The Betty Blog » photography

New David Pu’u Gallery Sneak Peek

donna — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:54:10 +0000

David had been working on a new edit of his online gallery for the past week and has been meticulously selecting from 400,000 + images of his immense library from recent and older work. These are some of the gems he unearthed, many of which have rarely or never been seen. Bookmark his website: www.DavidPuu.com

Finally one will be able to order prints of any of them in a variety of cutting edge mediums to add a window of beauty to any wall. Stay tuned…

Meanwhile enjoy this sneak peek!

Rincon by David Pu'u

PCH by David Pu'u

Pacific Common Dolphins, Santa Barbara, by David Pu'u

Angel by David Pu'u

Hannah Mermaid by David Pu'u

California Poppies by David Pu'u

Underwater by David Pu'u

Surfer in the barrel by David Pu'u

Exploding Wave by David Pu'u

Andalusians by David Pu'u

Andreini Hot Curl by David Pu'u

Surfer Larry Ugale in the barrel, by David Pu'u

San Francisco Surfer Samuel Witmer by David Pu'u

Hula Dancer Rainbow by David Pu'u

Inside the barrel, by David Pu'u

San Francisco Bay at Night by David Pu'u

Pelican and crashing wave by David Pu'u

Sunset Surfers by David Pu'u

Sunrise Inside Barrelling Wave by David Pu'u

Watching the Sunset in Seychelles by David Pu'u

Meeting Icons, a Designer, a Luau and Art: A Day in the Life of Betty

donna — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 15:56:48 +0000

Wow, it’s not every day the founders of Surfaid International walk into your shop.

What an honor it was to meet Dr. Dave and Randall! Surfaid has been one of my favorite orgs to give to over the years for the amazing work they do preventing Malaria and especially after the Tsunami in Indo. David and I, along with Robb Havassy, attended the SA Fundraiser in Malibu last night. I got to meet Donovan Frankenreiter and his beautiful family and hear him perform for the first time in more than 5 years. They sounded just brilliant! What an amazing day to be followed by another amazing day: today. Read about this here on David’s Blog.

Donovan Frankenreiter and his band performing at Surfaid International's Behind the Palms Fundraiser in Malibu

Robb is in town to do a phenomenal show together with David tonight at a truly amazing location, The Stoneworks Gallery. David wrote about it here. There will be a Luau in the garden tonight, complete with roasted pig, mai tais, tikis and hula. And I will have a Betty Belts table set up to offer my ocean-inspired adornments (including sea glass jewelry and my upcycled Surfboard Resin jewelry and plumeria flower hair clips to add tropical style. You should come! Details below.

But first, I will be at the Stewart+Brown Sample Sale, selling my samples and seconds at my table there. We are truly blessed to have these places and people in Ventura, an international organic fashion designer who makes absolute gorgeousness. I wore a Stewart+Brown dress to the event last night and got stopped twice about it. : ) Want to come? 955 East Front Street, Ventura, 93001 from 12-5.

And tonight, the Luau! At 300 Ventura Avenue, corner Park Row (entrance gate on Park Row). 5-9 Includes Feast and Entertainment in the garden $45 at the door (bring cash). After 9pm free entrance to see the art and gather around the fire. Questions? 805-643-5431

Don’t miss this blog David wrote this morning on this very subject!

Onward!

Everybody Matters

donna — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 18:23:16 +0000

Cause Collection – Four Surfers | Four Designs | Four Causes

donna — Sun, 02 May 2010 21:58:31 +0000

I have a beautiful new collection coming out shortly (check www.BettyBelts.com starting May 10th). I’ve been busy tying up all the loose ends to get it on the site and available to you. Meanwhile, my S.O. David Pu’u, who shot all the designs and the women behind them, Team Betty, wrote a beautiful piece on his blog, which is also a source for a sneak peek at the new Betty B. designs for 2010.

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!

What We Do.

donna — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:47:02 +0000

David Pu’u is, as you probably already know, a very gifted photographer of beautiful things. He and I are both blessed to work with some amazing people, including twins Hailey and Sierra Partridge. Here is his most recent blog about what that means…

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)

Betty Belts in the Media: Donna’s a Cover Girl!

donna — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:06:55 +0000

Wow, I’m blown away!

I’m a “Cover Girl” today!

Check out this inspiring article below from this week’s VC Reporter…

Betty Belts Owner/Designer Donna von Hoesslin graces the cover of the VC Reporter with one of her all time favorite quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Commerce, Compassion and Community

by Claudia Pardo McFayden

The sweet scent of African freesia wafting through the store and onto the street entices visitors into the carefully decorated eclectic space that is Betty Belts. Cradled in a corner just off the beaten path in Downtown Ventura, the cozy yet vibrant ocean-inspired accessories shop, owned and run by Donna Von Hoesslin, is replete with beautiful and unique jewelry and accessories — ceramic necklaces, metal pendants, leather cuffs, colorful scarves, elaborate belts, cute beanies, intricate hairpins and more. It’s a delightful bazaar of one-of-a-kind, handmade treasures.

Established as an online store back in 2003, Betty Belts, also known as Betty B., is older than its current brick and mortar location. It began as a wholesale and online brand of belts in Santa Cruz, with a later addition of jewelry. “The brand existed before I opened the store,” says Von Hoesslin. Operating out of a warehouse on the basis of win-win — people, environment efficiency and women’s surfing, Betty B.’s promise has been to show up in the community while offering a unique and accessible product.

A surfer herself for more than 10 years, Von Hoesslin finds her inspiration in the beach and in her time spent out in the ocean. It was her passion for surfing that caused her trepidation about opening a retail store. “I didn’t originally want a physical location,” she admits. “I was afraid I would not have time to surf, have a life.” Her boyfriend and biggest supporter, David Pu’u, Santa Barbara native and celebrated photographer and filmmaker, encouraged her to get the space. Von Hoesslin took her board out to sea and found her answer in the place that inspired it all to begin with. She opened Betty Belts in 2007. “It was the best decision I ever made.”

Since then, Betty B. has become a hub of connectedness in the community. Offering an array of uniquely designed jewelry by local artists and artisans from Bali, it remains true to its original promise: to contribute to the community and build relationship through a unique product. Work by local artists including that of the skillful Hands of Stone, a group of women who make eco-friendly ceramic necklaces with ocean-influenced elements, Kathleen Fitzgerald’s one-of-a-kind, exquisitely crafted, hand-made earrings; Guy Q. Goods’ metal jewelry for men and women; Lise Solvang’s cozy alpaca and bamboo knits; Tiki Tony ceramic tiki necklaces; and David Pu’u’s attention-demanding prints that serve as the main wall décor in the shop.

Women are especially responsive to Von Hoesslin’s enriching collaboration with the artists, not only the female patrons but all the women who become interconnected through Betty Belts. There is a tangible female bond that begins with Von Hoesslin as the connector and is often sparked by chance meetings at Betty Belts. “I introduce women who come to the shop to each other, and cool things happen,” she says. One particular connection is mothers and daughters.

“They wear the same jewelry. I dig it,” she says. Often she will find the mothers coming back to the store to purchase a new piece because their daughters are wearing theirs. The common faux-pas of being caught wearing the same accessory is instead a thrilling commonality among her female customers.

A recent collaboration between Von Hoesslin and what is affectionately knows as Team Betty, a group of female surfers who have become essential in the promotion and marketing of Betty Belts, resulted in the personal design of a piece of jewelry by each of four local sufers: Mary Osborne, Jeannette Ortiz, Hailey Partridge and Sierra Partridge.

Together with Von Hoesslin and Pu’u, they traveled to Bali, where they worked and executed this creative project.

In addition to working with local artists, Von Hoesslin employs several artisans from Bali, where most of the pieces are made. Having worked for close to seven years with the same artisans, Donna has established a work ethic based on fairness, skill, good quality and, most important for her, community…

Continue reading here:

http://www.vcreporter.com/cms/story/detail/commerce_compassion_and_community/7661/

P.S.

Check out our Facebook Page and become a fan!

A New Year of Appreciation

donna — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:11:40 +0000

The beautiful Balinese people who I have been working with for six years now on the production of Betty Belts and Betty B. can teach us a lot about generosity, love and appreciation. One thing I have never seen among the Balinese is a sense of entitlement. They practice gratitude every day with their daily ritual of offerings and frequent ceremonies. It’s mind-boggling for a westerner to see how much of their productivity is spent (not wasted!) on offerings, but eventually you understand that it is what makes them who they are and it would be a terrible thing if that should ever change. As a society, they have a balance that is enviable for the rest of us. It’s why we are so enchanted with Bali.

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

Note From Bali: Enchantment (from August 30th)

donna — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:01:14 +0000

Enchantment is the word that flows through my mind throughout this trip. Bali is incredibly enchanting.

Inspiring…

Gorgeous…

The land of the Gods.

We are almost done here. I’ve been working on new designs with my artisan friends and also with each of the young women from Team Betty who joined us for a portion of the trip. Mary Osborne, Jeanette Ortiz, and Sierra and Hailey Partridge. We surfed, we designed, we created beautiful images. David Pu’u and Aaron Marcellino are along documenting everything in stills and motion for several editorial features and, very excited about this, a film.

Below are some of the images from the trip. Please also read David’s blog, as he has been posting several chapters of our adventure here.

Smiles from Bali!

Donna

Welcome Message from David Booth of East Bali Poverty Project. Copyright David Pu'u

View from the upstairs bedroom at the villa. David shot time lapse of the rice field harvest for an entire day. copyright David Pu'u

Breakfast: Nasi Goreng. Copyright David Pu'u

On the boat to Kuta Airport Reef. Copyright David Pu'u

Sunset at Kuta Reef. The girls are surfing. Copyright David Pu'u

East Bali Poverty Project School Students Line Up for Independence Day Ceremony. Copyright David Pu'u

Mary Osborne and Jeanette Ortiz of Team Betty with the kids from East Bali Poverty Project. Copyright David Pu'u

David filming East Bali Poverty Project festival with his Canon 5D.

One of the students of East Bali Poverty Project weaves Vetiver grass, which is the miracle plant for many of their sustainability projects

Hailey at the edge of infinity. The drop below her is several hundred feet down to the Agung River. Copyright David Pu'u

Sierra modeling a Stewart+Brown dress and the Betty B. "Bo" leather hoop earrings. Copyright David Pu'u

Hailey Partridge looking stunning with Stewart+Brown. Copyright David Pu'u

Sierra Partridge looking sexy in an O'Neill bikini at the pool. We did a lot of shooting in this pool. Copyright David Pu'u

Sierra at a ceremony at Gusti's house tasting the blessed rice cakes. She is wearing the Betty B. Sea Glass drop earrings. Copyright David Pu'u

See more images and read more about this trip on David’s Blog www.davidpuu.com/blog

A Distinctive Style Magazine Interview

donna — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:51:34 +0000

http://adistinctivestyle.com/

This is an awesome online magazine, complete with soundtracks and short videos to go with the stories, a very hip must-read (See Kate Hudson on the cover). It’s the Vanity Fair of the sustainability movement. And even better, there’s an interview with me in it where I got a chance to talk about some of the cool things happening with Betty Belts and Betty B.. Just click through to page 86-87 to check it out!

Inspiring Video from Betty Belts Can win 25K with your votes. A must-see and enjoy!

donna — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:58:17 +0000

Read Readers of The Betty Blog,

As you may know, I’m a finalist in the Intuit Small Business United Contest.
I submitted my story, it won among over 1900 entries as one of 50 finalists with the help of many of you who read my story and rated it as Inspiring Funny and Useful.
So for the next round, I had to create a video, which is now live.

http://community.intuit.com/contests/aP3kaUx0aqllvkab8P4pmk

This video expresses how one can turn a passion into a viable business.
I think this video really hits a nerve because the free-fall that I experienced when I left Berlin and struck out on my own once again is not unlike what many are experiencing today in our economic disaster era with the loss of stability connected to the loss of the status quo on so many levels.

This shift is a time of true opportunity.
One CAN create a business based on passion.
There’s nothing to lose, really, if you think about it…

http://community.intuit.com/contests/aP3kaUx0aqllvkab8P4pmk

Bonus: you will finally get to hear me sing. ; )

How to “vote”:
-click on link above and watch the video
-rate it as INSPIRING USEFUL and/or FUNNY (you get THREE votes, one each category)
-Create an Intuit Community ID and password (sorry! But it’s very brief)
-Leave a comment if compelled, but not necessary
-Spread it far and wide via your blogs, social networks and more

Thank you!

With love and gratitude,
Donna