Weekly Reads

Hello! After a few crazy weeks, we’re escaping to one of my very favorite places for a quick getaway. I’m so excited to lay on the beach and read and just play.

This 50 Things project celebrating the launch of COS in the States is pretty rad.

Rebecca is starting to talk about transparency and responsible production – so awesome. I love when makers drive the conversation and am so excited for her upcoming posts.

Erin shared her favorite Midwestern Designers – such an incredible list that includes so many of my amazing, talented friends!

My friend and studio partner Lisa of Hackwith Design House partnered with Indigo and Snow to create an amazing shibori collection – I wonder where the Rita top came from?! 😉

Braid Creative takes on the topic of a day job that is also a dream job. We glamorize self employment. In some ways it’s awesome, in some ways it’s not.

The WSJ on finding the perfect tee shirt – a topic I happen to be fairly passionate about. My favorites are Current/Elliott (a splurge – but the cost per wear is totally worth it; I wear this tee embarrassingly often.) and Everlane.

You have a few more days to enter Katy Skelton’s incredible 4th of July giveaway – I don’t really want to tell you about this one because it decreases my chances, but it’s the right thing to do!

Have an amazing weekend!

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The Introduction: Objects Without Meaning x Need Supply

I’ve fallen a little in love with Objects Without Meaning over on Need Supply. The black, white and grey collection is simple yet considered – these are pieces that you could wear again and again. My personal favorites are above but OWM has also created some exclusive travel pieces for Need Supply’s Go Explore Collection – and the black & white palm print is pretty rad.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that there are few things I love more than travel… Along with this exclusive collection, Need Supply also has some awesome summer city guides available on the site (including TAE favorites Clare Vivier & Diana Moss!) and is hosting an Instagram contest – through the end of the month, tag your travel adventures #goexplorenow for a chance to win an Artifact Uprising book (another TAE favorite!) and a $1500 Need Supply gift card. I don’t typically share brand contests on here, but I happen to be headed to the beach this weekend and I know I’ll be tagging my ‘grams, so I figured I should let you in on the fun – I hope you join me!

[lifestyle images by Stella Berkofsky, all images via Need Supply]

Trilby Nelson

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The walls of the house I grew up in were covered in textiles and wall hangings – each with a story. Some were carefully packed up and brought to America from my parent’s homes in India, the others were made by my mom for our home. I remember laying on our couch, staring at one particular macrame piece in awe as a kid, not understanding how it all worked and hung together. (I appreciated my mom’s skill even more as a teenager when I became obsessed with friendship bracelets and hemp necklaces and realized she could teach me new knots!) Although my tastes are quite different than my parents, I’ve always loved textiles and wall hangings and have been happy to see them come back into fashion over the last few years.

I knew I wanted to incorporate some textile pieces into our bedroom but was struggling to find an option that Matt also liked and that made sense in the space … I came across Trilby Nelson‘s wall hangings and fell in love – her use of natural materials and pops of color make her work feel more modern and casual than the pieces I grew up with and I knew they would brighten up our dark bedroom. Luckily, Trilby was open to a custom project, awesome to work with, and created amazing pieces that I could never have even imagined – but that make me happy every time I enter our room. Unfortunately, Trilby and I have yet to meet in person – I’d love the chance to meet her and see her studio! Thankfully, she took the time to answer some questions about her work… read on for an interview with Trilby, and check back next week for more wall hanging (and weaving) goodness!

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TELL ME ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND:

I studied Fine Art at Scripps College and Environment Design at Art Center College of Design. After school, I worked in exhibit design and branded environment design. For the past several years I’ve worked for Free People and Anthropologie designing and crafting window and interior displays.

WHY DO YOU MAKE YOUR COLLECTION?

I’ve started to make custom wall hangings as a way to work with some of my favorite materials. I love making compositions of color and texture with very tactile materials like fabric and rope. My boyfriend, Jon, and I make log planters because we enjoy the process – finding and collecting the prefect logs, boring into the wood, and planting a pretty succulent in each one. We feel good about making something simple that doesn’t create any waste in the process.

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WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

The outdoors and nature. The landscape of the Southwest. Colors and textures of different cultures. Movies and fashion of past eras. Hardware stores and all the materials that can be repurposed. Visiting new places and revisiting familiar places.

WHERE ARE YOU MOST INSPIRED?

In the morning. The beach, the mountains, the desert, on the road. Where the sky and landscape are big and vast. Always in California.

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WHAT MAKES YOUR DAY?

80 degrees and sunny.

WHERE DO YOU ESCAPE?

On the weekends we like to drive out to the hill country surrounding Austin and find a small town to explore. We find a local diner for an early breakfast and spend the day wandering the town. We call it “small town saturdays.”

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WHAT ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT?

Growing my work and collaborating with others in Austin. I’m also excited about summer and everything that comes with it – swimming, road trips, vacation.

WHAT IS NEXT?

More projects using fibers. Possibly an online shop. An exciting collaboration with my sister.

Photography of Trilby’s studio by Chelsea Fullerton of Go Forth Creative, thank you! Photo of our home by http://www.ashley-sullivan.com.

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The Introduction: The Common Knowledge

I prefer clean and simple bags for many reasons – they tend to be timeless, they are always appropriate, and they allow me to feel put together, even when I know that inside the bag is a jumble of receipts, wrappers, and uncapped pens just waiting to destroy something.

Zara Dramov’s incredible new collection, The Common Knowledge, is all of those things – and more. The bags are made in New York using Italian pebbled leather – and feature a genius canvas removable tasseled pouch, which keeps your bag organized and can be removed and used alone. Yes, please!

Follow The Common Knowledge: