Cookies for breakfast! Clad in Red! Flowers on your desk! In your home! Everywhere! These are a few of my favorite things…
Wishing you a marvelous weekend from C&C HQ. And, if you’re looking for a gift for your sweetheart, how about a Spring Floral Subscription from Weatherlow Florals? Or, thinking you want to turn things up a notch? Sotheby’s Erotic Online Bidding closes on February 20th…
Pictured above: JEAN-GABRIEL DOMERGUE, 1889 - 1962, titled, FARNIENTE. Oil on board. See here.
Phoebe Poole heads up Weatherlow Florals, based in Westport, Massachusetts. Our introduction many months ago felt kismet as we had both shared a plethora of friends and business acquaintances leading up to meeting in person. She has since provided beautiful florals for some client-related projects and I was lucky enough to attend her Foraged Wreath Workshop this past December. (A MUST for your winter calendar next season).
Phoebe is not only dedicated to her farm and floral business, but she possesses this special je ne sais quoi quality that is equal parts magical, genuine, intoxicating and pure. This combination of her savvy business acumen, commitment to her work and delightful energy makes Phoebe the perfect addition to C&C’s Short List.
The COOLEST thing about Phoebe’s floral operation in my opinion? Aside from the stunningly bucolic setting on Weatherlow Farms, one can truly have a bespoke floral experience. As a bride for example, you can specify that you love Icelandic poppies in a certain shade, and she will grow them for your respective floral design. How special is that?!?
Read on below to get to know Phoebe! And, be sure to follow her on Instagram, @weatherlow_florals
Weatherlow Florals is a 1.5 acre specialty cut flower farm and floral design studio, tucked into the larger Weatherlow Farms operation, in the seaside town of Westport MA. As farms go, it’s still in its infancy, as we head into the fifth season of flower production. Though we aren’t certified organic, we follow all organic practices, and pursue the utmost in sustainable methods including no-till bed systems and intensive mulching and composting protocols. Our growing season here on the coast is quite long, and we are actively harvesting and offering flowers from April through early November. Many of our blooms and foliages are sold wholesale to floral designers across New England (and beyond, in some cases), while each season I’ve grown the in-house design side of the business. The floral design work we do is purely ‘seed-to-vase’, meaning we only use what we grow (or forage) here at the farm.
Besides the obvious of being surrounded by beautiful flowers during the season, I enjoy the endless experimentation and inherent creativity. I’m always striving to get more local flowers into everyone’s design work, so that means meeting with our wholesale clients to see what colors and textures they’re looking to use for the coming season, seeking out ‘new’ varieties and perfecting how we grow the tried-and-true favorites, scouring inspirational arrangements on Instagram for ingredients that I’ve never seen before and then trying find seed for them to grow them… in short, there’s never a dull (or idle) moment and that’s the best part.
No matter the time of the season, wellies are a daily uniform staple. In the warmer months, they’re paired with high-waisted canvas shorts and an oxford shirt. In colder months, I’m most likely wearing them with wool tights, a wool dress, and a (slightly moth-eaten) wool sweater.
It truly is an idyllic spot. The size and scale are partly what make it special to me - it’s a very large parcel for this part of the world, and is set atop the highest point in the county - so there are lovely open pastures and Wyeth-esque landscapes to admire. And then there’s the light - because the property is so high up and open, we have incredible sunrises and sunsets, and huge skies full of interesting clouds, and a clarity of light that is unique.
I was very lucky as a kid to travel extensively, so honestly when I have a moment away from work I love to escape locally - rather than a far-flung place - to the Elizabeth Islands. They’re a chain of small islands off our coast, between us and Martha’s Vineyard, that retain some of the magic and mystery of New England that can’t be found on the mainland any more. Scooting out there on the boat in October for a quick swim and picnic lunch can’t be beat.
I’m most looking forward to the continued expansion, and also refining, of this beautiful business. I’ll be cultivating a bit more land, but also making even better use of the space we have already. I’m adding more varieties of flowers and foliages, but also doing a better job of growing the pretties we’ve become known for over the last few seasons.
Taylor Johnston of Gamine Workwear, not just because I rely on her incredible clothing for my daily grind. Her commitment to sustainability, and the neglected art of practical and beautiful clothing for women, is unmatched. www.gamineworkwear.com
Jenny Tatelman of Fly and Flow, not just because I’d spend more time on the water if I wasn’t flower-ing all of the time. Her brand and ethos, of connecting and empowering women through the coolest sport ever (fly fishing), is admirable and inspiring. www.flyandflow.net
Semia Dunne of Semia Floral Design and The Floral Reserve, not just because she’s endlessly encouraged me in my business. In this part of the country I think she’s doing more than anyone else for the local flower community, educating other designers about seasonality - why it matters and why it’s gorgeous, and curating the whole scene beautifully. www.semiafloral.com and www.thefloralreserve.com
I can’t say that I entertain much in the summer (as it’s the height of our busy growing and wedding-ing season) but when I do the table is a weathered teak one that’s lived out on the lawn for many seasons, in partial shade from the big oak tree. It would be set with a large pitcher of bits and bobs from the garden, flowering perennials and herbs and whatever blooms are in season, mismatched plates and platters from our family friend who’s a ceramicist, and the clunky family silver. There would be a huge salad of local greens (with edible flowers, of course), grilled vegetables from my CSA share alongside Weatherlow burgers and sausages, good local cheeses, and plenty of wine.
My summer playlist would likely be an eclectic mix of classic rock, bossanova, and 90s pop hits.
I am slightly expanding the growing area, and variety selection, for our flowers and foliages so we will have even more lovely material for our wholesale customers and wedding work. Our floral design calendar is fully booked with 2020 weddings, and I can’t wait to make fun and elegant designs for each of the unique couples - and at some exciting venues around the region! We’re also slightly expanding our workshop offerings with a few farming-focused workshops for the spring, so that folks can learn how to grow a cut flower garden at home - and also how to arrange those blooms into artful centerpieces.
The bouquet subscriptions are so delightful, and informative! Rather than the flower CSA model of a single type of flower each week, we offer arranged bouquets each week for the spring, summer, or fall season. Plus, the subscriber gets a weekly email detailing the bouquet’s ingredients, plus growing and natural history information. You can sign up, and see photos of past season’s bouquets, on our website, https://weatherlowfarms.com/?page_id=1148
This season we’re endeavoring to reach new customers by adding pickup locations other than Weatherlow - if you and four friends register for spring bouquets, we’ll deliver them weekly to a location of your choice (within 45 minutes of the farm.)
I’d most like to visit the amazing floral world that Erin Benzakein has created at Floret Flower Farm out in the Skagit Valley of Washington. She’s really pioneered the ‘farmer-florist’ arena and educated so many folks about the beauty and importance of seasonal floral design. I find the evolution of her business fascinating and would love to see the operation in person!
https://www.floretflowers.com/about-us/meet-the-family/
There’s nothing more special, I think, than the process that we get to go through with couples to create floral designs for their weddings. We rely solely on the flowers and foliages that we grow at Weatherlow, and foraged bits from the fields and woods, to embody their story and the season in which they’re celebrating. There are quite a few things that we now grow that stemmed from a need we had for a particular wedding - since we start the design process a full season ahead of time, if there’s a color or texture that they want to see as part of their celebration that the 300+ varieties we’re already growing can’t meet, we find seed or plants and add it to our repertoire!
My birthday is in late June, which is a magical and abundant flower time. I’d love to say that I’m something refined and elegant like a June peony, with hugely beautiful but not abundant blooms, and requiring time and patience to grow. However, the honest answer would be that my ‘zodiac sign’ flower would be the sweet pea - they’re also incredibly lovely and perfume-y like the peony, but they are fairly scrappy as well. They work hard, scrambling up the trellis and producing abundant vines and tendrils, and demand a lot of compost and stinky fish fertilizer. They want to be planted very early, it always seems impossibly cold still, but that’s their way. Then they reward us with incredible foliage and the most dreamy and delicate flowers until the heat of July - and then I miss them until the following spring.
NOTE: Imagery provided by Weatherlow Florals, captured by Erin McGinn Photography, Caroline Goddard Photography, Caylin Harris, Henry and Mac, Jennifer Jeanne Photography and Silver & Salt Photography.
There are dream clients and then there are DREAM CLIENTS. Marchioness is one of them.
Marchioness Home & Garden is based in Dover, Massachusetts. The founder has travelled the world, collecting and procuring special pieces that will help shape her e-commerce offering(s), launching this Spring 2020. The sentiments of the brand are so feminine, timeless and special. The products range from an early 19th-century French painting, rare First Edition Audubon Watercolors, to a whimsy birdcage statement piece, or small curiosity. Each one tells its own narrative. The overall mood of the brand also truly captures the essence of its Founder Bethany, who is absolutely lovely, warm and gracious. Marchioness authentically honors a by-gone era in an effortless yet reimagined way.
Marchioness came to C&C looking to ultimately turn a robust passion into a business. We started with a brand identity project, then shifted to various phases of content generation, collateral creation, operational development, monetization strategy, collection curation and now, building an e-commerce platform.
I am extremely fortunate to have assembled a creative team that is so committed to Marchioness. Each project partner has been able to contribute their unique skill set to each phase of work. Below you’ll find recent photos from a shoot that aimed to capture pieces from the brand’s new print system.
We brought on Lindsay Fair of WOMA Design to help execute brand identity, brand collateral and web development. It’s no secret that I adore Lindsay. She has been an instrumental part of the brand’s cultivation. When making selections for the print & packaging pieces, we truly labored over each detail, resulting in some sumptuous pieces that will serve Bethany and her brand well. The business cards are engraved, letter pressed AND edged in gold ink. They are on double thick paper (it’s ALL about the card stock), accompanied by an engraved notecard with a custom envelope liner. The envelope liner design was inspired by an exquisite and rare antique paper Bethany had collected.
Thank you to all for playing a part in this project:
Graphic Design & Web Development: WOMA Design
Photography: Molly Lo Photography
Styling: Caylin Harris Creative
Florals: Weatherlow Florals
Last weekend my sister and I accompanied my Mother to Florida to celebrate her birthday. It was a lovely weekend that was strictly devoted to R&R on the beach. Stacks of magazines were devoured, swims in the sea were enjoyed and we most certainly made the most out of every moment in the sunshine. Newport has been raw and with the sun setting so early, a quick escape to soak in some salt & sun was the perfect reset. Not to mention, I was so happy my spontaneous airport book purchase proved to be a great read.
And so it’s here. Thanksgiving will always be one of my most favorite holidays. Family traditions are incredibly important to me, and I love the traditions we have in our family…of course, for this holiday, they mostly live in the kitchen! I always look forward to my sister’s Nantucket pie and Sweet Potato Casserole (with Marshmallows!), our family’s spinach salad with citrus and pomegranate (My Aunt’s specialty!), homemade cranberry sauce and Spinach Soufflé.
I wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. I’ll leave you with this photograph of Carolyn Murphy, clad in shearling, looking as she always does, effortless, magnificently beautiful and Americana-cool.
I’m so pleased to introduce you to Robyn Hynes of Frontier 1862 for many reasons. One in particular, is that the timing simply “felt” appropriate. Hailing from South Dakota, Robyn’s aesthetic is this cool yet raw mountain chicness that I’ve always been drawn to. It elicits this type of feeling that you just want to be wrapped up in. One look at her Instagram and you’ll quickly see what I mean. It just oozes with all of the textures, light and beauty one might conjure up for an autumn mood board.
A mood board from Robyn’s South Dakota Studio
Email campaign for Tiina Smith Jewelry announcing her new digs on Newbury Street
But getting down to business…. Robyn and I worked together on some super special creative initiatives for Tiina Smith Jewelry. Tiina’s jewels are as MAJOR as they get. MAJOR. We’re talking Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Moussaieff and the like. Our focus areas were mostly with regard to e-commerce and email marketing, tools that have set Tiina up for success in a big way. Having just opened her doors on the illustrious Newbury Street in Boston, it’s safe to say Tiina is dreaming it and doing it, company we like to keep!
Some of Tiina’s dreamy jewels…are you drooling yet?!
What makes Robyn so skilled is the combination of her sheer eye and understanding of an elevated digital experience, but also her execution. Our work together felt lockstep throughout each phase.
Here, I leave you with a Q&A to get to know Robyn:
Frontier 1862 is my creative studio I started in February 2018. I was fresh out of college and had overheard some writers at graduation discussing freelancing, so I tried it out – and it took off! I evolved into working with interior & fashion designers as well as some people in the beauty industry doing their digital marketing & content design. The rest is history!
My ideal client is a stylish creative who loves exploring all aspects of beauty that the world has to offer. I love working with people who have great personal style in both their home and how they represent themselves through fashion. I really love working with fellow artists and creatives.
RAIN BOOTS! I’m a HUGE fan of rain boots and wear them daily during the fall and winter seasons. I’m also really excited for cold crisp weather, fall candles from Swan Creek Candle Company and baking some great recipes!
I definitely recommend a drive down or hike in Spearfish Canyon if you’re in the Black Hills – or if you make it to the eastern side of the state, where I grew up, I recommend a visit to J.L. Beers. It’s your ideal midwestern local sports-bar dive with great food and drinks.
I always say that good design evolves from good photography. Luckily, I work with a lot of brands that know the value of investing in a photographer. When the photography is off, it makes it super hard to have good designs for your marketing collateral and online content.
I’m obsessed with Lust Pro. I think the lightest weight in both regular and italic transformations is absolutely beautiful.
Out here in the West, our seasons are very extreme so I’m heavily influenced by the colors of each season. In the Spring, I’m definitely drawn to brighter colors like yellows, greens, pinks etc… In the fall and winter, I’m much more into darker burgundy colors, deep navy and green. I evolve in my work along with the seasons!
I have a heavy art background, so I’d say composition is everything. For example, if your online store has huge blocky fonts, poor images or nothing is spaced out and fits correctly, the composition can deter a potential customer or client. Having a balance between colors, imagery and typography is the most important thing. Websites are like the digital storefront. If a customer saw a messy storefront, they’re probably not going to step inside your store!
I’d say the most rewarding projects I’ve worked on are all of the clients who come to me after having a bad experience with another designer. I love fixing up a website or email campaign after someone feels all hope is lost and kind of gaining their trust in hiring a contractor again. I make a lot of work friends that way and I love to help people in any way I can, so those experiences are the most rewarding.
Learn to say no. It’s perfectly fine to want to take a break! Us creatives actually probably even need it to refuel our brains. Learning to say no in the workplace has really allowed me to refresh my perspective and have the time and mental energy to take on jobs I’m passionate about.
I LOVE Nicole Kidman’s style – especially in her 73 questions, Vogue interview! It’s so romantic and ethereal. I’ve loved everything about her since seeing her in Cold Mountain like 5 years ago! I also love the style and beauty of the Gibson Girls, specifically Evelyn Nesbit. I think her story is so, so interesting and that she still presented herself with such elegance. She’s the epitome of natural beauty in my opinion!
I snapped this picture last evening after returning home from a full day of creativity at its finest. Fall has settled in and I find myself embracing it more than I have in years past. My husband and I went out on the water after a Sunday spent working to drink in some salt air. The ocean was so quiet and visually intoxicating it practically seeped into my soul. Here’s to more of these moments, fall & beyond!
There are so many reasons Lindsay Fair of WOMA Design is on the C&C Short List. Lindsay is a talented web developer and graphic designer (based in Rhode Island just a skip away from Newport), and also just plain cool. It is rare to find “the whole package” when it comes to identifying and presenting a trusted partner to a client (as I discuss here), and she is all that and more.
Lindsay and I have partnered on various projects since the inception of C&C, from email marketing campaigns, brand identity projects, web development, packaging… the list goes on. As we have continued to partner on client projects together, my trust and faith in her capabilities has only deepened. But it’s not always serious business. We are in the creative industry, after all! We’ve celebrated many milestones together with a drink, healthy laughter and a mutual desire to keep the magic going. There is often an inexplicable energy that lends to success, and I find that energy often with Lindsay.
I invite you to get to know Lindsay with a little Q&A while peeking at some highlights from our work together:
I began doing freelance graphic design and web development work in 2007, after a stint serving as an in-house web designer for a luxury floral and event production company in Newport, RI. Working amongst the mansions and estates in Newport, I suppose my eye and appreciation for luxury interiors, gardens and entertaining began with that job and is where I’ve found a niche to this day.
Who the target user is, what their needs are, and how they want/expect to use your site.
This summer has been an extremely busy one for me. Between fulfilling some exciting client work, and keeping the weeds down in my sizable fruit & veggie garden, I’ve been trying to spend as much time as possible with my husband and two little girls (10 mos. & 3.5 years). We try to get in the ocean, either from the beach or from our boat, every day! We’ve certainly made precious memories, but I must admit that I’m looking forward to a slower paced fall.
A gratifying project for me is one that I can be completely involved with, from conceptualizing the brand, building out collateral suites and web properties, to continual strategic check-ins. I love forging long-term relationships where I can actually watch and help the business grow over time.
Good communication, trust in the process, and shared a passion.
Basil!
It means that chances are, if you also live/work in RI, we know some of the same people and instantly can find commonalities. I find that aspect very helpful when networking. It also means that you can quickly feel like a big fish in a small pond, especially compared to our neighbors in New York and Boston.
A selection of a branding suite completed for Bay-area artist Farell Beam.
A small snippet from an email campaign build-out for Mark D. Sikes.
A mood board concept for home & garden brand, Marchioness.
We just returned from a quick trip to Paris to celebrate our wedding anniversary. There is truly so much to see and do, eat and explore, but we definitely made the most of it. I’m wanting to muse on many topics, but work is calling! Briefly, one highlight was certainly the Musée National Picasso which has been on my list for quite some time. I was bummed that we missed the Calder-Picasso Exhibition, but perhaps another time! Follow along the museum’s happenings, here.
A great deal of C&C’s business model relies on the talent and diligence of our project partners. Those partners range from web developers, artists, stylists, packaging gurus, calligraphers, videographers - you name it. One could argue that without them, C&C would not exist! They are part of the secret sauce.
It pains me to say, finding talent that checks all of the boxes is HARD, which is why I’m very selective with the company C&C keeps. High standards are just plain necessary when it comes to a service-based business. What are those boxes, (apart from sheer ability to perform the hired function), you ask? Dare I say, very simple things. In our modern world, skill only gets you so far. Our clients’ best interests are the single most important thing, which means anyone interacting with them must have the same value system as C&C.
Here are a few of those simplistic “boxes” we aim to check when it comes to qualifying a potential project partner…
You wouldn’t believe how many people still send “quotes” in the body of an email. I wouldn’t forward this on to clients as it looks lazy and lacks thoughtfulness. This is perhaps one of the first opportunities to set the tone for how you operate. Send your proposal and quote in a properly formatted document. Outline your payment terms. Be as clear as possible. Just do it.
I strongly believe in the 24-48 hour rule. If you can’t respond to an email or phone call within that timeframe, I consider it problematic. Our work is thoughtful and methodical, but we also work swiftly and can’t babysit others. Effective and timely communication is paramount. That also means care should be taken when corresponding. Proofread your emails!
Most of our creative endeavors are longer term initiatives. Having a keen sense of timeline and deliverables is critical to a successful project roadmap. Project partners should be able to scribe important milestones and dates (and meet those deadlines). If there is a potential variable that will prohibit us from reaching those goals (it happens!), expectations should be clearly articulated. Transparency pays dividends.
If you want to get paid, make it easy. Right? Invoicing should be seamless, while offering a few payment options. Offering Venmo and Paypal as the only forms of payment does not help legitimize your business. It just doesn’t. Clients don’t want this process to be a headache anymore than you do.
You bend over backwards. You stay up late dreaming about a project element. You call me just to check-in or to brainstorm…yet, you don’t take things too seriously - after all, this is a creative space! This is the type of person I want to call a partner. The client always, always, always comes first. If something goes wrong (and it will happen!), you offer solutions. You make it right. The white-glove mentality is top of mind and always practiced. You harness positive energy. You are there to guide, please and deliver.
Having a portfolio that is easy to share and consume is important for so many reasons. Some form of this should be digital. You’re able to visually and verbally articulate your value proposition and speak to your aesthetic and approach.
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While we’re all human, and do things differently, the above is meant to serve as a baseline for expectations. If you have a unique trade, refined skill or innovative approach to your business, and identify with these practices, I’d love to hear from you. Send a note to inquiries@citrusandcedars.com.
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