Doloris Petunia

Busy is good, but I hate when I don't have enough time to blog and catalog my design inspiration and experiences. This time I'll blame in on a few new and exciting projects (yay!) and a little on Uncle Sam and a little thing called income tax (not so yay). I was talking with my friend/accountant tonight about how the reason I'm so unorganized is because I'm a creative left brained person and you can't possibly be both left brained and right brained. That's probably not true, but it's what I tell myself every tax season when I realize just how unorganized I am.

Sunday I went with my good friend and bride-to-be Adrienne to check out the progress of and be fitted for her custom made head piece by Doloris Petunia of Santa Monica. Courtney Miller's home/studio was a creative feast for the eyes. It was so fun and inspiring looking at all of her works in progress and hearing about how she got her start and how her business has exploded this past year. She began selling on Etsy but is now selling her one-of-a-kind out of this world cuffs at Anthropologie. I saw photos of her sparkly creations prior to heading up to her studio, but after seeing them in person, I realize that the photos don't do them justice.

Hand sewn and each piece unique...Courtney is the tops when it comes to stylishly creative. (It must take her a long time to do her taxes too...)

View more photos and get more info on Doloris Petunia's Facebook page here.

www.BrittanyStiles.com

31 Bits

This past Tuesday night I went to an Uganda awareness night at my friend's church. She has been to Uganda twice on mission trips and it has really affected and changed her life for the better, so I was excited to hear more about it all. The main part of the night was hearing from some young, entreprenuerial do-gooders that are making a difference by employing Ugandans and providing them with more opportunities to learn and become educated in all aspects of life, while earning a steady income for themselves and their families.


I'm a sucker for a good entreprenuerial success story, and because all of these businesses were rooted in such a worthy cause, that just made it all the better. One such company is 31 Bits. After 5 girls took a missions trip to Uganda in 2008, they felt guided and inspired to do something more. After seeing the beautiful jewelry that the Ugandan women make, they decided to be the avenue by which these Ugandan women could sell their jewlery to a larger audience in the United States. A company that began employing 6 Ugandan women, now provides a steady job for 60+ women in Uganda. Incredible.


There are so many cool pieces of jewelry that you can browse through in their online shop, and 31 Bits also just partnered with Reef to make the very cleverly named, Ugandals. Check it all out here.