By the time Bela Roongta Eitel was 8 years old, she had lived on three different continents. Eitel, who is of Indian descent, was born in Tanzania, emigrated to England with her family at six months old and moved to Cleveland before her ninth birthday. She later relocated to Houston, Iowa and eventually Milwaukee, where she now lives with her husband -- bar and restaurant owner Mike Eitel -- and their two young children.
Despite all the moving around, Eitel remains connected to her Indian roots through the art of Mehndi, often called henna. Traditionally, Mehndi - a paste made from the finely ground leaves of the henna plant -- is applied to the skin in intricate patterns to mark special events, but Eitel took it a step further and created Belacards and Belatees, a home-based business featuring her Mehndi-inspired cards, notepads, tiles and T-shirts.
"The business started organically," says Eitel, who was encouraged to sell her work after making a housewarming card for a friend.
Belacards come in four designs: "peace," "love," "yin-yang" and "om." They are black ink on ivory watercolor paper and available individually or in packs of six at all five Harry W. Schwartz bookstores, From Afar, Actaea Works, The Outpost, Beans & Barley and on her Web site, which also offers a special holiday pack of 30 cards.
Belatees are printed in two different designs -- a sun image and an "om" image -- and are available at Three Graces and on her Web site.
Eitel was fascinated with the Mehndi since childhood, and she learned the ancient art form while living in India for six months in 2000. Although happily married since 1998, Eitel decided she needed to connect with her Indian roots, so she quit her job of six years as a tax litigator and moved in with her extended family in India.
"Mike was a huge inspiration. He had traveled extensively and helped me get to that place where I could let go of conventional wisdom that said I should stay here," she says.
Eitel says she returned from India a changed person. She felt grounded in her heritage, but also certain of her place in Western culture. "I'm Indian, but my roots are here," she says.
Husband Mike Eitel owns the Nomad on Brady Street and co-owns Hi-Hat, Hi-Hat Garage, Red Light, Trocadero and Balzac. The couple lives in Bay View and has two children: Samara, 3, and Rana, 19 months. So, when does the mother of two small children find the time to make art and run a business?
"Usually between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. after Mike and the kids are asleep," says Eitel. "It's become a bit of an obsession."
Belacard's Web site is belacards.com.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
