Meet Mandi of Leigh's Wiccan Boutique

In an effort to share the best Etsy has to offer, I am pleased to feature my next designer, Mandi. For me, It is difficult to find a reputable Wiccan shop that carries all my wants and needs, and Leigh's Boutique is just that. I want the shop to have that personal touch, as if they would be that wisewoman at the end of the village, or the cunning midwife, in a quaint cottage full of herbs and secrets.

I am pleased that I found such a creative and vibrant store owner in Mandi, someone who genuinely loves what she does! What follows is my personal interview with her. Please take a moment and get to know her as I have; then stop on her Facebook page, and tell her I sent you!



1. Have you always been a creative person?
I have been creating since I was 10 yrs old. My mom and I would paint ceramics together, and go to the ceramic shops to find new green ware to work on all the time. I remember when she enrolled my sister and I into a porcelain class and we spent every Wednesday for a year making our own personal porcelain dolls. Those are some of the best memories we made together.

3D Bohemian Gemstone Dreamcatcher

2. When did you decide to sell your items?
I started selling my items about 4 years ago. I was unemployed going stir crazy and needed to occupy my mind while the kids were away at school. I started creating my line which at first was just jewelry. My big sister had told me about Etsy and suggested I give it a try. I am thankful she did because without her advice I wouldn't be where I am today.


3.How would you describe your creative process?
There is not always a method to my madness, unless it is requested of me. When I create new works of art for the shop I am inspired from within to make whatever it is I am going to make on that sudden whim. It is as if I was called to make to design that piece. Images, or idea’s just pop in my head and I go with it. I call it Divine knowledge that was bestowed upon me. When a custom order is requested of me I take that customers idea’s and run with it using the colors and stones that call to them. They always love their custom piece to.

Heart Shaped Rose Grapevine Holiday Wreath

4 If I wasn't doing this, I would be..........
To be honest with you if I wasn’t doing my craft, the one thing I truly enjoy and love besides my kids then I really don’t know what I would do. I would be lost, and piece of my soul would be missing.


5. What/who are your inspirations?
My family and friends are big inspirations to me. My oldest son also follows in my foot steps and is always inspiring me to create something new, and I also inspire him with his paintings. My kids are honest with me, and if they don’t like something I made they tell me right off the bat. My older sister inspired me to be who I am today, to never give up and has been my back bone for years regarding my business, and I hers as well. My friends are inspiring to me with their unconditional support and constant idea’s along with their help when I need them.



6. Of the four elements (earth, air, fire, water), which best describes you. I have been told that within my Native American Tribe I am of the element Wind, however I also find myself very connected to the earth.




7. Five things I am grateful for are?
I am grateful for my husband, Children, the home over our heads. The small local shop my husband built for my boutique so I can live my dream, and all my family that I have.


Social Media Links
My Etsy www.etsy.com/shop/leighswiccanboutique
My Blog: mandileighs.blogspot.com
My Facebook Fan Page: facebook.com/MandiLeighs
My Twitter: twitter.com/mandileighs

Just Breathe

This is where I grew up; the stream down the street from my Grandparents. I thought it was such a magical place. I loved spending weekends at their house, especially in the spring and summers. I was never one to be cooped up in the house for long, so I would spend most my time exploring the flora and fauna in their small village. I could spend hours up and down the creek beds, looking for crabs and frogs.


There are large willows along the water, where I got my name. It was a tree that captivated my attention. It wasn't like the dogwoods or oaks I would climb, but unique. They gave me shade on hot summer days, and hypnotize me with their swaying branches. I would tell them my secrets, and they would answer with a whisper of leaves. Maybe it was the dryads inside. I saw the magic in them, and they in me.


Some of the best memories of my pap were on that very wall in the photo. He would take my sister and I fishing, sometimes my cousins, too. He was sometimes impatient when my sister refused to bait the hook. She wasn't the tomboy that I was! But, he had his special way of talking and pronouncing things, singing silly songs and making me smile. It wasn't 'fishing,' for example, it was 'feeshing.' They aren't scissors, they're 'skissors.' Just the little things.

I remember one time, when he caught a particularly robust bass, he asked me to carry home. In my hands. While it was still all alive and wiggly. I made it about two steps, when I dropped the thrashing fish in the red dog gravel. He was more than a little annoyed. But, typically Pap doesn't stay mad for very long. I would give him the pouty lip, and the watery eyes, thinking he was about to yell as my dad would, but Pap just gave me a sideways glance, faux anger from the corner of his eye. Then, he would smirk, and I would smile in return. I would give everything I have to see that look again.


I think a lot about growing up with my grandparents, and how lucky I am to have lived so close to them. I was mostly a tomboy and just a touch girly girl, but I absolutely loved the time outside with pap. We walked at least five miles a day in the summers, and spent hours at the park, watching him drive golf balls back and forth.
They both passed on just this past May, and it's been difficult for my family. Winter is coming, and cannot spend much more time by the wall and under the willows. I know Mother Nature needs time to rest, and I need to turn within for healing. I look forward to the spring, though, when I can call on pap's spirit to join me on a walk. Sometimes, I feel such despair, but if mythology has taught me anything, I know hope lies just below.

 Rest in peace, Pap. I hope you're fishing and playing golf. And goosing Gram ;) xoxo