By Stefene Russell
Photograph courtesy of Leigh Standley
“I’m really glad I went to design school when I did,” says Kirkwood native (and current Bostonian) Leigh Standley. “We weren’t cheated by computers. We learned typography by actually doing it … so I love old stamps, old fonts—anything with letters. And anything with sparkles.” Standley’s company, Curly Girl Designs (“Yes, people do get me mixed up with that shampoo line,” she laughs) allows her to indulge her passion for both. Her cards, journals and magnets, which are based on her collages, are colorful, funny, and girly in the best sense. One magnet features the image of a funky bathroom with clawfoot tub and little arms sticking out from either side of the shower curtain, captioned: “’I sing opera in the shower,’ she said. ‘I’m very good … all of my shampoos think so.’” The card that won Standley a Louie (“it’s sort of like the Oscar of the stationery world,” she explains) depicts a girl riding her bike with abandon, feet off the pedals, and reads “I am fairly certain that given a cape and a nice tiara, I could save the world.” Standley returns to St. Louis on September 9 for a trunk show at Small Indulgences from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fans can meet the curly girl herself and view her original, full-sized canvases. “There’s not a lot of stores like Small Indulgences in St. Louis, so I’m super glad they moved to Kirkwood. Along with Dewey’s—because now Kirkwood has great pizza, too!”
Small Indulgences, 121 N. Kirkwood, 314-821-7414, www.curlygirldesign.com.
