alia michèle blog

We all know about Bella...she is also known as Saintey! I dedicated my handbags as jewelry line to the memory of her lovely mother Wanda! Saintey is my twin, my sister, my friend, and my inspiration. Saintey is elegant, super strong, creative and intelligent. We met during my college years, and I think just one day of hanging out we realized that we would become great friends, mainly because of our crazy similarities.  As some of us know, Saintey's mom passed away last year, and for some reason I thought her mom's favorite flower was Anthuriums...only later did I find out that they were her Grandmother's (I KNEW she told me about that flower at one point!).

The wonderful thing about this flower is it looks like a heart. I have seen Saintey go through so much in her life, and the strength of her heart amazes me. Yes it may be broken after the loss of her mother, but with Wanda's memory and Saintey's friendships, her heart stays strong and is still open to giving and caring for other people.

Her bag is a part of the new Reversible Clutch collection, and one side represents a memory of her mom and Grandmother, and the other side represents her simplistic yet elegant style. Love you Bella.

Check out the Bella bag here!

Whenever I say the name Kareen, a lot of people ask me who she is. Kareen has been one of my best friends since high school. She migrated from Jamaica in 1994, and I think we have both been in Jamaica at the same time probably twice since then, which is probably why people don't really know her. Kareen has a lovely job where she gets to travel (too often if you ask me)...so unfortunately we hardly see each other. But, we have managed to maintain a lovely friendship. She cracks me up to the point of tears everytime we talk, she's smart, crazy, strong and very adventurous. I admire her for being able to go to all these different countries for long periods of time, and living her life to the fullest.

Kareen's bag represents the fact that even though we may be miles away, she is still my best friend. In a circle, friendships can be at two different points....but it's the strong friendships that make it no matter where someone else is! And I am really blessed to have not only her, but a series of friends just like that! Love you Reeni.

This bag is a part of the Reversible Clutch collection.

To check out KC's bag click here!

Many people don't know the story about Sheri and I...and I don't think everyone needs to know. But unlike other friendships...we had our rough patch in the beginning. And I really don't feel I would have been able to get out of that part of my life without her. Sheri is selfless. I live in New York, and Sheri is in Jamaica, and if I call her for any kind of help, she'll be there. She is hilarious, smart, very feisty at times, and kind...all in this short package (sorry Sher I had to put that in).

Seeing that my collection is called "My garden of Friendships", I had to ask Sheri what her favorite flower was...and she didn't have one really. But, she told me she likes Chinese Bamboo and I found it quite funny that she said that. You see, after she told me, I realized that our friendship pretty much represents that. With all that we have been through we have created a friendship that is stronger than ever, quite like bamboo. And so...Sheri's bag is inspired by Chinese Bamboo and the great friends we have become. Love you Sherbert!

To check out Sher's bag click here!

Toby is someone I have know since childhood. I was there when her eyes could barely open, and through all those years, we have remained friends...well rather sisters! What I love about Toby is she is never afraid to voice her own opinion. So when I need the reality of any situation, she will give it to me. She is a powerhouse...someone with a mouth like that will never be on the sidelines. She is caring, entertaining, stylish, creative, smart, super, and one of my many shoulders. I can't imagine my life without Toby. She is one of my best friends that knows the most about me, and has never judged me, always supported my decisions, and stood by me 100%! The crazy thing is she is five years younger than me, but she is one person I can honestly say I look up to. Her drive is amazing and I know she will go beyond the sky in whatever she chooses to do. She's got my back and I got hers, and together we'll be super! I love you Tobs.

I wanted Toby's bag to represent her which equals Loud, super and fabulous!

To check out Toby's bag, click here!

—To know someone here or there, with whom you can feel there is understanding, in spite of distances or thoughts expressed, that can make life a garden. Goethe

Introducing the My Garden of Friendships Collection; the beginning of a line which will be named after my friends who have made my life blooming great! This line is an introduction to my new idea REVERSIBLE CLUTCHES as well as a new material: Wool Felt!  And tomorrow there will be a separate post for each featured friend this year. So, let's start with the A+ Collection.

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So you know I had more up my sleeve!!! I have a lot mothers who are very important to me and who have helped to shape the person I am. So click here, and you will see the new additions to the [wanda]•ful collection. Enjoy!

And of course, read all the lovely stories behind the bags here!

I have been working on my second line for 2008 and I thought I would give you guys a little sneak peak!!! Excuse the blurriness...and Enjoy!

It's been TWO WEEKS since I wrote a teal and orange post! I'm back in the motions now, so that's a plus! Today is about something my lovely Aunt sent me. She finally saw my blog and sent me an email last night saying, "I thought I would send you this pic as it seems as if teal and orange are genetic predispositions!" And she shared this lovely picture of her home and I was completely LOVING it! I always knew about the teal walls, but never realized the orange decorations! Wake up Alia!! So this was quite a wonderful surprise. Look at the mangoes (YUM) on her dining table too...even those are complimenting the lovely walls! I can't wait to own a home and put some colors up on the walls! I have a teal and orange family...what can I say! This color combination is not only cool to wear, but cool to make your room so cozy and inviting (especially with juicy mangoes waiting for a bite)! Enjoy!

Even though it's my summer week, we couldn't leave out teal and orange Wednesday..could we?!?!! No way José! haha! So I thought since I started off the week showing some of my beach bags, why not show a perfect teal and orange bag I made for one of my favorite customers! Lucky me, this customer loves oranges, yellows, and teals etc, so the bag was a lot of fun to make, but pretty hard to let go:( Read the rest of this article »

Don't we all love beach bags??? I do! I love them because usually they are cool enough to not be used for the beach. They generally allow you to hold all this stuff....and I know I have a lot of stuff!!! So for Monday I thought we'd look at past beach bags I love!!! Read the rest of this article »