WELCOMING A NEW YEAR!

Welcome 2017!

We had a awesome end to 2016 and a great start to the New Year with my Brother In-law, his Partner and our Two Nephews come stay with us for just over a week.

It was SO much fun I could write a novel about our time together!... But i wont... I just thought I’d share a few of my fave moments from their trip…

A DAY IN PICTON

On today's schedule was a trip to Picton/Waikawa to do some possible fishing, swimming and general exploring.

We arrived in Picton and wondered around the shops for awhile then headed down to the bay area were the boys paddled in the water and played in the sand while we sat and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

After awhile we headed over to the playground area where they also run a small (VERY SMALL) train for the kids to ride on and also hire out mini boats for them to sail in the paddling pool/pond.
It was great entertainment and pretty much cost us nothing!

After a few hours in Picton we headed off to spend the afternoon in Waikawa.

We found a nice little bay just past the Waikawa area were we had lunch, did some fishing and explored the area. The Nephews seemed to quite enjoy discovering the different creatures (such as Periwinkles) and hidden sea treasures scattered among/over the rocks.

The boys attempted to do some fishing but after a short time we realized the wind was to strong in this area and we decided to head back towards Waikawa bay and try our luck there.



FRUIT PICKING

I’ve lived in Marlborough almost 15 years and never been fruit picking, which is like living in Marlborough and not drinking wine… which ironically I don’t do either!

Marlborough is FULL of Pick-your-Own fruit orchards (also known as Pay-to-Pick) so this day we took advantage of that which I really enjoyed!

We ended up with Apricots, Plums, Cherries and Boysenberries and even treated ourselves to a ‘Real Fruit Ice Cream’ which was very yummy!

Although I'm still not sure whether we were allowed to eat the berries while we picked them but I know we weren’t meant to eat the cherries as there was a “NO EATING FRUIT” sign up but with a little mini fruit harvester on our team we were busted before we even began picking!

It was wonderful to met the Brother In-Laws Partner, she is lovely and i felt we were on the same page with a lot of things eg morals, values etc she was very easy to get on with and most importantly the Boys love her to bits!
We had a awesome time and i miss them all HEAPS already! (even my Brother In-law!) I can't wait til the next visit!

Handmade - Book Box

Tomorrow is my Mother In-Laws birthday and i thought I'd make her something special...

I made her a book box! In this little collection i have included a hard cover copy of her story "The Boasting Bull", which she wrote for her grandsons. I did the Illustrations for her and we only recently finished the final edits and have had it printed into a book! It was heaps of fun to work on!
The Book Box also includes my own Book which i wrote and illustrated myself and my husbands (her sons) book! Which he created and wrote and I did the pictures for.
I think she will love it!

Story Time- The Boasting Bull

Although i enjoy all things creative my passion is for Painting-Drawing-Illustrating etc !
I recently, and FINALLY, finished working on Illustrating a story for my now Mother In-Law which she wrote to read to her grandchildren.
We have had it printed and made into a book and we are both really happy with how it has turned out. Her story is great with a good little moral to it and I'm thrilled she likes the Illustrations!

Now that my Partner and I  are married and all the wedding prep and organization is over I will have a lot more time for other projects, time for completing older projects and taking on new ones!

I enjoyed working on my Mother In-Laws story and we have decided to put a few of her other tales together and create some more books for her grandchildren! I can't wait to see what story my Mother In-Law will send me next to work on!

My Motivational Team!

I have officially been Mrs Mckinnon for One Month today!
My Husband is a driving force and major motivation behind my creativity. He helps me break out when I'm feeling creatively stuck or in an 'artistic drought'. He supports and encourages me and is constantly inspiring new ideas.
He is also rather artful himself! Dabbling in a few different creative things from Film Making to creating Handmade, Up-cycled (AWESOME) furniture!
We also have two little 'helpers' who enjoy being part of our creative processes... though not ALWAYS helpful, they are always welcome to 'join in'.