Tattoo Party - September 2012

I had a lot of fun at this faerie party!  I loved dressing in faerie to be there.  The kiddos loved my custom tattoo designs, too.

Another Great One

The Tribeca Film Festival this year was a rousing success, no surprise.  I painted for 8 hours straight, with the assistance of a few line managers, including Eric.  Someday I need to buy a counter so I can see how many faces I've painted.

Meanwhile, here are a few of the photos he took for me.

Boy's Glitter Tat Birthday

Last weekend I was hired to do glitter tattoos at a boy's bounce house birthday.  Glitter tats are perfect for bounce house party places, since they won't rub off on the houses, minimizing cleanup for the employees.  Plus, kids get sweaty when bouncing, and the tats don't just sweat off, always a plus.  Some of my designs...

Once the birthay boy chose that one, it was pretty popular!

I thought this was a nifty way of getting over a fear of witches.

Another popular one was this great tribal dragon.

The kids had a blast, and I got to have fun with them.  A great way to spend an afternoon!

A Happy 4th!

I painted on Monday at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, at their annual party.  It was a great bunch of kids, and we had fun.  This year, Angry Birds were the most popular face by far, a fad begun by this young lady, with my first ever Angry Bird face painting.


 Of course, butterflies.

A dragon.

A patriotic kiddo.

An evil clown.

And a bunch more firsts... a rocket and a smilie.

An owl that I wish was a better photo.

And a cute porcupine!

Now That's a Party!

Wow.  Just wow.

I did glitter tattoos on Saturday at a 10th birthday party out in Queens, NY.  The family was incredibly nice and the kids really down to earth, but this was the party to end all parties.  Apparently, they don't do big birthday celebrations every year, just milestone-type birthdays, and this was one of those.  I think half the population of Queens was there, together with a DJ, catered food, an arcade party van, pony rides, and a local marching band!  Yes, seriously.

I love it.  I also loved the fact that all the kids, including the multitude of boys, wanted glitter and even the rhinestones I brought with me for this killer event.

Jaden, the birthday boy, got two.  Just 'cause.

Some of what I did...

On these, I used glitter plus my tattoo inks to embellish...

And for this guy, I used my black matte mica powder, ink, and rhinestones.  The powder has a finish that looks like a real tattoo.

These are two really large stencils I had, from the same woman who made my Alice in Wonderland stencils, a phoenix and a Mardi Gras mask, and I love them!



And this one I did freehand on a sweet little girl's hand.

At the end, I got to drive home during my favorite time of day, when the sun is setting and the whole city and the water turn periwinkle blue.

Don't worry, I didn't look as I flashed those.  I just had to try for some shots out the car window as I went over the bridge.

A great end to a great day!

Tribeca Film Festival

The Tribeca Film Festival Kid's Day was Saturday, and this time I was there from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., working nonstop!  It was crazy, with people waiting for me for over an hour.

When I first got there, my station in Washington Market Park didn't have a table and chair yet, so I took a few flower and "beautiful day" photos.

Just as I finished setting up, a short line started to form... that didn't stay short!  One of the very first "customers" I had wanted to be a vampire. A girl after my own heart. My vampire face changes every time I paint it, so this is the one I did early yesterday.

I was happy with it, and she loved it, but I think I improved upon it later in the day, when this boy also asked to be a vampire.

A little Eddie Munster-ish, but Eddie was supposed to evoke a vampire look so I'm OK with that.  This kid was absolutely ecstatic and his family wowed.  The initial reaction when he saw the mirror was, "Even better than I imagined it would be!"  Perfect reaction!

On the other end of the spectrum was this faerie princess, all shimmery and with hearts and rosebuds.

I did make a mistake.  I brought with m a Frappuccino and a Special K protein bar, but no sandwich or anything for lunch, and no water.  What was I thinking?  Especially the water - I always bring water!  In fact, I brought water for my face painting, but none for me.

Thankfully, the volunteers, organizers, and employees of the Tribeca Film Festival are phenomenal.  Not only did they get someone to help me carry my things into the park to set up, but they came by throughout the day to make sure I didn't need anything.  And the first one who came by, came with bottles of SmartWater.  Perfect!  As it is, I didn't even drink it all because I was really painting without any break at all, barely even for a swig of water.  Not the healthiest, but I always feel bad to stop when I see the line is so long.  I really need to treat myself better.  And when the volunteers asked if I needed anything else periodically, I really should've mentioned food; it was silly not to.

Ah, well, at least I took the time to snap a few more photos, like this whimsical full face flower that I painted upon request for this young lady.

Interestingly, someone must've seen her and liked it also, because later on in the day I got another request for the same face!

Two of my other favorite faces of the day were both dragons.  The first request actually caused me to change from my standard dragon face to something entirely different.  A girl wanted a very girly dragon, in pink.  Okie doke.  So this is what I came up with.

I even made the scales heart shaped!  That was a fun one.  So then later when another girl wanted a more traditional dragon, this one had an obvious influence on it.

The crowd at the Tribeca Film Festival really is terrific too.  The kids were great, and I appreciated the parents, grandparents, and guardians who expressed concern for my well-being.  They're good eggs, all of them.

We did have one scare during the day, though.  A little boy, maybe four years old, was throwing some dirt at my table, which concerned me because I didn't want dirt and pebbles in the face paints, with the resulting potential to scratch my models.  I was able to get it cleaned out, but I really couldn't seem to get the boy's attention and have him stop.  And no adult would claim him!

I called the event organizer, now more afraid for a lost little boy than my supplies, and the Festival folk were able to reunite him with his parents' friends, who had taken him and his twin brother to the playground and hadn't noticed that he was missing.  Phew, crisis averted.

At the end of the day, my back was sore, my neck and shoulders stiff, but I was happy at the honestly absolutely awesome gig.  The people were wonderful - both festival people and patrons, I got to be creative despite the thousand butterflies and puppies I must've painted, and I had a blast.  Even fighting my way through the Holland Tunnel afterwards was worth it.