Hello Lisa.

Welcome back to another edition of THE PENCIL CASE!

As always, each issue focuses on a theme to encourage a fresh look at garden design and graphics. This week, we’re focusing on CELEBRATORY BEACONS…the places in a garden where people naturally gather, linger, and connect. ♥︎

THE PLACES WHERE WE GATHER

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been reading Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee in our design membership, and one idea has stayed with me: her Celebration aesthetic of joy.

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Not celebration in the loud, confetti sense, but the quieter kind…that naturally makes people linger and gather, especially now when connection (with family, friends and neighbors) feels more important than ever. Once I started noticing it, I realized how often this shows up in gardens.

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A fire pit everyone circles as evening falls.

A long table that quietly becomes the heart of every gathering.

A pool edge, a porch, a patch of lawn, a place under a tree…where people end up no matter where they started.

In our own garden, this showed up in a way I didn’t fully recognize at first. When we designed our outdoor space (above), one of Tommy’s biggest priorities was a large dining area…a table big enough for as many friends as possible. I thought about it practically at the time. What I see now is that we were designing a celebratory beacon.

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That table is where people drift the moment they arrive. Where meals stretch longer than planned. Where conversations land, even when no one is actively eating. It’s where the energy of the garden collects.

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As designers, it’s easy to focus on how a space looks. Celebratory beacons remind us to also ask how a space feels and how it’s used. They respond to human behavior…our pull toward warmth, light, food, and connection.

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You can read more about this in my latest blog post...feel free to take a peek here:

>>Celebratory Beacons: Where the Party Naturally Happens

A BIT MORE INSPIRATION

If you need an inspiring, wintertime read, make sure to explore, Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee (This is an affiliate link). 

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A lovely book written by an amazing friend that complements this topic well is: Conversation Gardens by Lynn Kuhn.

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Sometimes we just need a small dose of inspiration daily: 10x10 Garden Design Tips Email Series. These are delivered to your inbox for 100 days.

LET'S DO THIS! 

Where does the energy naturally gather in your garden? And how might you create moments for friends, family, and neighbors to come together there?

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If you know someone that needs design inspiration, please feel free to share this newsletter. Anyone can subscribe right here. I also keep a VAULT of past issues in this secret location.

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May your garden be a place to gather, connect and inspire joy.

Cheers, 

Lisa 

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PAPER GARDEN WORKSHOP

Thank you to Mandy Orgler for designing the lovely graphics in all these newsletters.