I believe he is the one who originally coined this gorgeous term: “emotional labor”.

It expresses making a difference, putting love into what you do so love can come out of it.

There’s your answer right there.

Smiles,

Donna

PS My apologies for slacking on the blogging process here, folks. The good news is you can stay very much up to date on our Facebook Fan Page which I update almost daily! : )

Betty Belts/ Betty B. in ASR Fashion Show SWIM 2011

But for now I’ll have to settle for the Wall Street Journal Magazine. Full page. Me. Surfing. With a big smile on my face.

Life is good.
Life needs a LIKE button.

Photo Copyright David Pu’u

As a local yoga teacher always says: Come see!

Excerpt from David’s Blog:

My girlfriend, Donna Von Hoesslin, who heads up yet another globally connected small business that is based here (Betty B) told me that she was in desperate need of images for a new line of jewelry which is designed by members of Team Betty.

So we dropped in on the party at J’s, sat in the window booth and shot the girl’s designs there as Bobby and crew rocked. Typically we would do this away in some distant land, or somewhere on the coast. Definitely not associated with any particular business. (I actually have developed a penchant for Ventura night, street shoots) But deciding to both take care of Betty B’s business needs, and provide bodies, texture and a few extra dollars to the day’s till at J’s, allowed for an exponential increase of benefit for everyone involved.

Here is a video that explains in 4 minutes, the gist of Donna’s remarkable company. We did the piece for the Intuit Small Business United program. It helped Donna win a 5000 dollar grant from Intuit, which she used to help fund her Bali expedition.

On Bali last season, Hailey and Sierra Partridge, Jeanette Ortiz, Mary Osborne, and Donna, did a Betty B design trip. Each one of the girls worked with the local artisans who comprise a portion of Donna’s creative team, to produce collection pieces that exemplified themselves as ocean connected women. Each young woman then selected a cause or charity, whereby Betty B would donate a portion of the income from sales of each piece.

Donna’s company is a very active member of yet another organization, which was the brainchild of Ventura’s Chouinard family (Patagonia), which is called One Percent for the Planet. Through One Percent, Donna and other companies support David Booth’s fantastic Organization, the East Bali Poverty Project, which literally is changing the face of Bali, by educating the youth on their connection to the environment via the Arts and cultural action.

So with our country on the ropes, it all starts here. With me. With you. In our own back yard.

The answer is right there in your community: your dollars are a part of your voice. Now do something. Do it for yourself. Do it for your town. But more importantly: do it. By acting locally you affect Globally, as well as Nationally. Do it.

Visit David’s Blog to read more and, of course, see all the PICTURES!

"Marie" Sterling Wave Heart Necklace

Working with sterling silver every day for several years now, I’ve learned a lot, even made a few cool discoveries about how to optimize it’s care. Here are some tips.

What makes silver tarnish?

All silver will tarnish, even the high quality stuff like Tiffany and Betty B. Exposure to various elements (including plain old air) will accelerate the rate of tarnishing, though.

One cause is PH levels in our skin. The more acidic you are, the more likely your silver will tarnish. This is why some people get dark marks on their skin where they wear silver and their silver turns dark when they wear it. How to prevent this? Wipe it down with as soft cloth after every wearing and store it in a relatively airtight container and take measures on reducing your body’s acidity, a low PH can be dangerous for your health anyway. This is often a cause for irritation to metals also. My own experience of raising my body’s PH via an addition of greens supplements to my diet made it possible for me to wear earrings again after 12 years!

Sterling Wave Necklace by Betty Belts

In the Betty B. retail store in Ventura we have people coming in and touching the silver all day long and it’s exposed to open air. Of course it tarnishes, so we have several methods to freshen it up:

My favorite is the eco-friendly hot water method. I discovered a few years back that the jewelry I constantly wore stayed clean while pieces I left lying around would tarnish. I realized that wearing my jewelry in the shower was the reason it didn’t tarnish! I had heard in Bali about using hot water and dish soap to clean silver, but only became convinced of its effectiveness after making this discovery. It was my shampoo and hot water that was keeping it fresh. That’s why rings will stay polished if you keep them on when you wash your hands. So if you have more silver than you want to wear in the shower (like we do in the retail store), put it in a bucket of some sort with some very sudsy dish soap and add just enough very hot water to get a good layer of foam going. Swish it around in the foam… add more hot water… keep doing this. Pull out silver and lay it on a dry towel. Repeat as needed.

For silver that is attached to wood or leather or other materials that shouldn’t get the above treatment, we use a Sunshine polishing cloth. They last for many years and do the job well. You can buy it here. I recommend cutting it into two pieces so that you have two smaller ones, which are easier to use polishing jewelry.

I am still researching alternative eco-friendly methods to polish silver easily, so I will post them here once I have news.

Smiles from Ventura,

Donna

Model Models

by David Pu’u

Recently, NYC based production company Silent Crow was in Ventura. Two writers with the company happened to have connected with Donna Von Hoesslin of Betty B and learning a little bit about her female inspired Eco Fashion line. They came up with an idea.

Producer Matt Bennett showed up to do a little bit of discovery work, and honed a reality show concept that deviated from the norm, in that it endeavors to look at the personalities and lives of the women in both my and Donna’s lives. Silent Crow named the show Bonafide.

Donna and I have long exchanged working relationships with people who we see as unique, and able to be involved in both the editorial market, and branding process, both for the model as a product, and for Betty B’s unique, ethics based, fashion accessories line.

What Matt discovered is that each one of these women is a story unto themselves. Tricky thing to formulate a show upon. I just saw the teaser reel that Silent Crow Produced, and that I contributed footage and stills to. I think they get it. Not an easy thing to do, getting something that is a world unto itself… (continue reading and see more gorgeous shots)

I’ve fallen victim to this… But usually I challenge the Status Quo. In fact I now no longer acknowledge the existence of it… Food for thought. Short read. Seth is always brilliant. Read his new book “Linchpin” if you want to really make a difference or of you just want the ultimate early adopter status symbol on your desk…

Seth's new must-read book Linchpin

So I’d like to offer up a post about Appreciation in the New Year because I know it will enrich our lives to practice more of it. There is so much to appreciate. Always look for it.

Tell people you appreciate them.
Tell God you appreciate him and what he has given/created.
Look around you and appreciate what you have, because there is always someone out there who has less to appreciate than you do.
It might not be an easy habit to develop, but it will benefit so many that the benefits will be innumerable.

I appreciate you.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for enjoying.
Thank you for keeping the Betty Brand pulsing in these unsteady times.

I’m wishing you a new year (a lifetime!) of love, sweetness, joy and most of all, appreciation!

Smiles from Ventura,

Donna von Hoesslin

Owner/Designer at Betty Belts/Betty B., Member Team Betty

P.S. For more frequent updates than I offer on this blog (plus great insider specials), please become a fan of Betty Belts on Facebook or follow us on Twitter

Green T at the Green Lounge with Nicole Sherwin