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Pair Have Designs On Helping Children

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

dlwhite@tampatrib.com

Published: November 19, 2008

RIVERVIEW - The efforts of two designing women will help furnish a 60-bed emergency shelter for children under construction on Lithia-Pinecrest Road.

Jewelry and clothing designer Susanna Collins and interior decorator Alisa Henry, both of Riverview, are putting their talents together to create a fundraiser for The Kid's Charity of Tampa Bay's A Kid's Place. The five homes that will make up A Kid's Place will serve as temporary shelter for endangered children who must be removed from the care of their parents or legal guardians.

The fundraiser, the 2008 Beauty and Bling Designing Green Charity Showcase, is set for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Barn Theatre at Winthrop Town Centre, 11349 Bloomingdale Ave., Riverview.

Both mothers who home-school their children, Collins and Henry met a year ago through the Brandon Christian Homeschool Fellowship and instantly clicked when they discovered their mutual love of design. Henry has three children. Collins has four.

An interior decorator for five years specializing in eco-friendly design, Henry honed her skills at her father-in-law's store. Leonard Henry's design store, Modern Decorating, is on Bay-to-Bay Boulevard in South Tampa.

"My father-in-law is the designer for the University of Tampa and was a huge inspiration to me," Alisa Henry said.

She focuses on unusual antique and upholstered pieces, many of which she will have on sale at the showcase, as well as environmentally friendly choices - including organic fabrics, natural fibers and silk, and Mythic Paints, a nontoxic brand of paint.

Collins and her husband, Jeff, served as missionaries in India, where they founded an orphanage. Collins said she fell in love with the country and its culture, and that influence is evident in the jewelry and clothing she began designing when they returned to the United States.

Her custom jewelry line, which she named Javan Exclusives, features fired glass beads, Swarovski crystals, sterling silver and semiprecious stones. Her works are sold only at boutiques and beach resorts, including the Don CeSar Beach Resort in St. Petersburg and The Beach House on Treasure Island.

Items from her clothing line, J.J. Olissy, taken from the names of her children, Jonathan, Jeffrey, Olivia and Chrissy, are available by special order.

The women said they wouldn't be able to do the showcase without a lot of help from their friends. Executive chef Camille Caudle Ellis of Tampa will conduct cooking demonstrations and offer holiday entertainment ideas throughout the two-day event.

Bob and Larry, characters from "Veggie Tales," will be on hand in the children's reading corner to entertain children, courtesy of Family Christian Stores of Brandon and Lakeland.

There also will be live classical music, hourly drawings and a silent auction featuring a painting by artist Louis Sottil, whose works - with average sales of $15,000 - have been featured in Architectural Digest and Southern Living magazines. Also on the auction block will be a black Viking Range blender, not yet available in stores, original sculptures by artist Susan O'Hara and a wedding and an evening dress designed by Alisa Henry.

"We just know this is something we were meant to do," she said. "The community has been so supportive; it's just propelled us along. And this is such a deserving cause."

Admission to the event is $5 or a new housewares item for A Kid's Place.

Henry and Collins also hope to help out struggling families this Thanksgiving. They are teaming up with WJIS, 88.1 FM, The Joy FM radio station, to promote T-shirts for a turkey drive. Anyone who gives a $10 donation to help feed a hungry family this Thanksgiving will receive a Joy FM T-shirt.

For information, call (813) 495-3549.

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524.

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