What a Weekend!

I'm tired and my back aches, but I had a great weekend.

On Saturday, I painted at two birthday parties, both for two-year-old girls! The first was at a very nice home in Saddle River, NJ, with a Candyland theme. When I got there, only several adults, the birthday girl in an adorable fluffy hot pink skirt, and her older sister or cousin were there. I painted the two girls, the birthday girl as a candy princess.

After that, the adults immediately got in on the action until more kids arrived. The family was great, and I got to try out some pretty spiffy paintings, like this dragon face...

This peacock princess...

A new version of one of my old dragons. The original won me a prize for "best quick 'n' easy boy design" a while back. I actually like the new one better, and it's even faster. Old:

New:

And a slightly different monster from my usual fare...

The second party was in New City, NY. The family there was huge, and again, both adults and children were ready for me. The mom who hired me had completely underestimated my popularity, thinking only kids would want to be painted. They were fun and high energy, and I ended up staying an extra hour to get everyone done. It was crazy!

The women were mostly into fancy eye designs...

The guys wanted all sorts of crazy things, including a pirate

and a rainbow-painted beard

The birthday girl herself was adorable, and it kills me that I didn't get a good photo of her. Every time the flash went off, she blinked, so all I have are grainy photos with poor lighting.

On Sunday, I painted at the Glen Rock Street Fair. It was my first time doing that fair, and it was an amazing day. I'd sent my husband home, and 45 minutes later I was asking him to come back to manage my line. I went nonstop for the five hours of the fair, painting furiously all day without a break for food or drink. I love it, though, the energy and the smiles!

I got to try some new things again, and revamp some old. I love this dragon...

I've had a clown in my book for years now. It was a girl at a different festival who requested it, sight unseen. This time, for the first time, a boy asked me for a clown face. So this was my boy version...

It was a hit with everyone, including the boy himself. This was also the first time I was ever asked for a snowy owl, of all things. The request was for cheek art besides!

She loved it. Another girl with wonderful red hair who'd just celebrated her birthday was at the fair. As part of her gift, her aunt got her face painted in a custom-requested green and blue batgirl

with blue and green bat glitter tattoos to match!

Personally, I think she's going to grow up to be a model. She had such great camera presence!