Blog
Silver Swarovski Crystal Wedding Sandals
Limited edition sandals made in Australia by me Due to popular demand and many requests by so many Ankalia women I’m thrilled to say my Sylvia Sandals are back. I love them even more now and I get such a thrill making them and hearing the story of where you plan on wearing them – be it a beach wedding, a luxury resort holiday or simply out to lunch with the girls. Image: Ankalia Sylvia Swarovski crystal leather sandals made in Perth, Western Australia I make the Sylvia in silver leather with silver Swarovski crystals and gold hardware. I also...
Perth Sandals
Luxury, limited edition Swarovski crystal sandals, handcrafted with love by Cheryl Botha of Ankalia in Perth, Western Australia. Feminine and timeless Sandals for the woman who desires a life less ordinary. Sandals designed and made in Australia by a female owned and female operated business. That’s me! I hope you love my Sandal designs and I hope you feel very special when you wear them. Lots of love, Cheryl xx
Sisterhood Start-Up Success
Sisters do it for themselves in start-ups Recently we celebrated the United Nation’s Small and Medium Enterprise Day. Not surprisingly the evolution of “womenpreneurs” was identified as one of the Top 10 trends of the year. In Australia, female entrepreneurship is also an emerging trend with women-owned, women led enterprises increasing at a faster rate than male-owned businesses, according to small business and family enterprise ombudsman Bruce Billson. In Australia, approximately 38 percent of small businesses are owned by women and I’m sure this percentage will keep growing. In 2019, of the 171,000 new businesses set-up in Australia, two-thirds were...
Something Blue for the Bride
"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” This is the traditional rhyme that details what a bride should wear to her wedding for good luck. The historical thinking with this rhyme is the old item provides protection for the baby to come. The new item offers optimism for the future. The item borrowed from another happily married couple ensures good luck and the colour blue is a sign of purity and fidelity. In 2011, at the wedding of Catherine Middleton and Prince William, the bride (Kate) had: Something old – Carrickmacross lace in her wedding dress. Something new –...
Samantha Wills of Gold & Dust
They say the average CEO reads 60 books a year, or 5 books per month. Reading to me is certainly a way to keep learning and to learn from others. I find that reading about the journey of other successful business and career women helps me on my journey with Ankalia. It’s always great to read about the successes, challenges, ideas, wins and losses that other women have experienced along their journey of life, career, business, romance and family. My latest read was Of Gold & Dust – A Memoir of a Creative Life by Samantha Wills. Samantha’s an Aussie...
7 Summer Fashion Looks You’ll Love
I’m a girl that absolutely loves Summer, aside from a ski holiday once or twice a year. Most of the time I live in pretty but casual dresses and I team them with my Ankalia Sandals. I’m just your average Aussie girl, so I feel all these looks can be worn by anyone. The photos are “real” in that I’ve taken them all at home outside my little Sandal studio with a hand-held remote control that syncs with my iPhone. So, no photoshopping and no editing. Its’ all “real.” If I want to “dress-up” my look slightly I wear my...