Face & Body Art by Larissa Made the Paper!

Twice!  Yes, I'm excited.

First, on December 8, 2015, a photo was printed in The Record, showing me painting at a glow-themed Chanukah party at the Chabad in Wayne.  It was so much fun!  My first time face painting in the dark, lit only by blacklight.

And then on January 6, 2016, I was featured in the online publication, The Daily Voice!  It's such a great article, with a number of terrific photos.

I feel famous!

And Halloween Rolls Around Again

My favorite holiday has come and gone again, and I was busy!  I'm actually kind of happy for November, because I've been crazy this October, culminating in the last two weekends.

First, one very cool friend with a birthday close to Halloween threw herself a Halloween themed 40th birthday party.  So... I brought out the zombie version of me.

Then on Friday, I cohosted a Halloween party for nearly 100 people, so out came a Day of the Dead version of me.

It was pretty cool, because in addition to my face, I got to wear the gown I wore as my sister's maid of honor again, with some roses added.  No shots of that, unfortunately.  And sadly, I handed my Spanish fan to Eric when we were carrying food into the house, and I completely forgot to take it back from him, so it spent the evening in his jacket pocket.  Boo.

And then on Halloween itself, I went easy on myself and was just an '80s rocker chick.  Everything except my jeans were legitimate '80s vintage and every item (except the Aquanet & scrunchy) was out of my own closets and jewelry box, so I'm not sure when my own clothes became a Halloween costume, but it made life easy!

And in between all of that, there were the appointments.  On Friday, a mother and son got done to go to a Trunk or Treat.

My Paul Stanley was ecstatic with his face (which when you're dealing with a 12-year-old boy already was huge), and then even more so when he won best costume at the Trunk or Treat!  Woohoo!

On Saturday, in the afternoon I had a couple I'd painted back in 2009, the last time Halloween fell on a Saturday!  They initially came that Friday morning, for a pre-work painting.  They were so happy that they came back again that Saturday, and brought a friend too!  We've stayed in touch all these years, and each year they've made appointments for Halloween paintings, only to be forced to cancel for various reasons.  But not this year!  This year, not only did they come back, but one gave me ideas with her Medusa headband.

And her husband!  Her husband actually shaved half his moustache, beard, and head for this painting!  Seriously!

That was just awesome!

And then in the evening, a new couple came over so I could paint the husband in a skull face.

He was so happy with all the compliments he got when they went into the city, that he sent me this photo!

Spooky!

And then on Sunday I painted at a restaurant, but I'll need to tell you all about that soon.

Another Busy Weekend: Valerie Fund Walk and a Pool Party

This past Saturday was a bit insane.  I was up at 6 a.m. to get down to Verona Park for the Valerie Fund Walk, since my team and I were to start painting (and twisting) at 8:30.  We all made it in time, and once the booth was set up, we were ready to go.  Four toasty, busy, humid hours later, we were tired, but happy.  It's really just such a good-natured, great bunch of people doing a wonderful thing.

Of course, we were moving like speed demons, so I couldn't get many photos, but there are a few.

My very first request was for my very first lamb. 

Not bad for winging it, but I'll work on it. 

Later in the day, my first monarch butterfly in a really, really long time.

There was also this shark that the wearer and I thought just came out really cute.

And then... and then... two requests I'd never even heard of.  First, Adam Acid.  I had to look him up.  Turns out, he's a Lego character.  Okie doke!

He was ecstatic!  And honestly, I was almost as impressed as his mom was that I more or less pulled it off.

And then, this.

 

It's apparently the logo for some boy band, the name of which I forgot almost exactly as soon as she said it, and I can't find it online.  If anyone knows what it is, tell me?  I'm curious!  'Cause when I try to search Google images for "current boy band logos," I get the logos for Korn, Metallica, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, and Fox News... which just isn't right.  Help!

From there, I traipsed on up to Franklin Lakes to do glitter and ink tattoos at a pool party. No photos at all at this one! I was kept really busy, with each girl getting two tattoos, and some of the moms getting in on the action too. It was a blast!

Another Busy Weekend: Cherry Reds, Chapter Three

First Friday Fun Nights at Cherry Reds continued this past Friday night (yes, I know it was the second Friday, but I had the Zoo Do last week).

A blast, as always!

It's Finally Spring!

Or at least it is as far as I'm concerned.  There may still be snow on the ground, but the clocks have changed, so I drive in the evening in daylight, and yesterday even drove home with the window open and rock on the stereo!  That's spring in my world.

Plus, last week was the first annual FLOW Green Fair (Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff, NJ), organized and hosted by the three Environmental Commissions, with participation from a lot of terrific groups, like the Northeast NJ Beekeepers Association, the Shade Tree Commissions, the Green Teams, Princeton Hydro, Hackensack Riverkeepers, the NJ Audubon Society... you get the idea.

It was pretty awesome.

And I got to face paint!  I'm on the Franklin Lakes Environmental Commission, but since they and the Green Team had all the organizational stuff well covered, we figured I could better serve by doing what I like most and do best.  And I was a pretty big hit - kept busy all day long!

Then again, so was everyone else!

If you're in the area and didn't make it this year, definitely make plans to come next year!  And if you did come?  Well, bring the family again!

Franklin Lakes Town Fair

I had a great experience today; I got to face paint at the town fair of my own town!  I'm a commissioner with the Franklin Lakes Environmental Commission, so I offered to face paint at the commission's booth while the other commissioners talked to people about recycling and ran a contest to give away and/or sell recycling bins.

It was a blast!  Eric stopped by with our puppy, Jack, who was completely overwhelmed by his first fair.  I got to have some Empanada Lady empanadas for lunch and two mini cupcakes from Kara Kakes for dessert.

Most of the time, though, I was painting the adorable kids of Franklin Lakes.  Check it out!

 

They were so fun!