Blog
Big Feet or Small Feet
As a young woman I remember going on my first trip to Asia with the ambition of being able to ‘shop up a storm’ on clothes and shoes. Image: Gold Meghan sandals available in sizes 35-43. Named Megan after the Duchess of Sussex Unfortunately, my hopes were crushed every time I went into a shoe store. The attendants would look at my feet, laugh and then point me in the direction of the men’s shoe department. Image: Charlotte sandals in champagne coloured leather with gold fixtures. Available in sizes 35-43 and either flats or a little 2cm heel My feet...
Small Business Happy Dance
When you buy from a small business an actual person does a little happy dance! Yes! Yes! Yes! It’s all about buying from a small local business and contributing to making a difference. Image: Ankalia Creative Director Cheryl Botha and her handcrafted Swarovski crystal leather sandals For those of you who are new to my business Ankalia, here’s a snippet of the flow on effect when you buy from Ankalia or other small businesses. I design and make all our pretty Swarovski crystal sandals in my little home studio. This creates a flow on effect to many other small businesses....
Caversham Wildlife Park
If you have friends visiting Australia for the first time then I definitely recommend you take them to Caversham Wildlife Park for the day, particularly if they want to get up close to Kangaroos, Koalas, Wombats, Wallabies and more. Image: Ankalia Creative Director Cheryl Botha wearing Bianca sandals in nude leather with rose pink Swarovski crystals. Caversham Wildlife Park has the largest private collection of Australian native wildlife in Western Australia and it’s only a 40-minute drive from the city of Perth. The park is family owned and operated and it features about 200 species of wildlife, as well as...
Western Australian Small Business
Saturday 27th October was WA Small Business Day. Did you know: Small business represents 97% of all businesses in WA Last financial year small business contributed more than $39 billion dollars to the economy If WA’s small business sector was considered an industry, it would rank 2nd only to mining ($64 million+) in terms of industry gross value Ankalia.com is one such, WA small business. We are owned and operated by me and I am proud to say that every pair of Swarovski crystal sandals Ankalia produces is lovingly handmade by me. That’s right I handcraft every pair of...
Pink and Blue Summer Dresses
There are a number of labels that are always on my Summer fashion radar, but every season I seem to love various shades of pink and blue, as well as almost everything Seed Heritage produces. Image:bike riding in my pink and blue Seed Heritage dress and wearing my Valentina pink sandals As a girl that loves pink and blue, when I saw this blue and white striped cotton dress with a pink off-the-shoulder frill in broderie anglaise I knew I just had to have it. Image: my Isabella Swarovski leather sandals with Seed Heritage dress It teams perfectly with a...
Pink and Black Love
At the moment I’m loving pink and black together, so when I saw this long skirt and top ensemble in pink and black at Seed Heritage, I just had to have it. Image: Seed Heritage Summer 2 piece - skirt and top, Gucci handbag The top is super versatile and I sometimes wear it with shorts or jeans. Most of the time, if I’m running around town all-day, or If I’m wearing denim cut-offs with the top, I wear it with our plain black Lara sandals in the flat version. Image: Seed Heritage skirt and top with Lara black suede...