RWL: Chalkboard

May 8, 2013May 8, 2013 | leftylex

Chalkboard is all the rage. Yes, we know that. Everything from actual chalkboards to chalkboard paint to chalkboard style of lettering; we can’t seem to get enough of chalkboards! And while I’m 100% positive that this is a design choice that we will look back in decades to come and say: Oh, that was so 2011-2014, I am quite enjoying it now.

Let’s take a look at some fabulous, Etsy chalkboard finds!

Red & Orange: I love these boards, they’re chalkboards (of course) but they are elegant enough to grace any mantel and not look childish.

Yellow: I envy people with handwriting like that. My cursive is fine, but (being left-handed) my printing looks like a 10 year old boy’s!

Green: I feel a particular connection to those mint green mason jars because I have had nearly identical jars in my cupboards for about two years now. I love that I can use throw whatever in the jar and appropriately label it. I’ve even used the jars to house salad dressing and painted a bigger square on the jar so that I was able to git the entire recipe; I thought that I was just so clever.

Blue: This is a ring bearer’s “pillow”! This. Is. Genius. I want to get married all over again just to use this. How freakin cute? And it works two-fold as your pillow and your something blue. So cute!

Indigo: Love the simplicity of this art piece, love the message, love everything. And now I want to embroider it onto a hoop!

Violet: This little invitation makes me want to throw a party. That purple shade contrasted with black and white is the perfect amount of pop. Add in the fact that the lettering is absolutely adorable (and that my own birthday is on this invite) and you have yourself the perfect invitation!

Are these not the cutest? To check out more from each artist, simply click on the image which will take you directly to their Etsy shop. Have fun and happy Tuesday!

I’m Back!

May 7, 2013May 7, 2013 | leftylex

Hello good people! It has been a looonnnggg time! As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was crazy enough to participate in two craft fairs simultaneously on May 4^th (this past Saturday). And while that decision has run me ragged for the past two weeks, it was definitely worth it! I knew that I would not be able to prepare for two shows, keep up with my Etsy shop, and successfully blog all at the same time; so unfortunately the blog drew the short straw and was neglected for a bit.

As mentioned earlier, Momma Lex and Sister Sam agreed to host a booth for me at the Serra Mesa Spring Craft Fair and Sister Andi and I ran another booth at The Queen Bee Market. And while sales at the SMSCF weren’t quite what I had hoped for, our sales at QBM were fabulous! It was such an amazing experience to be around other women who are just as passionate about their art form as I am. Each booth there was literally cuter than the one before. I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to walk around and see every booth, but the ones that I did see were phenomenal! I’ll share more on the whole QBM experience later on this week.

I would like to give a huge shout out to my amazing family who helped make Saturday a success. This process has brought me to the realization that I am not Super Woman and I was definitely grateful for the assistance of Husband, Momma Lex, Daddy Lex, Sister Sam, Sister Andi, and Brother Vince…

but not Puppy! His cuteness levels stopped production several times…

The next Queen Bee Market will be a two-day event held at the QLN Conference Center in Oceanside, California on November 1^st -2^nd, 2013. I am already highly anticipating November and have loads of hoop designs floating around in my little head! And currently, it looks like the next fair for Lefty Lex Creations will be the San Diego Indie Craft Market on June 23^rd. Time to get busy already; there’s never a dull moment around here! Am I crazy? Yah, I think so. Happy Monday everyone!

Indie Lovely is Here!

April 12, 2013 | leftylex

Indie Lovely is Here!

If you have never read a digital magazine before, might I suggest to you fabulous Indie Lovely Spring 2013 by the fabulous Anne!

I had the pleasure of (virtually) meeting Anne while taking an e-course called Fresh Start given by the equally fabulous Kari Chapin; author of The Handmade Marketplace; which is a must read for anyone interested in breaking into the handmade world. (Click on either image to take you to these women’s wonderful work).

Anyhow, Anne is an amazing indie lifestylist who can literally do no wrong in my book. The woman is a genius (yes, genius) with graphic design and is not half bad with a crochet hook, among her many other talents. Anne is very active within the Detroit handmade community and is continually posting events and other ongoings happening throughout Detroit and the surrounding areas that truly make me want to become a Midwest girl!

Please give Indie Lovely a look, I think that you might enjoy page 12 in particular… I do! And while you’re at it, take a look at Anne’s other wonderfulness. She can also be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/IndieLovely

https://www.facebook.com/RenovationAlley

http://www.indielovely.com/

I love seeing people live out their dreams and that is exactly what Anne is doing. And I am ecstatic to be included in this issue of Indie Lovely. Now go have a read, please!

What is a Ramin Karimloo?

March 7, 2013 | leftylex

So just what is a Ramin Karimloo? A spicey food; an exotic destination? No, he is the third cast member of the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert that I am going to see perform live! On April 21st, Husband and I will be driving up to North Hollywood to see the incomparable Ramin Karimloo perform his the first show (of the US leg) of his Broadway to Bluegrass tour! Woohooo, I am so very excited! I’m going to restrain against my instinct to share a clip of him performing Les Mis and instead let you listen to him perform the best song from Love Never Dies (the theatrical sequel to Phantom of the Opera). Have a listen:

I could listen to that song over and over again! Ramin is Iranian by ethnicity, Canadian by nationality and has been living in London playing in both The Phantom of the Opera and Les Mis as the lead roles. He also originated the role of the Phantom in Love Never Dies in which he starred opposite the very lovely and talented Sierra Boggess! Sierra is probably my favorite American musical theatre actress; she’s brilliant. And the two of them together were absolutely dynamite!

Look at that passion…yikes! There is a whole #TeamRierra movement happening among theatre junkies, but I’m straying off topic. (But I’ll indulge myself by sharing one photo…!)

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you’ll remember that I declared my theatrical admiration for Mr. Karimloo back in January: https://leftylex.com/2013/01/20/do-you-hear-the-people-sing/ so I am highly anticipating his upcoming concert.

Wanna know a secret about him? This is hiding underneath his costumes! Crazy, right? A straight man with a wife, two kids, and abs like these actually excelling in musical theatre…wow!

If you’ve stuck with this post long enough to reach this point, I guess I’ll show you my little stitched nod to Ramin & Sierra… watch out, super geek alert!

Opening Day on Etsy!!!

March 2, 2013March 2, 2013 | leftylex

Well ladies and gents, opening day is finally here… off to the races! I literally felt like a kid on Christmas Eve last night. And I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at about 4AM but forced myself to stay in bed until 5AM then quickly made my way to the computer and officially “opened shop”. Now the challenge today is going to be focusing on work and resisting the urge to check my Etsy stats every two seconds!

Once I finally saw the activated version of LeftyLexCreations on the Etsy site I literally wanted to do a cartwheel in my living room. This represents many, many long hours of work: some fun, some frustrating, but all have been exciting. It’s so rewarding to see my products alongside the work of other artists! Not all of my finished products are listed quite yet, but I figured that 35 listings will do just fine for my grand opening.

So please, please click on over and have a look at my shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LeftyLexCreations this is some of what you’ll see!

Thanks for being so supportive, and please continue to spread the word! Cheers!

Etsy Countdown

Image | February 28, 2013 | leftylex

I have been blog MIA, I know. But this does not mean that I have not been super busy! As LeftyLexCreation is scheduled to open in TWO DAYS, I have been spending loads of QT with my laptop getting everything up and running on Etsy. This is what my morning view has primarily consisted of for the past week or so:

Etsy Countdown

Aaahh; the printscreen alone gives me nightmares! This is not the creative outlet that I need before (and after) I work my regular 9-5, but my shop isn’t going to up and open itself so this is just a necessary evil that must be tackled. Lord willing, this will be the most that I have to work on the computer for Lefty Lex for a while. There is nothing as fun as sitting at a computer from 5:30AM-8:00AM, getting ready for work, then sitting at another computer from 8:30A-5:30P for work! On these days 6PM yoga cannot come fast enough! Hopefully this is just for a short period of time and I take comfort in knowing that I will never again list 30 new items all at once.

I can see the finish line, it’s so close! I honestly feel like I am at mile 12 of a half marathon and just started getting a side ache; so close, yet so painful! All will be well very soon! For now, however, I feel like I’m existing in a barricade of hoops!