First day of December!

Oh MY!

I have no idea how this day snuck up on me! I have so much to do! I am making ornaments - snowflakes, trees, bows, etc. All for the holidays! They should be ready by the end of the week. I'll post photos as soon as they're available!

Featured Artist: Kara Kathleen

Today I am doing my first "featured artist" post. I am doing it on an artist on Etsy named Kara Kathleen . She is actually my husbands cousin and we received a beautiful wedding gift from her. It was a watercolor painting of our cats! It is such a beautiful piece and she did a wonderful job portraying them. The detail she puts into her art is amazing! Here it is here in a frame we bought:

It is slightly hard to see the beauty close up, so please visit her website for more detail in her work.

Kara is a very crafty lady. She has two other shops on Etsy. In one of them she is also known as The Cake Artist. There you will find adorable fondant cake toppers and some baked goods.

The other shop is called Sweet Little Birdie where you can find handmade children's clothing and cute little "pocket buddies". Shown below is a Night Before Christmas Lounge Set and you choose the pocket buddy you want.

I highly recommend checking out her work. She's an amazing creator. Keep up the good work Kara!!

Another day, Another dollar

I started the master cleanse yesterday. Well, today actually is the day I started to drink the lemonade concoction. It's not so bad, so far. Last night was HARD! I was so hungry!! But I fought it, and drank my Senna tea. I'll keep ya posted on how I am doing.

I am in the process of making some awesome Christmas Tree Ornaments out of clay and found glass! They are going to be fantastic! I am so excited about them. Too bad my kiln is still down and I have to wait until about the 23rd to fire them. Thats ok though, plenty of time to purchase for your tree!

Other than that, things are going great in Lean Dog land!!

Lots of new stuff!

So, I finally raided my studio and gathered up tons of new stuff to put in my Etsy Shoppe! Necklaces, rings, mugs, bowls, and coasters! All will be going up for the next couple of days! It takes so much time to put up each item! 

Here are a couple sneak peeks:

I also started a small section called "only ten dollars" because it has items that cost only $10.00!! Great for stocking stuffers! 

I am also about to celebrate my 2nd year Etsy-versary on November 6th! WOO HOO! So I am having a sale in my shop: buy any item and get the second half off! Also all jewelry items will be shipped FREE! 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

What a wonderful day! One of my favorite days of the year. I love checking out the creativity people can come up with in their costumes. Especially the kids. The other night was Halloween night at our local farmers market and I saw some pretty interesting costumes. Looking forward to tonight - a friend is having a costume party! Too bad I have a show the next morning so I can't stay out too late, but I'll enjoy every minute of it anyway!

In celebration of today I made some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!  Hope they are tasty!

Happy Halloween everyone, be safe!

last shows of the year!

I am a part of Art in the Park in Shell Beach, California at Dinosaur Caves Park. It's the first Sunday of every month from May - November. This is the last month, folks! It's a pretty good show in which I have done every month this year. It's a lot of work but its worth it. I am pretty sure I will be a part of it next year. It's located in a beautiful spot overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I've met tons of people and have had tons of fun! Come on out for the last show of the year on November 1st - 10 am til 4 pm. 

I will also be in another show on December 3rd in Fresno, California at TGI Friday's. I will be the only vendor there. Its a show just for me that day! They will have happy hour drinks and food and of course my items up for sale! Starts about 8pm. If you're in that area, come on out! 

Vegan Recipe for World Vegetarian Day

Thursday October 1st is World Vegetarian Day, and October is World Vegetarian Month! In honor of this wonderful occasion, I am posting a tasty recipe at least once a week, I might put up more just for the heck of it! My first recipe is one that I made up myself with a little experimentation. 

Leek, Sun Dried Tomato and Roasted Garlic Pizza

* this makes 2 pizzas, and serves 3-4 people. 

INGREDIENTS:   

Pizza dough of your choice (I used trader joes pre-made)

1 1/2 cups Pizza Sauce 

1/2 block of tofu
1 small can tomato paste
garlic powder, salt, pepper, dried basil (1 tsp each)

1 head of garlic 
12-14 sun-dried tomatoes (I used jar kind in olive oil)
2 Leeks sliced and cleaned GOOD
2 TBSP vegan butter or olive oil
Another 1tsp each (approx) of garlic powder, pepper and dried basil

DIRECTIONS:
**Pre-heat oven to 350-400 degrees depending on the dough you use. **
1. slice and clean leeks really good, then saute them uncovered in a pan with the vegan butter or olive oil for about 10 mins - till soft yet slightly crispy. (You can cook longer if you like them more crispy.)

2. break up the garlic into its cloves (leave the skin on!) and place them on a sheet in the toaster oven or oven and bake on about 375 for about 15 mins. Check if they are soft and roast longer if they are not. 
3. While those are cooking, get a medium bowl and mash up the tofu with your hands or fork. Add Tomato Paste, and one tsp each of garlic powder, salt, pepper and basil. Stir all together. 
4. Roll out your pizza dough on a cookie sheet. (I usually buy pre-made dough from trader Joe's)
5. Spread the tofu mixture onto the pizza dough. 
6. Once the leeks are cooked to your liking, spread them evenly onto your pizza(s). 
7. Place the sun-dried tomatoes onto the pizza(s) evenly. 

8. Squeeze/break the garlic out of their skins and spread whole cloves all over the pizza. 
9. Splash on some of the pizza sauce on the pizza (on top of the toppings)
10. sprinkle on some garlic powder, pepper, and basil all over the pizza(s)
11. Bake in oven for about 15-17 mins - or until your dough is ready. (it really depends on the dough you use)
12. Slice up and serve!

New Shop!

I am very excited to announce that Lean Dog Pottery and Lean Dog Jewelry are now in a new shop in downtown San Luis Obispo, California! The shop is called So-ap-petit! It is in a beautiful garden nook displayed gorgeously with plants and fountains! The majority of the shop is outdoors, but the owner built a little indoor space with found windows and doors - its totally eclectic and is a must see!! She makes her own bath and body products - soaps, scrubs and balms and she also displays art from local artists - such as myself!! I am so happy I stumbled upon this shop, I have a feeling I am going to form a great relationship with the shop owner, she is just so sweet and friendly and has tons of talent! 

Check it out if you are in town!

1129 Garden Street #B Patio, San Luis Obispo, Ca. 93401
805-545-9900

nice people!

A fellow blogger named Jodi over at The Creative JAR used a photo of one of my PEACE pendants on her blog to help symbolize international peace day. 

What a lovely lady. Thank you Jodi!

Good Fortune

Went out for chinese tonight. MMM MMM Good!

My fortune said:

"You are headed in the right direction. Trust your instincts."

Well, thank goodness! 

upcycle your recycles!

Being a part of Etsy has been a great thing for me. I have met TONS of awesome people on there! A lot from groups I have joined. One group that is my favorite is EtsyVeg. Full of people who make animal friendly crafts! Full of love! Anyway. There is challenges monthly or so and one coming up is "Upcycle Your Recycling Challenge". Basically you are matched up with another team member and you send that team member 5 pieces of recyclable material and they send to you, and you turn those pieces into a work of art! Sounds exciting to me! I love the challenge. 

I took a class at San Francisco State called Art for Children and it was full of fun projects like this. It seems that we forget our creativity lengths when we become adults and its fun to challenge yourself and try something new! Once I am done I'll post photos of both the items and then them made into a work of art! :)

Lean Dog?!

One of the biggest questions I get from customers/friends/family is, "How did you come up with the name Lean Dog Pottery?" So here is how:
When I first started to go to college I had no idea what I wanted to do. I struggled for about 7 years in community colleges (off and on--mostly off!) trying to find my place in this world. Well, one day I decided I was going to move to San Luis Obispo and attend Cuesta College. My uncle told me one of his buddies from high school, Randall, was an art instructor there and said I should take one of his classes. I thought to myself "sure, I love art, i love creating, why not?". So, I signed up for one of his classes- 3-D design. My uncle was excited for me and said, "when you talk to Randall tell him:'Hey, aren't you one of those Lean Dogs, and see what he says.'" I then asked my uncle what a "Lean Dog" was and he said it was just a nickname him and his buddies gave to each other.
So, on the day I met Randall, I did just that. He was taken aback on what I said, like I had thrown him through a time warp or something. He said, "How do you know what a Lean Dog is?" Of course I told him my story and where I was coming from. Anyway, the reason behind my naming my business this is because Randall was a great mentor to me. He helped me realize that art is my life, it is who I am. So, in turn, I dedicated my pottery studio to the Lean Dog's.