Catch You on the Flip Side

Hey blog followers...we are 2 days away from launching our new website. Just wanted to let you know that the new site will have it's own blog sooo...no more posting here on blogspot. Be sure to visit shopbellavita.com this Saturday Sept. 26th to see the new site and subscribe to our "first" blog post. See you soon!
The girls at Bella Vita

Artist Spotlight - Lauren Wildrick

Everybody, meet Lauren Wildrick. Many of you may recognize Lauren...she was Bella Vita's 1st employee ever!! Lauren was a huge asset to our business and continued to manage our Cordova location while we opened our 2nd store in Collierville a couple years ago.Lauren has since left Bella Vita to become a full time Mom, but moonlights as an artist for us! She currently resides in East Memphis and when she's not spending time with her husband and their 2 year old son, she's in her home studio bringing blank canvas to life. Lauren stocks us up regularly with beautiful, vibrant and fun canvas paintings of all sizes. Many of her paintings adorn the walls of many kid's bedrooms we have decorated/designed in the past.

Lauren's current project involves gorgeous, textured cross paintings that are mounted on wooden frames by the Matchstix Products Company. Not only do the paintings have texture, but the 2-layered wooden frames finish the package and could add some awesome depth to a wall in your house.

Emily Ozier Artwork

We've noticed a lot of you are reaching our site and blog while searching for Emily Ozier artwork and paintings! We are currently working on an "Artist Spotlight" blog post/article for all of our local artists...and Emily will hopefully be one of them. We'll ask the artists a lot of questions and basically just get to know them better.

In the meantime, we thought we would post some questions and answers about the EMYO artwork that we carry and some general guidelines for buying original art at our store.

Find more at http://shopbellavita.com/emyo

How many EMYO paintings do you have in your store right now?

Normally, we have 3-6 at any given time. If you catch us after a trunk show, we may have 10 or more. As of today(5/27), we have 6 in stock.

Where can I see them?

We don't have pictures posted on our site yet. We are working on an efficient and easy way to post and maintain all of our products online. Try looking through older postings on this blog and you'll find some pictures....however they are likely not in stock anymore. Don't hesitate to call and ask us to email the pictures of what we currently have. We do it all the time.

Phone: 901-850-0892

What sizes do you carry?

They vary and the sizes in stock are completely at the artists discretion.

Common sizes are:

30x30

36x36

48x48

What are the prices?

They vary as well! Prices normally range from $700-$2900 depending upon subject matter.

Can I take them for a "test drive"?

Yes. We allow artwork to go out "on approval" for 24 hours(subject to change). Ask us for more details.

Have a great week!

Fun Links - 05/20/2009

Don't dare click any of these links unless you want to lose an hour or two of your life! While scouring the internet and trying to keep up with the design world, we come across some cool and incredibly useful stuff that we thought we would pass along to ya.

Anthrolpologie Hardware

One of us here has already decided to order one of these as a funky addition to an otherwise drab kitchen pantry door. Although, you can also find authentic/rustic/vintage door knobs on Ebay as well.

View Site

Wedding Paper Divas

We do have plenty of stationary here at the store, but sometimes you need something customized for special occasions such as engagement announcements, rehearsal dinners and more. The colors and designs available here are awesome and so un-cheesy like many of the other stationary sites and custom cards your "crazy Aunt" was going to make for you.

View Site

Jewelry...A La Carte Style!

We've mixed two of our awesome new lines of handmade charms!! They are both sold a la carte. You pick the chain(s) or bracelets and then choose all the charms that best describe your personality. The more charms the better!

Necklaces and bracelets range from $11 - $45

Charms range from $11 - $35

Updated Photo Gallery

We just updated our photo gallery. Check it out.

Have a good weekend!

Happy Mother's Day!

If you received a gift from us for Mother's Day, we hope you LOVE it! But, we do understand that sometimes you get a gift that's NOT what you wanted(aarrgh, what was he thinking!!) , not your "style", or not your size(love it, but he knows I dont were Xtra Small!) 

The day after a holiday is very busy here at Bella Vita with all of the returns/exchanges, so we'd like re-iterate our "exchange" policy that we adopted in March and is posted at the counter and on your receipt:

We accept exchanges only within 30 days of the original purchase date. 

If you have any questions about a gift you received, please email(customercare@shopbellavita.com) or give us a call(850-0892) 

Mother's Day is May 10th!

Did you know you can call or drop in and create a Wish List for your family, husbands or children to buy gifts from? Yep, just call us and we'll set it up for you and help them out when they come in looking all lost and confused about what to buy you!
We have tons of new jewelry from some of our existing artists, a totally new jewelry line, 10+ new EMYO paintings (Emily Ozier), a new furniture line from Off the Wall and a laundry list of things you can personalize with initials.....sigh..we could go on forever but we just took a few pictures today so check it out.

Thanks!

We'd like to thank everyone that braved the weather and flu scare for coming to our trunk show Thursday night! It was exciting to see so many fresh, new products in the store and to have our local artists there as well. For those of you who missed it, we snapped some pictures and they are posted below.

Left to right: Megan McNeely(of Bella Vita), Paige Abernathy(Vintage Gypsy), Stephanie Singley(of Bella Vita), Melissa Lewis(Off the Wall), Emily Ozier(EMYO art)











FYI...
1) We still have 10+ EMYo paintings in the store in all shapes, sizes and prices. One of them is 7ft x 6ft. You can't miss it!

2) The coffee tables and islands from Off the Wall are gorgeous...even more so in person.

3) Vintage Gypsy jewelry has a new display and will make wonderful Mother's day gifts.

Artist Trunk Show

Thursday April 30th, 5Pm - 8PM

On Thursday night we are going to be hosting 3 of our local artists and showcasing their latest work. At the moment, we are not sure where we are gonna put it all but we'll get that figured out..we always do! We'll be serving wine and hors'dourves.

EMYO (Emily Ozier)
Emily will be bring somewhere around 15 new paintings. If you are a fan of her work and have been waiting for just the right painting to fit your style, you'll probably find it Thursday night. Emily will be on-hand as well to chat and answer any questions.


Off the Wall (Melissa Lewis and Jaimie Key Roberts)
Melissa and Jaimie will be unveiling there latest (and first) line of furniture. They will also be showcasing their latest designs for their frames and trays. Check out the site for a taste of their style and to view their products.

Vintage Gypsy (Paige Abernathy)
Paige will also be premiering her new Spring line of jewelry. She is very creative and she actually sets up her own beautiful displays on our table when she brings in new products!

Save the date

Thursday April 30th is our Artist Trunk Show from 5PM to 8PM. Mark it on your calendar! More details to follow...but there will be some fresh new art, drinks, food and good times.

Caution: Women at Work

A new day, a new display!
We'd like to formally apologize for the mess around here this week!! If you have been in the store within the past 48 hours, you know what we mean. As promised, we are updating the store with new products, furniture and displays following our Polka Dot Sale. The front window is now filled with Spring colors and the rest of the store is getting the "Spring Treatment" as well!

New EMYO Arrivals

Have you ever noticed the beautiful paintings in our store signed with "EMYO" in the bottom corner? Well, that's "Emily Ozier". Now you know! Because the shelf-life of her paintings are 1-2 weeks, we have never been able to take pictures of her paintings and keep them updated on the website. Here are some pics of what we have currently in stock.

Polka Dot Sale!

For those of you on our email list you already know that TODAY through Saturday, April 18th is our 1st annual Polka Dot Sale! We've got to make room for our newest lines and some cool new product displays we bought on a recent road trip through the South. So, for anyone new that is trolling through the site and/or blog...be advised!

• Items marked with yellow polka dots are 20% off
• Items marked with green polka dots are 30% off
• Items marked with pink polka dots are 40% off!!!!!

Much of our furniture is tagged, so if you've had your eye on any end tables, kitchen tables, hutches, etc., then now is your chance to get a deal.

See you there!

Our Photo Gallery

Some of you may have noticed our photo gallery had not changed since Christmas! Well, it's just been updated so have fun browsing through some new photos of the store! Check it out

Off the Wall Frames

The girls from Off the Wall dropped off some new goodies this week! They make beautiful faux-finished/textured frames and no two are alike. Their frames fly out of the store, so hurry in and check them out. As you can see, they've also applied their techniques to serving trays as well.
Also, if these frames fit your style but do not match your colors, they are totally customizable and can be ordered special to fit your taste.

Refer a Bride!

Did you know that you can get a $25 gift certificate for referring a bride to register with us? Send them our way and tell them to mention your name during the bridal appointment and we'll be sending you a gift certficate in the mail! As with most stores, we offer one-on-one appointments and we keep all of your requested items in a separate database that can be printed once someone drops in to purchase a registry item.

What's up with our site?

Our store web site has been a work-in-progress for about 2 years now. It's ridiculous, we know! At first glance, it all looks good , but once you dive into some of our products you'll notice that some product images are missing...or "Coming soon". Our #1 priority at the moment are our customers in our store...so hang in there and we'll get more content on the site very soon!
That's all we have for now....today is Saturday so if your fortunate enough not to have to work today, drop in and say HI! If you have not been to the store in a couple weeks...we have a kickin' new Jewelry line from Vintage Gypsy and the store has been "refreshed" and turned around!