Get Organized

Hello, its been a while - again! I seem to always get sidetracked, but I guess thats just a part of running your own business.

Lately I have been looking expanding my business. Wholesale is big on my to do list. I consign in a few shops, but I want to go bigger. It takes a lot of work to get there. I bought the e-book by Megan Auman of Crafting an MBA - Crafting an MBA Guide to Wholesale and Trade Shows. It is a truly helpful book that guides you through the whole process from beginning to end. I highly recommend it if you're interested in expanding your business. She also has a great website talking about running a craft business and offers her services as a consultant. I'm considering doing that next.

Also, today I am about to embark on an adventure in organizing! The studio space in my backyard is a disaster! How does someone work in a place like this?? So, its time. Next up after that is my office space needs some organizing too, since its been cluttered with bathroom remodeling supplies and such for the past couple months. I'm sick of working at the kitchen table!

Hope all is well out there. I'll post again soon, with some pictures of my newly organized studio, perhaps.

Out of Order

This past weekend was so gorgeous. On Sunday me and my hunny decided to take advantage of the weather and go for a bike ride to the beach. We get there and decide to take a walk on the beach. We were just hanging out and I see a wave coming at me and so I am backing up (I don't mind getting a little wet, but this looked bigger than normal) and not paying attention to whats behind me and what was there? A big boulder! I fall over the side of the boulder scraping up my left leg and twisting my right ankle in the process landing in the water falling hard! And yes, I heard that lovely snap/crack sound a sprain can make. Kind of creepy! Anyway. Rode my bike all the way back - it hurt a little, but not as much as it did that night. It's been 48 hours since it happened and I'm feeling a LOT better. The swelling is going down more daily and hope to be walking normal by next week. I can walk a lot better than just yesterday, so I know its healing nicely. It really does work to sit on your lazy bottom and rest when these kinds of things happen! It only makes it worse to walk on it. The only thing that sucks is I feel worthless that I cannot go out to my studio and work. I did go a little bit today and loaded some work into the kiln, but it started to ache. Anyway. Wish me luck on a quick(er) recovery! I need to get out there and create! :)

Heartsy

Last night while withering in my boredom I stumbled upon Heartsy. It's this fabulous site which happened to start up (appropriately) on Valentines Day 2011. They offer buyers 'out of this world' deals on featured Etsy stuff! Basically they sell vouchers towards featured Etsy shops for 50% off and up!! Amazing deals/steals! The way your shop can get featured is you have to submit 5 photos and fill out your name/email/website. They then post your photos up for a vote from anyone in the Heartsy community (thats me and could be you if you want) and if you get 30 votes saying "Yes, I definitely would buy this" then you move on to the next stage where Heartsy reviews your submission. If they pick your shop, you will negotiate a deal and a time and then your deal goes up for everyone to grab! I've noticed they have time limits on these deals as well as a limited amount of deals they offer. From my research of the shops involved I have noticed they sell a KILLING! Sure its at 50% + of their regular prices, but if you sell a lot its kind of similar to wholesaling and if your prices are priced right for wholesaling it shouldn't be a problem for you.

So, I submitted my work this morning and already reached my 30 votes. This does NOT guarantee I'll be featured, but we shall see. And if I do get featured, look out for some major steals people!!!! I'll keep you posted. You can still vote for me here. Thanks!

xo

Kelly

GLAZE - Black vs. White

Been doing experiments in simplifying a tad bit lately.... just in shape and color. Made pieces with a simple 1 colored glass with black or white glaze. Its fun to check out how different a color can look against black or white. See for yourself the differences.

Large green round pendant with black glaze or white glaze. 2" in diameter.
Same goes for the following beauties.... everything is still one of a kind! I've just simplified a glazing strategy - making it black or white or I even offer brown glaze (not shown).

Red/orange glass with black or white glaze. This is a small round pendant - 1 1/2" in diameter. Notice the amount of colored glass varies. That's just how they turn out, you never know. Still one of a kind! Always will be.

Aqua with white or black in oval shape. 2" x 1 1/8".

Yellow with white or black glaze. Oval. 2" x 1 1/8".

Cobalt with white or black glaze. Oval. 2" x 1 1/8".

Many of these have been listed in my Etsy Shop. They come with a 16" chocolate brown cotton cord. I can also sub a chain if you'd like or even lengthen the cord. If you see one that's not listed and you want it, contact me at Kelly (at) leandogpottery.com and I'll set up a special listing for you.

yum

I've been making some real good food lately - not just ordinary food, vegan food. Most people I know misinterpret the word "vegan" as something that has weird or strange ingredients, when in fact its the exact opposite! Look at your box of mac-n-cheese or any other processed food for those kind of ingredients. Something being vegan just means its made without any milk, eggs, meat products - or basically anything that comes from an animal. Substitutions are made in place of those ingredients. For subbing cows milk I use other kinds of milk - soy milk, rice milk, hemp milk, oat milk and almond milk - which is my personal favorite - and I am sure there are others I am forgetting. For butter I use a brand called Earth Balance which is made with vegetable based oils. For eggs you can use many different things - mashed up bananas, applesauce, tofu or there are special egg replacer products available in markets - there are a few other things to sub for eggs too, that I am sure I forgot. For cheese there are many, many different commercial brands that work - my favorite being Daiya! It melts wonderfully and is the tastiest stuff I have ever had in my life - better than real cheese - in my opinion. Below I made a vegan lasagna - I used trader joes soy mozzerella which is very much like mozzerella made with cows milk. I have made meals with this stuff and not told my guests it was soy until afterwards and they said they would have never known. Here is the recipe for the lasagna thats called "Love Potion Lasagna". I got it from vegweb.com which is full of any kind of recipe you could be looking for. I'm always on there looking for what to make next!

Hope this helped clear up any misconceptions you might have had about vegan food (if you had any at all). I leave you with a challenge - go find a recipe on vegweb and give it a try and come back and tell me about it.

Give Back

One thing that makes me feel good, and I think it makes anyone who does it feel good, is giving back - whether its your time or money - its all good! For about a year now I have had a charity of the month (almost every month), where I would give a percentage of my Etsy Shop sales to that charity. No matter how much it is, I know its appreciated, and that feels good.

Giving your time feels even better (in my opinion). It's story time:

I have been a volunteer for Cal Fire (formerly California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection) for 17 years - not fighting fires, but teaching fire prevention to children and adults at schools, fairs, campsites, and many other places. Not only do we quiz kiddo's on not playing with matches and who to call if there is an emergency, but we dress also up as Smokey Bear and do Stop Drop and Roll demonstrations. Fun stuff!

This is me and my best friend Jessica with Smokey at a rodeo! Anyway, all this has been a great experience for me. But the best experience was back in the early 2000's (I am not sure the exact year) on Christmas Eve. I get a call from the volunteer coordinator telling me about a house that caught on fire and it happened to belong to a family with young children. We went to the house as they were putting out the fire and met the family, luckily everyone got out safely. We felt so horrible for them knowing it was Christmas eve and they were homeless. We knew we had to do something - so we immediately decided to organize a food/gift/clothing drive for them at a local fire station and we got more donations than we could handle! It was so amazing how everyone came together for this family. It was Christmas Eve! Last minute, literally! Yet, it was amazing to see how many kind hearts were out there. Seeing the families faces when we showed them what we had for them was the best part. They felt blessed, as they should have.

I still do my Smokey Bear routines and a little bit of Stop, Drop and Roll to help teach children the importance of fire safety. I also am a huge animal activist and that is usually where I donate percentages of my sales to. This month I am donating to the Fresno Bully Rescue. I am originally from Fresno and happened to stumble upon their facebook page when a couple of my friends "liked" it. I immediately knew they were going to be my March charity. I love what they are doing for this breed with a bad rap. As you may know, many people label them as vicious or scary. But I happen to know two who are the sweetest doggies ever. Pit bulls are just like any other dog breed, they are born with love and want to be your best friend, too. Here is a link about the myths of the bully breed.

Thanks to everyone who helps support this charity with me while shopping at Lean Dog. Or you can just donate money directly to the cause on your own here. If you live in Fresno, or nearby, you can also donate your time volunteering by walking the dogs, training, cleaning kennels, cleaning up around the grounds or helping promote an event.

Lather it up

Soap. It's something we all use, everyday! It's a huge big deal in the handmade world, too! There are tons of fantastic soaps you can find on Etsy. Any shape you can think of and all colors of the rainbow! - and don't forget about scents! Holy cow, they come up with some fantastic scents! Today I am going to share with you some picks of mine - focusing on simple shaped soaps with fantastic color and scents.

First we have the colorful Cantaloupe Melon Sugar Soap from sunbasilgarden. Here is a little about the scent: "Bring on summer with this fantastically fresh new sugar soap. Ripe cantaloupe with juicy cucumber and green notes."

Next we have a nice yellow colored bar of soap from Batty's Bath. It's called Lemon Poppyseed Vegan Glycerin Soap. Here is what Batty says about this soaps scent: "This is a zesty citrus delight. This wonderful fresh, light lemon scent is a must have for fresh citrus lovers! This bar also features the added exfoliating benefits of real poppy seeds throughout the entire bar!"

Here we have a very pretty soap made by Blushie. It is called Fresh Cut Grass Soap. This is what Blushie has to say about this scent: "Who can resist the crisp green scent of freshly cut grass? Mellowed with just a touch of cool, soothing aloe vera this soap smells just like running your toes through a damp lawn in summer." - makes me excited for warm weather!

Next we have a lovely blue colored soap from DressGreen - its called Blueberry Patch Soap made with sweet almond oil and shea butter. The scent description goes like this: "Not your typical berry, but is instead a warm and luscious blend of ripened blueberries with a splash of vanilla, topped off with a pinch of spice." --- mmmm sounds nice.

These four soaps have four things in common:

1. They are all colorful and beautiful to the eye!

2. They all have fantastic scents that will brighten up any day, even a rainy day!

3. They are all Vegan Friendly!

.... and last but not least....

4. They will all look great in my neutral colored charcoal grey soap dish!

HAHA! so there you have it... a little diddy on soaps. Hope you enjoyed!

February is LOVE month.

Did you know that in each Etsy shop you can do a search inside that shop for anything you want. You would use the search box up top (make sure "this shop" is in the drop down menu) and type in what you're searching for. For example: specific colors, shapes, item type, dimensions, etc. It all depends on what that artist wrote up in their tags, description and title of the items. Go ahead to my shop and do a search for anything you'd like here: LeanDogPottery If you are a shop owner you should definitely take advantage of this awesome marketing technique. Use all the tags and be sure to add a detailed description of your item including dimensions. The buyer wants to know all they can about an item before purchasing.

Everybody knows Valentines day is February 14th and that is the day to share love with your main squeeze! February has always been a month full of hearts, love, pink, roses, candy, perfume and cuddling! Doing a search in my shop for the word "heart" came up a lot of items! This posting shows just a few examples to get you in the mood for this month full of love! Click here for the 27 items I have in my shop that come up when searching "heart".

Happy love month everyone!

And by the way, I wanted to point out this during the month of February, Lean Dog will be giving away 10% of sales to The Feline Network of San Luis Obispo! So not only will you get your beautiful new jewelry/pottery - but you'll also be helping kitties in need. ♥

Inspired from a Walk

I went on a walk today with my hubby. We go almost everyday.... ahh the joys of both working at home. We went on this little dirt path over by a park near my house and I kept noticing glass shards on the ground, so of course I kept picking them up. It seems that this area is sort of hidden off the regular path so youngsters or the homeless probably go here with beer or liquor and leave after breaking the evidence. HAHA! Anyway, I just couldn't resist picking every piece of glass up off the ground I saw and my husband got in on the action, too! I am addicted to glass shards! So this glass has gone from one persons naughty habit to the next! And now I shall create beauty from them! See my shop for the latest creations - I have over 100 that I'll be adding slowly, so check back everyday! Here is just a snippet of what you'll find: