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:

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!