TULSA -- A lifelong love of art and drawing has helped a mother of three turn a hobby into a thriving business.
Lesley Zellers left her job as a graphic designer about six years ago after she had her first child. She said she needed a creative outlet for herself, so she designed a few of her own postcards and some prints. It eventually became a business that she called Recipe for Crazy for one reason.
"The idea of starting a new business with a newborn was a recipe for crazy," Zellers said, laughing.
She now has three children, and, as her family has grown, so has the number of printed products that she sells online and in several local stores, like Ida Red and West Elm.
"It started out as a hobby," she said. "It's just become more than a hobby, and it's been really cool."
She now has a line of greeting cards with hand-painted images on the front that include a few funny phrases. One of her favorites portrays a smiling lemon and a grinning juicer asking, "Are you trying to get fresh?" There's another card showing a rolling pin with a cartoon-like pie saying, "I like the way you roll."
"One is a pickle talking to a sandwich, and the pickle says, 'You're my hero,'" Zellers said, laughing about the riff on a gyro sandwich.
She said she will often borrow humorous things that her kids or her own mother have said to put on cards or in drawings.
"(My mom) always has the most corny jokes," Zellers said. "They're funny, but there's a certain 'mom humor about it."
She said it's hard now to track all the places across the world where people have bought her products. She said no matter where they are or what they buy, she hopes the customers will feel the same thing from each and every design.
"I want them to feel happy, or for it to be encouraging, or just fun," Zellers said, smiling. "If that comes across, then that's awesome."
To view all the products Zellers has to offer through Recipe for Crazy, visit her website here.
