A local entrepreneur is kicking off preparations to launch a new Del Ray event space with a “Wicked”-themed Halloween party and fundraiser this week.
Lee Raynes, the former owner of Bellies & Babies consignment shop, is hosting the party to preview her next business model, an event space called Together Creative Studio. The party starts at 4 p.m. on Friday at 2603 E. Randolph Avenue.
Raynes envisions the space — located across her garage and backyard — as a budget-friendly, inclusive environment for paint-and-sip classes, DIY projects, kids’ tea parties, and more. She hopes to soft-launch the new business in January.
The Friday party will include games, crafts, prizes, refreshments, and a fire pit with s’mores, according to a flier. Tickets, which are $12 for adults and $7 for kids on Eventbrite, will help the entrepreneur fund a new heating system for her garage.
Raynes, a native of Westchester County, New York, operated a concierge service before Bellies and Babies, which she returned to after the business closed and was replaced by the Del Ray Farmhouse Market and Garden.
“I have taken the last eight months to heal,” Raynes said. “We are not islands. We are not going to accomplish anything if we don’t accept that as a fact, that we weren’t meant to do things alone. We were meant to be collaborating, and we were meant to be leaning on people, and letting people lean on us.”
Raynes hopes her new studio will be a safe space for customers to gather and talk about personal issues.
“I’m very, very sensitive about forcing my knowledge or my experiences on people,” Raynes said. “I also recognize the importance of making myself available to talk to people about the things that are important to them, whatever the issue might be.”
