Inspiration is All Around You

It has been unseasonably warm (hotter than you know what) here in Florida.  I spent the week of Christmas in front of a fan in humid 84 degree weather.  The weatherman stated it was the warmest Christmas in Tampa Bay.... ever.  EVER.  I believe it.  It made it absolutely impossible for me to get into the Christmas Spirit.  Of course the head cold I got 2 days before Christmas didn't help much either.  Christmas came and went.  I slept most of the day.  I was up long enough to see the kids open their gifts while we Skyped with my mom in Ohio.  My husband's sister came over for a bit too.  By the time she arrived, I was lying on the couch with tissues shoved up my nostrils.  :)  Once she left for work I left for the bedroom and didn't come out much thereafter.  The medicine I was taking for the head cold just knocked me out.

Anyway...

What has been nice about the warmer than usual weather is that I took a little trip to the beach with my daughters and my husband in search of inspiration for some pendants.  We all formed a line and walked the beach looking for things that would be awesome molded or that had a nice texture.  Honeymoon Island is perfect for this and it's pretty easy on the eyes too.  :)

We gathered up a small bag full of things and headed back home for some lunch.

Today, I pulled out the stuff we had gathered and made molds of some it.  Here are the items, the molds I made from them and the raw clay pendants:

This one was a really big shell that had pretty deep grooves.  It looks pretty boring at the moment but I'm hoping the grooves will really pool some glaze in them and make a nice effect.

Another shell but this one had some spikey dots along the grooves.

I really liked the swirl design of this piece of a shell.  The mold worked beautifully.

Barnacles anyone?  These were on a huge clam shell.  One of the barnacles popped off when I pulled the molding material off.  Oops. 

This mold was taken from the same clam shell as the barnacles.  I think it might look pretty interesting when glazed.

A little sea shell.

We found half of a sea urchin and I loved the spiny texture.

Last, but not least, is this rock that has tons of craters inside.  I didn't mold this piece.  I just smooshed the clay right onto it.  The pendant reminds me of the moon.

I'm hoping to get these bisque fired tomorrow and glazed by the end of the week.  Stay tuned....

XXOO

Moriah

Sea Turtles Owls and Faerie Doors, huh?

I've just listed these in my Etsy Shop along with a bunch of ornaments.  More later!

Shaking Off the Bah Hummbugs

Every year I get a little less jolly and a bit more bah hummbug this time of year.  I think it's a combination of things that are causing it.  The warmer weather here in Florida makes it seem impossible that it's Christmas time. My husband being less than enthused every holiday.  The very few things Christmas themed to do here this time of year.  It all adds up to me thinking, "Why bother?"  Then I look at my kids.  Especially the youngest one (age 9), and then I think, "Oh yeah, because they are excited about it."

I used to love Christmas!  Everything about it.  Going to see all of the window displays, the train displays, the light displays.  Everything always seemed so magical in December.  So, instead of becoming more and more Grinch like, I've decided to take back my holidays!  :)

I'm just going to have to figure out how I can make it feel more like Christmas around here, without moving to a state with cold and snow that I absolutely loathe.

So, I finally dragged out our crappy little Christmas tree and the kids had fun putting the ornaments on.  Then I decided to make some ornaments for the upcoming show this weekend too.  So, I turned on the holiday channel on Pandora and made these ornaments while I sang along to my favorite holiday songs.

I know, I know.....

Making some ornaments and dragging out a tree isn't exactly a great effort but I'm working on it.  Next year I've decided to have a real tree for the first time in 18 years.  I'm going to make next Christmas a Christmas to remember for a long time.  Dang it!  This year, I'll do what I can on such short notice.  :)

No really, after I do the show this weekend I'll be focusing on Christmas.  The getting of gifts, wrapping, planning dinner, etc.

Maybe if all of you share what you do for Christmas it will inspire me to get my rear in gear.  Just leave a comment telling me what you HAVE TO HAVE when planning Christmas.  There may be a little somethin' somethin' in it for you too... hint hint.  More on that later.

In the meantime, wish me luck at the show and I'll be back Monday with info from the show and the somethin' somethin'.  ;)

XXOO
Moriah

Bodies Suck

I'm not feeling too great today.  Yesterday was worse though.  I'm having some digestion issues and am really not happy about the whole thing.  Apparently my body has decided that it does not like red meat, regardless of what my nose and taste buds think.  Sigh....

I did manage to drag my whiny butt outside for a few minutes to take pictures of some pendants I'll be adding to my etsy shop over the next few minutes though.  I thought I'd share them with you before I head on into the kitchen to warm up some soup.  It's a bit chilly here today (for Florida), which is not helping my whining.  :)

I hope everyone is staying warm and gearing up for the holidays.  I'm dragging my feet big time.  I haven't even put our tree up yet.  Tsk Tsk.  I need to shake off the bah humbug and get a little golly red elf going soon.  Christmas will be here before I know it!  My youngest daughter is already in the mood.  Look at this sweet little gifty that I spied on the end table today....

What a sweet pea!

Okay, better get that soup.  My nose is frozen.

XXOO
Moriah

Amber Waves of Gorgeousness

Click on the picture to see the treasury up close and personal.  :)  I'm in love with this color combo at the moment.