How exciting is inspiration in the old and tired?
Last week as summer vacation came to an end for many of my
closest teacher friends, we celebrated with a girl’s night on the first day of
school with an annual dinner out; to catch up and say goodbye to the lazy days
of summer. I can say, my summer has been all but lazy beginning a new business
and doing all the things I love. There’s
a Swedish proverb that says “A life without love is like a year without summer.”
Well, a few summers back, I found a new love; now one of my many loves. No, it’s
not a person; it’s renewing and re-purposing random things into something new
again. So, you ask, how does re-purposed junk fit into last week’s dinner plans?
As we dined at
Yard House,
one of our favorite local hang outs for happy hour at
Town Square, I was a bit
distracted. With lots going on in my mind, life and business, I had an
unusually hard time focusing on some of our conversations. (I was really
surprised with where my mind was that night.) It wasn’t until after we made a
trip to
Yogurt Land, that my brain
began to wind down. It wasn’t until we walked into ARTIFACT, that it actually
forgot there was even anything to think about. At that moment and for a good
hour or so as we shopped, I had mastered life’s chatter.
ARTIFACTis a creative boutique featuring one-of-a-kind, aesthetically pleasing,
re-purposed and up-cycled home furnishings, clothing and other unique products.
Their eco-conscious offerings are hand crafted by talented local artisans as
well as artisans from across the United States. I fell in love with this little
boutique. It’s reminiscent of a little place I visited in Laguna Hills a few
months back.
ARTIFACT
is also of similar style, to a shop I hope to one day run, at a retreat-style
bed and breakfast that supports my dreams of a running a non-profit organization
(that is created to empower and ignite the life back into those who have been diagnosed
with a terminal illness and have given up on living the life of their dreams) To
me, giving up on your life and dreams is similar to the old junk we toss into
the garage (thinking it will be used again) to one day be sold at a yard sale
or donated to the
Goodwill,
but instead sits and collects dust. An example of this is the old trophies we
have won over the years; at ARTIFACT, they are turned into fancy Wine Toppers.
As I browsed the store with two of my friends, I found
myself laughing constantly and saying “look at this”, “oh-my gosh; isn’t this cute”,
“he/she would love this”, “how much is that”, “did you see this”? If I hadn’t noticed
the friendly smile of the woman behind the counter when I picked up some of the
greeting cards, I may have never known she was the local artist,
HeatherRichileau who created them. We chatted and I asked about their price, and she
shared how she was inspired to create them and that all the items in the store
have similar stories.
How exciting, is inspiration in the old and tired? Tonight,
at ARTIFACT, there is a champagne and shopping event that starts at 7:00pm to celebrate
the accomplishments of
HuilinChen, the Junior League of Las Vegas 2014 Fashion Forward Winner as she
premiers her fall 2014 collection. Join ARTIFACT and support local artist by
frequenting this lovely gift shop and boutique; you will find many one of a
kinds. Her designs are unique and exciting she
was recently featured in the
Las Vegas Review Journal and was noted as the “Whimsy”
of Las Vegas.
As I build my blogging, social media and website enhancement
business, I know that it is a vehicle that will lead me to my own little gift
boutique one day. Currently, without a shop front, I display some of my own
artistically repurposed and handcrafted items on my own website
www.ArtsyOccasion.com and will build my
Etsy shop that will one day be overflowing with one of a kind gifts that will support
my bigger goals and when the time is right, all of the pieces will fit into the
perfect puzzle, after all, I dreamed it up in a local
Life MasteryRetreat (an amazing 2.5 day leadership course). So, as the summer comes to
an end, and the evenings turn cool, many of my happy hours will be spent
creating and repurposing new artifacts of my own. Enjoy the last days of summer
Vegas and check out ARTIFACT and some of the other cool events like
First Fridays Downtown, this coming weekend.
Written by Nickel Lowman
