honest, beautiful things matter. It’s a long and difficult process where you have to speak a lot of languages at the same time: design, construction, installations, materials… but it the end when you see the results all the pain is worth it.
The ones I like the most are the works of the catalán offices H arquitectes, Bonell+Dòriga and Arquitectura-G all of them for their high sense of construction, details, and the use of “common materials.” They turn day-to-day materials into amazing living spaces.
House 1101, H Arquitectes. image via archidaily
Architecture influenced by Case Study House architects like Pierre Koenig and Richard Neutra. Furniture and interior design influenced by 1950s Nordic design.
Influenced by Brazilian buildings, like the "Edificio Louveira" from Vilanova Artigas, and "Casa Baeta" from the same architect, and its colorful designs.
Influenced Brazilian and catalan architecture, with windows from a Sao Paulo art gallery, chairs and background from the catalan office of Arquitectura-G.
