ADVENTURES OF THE COOKIE QUEEN

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A while back we got a call at Dolce Mia from Miami mom and entrepreneur , Kisha Holt, looking for our cool retro look for the African American childrens room decor market.  A mother of four, Kisha had scoured stores looking for some hip stuff for her kid’s room.  She came away realizing that there was a need for great looking accessories that would reflect kids of color and decided to start an online boutique for African American children.  With this market in mind, she asked me to create some retro designs for her.  I was excited to take on the task of putting together designs with African American children as the central image.  But, just as this market is underrepresented today, there was an absolute dearth of vintage imagery with African American children so I set about painstakingly changing the flesh tones and features of the images that I had found.  With Kisha’s guidance, the project turned out great - it was just what she wanted and I had fun doing it.

One of the clocks I designed for Kisha is featured in The “O” List in the September 2009 issue of O, the Oprah magazine.  I am thrilled to be an Oprah pick!  Congratulations to Kisha for getting the attention she deserves for her fabulous website - her efforts to create cool accessories for kids of color are being appreciated and acknowledged.

Visit Kisha’s site at www.kishaskids.com to see more of our designs as well as other high style accessories and toys for kids.

My love for the canvas accent band brought me straight to the soap shrine. While contemplating what other product might be worthy of the band, the idea of a bar of soap popped into my mind and never left. Interestingly, the evolution of Dolce Mia’s new personal care line began with the packaging.  A reversal of how it typically happens. It was just that I had such great, proven vintage themes to work with…pin up, western, Hawaiian.  Mixing pattern with design accent…hula and bamboo, stamped leather and cowgirl.

I spent the summer developing the product, the soap itself: the formulas, enriching additives, bar shape, bottle shape, colors, scents.  I was determined to stick to a philosophy: naturally derived ingredients, locally made with local ingredients when possible, no detergents, no animal testing, lots of lather, high glycerine, creamy and moisturizing.

It took months to formulate and finalize the inside, the product, so that it matched the quality of the outside, the high end, super stylish packaging.   By September, we had soap that was exactly what we wanted -a luxurious, natural liquid and bar soap available in 8 fantastic scents.