Kate Design - Soft Luxurious Wearable Art

So, my obsession with fabulous accessories continues!  My latest discovery pairs a wonderfully whimsical British artist, living in St. Kitts, with a grounded, level headed business woman with fabulous taste and an entrepreneurial sprit.  The result is a collection of fine scarves which is more like a collection of fine art.  When Kate and Maria met on one fateful afternoon over a rum punch in St. Kitts, their lives changed…and so will yours.  Kate Design was born.

Kate Design West Indies Collection Shot

Kate Spencer is a well known British artist who is happy to call St. Kitts her home.  While she shows her work all over the Carribean and Europe, she absolutely loves living and working in the Carribean which is a constant inspiration for the artist.  Maria (that's Mar-i-a) is a recently wed 30 year old with a love for, and background in, business and branding, and a huge appreciation for Kate's art and a desire to share it with the world.

Egret

Their first collection, the West Indies Collection,  launched a few months ago with 5 fabulous designs…3 of which are available on Shoddy-Ba-Chic.  Each scarf, says Kate, "starts life as a large oil canvas in my studio. It’s a combination of design and figurative painting. The understanding of the harmony of color has really been my study,”  Once the design is complete, the scarves come to life.  Woven in Kashmir from the finest fabrics, hand dyed by artisans, washed using natural Kashmir spring water, and finished manually…the finished product is second to none.  To see it is to love it…to wear it is to be obsessed!  So soft to the touch... whether you wear it around your neck as a scarf or around your body as a cover up, wrap, or sarong…you will never want to take it off.  It is like wrapping yourself in a gorgeous work of art.

Seahorse (my favorite)

How lucky we are that these two fabulous women met.  I am thrilled to have discovered them and to be able to showcase their collection on Shoddy-Ba-Chic.  What a wonderful way to love and appreciate one of the the Carribean's greatest artist!  Available in a single weight ($225) and a double weight ($325)…the reasonable prices make these works of art accessible to the many art and fashion lovers around the world.

Ava Maistrellis Wallets - Organize your life with flare!

Ahhh...it's been a long time since I posted! So excited to have a fun new designer to write about who, while going through a divorce, healed her broken heart with some retail therapy and found she not only had a passion for shopping, but also for designing beautiful, functional, and fabulous wallets! I guess the joke is on him!

If you are anything like me, your wallet is more like a dumpster for receipts than a carrier of money. The mile long receipts I get from the grocery store are among the most annoying to me. Or, the numerous "frequent shopper" cards that I can never find at checkout so it can be "punched." Imagine if your wallet and your organizer could all be in one place. Meet Ava Maistrellis, who's need for fashion and function led her to create The Silver Lining Wallet. Like an accordion file organizes a business persons files, The Silver Lining Wallet organizes every woman's life. Designed with tabs to separate and organize the endless receipts, papers, cards, etc...that seem to find their way into our wallets.

After years of research and prototypes, Ava has perfected and launched her collection of wallets made from fine Italian leather in Camel, Raspberry, Orange and Black. Each wallet comes with tabs with headings like "wine & dine","travel", "Rx", "returns", "retail therapy", "bank"...and more! Additional themed tab sets can be purchased, depending on your lifestyle, including "9 to 5", "retail therapy", and "full house."

I have always said that I think wallets are very personal. Personally, I think that this is the greatest one around...beautiful and functional...it fits the bill for every woman. It can be tucked away in your favorite handbag or carried on it's own. It's the perfect accessory for somebody like me...who needs all the help I can get on the organization front.

Since one of my my missions at Shoddy-Ba-Chic is to find new relatively unknown designers and introduce them to my shoppers, I was thrilled to meet Ava and fall in love with her wallets. Try one and find out for yourself how fabulous and organized you can be!