I grew up always wanting a sister. Ask my mom and she’d tell you that it was a topic I frequently brought up. To this day, I still wish I had grown up with a sister. But now, in my thirties, I frequently wish I had a daughter. But not having kiddos, makes me cherish the moments I have with my niece even more.

So whenever I have a chance to spend a day with my niece, I won’t say no. Fortunately, she’s usually excited to spend the day with me too.

She had an upcoming day off school, so we planned a girls day. Early on, I had told her I had a surprise for her. Of course she tried to guess. “Are we crafting?!” she asked. I just smiled and told her she’d have to wait to find out. Boy is that torture for a 6 year old.

The morning of she was up early, ready to go. We headed out. The whole car ride, “Are we going to Target? Michaels? We’re crafting right?” I could tell her hopes in some sort of art project was starting to waver. Oh the torture!

We pulled up to It’s Your Pottery. Her face was perplexed. I could tell she wasn’t too sure about this surprise. Until she walked through the door. She slowly looked around. I knew exactly what she was thinking because I was thinking the same thing! OMG! What to paint first!!

She quickly picked out her piece. A cat. And we began painting. We may have overstayed our welcome a bit (two hours) and decided we should probably go get lunch.

Hours spent painting, crafting, drawing, coloring, taking photos, or anything else that has to do with art is our jam. It’s something we both love and I know (hope) I’ll get to enjoy many more memories like this with her.

These are my favorite photos from the day.

love & pixels,
ashley nicole

PS – All photos taken with my Canon 1V and a roll of Fuji 400H. All rated at 200.

 Picked out her paints and time to get started.
The concentration!
 After two hours of painting we decided it was time to leave for lunch. Panera of course!
After lunch I asked if she wanted to take some pictures in the leaves. I knew she wouldn’t say no. So we found a great spot on a little piece of land near home. She played. And I took pictures. 🙂
I adore her smile in this picture! She was really having fun!
The wind and that light! <3
Stunning, artistic and so much fun.