Showing posts with label parties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parties. Show all posts

Body Painting or Lots and Lots of Henna

Thursday, July 17, 2014

I was hired to do henna tonight at a birthday party for a 14-year-old girl. The kids were great, though I was really disconcerted to hear "Oh, this is from Glee" when songs from my junior high and high school years were playing. Wow, am I that old? Really? When did that happen?!

At any rate, the party was outside, where the humidity was wreaking a bit of havoc with the henna's consistency, but I got some decent results and the kids loved it. Mom had set up a great little table from me, with printed paisley designs to "set the scene." That was great!

Some of my pieces...






(The girl pulled this one up on her smartphone; it apparently means "love.")




(In case you can't tell, peace signs are "in" this year!)

And my very last request of the night, from the birthday girl's younger brother, a penguin. I drew it first in surgical marker to be sure I'd get it right, and you can still see it behind the henna. The marker is easily washed off, while the henna stain will remain. It was quite dark at this point, and I was working by a dim porch light, so I wasn't quite as "on" the marker as I thought I was.

And yes, the penguin is holding a little fish. I just had to.

gz-Body Painting or Going Away

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

No, not me. Ha, you're not getting rid of me that easily!

Someone else... and so there was a big kids' going away party yesterday afternoon at Tribeca Cinemas. I was hired to face paint at the party, and because I knew we'd have two hours and a lot of kids, I brought my friend Emilie with me.

The party was great, with balloons, a DJ, food, and drink... and of course, us. When we first got there, only a few girls chose to get painted.


So I did what I usually do to try and attract attention; I started to paint myself as a tiger. Well, I got the orange and white base done, and picked up a brush with black to get myself a nose, fangs, and start on my stripes... and of course, a line formed! We painted furiously for over two hours straight, and I never did get a chance to finish my own painting, so I spent the afternoon painting with an orange and white face. I actually forgot about it until I went to the bathroom to empty my water and looked in the mirror!

Oops.

I was happy, though. I think I got my puppy face down to about 90 seconds, since I did what felt like hundreds of them. And we had some creative kids there. This very pretty girl wanted to be a vampire, and was very happy with her face, even happier when she turned around and scared the heck out of two girls waiting behind her!


I also had a young mermaid swim away from my chair.


Recognize the very quick version of the shell I practiced for cheek art? Speaking of cheek art, some of the most fun paintings I did were of the cheek and arm art variety. The kids were so into the painting once we got going, that ones who'd already been face painted kept coming back and getting on line to get arms painted; I think had some had four or five separate paintings!

Well, my first new thing for the day... I got a request for a robot! Um... OK. Let's see what we can do with that.


And then... a lollipop!


And last, but not least, a flamingo!


Of course, those resulted in many repeated requests for robots, lollipops, and flamingos. Of course!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

This past Saturday, I painted faces at a 5th birthday party in River Edge, NJ. It was a great party, but I didn't have time for photos, so there aren't any of those. Sorry!

It did bring up an interesting issue, though, so I thought I might want to give you some pointers for when you're having an entertainer at your party. This is relevant for hiring face painters, magicians, caricature artists, anybody...

The party was at a dojo (karate school), and was amazing fun for the kids. Don't get me wrong, it was great fun for me too! Heck, I used to take karate as a kid myself, so it was fun even to reminisce.

Thing is, the family planned for me to be there right when the party started. So I got there and set up, and was ready to go in a back room next to the party room. What I didn't know was that the parties at that school have a standard format (as well they should, but I'd never before done a karate party), during which the sensei (teacher) has the kids participate in a series of games and exercises for about 1.5 hours before going to the party room.

It included breaking boards, so it was very cool for the kids, and I can't wail 'til my nephew's old enough to have a party like that!

Thing is, for the first hour or so of the party, I was just hanging around, being entertained by the sensei and kids, but not working. It so happened that this particular family wasn't worried about it and was able to add an hour onto my time to make sure that no kids left unpainted. That's terrific, but most families simply can't afford that, and I'd hate for them to be put in the position of having to choose what to do about it. Also, it was lucky that I didn't have another obligation immediately after that party; it can happen that I have five parties in one weekend and can't really stay later at any of them.

All in all, it was great to be there; the family was very nice, the kids were wonderful, the other guests great, and I even got some ice cream cake!

This is just a reminder to the rest of you... when planning your parties, if you don't want an entertainer to have down time, go over the party schedule with your entertainer when booking so you can work out together the best possible way to handle things.

A Saturday Evening Party

Saturday, March 13, 2010

I was hired to paint at a birthday party this evening, only it wasn't a children's party.  Some couples were getting together for the adults' birthdays, and wanted to keep the kids entertained.  I'd painted these beautiful girls before, at the McFaul Environmental Center in Wyckoff, when I was there for Bergen County's annual Cabbage Night Festival.  Their mom showed me a photo from that day, and I recognized my work instantly.

Tonight, mom had me get there a little early so I could paint up the sisters before the others arrived.  The younger went first, a beautiful butterfly who informed me that her favorite color was purple.


Her older sister decided on a puppy.


Later in the party, though, the puppy was washed off in favor of a leopard to mach her shirt.


I also got to do a whole garden full of flowers.  The girls' teacher, who was there to watch them for a while, and another older relative got them on their fingers; the smaller girls and one mom got them on their hands.




There were also princess swirls, a vine with butterflies, and a very cute penguin to match one young man's shirt.  I love painting for such nice families!

Throw a Party!

Monday, March 8, 2010

An Alice in Wonderland party!  Now, you can tell from my prior posts that I've got Alice on the brain.  But there's a new development.  Of course I can paint your face (or the faces of your kids and their friends) as the inhabitants of Wonderland - it's great to go to the movie painted and get some attention!  See this post.

But now, I can also tattoo you with glitter or ink in Wonderland-themed designs!  I can assure you, I'm the first person in NJ to get these terrific temporary tattoo stencils.  They were custom-made by a wonderful stencil maker in North Carolina, and aren't available anywhere else!

I've got the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter's hat (hey, that rhymes!), Alice herself, one of the cards, the White Rabbit, and of course the Caterpillar.


Contact me ASAP to check my availability for your next part or excursion to the movie theater!

And while I won't be here in NJ for St. Paddy's, there's no reason why you shouldn't throw a pre-or-post-Paddy's party!  I'll be in New Orleans from March 16-23, at a face and body painting seminar and event.  There will be lots of photos from that, I assure you!

But you won't want to miss out on having me at your event anyway, since I've also got brand-new St. Paddy's stencils, also from North Carolina, and also unavailable elsewhere.  You'll be the coolest kid on your block when sporting these designs!


I've done two glitter tattoos on myself to show you how great they are.  I had to do a Cheshire Cat, since he's my absolute favorite in Wonderland.  I went with the Disney colors of pink & purple, though I could make him any colors I choose...


And in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I've got my lucky horseshoe and four-leaf clover all ready to go!  I used two shades of green and some gold on this one.


Much like face painting, glitter tattoos are a lot easier to do on someone else than myself!  Anyway, hope you like these.  Let me know if you want some too!

A Day of Firsts

Saturday, January 23, 2010

I painted today at two birthday parties. The earlier, in Wayne, was a first birthday, and it was a slow start. Lots of kids wanted to get painted, but no one wanted to be first. I find that every now and again. Well, this brave girl decided to run with it, and became a puppy.


She was great, and the face was a hit That prompted her friend to join in, but she was more or less undecided as to what she wanted. She started talking around a fish, but didn't see how I could do it, so I suggested a fishbowl.


My first ever fishbowl! She loved it, as did everyone else there. Both girls took cards, and one told me that her dad said they might want me for her birthday too.

Meanwhile, a mom and dad of one of the kids each separately came over to book me for a party in early June!


After that, I got a couple of superheroes. Batman blinked, but they look great together.


This boy had been afraid to get painted initially, and then pulled together the courage to do it. He was ecstatic with his train, and kept wanting to look at it, either in the mirror or just by looking down at his nose as best he could.


My next victim originally wanted to be a Power Ranger, but no one had Google access to get me a photo to follow. I admit that's one cartoon I've never watched. So he came up with a bear idea, and dad asked me to do a ferocious bear, rather than a cute teddy. I did my best to comply, right down to the snarling teeth and fish dinner.


Last, but definitely not least, grandma wanted a bluebird on her collarbone.



The shimmery blue I used was one of my new Fardel liquid paints, the ones I got from my Secret Santa in the UK. Now I'm truly addicted to them. It looked amazing in person, with a coppery shimmer that I loved!

It was just such a great party. Yes, it's a business for me, but more than the cash, I love it when everyone's into the painting and having fun. I love it when kids who are shy at first finally get up the courage to get painted and really enjoy it. I love it when adults are willing to join in the fun. And of course, I love it when people love the work I do. I won't lie, the ego boost is nice and I left the party feeling really happy and full of adrenaline.


The second party, in Lincoln Park, was a referral from the mom at this party last year! In fact, my Gene Simmons was at the party too, as was last year's birthday boy, who I'd painted as a pirate. He wasn't into getting painted this time, but his mom was.


I got to play with my new Fardel paints again, too!


The birthday boy chose one of my favorite things to paint - a tiger.


How cute was he? He loved it, and promptly became a tiger, growling and baring his claws at the other kids. Some other animals joined him in the jungle, though. Like a leopard.



And a lion.



And even a mini tiger. I love it when the littles get painted!

Once that cutie got painted, of course, other parents wanted to see if their kids would sit for me too, and they got even younger! Like this puppy, who was about 7 months.

After that, the parents of this 4-month-old had to see if he could be painted too. I think he might be my youngest customer to date!

And I'm not sure that record will ever be beat.

Of course, not everyone was a jungle animal or tiny. We had a kitty.

And a Giants fan, despite their current standing as 10th place in the NFC.

Gotta respect that!

Another great party for a bunch of great people. All in all, it was a terrific day!

I love face painters!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

I'm a member of several worldwide face painting discussion groups. One is small enough, though international, and close enough, that we've become good friends. So a couple years ago, someone suggested a secret Santa exchange, and of course I wanted to participate. I love gifts - giving and receiving!

Our version extended past the holidays, into mid-January.

Yesterday, I was feeling really blech. My stomach was bothering me, and I didn't get anything done as intended. So when the doorbell rang and the dog went crazy barking, I was in even less of a good mood. When I got there, though, things got a lot better. I had a fat, padded envelope from a great face painter, Paula Southern, in the UK!

Wow, did I score! In addition to some awesome organic chocolate, a soap making book and some essential oils for our soaps and other bath products, a beautiful card to inspire my henna,

and some very cool bindis,

she sent me three bags of gorgeous shimmery cosmetic glitter.

And on top of that, my personal favorite, she sent me six jars of liquid Fardel face paint! Just look at those amazing colors! The deep blue is already my favorite.

Fardel is a Belgian face paint company, still EU and FDA compliant, but hard to get here in the States. So this is HUGE for me. I can't wait until my next party on 1/23, so I can try them out!

gz-Body Painting or First Birthday... and Selflessness

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

I painted this afternoon at a first birthday. While the birthday boy didn't want to get painted, his friends and family were certainly willing... but then, I've painted several of them before! Remember these guys?


Well, you might recognize two of them from today's party.


The kids at this party were great. Even the ones who started out reluctant, like this girl who wanted a tiny butterfly on her cheek came back later for a flower on her arm, and wanted blue to match her dress, which you all know I love.


I tried a new puppy, and love the ears on this one.


And I got my first ever parrot request!


Maybe it's not entirely accurate, but it's not bad, if I do say so myself. Of course, there were still the requisite butterflies.



Spidermen too, but these boys wanted them all on their arms!


One young man who'd already been painted as a lion decided he also wanted a pirate. Since I couldn't put one over the other on his face, I suggested this skull pirate on his arm. He was very skeptical beforehand and as I painted him, but once the design started to take shape, he understood and then he loved it.


Meanwhile, I did get to do one tiger, on this terrific little boy. He's four years old.


And here's where the lesson in selflessness comes in. He loved his tiger. He and the lion were going around growling at all the butterflies and puppies running about. But when he approached another four-year-old attending the party to play, the other boy, who wasn't a fan of face painting and was quite shy, got scared of the poor tiger-faced kid. Apparently, my tiger kept trying, and the other boy kept getting scared.

So what did tiger-boy do? He went and washed his face so he could play with the other boy, who then happily followed him into the playroom. I've never before seen such a mature decision in a four-year-old. Heck, I've yet to see some adults behave so selflessly!

Kudos to you, kid.
 

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