5th Birthday

On Saturday, I painted at a great birthday party in New City, NY.  The family had rented a Sabrett truck, gotten Optimus Prime to show up, had a bounce house, and me!  It was really fun and the kids were great... and I was happy they were willing to get painted even though they were swimming in the family's backyard pool.

I had a pretty varied bunch at the party, with lots of different requests and very few doubles, always a plus for me.

Of course there was the requisite butterfly, but only one!

Only one cat too!

This little devil was really happy with her face.

The flaming football and Jack Sparrow facial hair did inspire a couple of duplicates, but it was too fun, so who cares?  How cute is that kid in a beard & moustache?!

It's not face painting 'til there are hearts involved... even if those hearts wind up on arms.  That top "tattoo" contains the model's wife's initials, and I'm always happy when a kiddo lets me match her outfit.

Where there are hearts, unicorns are never far behind.

This smiling ladybug got a great reaction from the guests, and from the bug herself when she saw the mirror.

Sometimes it's all about the simple classics.

And sometimes things are a bit more involved!

These three were going to Dave & Busters after the party to watch the Rangers game.  I only wish they'd been going to the actual game so I could look for them on the monitors!

And a Transformers fan to the end, the birthay boy, last but definitely not least, was Optimus Prime.

I'm a Hockey Fan

A fan of the NJ Devils, in fact.  Have been for as long as I can remember.  Unfortunately, I don't have a jersey.

So when my parents gave us 4 tickets to the Devils/Islanders game at the Prudential Center in Newark, I just had to do something to show my FANatic side!  I painted myself!

Unfortunately, the stadium was bright enough that I didn't realize my flash wasn't engaging, so my photos are kind of grainy.  Too bad, 'cause I did a pretty good job, especially for painting myself, which is always harder.

It was definitely a fun face to wear!

And yes, that's my husband in a NY Rangers jersey.  I married a New Yorker.  Sigh.

Oh, and by the way?  We won!

Go, Rangers!

OK, I'm from NJ, I know.  And I'm really a Devils fan.  But I married a Rangers fan, and since we met, he'd been talking about me painting a Rangers jersey on his all-white cat, Neptune.  Neptune, in addition to being all white, is a lump.  He's a sweetheart, snuggly, and likes to lie around.  You can mush him to bits and he doesn't care.

So we figured it'd work fine.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell... we found out that Neptune is a little squirmy when being painted for any length of time.  I should've known; he will only take licking/cleaning from his sister Catimus for so long before walking away, and I imagine this felt similar.  Don't worry, I used all Snazaroo, it's perfectly safe.  Child toy safety rated, even.  And no animals - not even Neptune - were harmed in the painting of this cat or taking of the photos.

Almost none.  My dog, Meg's, feelings were hurt, but she gets like that any time I pay too much attention to one of the cats.  But that's it, I promise.  And even that was fixed; I painted her head with a NJ Devils logo (not my best work, I admit), and she just lay there the whole time, happy for the attention.

Those sharp edges are just not easy on fur!