Xoxo Pottery Designs

It’s been a beautiful few days and I’m feeling so grateful. 🤍
I went through about 60kgs of clay this weekend, and finally loaded and fired 3 full kilns. So a bounty awaits…

My hands, elbows and shoulders are a little sore, but my heart is overflowing, and that will always trump any niggling soreness I might feel.
I can’t wait to show you some of my new pieces.
There are some beauties in there.

I read this powerful excerpt yesterday and thought I’d share it:
“The most peaceful people I know and the most wise are the ones who have created enough internal space to be able to allow all the parts of themselves to coexist despite the contradictions.

So they have room for their creativity, and they also have room for their fears. They have room for their dignity,
and they also have room for their shame.

They have room for the parts of themselves that are glorious, divine and wonderful. They have room for the parts of themselves that are petty, jealous and ridiculous.

They create this big huge auditorium of landscape inside themselves. They don’t kick any part out because guess what?
You can’t.”

And I’ve been thinking about that auditorium ever since.
Make sure yours is filled with all the people, things, experiences, desires and memories you love.

The messy bits too.
The glorious bits.
The contradictory bits.

Because perhaps peace isn’t about becoming one perfectly balanced version of ourselves.

Perhaps it’s about making enough room for all of who we are.
Remembering that it’s a balancing act…
And we all learn to balance our own acts as best we can. 🫶🏼

Xoxopottery Quotes
🫶🏽

Rise, sister Rise.
We rise by lifting others. Happy Woman’s Day🌷

It’s vital that we all open up to and accept the magic that exists within us. Don’t hide, don’t dim yourself down, don’t whisper and don’t feel intimidated.

Be proud
Be authentic
Be vibrant
Be humble
Be bold
Be strong
Be graceful
Be kind

To the women labelled bossy - keep leading.
To the women labelled aggressive - keep being assertive.
To the women labelled to much - keep taking up space.
To the women labelled difficult - keep telling your truth.

Find your tribe of strong sisters and invest in the relationships that make you grow, make you rise and help make you shine. Find you tribe of male connections who support, value and understand you.

Let the uniqueness of each soul march to the beat of their drum and dance beneath the moonlight. We’re all deserving.
There’s enough shine for everyone’s face.
It’s the unity of love and respect that shines through those bonds which are priceless.

Celebrate them.

So, Rise, sister Rise.
with love XoXoPottery

Just make sure you are facing the sun 🫶🏽
Xoxopottery Quotes

Sharing My Workbench with you all today…
Along with a few inner reflections….

Trust what you know to be true.
Trust your intuition.
Trust that quiet inner voice.
The more you listen, the clearer it becomes.

Sometimes it feels foggy.
Sometimes it feels chaotic.
You won’t always understand what it’s trying to tell you.
Your senses may feel out of sync.
You may even feel a little lost.

That’s okay.
Just stop.
Take a breath.
Tune in.
Listen.

Find your still point.
Return to your center.
Trust your internal compass.

You don’t need external validation to confirm your truth.
You don’t need society’s approval.
You only need the quiet certainty that lives within you.

Sometimes the greatest act of courage is allowing
yourself to be guided.

Listen.
Honour the wild, unwavering call of your soul.
Your soul rarely shouts.
It whispers.

The magic begins the moment you finally listen.

It has always known the way.
And perhaps… so have you.

I’ve had a very reflective few days in my studio…
Most of my reflections have centred around time.
Time. Growth. Healing.

I read The Body Keeps the Score.
It left me wondering whether perhaps it isn’t only our bodies that keep score. Maybe our souls do too.
Our souls quietly catalogue the moments that shape us, break us, rebuild us, soften us and, eventually, set us free.

Then there are those Google Photos & Facebook memories.
“On this day 12 years ago…”
Sometimes they make you smile.
Sometimes they unexpectedly transport you back to a version of yourself you barely recognise. Who was that Lexi?

Today was 1 of those days.
12 years ago today, my life changed in a way that, at the time, felt devastating. I don’t feel the need to revisit the details around it - they no longer define me.
What surprised me wasn’t sadness.
It was gratitude.
I realised I no longer see that day as the day my life fell apart.
I see it as the day everything quietly began falling into place.
For years I carried that hurt like a badge. Almost as if holding onto the pain somehow validated what I’d survived.

Then, during my first Camino in 2016, three years later, something shifted during those 24 days, I let it go.
Not because I forgot, because I finally understood.

Looking back now, with 12yrs between then & now, I can say with absolute certainty that I wasn’t being punished.

I was being protected.
I wasn’t being sacrificed.
I was being redirected.

What felt like devastation & destruction was, in hindsight,
an extraordinary act of grace.
I thank God for that so often.
Had my life gone according to my plans, it would never have become the life I now wake up so grateful to live.
Time really does have a remarkable way of revealing what
faith cannot always see in the moment.
It doesn’t erase the past.
It reframes it.
So if you’re in the middle of your own “that day,” hold on.
Keep walking.

One day you’ll look back & realise that what broke your heart & shattered your soul also made room for everything that was waiting to find you.

MY life was waiting for me & it found me💫
Peace found me💫
Gratitude found me💫
Faith found me💫
My creativity found me💫
XoXoPottery found me🫶🏽

Xoxopottery Quotes
My greatest love affair, my love child and I built it all from scratch🫶🏽

Thought I’d hop onto this trend and share my
“5 Things that are always worth the money”….
Scroll through 🫶🏽 you’ll love the last one.. Xoxopottery pieces spark joy💫

Let me know what yours are… 🫶🏽
Happy Friday everyone 💫

Where does the XoXo come from?

The short story is, I couldn’t say my name as a child so I called myself Xo - bet you didn’t see that one coming did you?
to be said phonetically XO (ex oh)
The long story is it’s a term of endearment used by those closest to me.
My name is Alexia and I was born into a Greek family. Growing up I couldn’t quite say Aleee-X-iiiia so I named myself Xo,
I could pronounce it so I went with it.
Little did I know 44 years later I’d still be referred to as Xo, or Xopies.

I know my parents gave me a beautiful Greek name however I’ve never completely identify with it.

It was in high school that the a’s on either end of my name got chopped of and from there on I’ve been Lexi.

When I started attending ceramic classes in 2013 I had to write my name on my pieces.
I started stamping my clay with a XO.
The ‘unofficial’ me, the me that my nearest & dearest know me as.
The me that was still toying with the idea of ceramics as a full time life path, the me who didn’t totally believe in myself yet, the me who had been walking around feeling like half a person, the me who still allowed a very critical and judgmental voice to cause havoc in my soul, the me who felt scared to accept my gifts, the me who struggled to acknowledge my own light,
the me who just couldn’t see me!

It wasn’t until one evening in 2017 while sitting next to a friend of mine who suggested a double XO.
I LOVED the idea of doubling the X & 0, so I started stamping all my clay with XoXo.
A representation of me.
Unbeknownst to me, she - a brand developer went home that night & started creating, designing & developing my brand.

It’s amazing how the universe sends us the exact people at the right time. She saw the me I had been denying, the me who was very ready to take a leap of faith & follow my heart, the me who was in fact very ready to take this step into my light.
Xoxopottery Designs was born.

Some people automatically assume XoXo stands for
hugs & kisses.
Ultimately, it stands for love,a term of endearment, an innocences of a child and the acknowledgment of light & stepping into my creative power.

I cannot believe XOXOPOTTERY is turning 9yrs old next week!!