Patriot's Day

Good day to you all and thank you for stopping by!  Today is Patriot's Day, the day we commemorate the battles of Lexington and Concord which were fought near Boston in 1775.  Anyone remember the Paul Rivere poem?  Patriot's Day is typically held on the third Monday of April and is a state holiday for Massachusetts and Maine.  Though many people do make the mistake since the names are so close, Patriot's Day should NOT be confused with Patriot Day, which marks the anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the USA on September 11, 2001.   In the areas of Lexington and Concord, there are numerous reenactments for the public to see.  Anyone in Massachusetts planning on going to one?  I've never been to one and would love a first hand account and/or pictures of what it is!

(Information found on Timeanddate.com)

How are you celebrating Patriot's Day?  Why not take the time to support a disabled veteran in her pursuit to gain as much independence as possible, regardless of her disabilities?  Who might this person be, you ask?  Why ME of course!  Last week, Monday, I launched a Kickstarter project to raise funds in order to acquire equipment for my pottery studio to make the processes of creation more ME friendly...if successfully funded, it will give me near complete independence when it comes to my pottery, and I won't have to ask my fiance to help!  When you have to rely on someone on a daily basis to get around because I can't drive, for help getting into bed on my bad leg pain days...gaining any form of independence is a true blessing.  Please help me reach my goal.  You can find my Kickstarter project HERE.

Shoutout For Spruce Cottage Knits

Day 4 of 10

(In a society dominated by big name box stores, it is quite refreshing to network, interact, and shop from small businesses.  Especially when they are local!  For 10 days, I will be talking about 10 small businesses that I have the pleasure of having made their acquaintance.  Networking is everything, as is reaching out a helping hand to your peers and neighbors.)

So after a long hiatus...I continue on the 10 features in 10 days.  I apologize to those who have been waiting for me to make good on my word.  It's been a whirlwind of health ups and downs..

Spruce Cottage Knits is run by a very passionate "Maine-ah", Norma Lee Gunn out of Hampden, Maine.  She is a a valuable asset and team member to the Etsy Maine Team, bringing 35 years of experience to the table. 
 Norma knits with nothing but quality yarn. She uses superwash wool, cotton, soy, bamboo. She is a big fan of using homegrown, local Maine wool as well as Opal's new Harry Potter sock yarns!  Her expertise includes knit socks, mittens, scarves, hats, sweaters, and even Ipod holders. Each and every piece she works on is infused with the love and passion she has for her craft.  It takes time to knit socks with sock yarn and tiny needles. Her favorite thing to knit are socks, despite the tedious nature of it! There is nothing like the warmth of hand knit items when it's cold. 

Her items are TOO CUTE!!!  I wish I had a little baby girl to spoil rotten with some of these items!  I'm not a big fan of Hello Kitty attire myself, but I know it's popular with the little ones.  Look at these pants!! You can find them in her Etsy store (click HERE).

I'm a sucker for anything and everything ocean/coastal.  These blue/green/brown socks remind me of sitting on the beach, watching the ocean waves crash onto the shore.  LOVE!!

She is very diversified as a business woman as well!  She has Facebook established, an Etsy storefront, and Ravelry to boot! 

Thanks for stopping by to support small, local businesses!!  Please continue to follow me the next 6 days for more shoutouts to small businesses! 

Time for a little Kickstart..

I've been busy working on a little project the last several days.  Though I do my best in my little home pottery studio, there are still tasks that need to be done that are very difficult for me to accomplish with the equipment I have available.  I LOVE what I do.  I infuse my emotions into each and every piece I make.  My heart and soul goes into my work.  Clay absorbs the sorrow, the pain and hurt, the joy of accomplishing a new level in a task... It heals all wounds...for me.  With all this in mind, there are various pieces of equipment that will greatly help me as I continue this endeavor.  SO, I created a Kickstarter project.  For those of you that have linked up with through Facebook, you may have already seen the link.  For those of you that haven't, here is the little blurb I have been sharing. :)

"The last week, I have been quietly working on a project, reaching out to a few people for guidance and advice. Well, today, it goes public! I have started a Kickstarter project to help achieve some goals with expansion for my business. This will help make creating pottery so much easier. Please check out the page, spread the word, and help me achieve this new milestone!
Freedom Through Clay - Kickstarter Project "

Many of the pledge rewards are NEW items, not yet released to the public.  My Kickstarter backers will be the first ones to receive these new creations in my new line of ware...inspired by dragonflies! 

If you have a moment, please look through the project and considering lending a helping hand.  If you can't pledge anything, no worries!  The key is to get the word spread out through the digital web.  Sharing is caring, right?  :)  So share away and help me accomplish this goal!!

Coming soon:
Feature on Spruce Cottage Knits!!

Been a while...

So I have been thinking that I've only been MIA for a month...but my last post was nearly two months ago!!  My apologies!  It's definitely been a roller coaster few months.  My health has decided to throw some wrenches in the generally day to day life.  Haven't been able to work as much in the studio as I have wanted...nor have I had the where-with-all to do all the computer and bookkeeping work needed...like I still have to file my taxes for the biz...  I have 2 more weeks to get with it!  Let's hope it doesn't take me that long!

In other news... a New England magazine featured my garden stakes!  AND I'm listed as #1 of the 4!!!  I was SOOOOO excited!!  Here is the link if you have a few moments to check it out:

Four Spring Finds from Mainers on Etsy

On March 29, I unloaded a glaze kiln full of goodies.  MOST everything turned out the way I wanted and was hoping for.  

And believe it or not...my kiln was FULL...4 half shelves and 2 full shelves!  I have a smaller, home-studio sized kiln.  it works for me and the size space we have.  As you can see...LOTS of handbuilding going on in the Mayo house.  I have a hard time throwing for any long period of time unfortunately, because of pain and weakness in my legs.  *SIGH*  But that's ok. 

On a final note...For those of you who commented on my Facebook post about the first 10 businesses to comment I would leave feedback/feature for ya...I promise you I haven't forgotten!  As I said earlier... life and health kind of got in the way!  I will working on those features in the coming days, so stay tuned!!