Fashion: Anita Quansah's jewellery collection is 'to-live-for'......

[Photo Credit: http://www.lushlee.com/2010/03/anita-quansah]

There is something about quality isn't there [especially quality jewellery]? You can spot it a mile off -and the older I get the less I'm prepared to compromise it....and that's why I'm soo excited by jewellery/fashion/textile/designer -Anita Quansah's beautifully embellished neckpieces, -Theda and Adaeze [above] featured in the latest German Vogue. Lovingly made by hand with vintage and recycled fabrics; -bound with chains and pearls -these neckpieces are works of art. Once a fashion insider secret [British Vogue refers to Anita Quansah's neckpieces as “Best Buys”] -these coveted neckpieces have been featured in high-end glossies including: British and German vogue, Muse, German Tush and Vision Magazine. I can't get over them -I seriously covet every single piece in Anita's latest collection -they are fabulously ‘on-trend’. For more information about Anita [she also has a fashion and interior collection] please visit: http://www.anitaquansah.com/

More from Anita Quansah's latest jewellery collection

I want this one -now

Textile Designer: Elizabeth Anyaa

"At Anyaa your dreams will come true........From wall hangings to soft furnishing, room dividers, ottoman, pillows,throws and curtains, your wish will be a reality."

Anyaa’s down-stuffed pillows in hand-dyed silk velvet or felt are available via her website ($145 to $350 each)….

**I’m so happy to have found this piece on fabulous textile designer, Elizabeth Anyaa -I love her work...…The following is by Holly Haber…...Enjoy..x

Title: Born in Ghana, trained in Finland, textile designer Elizabeth Anyaa now calls Dallas home By HOLLY HABER Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010

If there were a Nobel Prize for patience, Elizabeth Anyaa could win it.
Few on the planet could match the Dallas-based designer's fortitude for making felt by hand, which takes days of rubbing and rolling wool and silk filaments until they lock together into a textile so strong that, even when cut, the edges won't fray. But to Anyaa, who creates one-of-a-kind fashion, home furnishings and art, it's no big deal. "I'm a weaver," she says simply. "And I'm an extremely patient person – so patient it's not even funny."

To wit, she can spend as much as a week hand-rubbing ivory wool into abstract stripes on black or white silk organza to create an artistic wrap or table runner. And she will hand-dye silk velvet with a rainbow of colors to make a double-sided pillow stuffed with down, or roll dozens of strands of wool felt and hang them, one by one, to create a curtain. "I like elegant and bohemian and eclectic styles, so my work is a mix of all that," Anyaa explains. "I see myself in all three categories. It depends on where you are going. Sometimes I want to be elegant, sometimes I want to be relaxed, and sometimes I want to put everything together. I'm not narrowed."

Such open-mindedness can be traced through Anyaa's personal history. She grew up in Sierra Leone and Ghana, soaking up the glorious colors in the mountains and seascapes and watching women dye cloth into vivid patterns and colors. She then earned a fine arts degree in textile design and manufacturing at the prestigious Rovaniemi Institute of Industrial Art in icy Finland, where she was, as she put it, "a black spot on a white dress – the only black person a lot of them had ever seen."

She landed in Texas and El Centro College at the invitation of a Lewisville couple, Dr. Wanda Neely and her husband, the late Herb Sherman, whom she met when they were traveling in Finland. Anyaa was among the first designers to be promoted in 2004 by the Dallas Fashion Incubator, which nurtures small businesses and has since been renamed Texas' Next Top Designer.

With such disparate and formidable influences, Anyaa is equally adept working with the cool neutral hues and spare aesthetic of Finnish design and the hot, bright colors of West Africa. "The Nordic colors of black and white are my signature, but I also do color. A lot of people ask for it," she explains. "When I make felt and weave, I think in Finnish. When it comes to color, I go back to Africa."

Anyaa's one-of-a-kind scarves, felt-wrapped soaps, tablecloths and other goods are carried by several chic stores, including Haven and Rich Hippie in Dallas. She also sells and takes custom commissions by appointment at her studio at South Side on Lamar. Prices start at $12 for a French-milled soap wrapped in multicolor felt, $90 for a silk scarf with felt accents, and rise beyond $1,000 for an elaborate wrap or table-runner. "Her work is absolutely stunning," says Nikki Solomon, who co-owns Rich Hippie in Inwood Village. "Everything is unique, beautiful and flattering, and unlike anything else in the marketplace. It is such a reflection of her – unique and beautiful." THE END [Credit: www.dallasnews.com]

*For more information about Elizabeth Anyaa please visit her website at: www.elizabethanyaa.com