And the winners are...

Thanks to everyone who participated!

1st place: Solvita of SoleDeVita on Etsy

2nd place: Claudia

3rd place: Julie of Silk N Style on Etsy

Congratulations to you all! :)

Kelly

YAY! It's Contest Time!

In honor of my 3 year Etsy Shop Anniversary (November 15th) I am having a contest! It's been an amazing 3 years. I have sold over 850 items, I have joined some great groups (EtsyVeg, CCCOE, and Cruelty Free Etsy), I have made a lot of new (virtual) friends, and I have learned oh so much! Thanks to all my fans and friends for such wonderful support and encouragement. Much love and peace to all! For this, lets celebrate with an amazing contest!

I am going to be giving away 3 prizes! That means 3 people have a chance at winning!

• 1st place: One $20 gift certificate towards any purchase in the LeanDogPottery Etsy Shop.
• 2nd place: One $15 gift certificate towards any purchase in the LeanDogPottery Etsy Shop.
• 3rd place: One $10 gift certificate towards any purchase in the LeanDogPottery Etsy Shop.

There are a few ways to gain entries, see below for details. For each entry you must leave a comment below telling me what you did. Think of each comment as a single entry into the contest. Also, please be sure to leave me your email in your comments so I will be able to contact you directly if you win. You DO NOT have to do all of the items below. Pick and choose as you please!

See below for the many ways to enter:

1. Go to my Etsy Shop, add the shop to your favorites and tell me in a comment below what your favorite item in my shop is.
2. Go to the Lean Dog Facebook fan page and "Like" the page by clicking the "Like" button at the top. (if you already "like" it, you can still leave a comment below telling me for an extra entry.)
3. Announce this contest on your Facebook personal page and/or Facebook fan page.
4. Share the Lean Dog Facebook fan page with your friends using the "suggest to friends" button under the profile picture.
5. Go to LeanDogPottery's twitter page and follow it. (if you already follow it, you can still leave a comment below telling me for an extra entry.)
6. Tweet this contest to your followers making sure to include "@leandogpottery" in your tweet.
7. Follow this blog. (if you already follow it, you can still leave a comment below telling me for an extra entry.)
8. Announce this contest on your own blog. Please be sure to post a link to your blog in this comment.
9. Purchase an item from my Etsy Shop! Leave a comment below telling me what item you bought. (Items previously bought do not count.)

REMEMBER: For each item you do from the above list you MUST leave a SINGLE comment. Thanks.

Entries will be accepted continuously until midnight PST on Friday, November 12, 2010. On Saturday, November 13th I will be drawing 3 names using random.org and announcing the winners on this blog. I will personally notify the winners through email, so please be sure to leave your email in your comments. Good Luck to all!!!

If you have any questions about any of the above, feel free to send me an email: kelly@leandogpottery.com

Dishes, Dishes, Dishes!!!

I am not talking about the kind that we all hate to do that are in our kitchen sink! I am talking about an abundance of new dishes that are fresh out of my kiln and handmade by me! They are great for candle holders, jewelry holders, ring holders, trinket holders, key holders.... and the list goes on and on. They all have birdies on them - black birds, brown birds, white birds and even owls! Check them out in my Etsy shop!

Traveling Pendant is on the move again...

Back in January I wrote a post all about a good online friend of mine Cher and her traveling pendant. The pendant was created by me, of course, and she takes it on road trips/plane rides/to rugby games, etc. It's a lucky pendant! Below is a photo of it with her at a rugby game in New Zealand!!! Isn't that amazing? I am so jealous! And isn't she just so stinkin' cute wearing it! Love ya Cher!

Charity of the Month!

I love giving. It makes me feel good. I think it makes most people feel good. I have been trying to give a bit of my sales every month to a new charity. I keep coming back to animal welfare charities. It's where my heart is. For the month of August I am giving 15% of sales to the Woods Humane Society in San Luis Obispo, California. Lets give together! ♥

Etsy Front Page!

I am proud to say.... I was on the front page of Etsy today!

Sorry I haven't been around lately, I swear some good stuff is in the works!

Time Flies!

I cannot believe its been a whole month (exactly) that I have written on here. So sorry to my followers! Please forgive me!

I have been pretty busy, and thats good! I have had lots of custom orders as well as getting my work into a few new shops across the US! - which I am very excited about! I was so scared to take that step forward and try out consignment and wholesale - but now that I have, it is so easy! I urge anyone who is struggling with stepping over, to just do it! Check out the Etsy Forums for tips on how to approach a shop, how to set up your wholesale prices, details on consignment do's and don'ts, comparisons between wholesale vs. consignment, etc. And if you can't find an answer you're looking for, I suggest posting a question, and I am sure people will respond. It's a whole new world, but I think its a great opportunity for us small business owners/crafters/creators!

Here is where you can currently find my work:

1. Anna Maria Island, Florida: The Hive Creations 119 Bridge Street

2. Philadelphia, PA: Slingluff Gallery 11 W. Girard Ave

3. Kingston, Rhode Island: The Gift Emporium at URI 99 Fortin Road

4. Lee Vining, California: Mono Lake Gift Shop Hwy 395 at Third Street

5. Philadelphia, PA: VIX Emporium 5009 Baltimore Avenue

And there is more coming soon!!! I am very excited about this and you should definitely check out these awesome shops/galleries if you are anywhere close to these areas! Cool stuff in them, for sure.

Conscious Living

Earth Day is tomorrow!!! Of course, we should be conscious of the earth everyday, but tomorrow is a holiday directed towards spreading awareness everywhere!

As you read in my last post, I am a big tree hugger! I try my hardest to do all I can to not hurt the planet. It's all we have to live on, its our home. We need to be aware of what we are doing and how it is going to affect the planet. I know its a lot to think about, but its very important - mostly for future generations. I hear people say, "ahh, who cares, we won't be here anyway!" - well, I care. It's important to be conscious. It's great to feel that what you are doing is good. My motto is to treat others as you want to be treated... and that counts for future generations that I will never meet, too! Maybe some of you might think I am going a bit far with this. Oh well. At least it makes me feel good, and thats what matters most.

In celebration I am joining in with EtsyVeg with their Earth Day ExtraVEganza to donate 15% of sales to Earth Save International from 4/22 - 4/24. I also wanted to offer my special customers a deal! Buy any item, get the second 40% off! So a sale and a donation, all in a three days time!

I hope you all will learn something, share something, and feel happy about your decisions you make on this wonderful Earth Day 2010!

The 3 R's!!

I have this huge love for rubber stamps these days. I just bought one the other day to help spread the three R's... Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - which is another one of my huge Loves. This stamp was designed by a wonderful Etsy seller Maggie Hallam. I, myself, am a big tree hugger. No joke, I am a NUT about this kind of stuff. Every time I send a package out to a customer, I think to myself that I hope they are either reusing the packaging I send them, or they recycle it, at least! I had always wanted a way to remind them of the importance of the 3 R's. Then I thought, "hey, it would be nice to stamp it onto my packaging." So I did a little search (on Etsy, of course!) and found a variety of stamps for recycling but the one made by Maggie Hallam stood out because it reminds others that there is not just Recycling to help Planet Earth, there is also Reducing, and Reusing!! All three are equally important. And I love how the stamp can be put anywhere to remind others and it makes me feel good that hopefully it saved the packaging from going straight to the landfill without a chance of being reused or recycled.

I always reuse packaging, unless its totally unusable - then it goes in the recycle bin, of course. I also try to reuse older cardboard and other stuff that would otherwise be deemed "trash" to wrap my items up safely and protect them from breaking during shipment.

I hope to spread the word of the 3 R's and hopefully help others learn the importance of Reducing, Reusing and Recycling. I also hope to encourage others to spread the word! It's important for our planet - the amounts of waste in landfills is ginormous! Plus the amount of trees cut down everyday for paper production is unnecessary causing an environmental impact. I could go on and on about the importance of Reducing, Reusing and Recycling. Check out Earth911.com for tons of info on all kinds of recycling and its importance!

If you're interested in your own 3 R's stamp, Maggie Hallam sells them in her Etsy shop, along with other nature-iffic stamps with animals, trees, mushrooms, leaves, etc. She is a wonderful artist! Here is one of the backside of a snowshoe hare!


She also creates handmade boxes to store you pencils, pens or other stuff! Pretty neat and there are many different colors/designs to choose from!


Planet Earth is our home, and its our only one... Please reduce your impact on it, reuse what you can and recycle what you can't. And if you are sending out packages regularly, I highly recommend you getting your own stamp and help spread the word of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!

Happiness

The following inspires me and makes me happy.

Happiness is never stopping to think if you are. ~Palmer Sondreal

If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time. ~Edith Wharton

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet. ~James Openheim


My Youngest son - Chester-Woo and I.

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called. ~A.A. Milne

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. ~Abraham Lincoln

Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy. ~Anne Frank


My oldest son, Leroy-Grey. He fell asleep on my book, it was adorable.

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. ~Frederick Keonig

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour. ~Author Unknown

A happy thought is like a seed that sows positivity for all to reap. ~Miriam Muhammad

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~Anne Frank


This is me and my husband about 6 years ago. We truly were happy right at that moment. The sky was beautiful and check out the rainbow behind us!

Be Happy. Right now. For the future is unknown.

Sunshine Award!

I'm amazed how artists are coming together these days and finding new and unique ways to show their support for each other. Today I noticed that I had been nominated for the Sunshine Award by a fabulous Jewelry Designer, Dream Belle Designs. Don't forget to see her Etsy shop too! Thank you so much for nominating me, its such an honor!

The Sunshine Award rules are:
1. Place the logo within your blog or post
2. Pass the award on to 12 other bloggers
3. Link the nominees within the post
4. Let the nominees know they have won by commenting on their blog
5. Share the love by linking to the person from whom you received the award

I'm nominating the following people for The Sunshine Award:
1. Design By Raven Muse
2. Ditsy Bird Designs
3. Late Night Design
4. She's Batty Designs
5. Tolduso
6. Black Cat Crafts
7. Sally Lee by the Sea
8. Crafty as Hell
9. LoChristine
10. Lorelei
11. Silent Lotus Blog - Lotus Out Loud
12. VegKat

NEWEST CONTEST

I am happy to say that I have 400+ fans on Facebook! AMAZING. To celebrate I am having a contest. A simple one this time.... see my facebook fan page for details!!

WEEKEND BOGO SALE!!

I am having a sale right now in my shop! Buy any item and you can get a second item at 40% off!!! Thats a great deal!!!
Go over there to Lean Dog Pottery & Jewelry and take advantage!!! Ends Sunday, 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time.

Lots going on....

There is a lot going on in Lean Dog Land.... as you can see I haven't posted in a while!! OOPS! Sorry about that.
If you didn't know already, I have been having kiln issues for the past 6 months!! I cannot believe its been that long, but it has! (I was gone out of town for 2 of those months, so I don't like to count them.) Finally I decided to get my other kiln that has been at my parents house (3 hours away!). It's coming to me on Wednesday! YIPEE! Lets just hope its not an electrical issue and it ruins this kiln too! Its a big fear of mine. I really don't know what I would do!

Then I have some big shows coming up. One every month starting in May until November. Art in the Park, Dinosaur Caves in Shell Beach, California. I did it last year and it was so much fun. Met lots of neat people, got to hang out by the beach all day, and share my art with everyone. Couldn't get any better than that. And I am very much looking forward to it. BUT, since my kiln has been down for 6 months, I have been basically dwindling down my stock - so I need to pump out tons of stuff. I do have stuff dried out on the shelves just waiting to be fired, so thats great. But more pottery is what is needed!!! And I haven't thrown in probably 6 months!! Oh my!

I am also slightly involved in a local San Luis Obispo group called UpcycleSLO. We are having an event on April 17th, 2010 called Swap-O-Rama-Rama. It's really cool, basically you can go through a series of workshops, that will be given throughout the day, to turn an old and unwanted piece of clothing into something else entirely. If you're local and are interested, feel free to send me a message and I'll point you in the right direction!

Then I am involved in a private project with my husband creating mobile phone applications... I am just a data collector/researcher, but it still takes up a lot of my time!!

Lastly, I have tons of house projects going on: painting my kitchen, organizing my studio, starting a compost pile, planning on starting a garden, etc... its never ending!!!

And also I have to remember my business and marketing. Oh my, is that a chore!! But it has to be done. I recently discovered Link Love - well, I had noticed it about a month ago on Facebook, but didn't realize the size of it, and how wonderful it is until just this past weekend. Its where you share your links on others fan pages and then you follow/fan others links. It's an amazing way to find new awesome people and their art! It's a great way to network and share and explore. An Etsy seller by the name of Runway Crochet wrote up a good blog post about Link Love with advice and quotes from what fellow artists say about Link Love. Runway Crochet has also started a blog called Link Love Success! - which tells success stories with Link Love. If you have one you can let her know and she'll write up a blog post about you, and your success!!

Well, I'm off to take care of some of my tasks for the day!! Thanks for reading!

Handmade Soap!

I thought it was about time I posted a new post - sorry its been so long.

I've been thinking lately how wonderful handmade soap is compared to store bought soap. Store bought soap usually dries my skin out, has who knows what in it, doesn't smell as pretty, and isn't made with love by a wonderful crafter! I have purchased from a few sellers on Etsy: Anderson Soap Company, Goddess Naturals, and Bohemian Rose Bath & Soap. I have also used soap from a local San Luis Obispo soap maker So-Ap-Petit. All are fabulous soaps, and fabulous sellers! Here is a little about each of them.

I am currently selling a few of my art items in a local shop here in San Luis Obispo, CA. Soap dishes is one of those items - which goes great with a good old bar of soap! So-Ap-Petit is an adorable shop located in downtown SLO. It is in a cute little garden spot off of an alley that leads from Garden street! It is decorated so beautifully with plants everywhere and of course wonderful artsy items. The owner, Jillian, is also a bath and body product creator. She let me try her cucumber melon soap. It smells lovely and gives off a good lather too!


I purchased the Beer Olive Oil Soap Barby Anderson Soap Company. Me and my husband love beer and I was immediately drawn to a beer bar of soap! The soap itself had a great lather - the olive oil added a good moisturizing effect and the smell was pretty darn nice - not overpowering and not feminine at all (which I like).


One of my favorite soaps is the Patchouli soap with Pumice and Midnight Black Clay made by Goddess Naturals. It has a vegan base and it smells so earthy and divine! The Pumice and Midnight Black Clay add a exfoliating experience. I have tried many of the other soaps by her, as well as her Peppermint Shea Butter for cracked heels - and let me say, that stuff is AMAZING! It healed mine and my mother's horrid cracked heels in a weak! Plus it smells really good, and you know it comes from good stuff.


Just recently I purchased a couple bars from Bohemian Rose Bath & Soap. The smells and the feel of her soaps is wonderful! My favorite was the Cranberry Fig. The smell of it was very nice - and not overwhelming at all - then there were cranberry seeds in there to add an exfoliating effect - it was all around amazing, I was sad when the bar was gone. I also tried the Hecate scent, which is a mix of lavender, cedarwood, and patchouli. I just finished that one - it was such a lovely earthy scent - and a super soft lather too.

As you can see, I am big on earthy, natural scents. I enjoy fruity scents too, nothing too sweet or overpowering. I highly encourage you to seek out these 3 Etsy shops and try out their fantastic products, and try others as well. I know I have a list of other soaps I want to try - from many different creators. I just have to take my soap adventures one day at a time!

Help Three Beautiful Cows

Last night on Facebook I read that a friend is trying to raise money to help save 3 cow friends from slaughter. They are only 2 years old and have lots of happy years to live. They have been named Pooka Cow (the brown one), Spotty Friend, and Less Spotty Friend. Jodi of This is It! Creations enjoys the company of them and hopes to raise enough money to purchase them from the owner and let them live on their 11 acre land, at least for a short while. She stated they are planning on starting a new line of products where all the profits will go to their care. They are also open to adopting the cows out to a loving family. We only have until February 13th to raise $3600. Please help get the word out! See here for more details and updates from Jodi.

You can donate here:



Or if you'd prefer to send in a check, you can mail it to:

This Is IT! Creations
P.O. Box 1252
Jacksonville, OR 97530

Lean Dog Pottery and Jewelry is going to donate 20% of proceeds to the cows.
Thanks to all in advance for your help! ♥

And the winner is......

Congratulations to the wonderful Amy of Red Maple Studio! She is the winner of my 1st Blog Giveaway. Thanks to all who entered! I hope you'll enter the next one I have! I'll keep you all posted on when that is! :)

Weather and Work

Last week was a week full of rain, thunder, lightening and tons of wind! That picture there is of me in Shell Beach, California in Dinosaur Caves park area... we went for a little drive because we heard the waves were getting up to 25 feet!! Yeah, they were huge! The water was an ugly brown too! YUCK!
I like the rain because it is good for the earth and all but its not good for my work! No, No, No! It gets in the way of me working. Partially because my studio is a disaster and its hard to work inside, and my outside area is covered - but, because of the wind, it still gets wet inside. It was kind of a pain. So anyway, I am looking forward to SPRING!

A Special Gift

Last month I was involved in EtsyVeg's secret santa gift exchange. Everyone was paired with another EtsyVeg member.... I was paired with the wonderful Rachel of Ravissant! She sent me one of the most divine pieces... it was like she had known me forever! She picked something out that fit me pretty much exactly. We did give a little info about ourselves before the gift exchange, but still, she did a great job! We could either give them something we made or something we bought. Lucky me - she gave me a beautiful tote that she made! It is pictured above - beautifully crafted and just super cool. I love it. Thanks so much Ravissant!

This is quoted from her Etsy Shop:"ravissant is a boutique full of one-of-a-kind creations made with love and with quality materials: most sustainable, some organic, some up-cycled, some vintage, all beautiful! :o) " I love what she stands for. Enjoy these photos of more of her work and visit her shop if you get a chance: Ravissant!

its that time again... Blog Time!

Just wanted to post a little something about my friend Cher... she is the fabulous designer of my blog. She created the tree above.... makes me smile. I love it. She is also a HUGE Lean Dog fan.... no seriously, HUGE! GIANT! The best! She probably owns more pieces of Lean Dog stuff than I do... haha! She started this new thing called "Lean Dog Traveling Pendant". She takes photos of herself wearing a Lean Dog pendant... its fantastic! She really is great! See the post here. Anyway. She is also a great designer.... as you can see above. She read me perfectly and designed it.

Other than that, Lean Dog is currently creating tons of new stuff... we just got to get that kiln working again. I'm looking for a kiln technician in the Central Coast area of California!! I only know of one who is probably 4 hours away! That might be costly! We will see... until then, creating is what I do, and listing some stuff that just hasn't been listed yet.... surprises that will arrive daily! Keep Checking Back!

Oh and from today until Thursday I am having a 20% off sale!! WOOHOO! Just because I think my customers are great and I decided to have a little fun sale!

1st Blog Giveaway!!

Since its the beginning of a new year, and I am excited about it, I'd like to announce my first blog giveaway!! The winner will receive the ring pictured to the right. It's made with ceramic and turquoise glass. And it has an adjustable ring base. It measures about 1" across and almost 1/2" thick. It's chunky, but not as chunky as most of my jewelry!

To get a spot in the drawing all you have to do is:
1. become a follower of my blog.
2. fill out this form.

BUT WAIT!! There are also ways to get multiple entries into this contest.

~You will get 2 extra entries for doing one of the following:
1. Follow Lean Dog on Twitter
and tweet about this giveaway with a link to it on your twitter!
2. Become a fan on Facebook and post a link on your facebook about this giveaway!

~You will get 5 extra entries for posting a link to this blog post on your own blog!

~AND if you purchase an item from now until January 31st you will also be automatically entered with 10 more entries!!

*For each of these please send me a comment on here with links to where you posted or what item you bought.

Contest ends the 31st and on Feb 1st I will draw a random winner using random.org.

If you have any questions, please email me at kelly@leandogpottery.com

Thanks, have fun and pass the word along!! :)

Vacation, Vacation and some new stuff!

Hi all. I have been away from my home for over a month now - visiting with family and going on business trips with my husband. It's all going to come to an end next week and I am very happy about that. Being away from home and studio is quite hard. I did bring a large amount of my items with me.... lugging it around is kind of a pain, but you do what you gotta do to stay afloat! :)

Anyway, I've been listing new stuff the past couple days and more today and more to come tomorrow! Keep checking the Lean Dog store for new items daily!