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Happy Mothers Day!

Categories: All, beauty, gratitude, News & Stuff, womenTags: , , , , , , , Author:

“My daughter and I LOVE our rings!! We call them our ‘power rings’. I told her that since seaglass is something that has been “broken” and tumbled by the sea and comes out even more beautiful, that she can use it as a touchstone for when she goes through tough times. She has already used that thought, and the power of the ring, to get through something tough this week.” – Amy, Plum Goods

Mother’s Day is special around here. It is a reminder of what brings us into this world and inspires us.
I am blessed, as a designer, to get to be a part of your story in a small way. Well, I just love that. It warms my heart every time.

A message of love to moms from David Pu'u and Ocean Lovers

A message of love to moms from David Pu’u and Ocean Lovers

Today, Mother’s Day, I will be in the shop and I will get to see some of you who are bringing mom in to pick out something nice. I can’t tell you how wonderful that feels for me! Thank you for that.

- Donna von Hoesslin (Pu’u) , Designer, Owner, Ocean Lover

 

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Brand New Website: Bettybelts.com 3.0

Categories: All, beauty, Products, small businessTags: , , , , , , Author:

Well, we finally launched Bettybelts.com with integrated shop so now you don’t need to leave the website to get your goods. Much easier that way! Many Mahalos to our friends at Essential Surf for filling our web orders all these years. They will continue to carry key pieces in the line, so if you need a surfboard bag and a wave necklace, you can get them in the same order there.

We will now be shipping directly from our headquarters in Ventura, California, just four blocks from the ocean. This means more choices, more personalized service and free stoke and ocean breezes are always included.

You can now find all three brands in one place, easily found by price, material and style: Betty Belts, Betty B. and DvH Signature Designs. DvH is new and is a collection of my higher end pieces including sea glass and sterling silver. Coming soon: The DvH Red Carpet Collection, some very special sea glass showstoppers that are truly one of a kind. Take a sneak peek at one of these, the Mermaid Necklace.

Come see the new styles previously unavailable on the website including my sea glass mini pendants, sea glass rings and brooches and  upcycled surfboard resin jewelry!

If you read this far, you ROCK! So your reward is a 15% discount off your entire order when you use the code BRANDNEW at checkout (expires 12.31.11). Enjoy!

Smiles and Aloha from Ventura,

Donna von Hoesslin

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New David Pu’u Gallery Sneak Peek

Categories: All, beauty, connectedness, life, ocean, photography, surfingAuthor:

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

Rincon by David Pu'u

PCH by David Pu'u

PCH by David Pu'u

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

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

Angel by David Pu'u

Angel by David Pu'u

Hannah Mermaid by David Pu'u

California Poppies by David Pu'u

California Poppies by David Pu'u

Underwater by David Pu'u

Underwater by David Pu'u

Surfer in the barrel by David Pu'u

Surfer in the barrel by David Pu'u

Exploding Wave by David Pu'u

Exploding Wave by David Pu'u

Andalusians by David Pu'u

Andreini Hot Curl 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

San Francisco Surfer Samuel Witmer by David Pu'u

Hula Dancer rainbow 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

Sunset Surfers by David Pu'u

Sunrise Inside Barrelling Wave by David Pu'u

Watching the Sunset in Seychelles by David Pu'u

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Giving Thanks

Categories: All, art, beauty, connectedness, conscious consumerism, lifeTags: , , , , , , , Author:
Winter Morning Love in California by David Pu'u

Winter Morning Love in California by David Pu'u

Gratitude is something I feel more than ever now. Just an example:

Last night my production manager (who is like family) in Bali and I had a “meeting” across oceans. We chatted and shared pictures via online messenger and email with our respective smartphones. It allowed us to be so close, as if we were sitting together in her family compound where she houses the Betty Belts Bali headquarters.

We discussed numbers, financials and timelines, but we also laughed a lot and even shared cat pictures…  and  I am grateful for the connections like this, for the connectedness… I haven’t been back to Bali in over a year, but I am grateful that my business can still work due to  new technology wedded to a faith in my people there…

Connectedness is easier than ever now… with family, friends, business…

I couldn’t have said it any better than Seth Godin did today  here:

“… celebrate two things:

The people in our lives who give us the support and love we need to make a difference, and…

The opportunity to build something bigger than ourselves, something worth contributing. The ability to make connections, to lend a hand, to invent and create.

There are more of both now than there have ever been before…” (read rest of Seth’s blog here)

And this slideshow I created a while back says it all too.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Thank you for being here and being authentic and being you.

May you find connectedness in all aspects of your life and enjoy the bounty it offers you.

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Cause Collection – Four Surfers | Four Designs | Four Causes

Categories: All, beauty, conscious consumerism, fashion, modeling, philantrophy, photography, Products, women's surfingTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Author:

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!

Confidence Necklace and Compassion Bracelet

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.

Jeanette wearing her "Marie" cause design 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!

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What We Do.

Categories: All, beauty, conscious consumerism, fashion, life, marketing, Meaningful career, modeling, ocean, photography, surfing, travel, women, women's surfingTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Author:

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)

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