Fabulous Friday - Sayeh Bakhtiar

Categories:

Behind the Scenes of a Vegan Python

Behind the scenes of a vegan python 

(No that does not mean the snake eats grass)

People as me about the price and the process for making our replica resin products. 

It is a longer conversation but I wanted to share this image 

of how a piece of our artificial python arrives. 

 As you can see it is true to the shape of a real python which means my designs 

from material to the creation of a bag are always following the rules and 

constraints of worlds greatest designer mother nature.  

1. Here is python in Merlot

2. Ta Da! The Tiffany wristlet 

3. Yay, a smile on a fan's face carrying the Tiffany!!!

Singer/Actress Carly Oats 

Categories:

Shop Your Closet

I love accessories.  

Clearly I am in the accessories business.   

Recently I was talking to a stylist friend and she said I should blog about the inter play of shoes and our line. 

I have a number of shoes and some that I just consider art.  

The recent trends of primary colors, jungles and yellow made me pull out these Manolo Blahnik and pair them with the Ava Cuff and our Lemon Zest Audrey Foldover. 

Please send your shop your closet images. 

Categories:

Memorial Day 2013

In the end we often find beginnings and that is certainly true in regards to the Civil War and the creation of Memorial Day.   We lost more then 600,000 soldiers in the Civil War, wow.   In April of 1865 we stopped fighting and in May of 1865 America began grieving, burying it's heros. As becoming one United Nations, we marked the first Monday of May as a national holiday dedicated to fallen soldiers in our military service. 

That was only 148 years ago?  We are a toddler country in comparison and I am awed by the minds, the brilliance and the belief that went into forging a new country. 

I will be the annoying one at a party talking about the brilliance of George Washington.  Clearly I think this period of American history is filled with great wisdom and courage and I honor that idea on our George Washington Tombstone Tote.  

Here is my new DIY fashion tip on carrying this wisdom, feeling chic and smart.  I have saved my grandmother's scarfs and recently have been tying them onto my bags to make our leather have a pop of summer brightness.  

          Here are her scarfs....see how great some are ??? 

Here is the tote.  Fill it picnic gear, a sweater, even a change of clothes.  I made it large and roomy so you can carry everything you want in it and a little wisdom with you as well. 

BTW if I go on about this to my children anymore, they will want me to be a memory. 

Categories:

Fabulous Friday - Ashley Sabahi

Categories:

Ben Franklin

Ben Franklin is a endless source of entertainment and fascination to me.  Did you know that he was his father's 15th child and his formal schooling ended when he was 10.  I am 100 percent sure that neither his parents nor his teachers were paving the way to his future.  He reminds me that against all odds, people can create greatness.  

Yes, we all know about his part in moving the American Revolution forward while he ran a print shop, wrote, devised the U.S. postal system and started America's first lending library but did you know in his spare time he was an inventor?

Here are some of my favorites BF inventions. 

1.   Library Step Stool 

2.   Rocking Chair 

3.   Odometer 

4.   Whale oil candles 

5.   A pulley system that allowed him to lock and unlock his bedroom door from his bed...I think of this as the first remote control.

6.   Bifocals 

7.   Lightening rod

8.   Franklin Stove

9.   Flexible Urinary catheter 

10. My top 10 list favorite Swim Fins! 

What do I see when I look at this list?  A man who liked comfort, efficiency and loved to see!  

When I thought about who to quote on our tombstone bags Ben Franklin was the first to come to mind.  

I find him a endless source of inspiration. I hope you do as well. 

Heather

Categories:

Fabulous Friday - Nash Yacoub

Categories:

Fabulous Friday - Melissa Gonzalez

Categories:

Mother's Day

"The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness.  You have to catch it."  - - Benjamin Franklin

I love this quote because being a mom is one avenue through which I have pursued happiness with a vengeance.  Previously I went through a snarky period where I mocked what I called "Hallmark" holidays like Mother’s Day.  Now I embrace them, or as Benjamin Franklin advises, I catch them.  Why the change?  Because in between life's hard bookends, birth and death, there are often too many dark moments that can engulf our journey.  To mock an opportunity to celebrate and cheer the good and joy in life is downright wasteful.  

Personally for many of us Mother’s Day is bittersweet.  The sweet part is that I have four amazing children and I am truly honored to be their mom and to share many precious moments of life with them.  The bitter part for me is that my own mother passed away three years ago and this holiday reminds me that I cannot share with her the joy of her grandkids or thank her for all that she gave me.  However, if I can keep feeling blessed and looking at what I have in life - my kids – then that is a way to transform the bitter into sweet. 

I believe that feeling loved and being able to love are two of life's greatest gifts and that living in the USA and having the right to pursue happiness is so many forms, is just.....WOW!  But, love and happiness sometimes need flashlights shone upon them.  Our traditions and our celebrations are one way of keeping us focused on all the good.  That is why it’s important to "Stop,” catch the moment to share and experience with a full heart the opportunities (no matter how "hallmarkish" they may appear) to celebrate each other and catch happiness by the tail. 

We all know mothers or have a mother in our life.  This is a great moment to celebrate them for all their sacrifices and hard work…and send some happiness their way. 

Happy Mother's Day to moms everywhere!

Categories:

Fabulous Friday

Categories:

Twain with a Twain (Tombstone Tote)

"Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today."  

- - Mark Twain

If you know me at all, you’ll know that Mark Twain inspires me to the nth degree!  I admire his life, his writings, his style – not everyone can pull off that mustache.

Mulling over this quote, I am sure now that Twain was talking about unexpected joy, change and growth, the kind I’ve experienced first-hand since starting my company three years ago.  With the launch of this blog today, I believe I’ve come full-circle from that terrifying moment when I decided to start (of all things) a handbag and jewelry business.  Not sure how the planets had aligned back then to coerce me into the fashion industry but it happened and my life hasn’t been the same since that moment.

Back then, my mental default position was that "anything that could happen" was scary and fearful because to me the unexpected meant tragedy.  Random acts equated to violence, not random acts of kindness.  I used to brace myself for some kind of "hit" that unexpectedly would run into, and ruin, my life.  

As I struggled over the years to unhinge myself from this fatalistic line of thinking, I’ve realized that this is a tragic way to view the world and exactly the opposite of what Twain meant – wake up every day and embrace that day thinking that anything can happen, that the world is full of wondrous possibility still unknown.

Running Heather Belle Co. affords me the opportunity to face each day with so much still unknown yet full of promise and potential.  I pledge to do my best to harness that potential and turn it into something truly promising. 

So on this day which signals a fresh start, I choose to say "YES" to living in faith that great things will show up and "NO" to the fear that they won’t.  I invite you to join me on the journey!  

Categories: