Another Birthday - Mine!

This Wednesday, I turn 40.  Even before I was a face painter, a birthday always seemed to me to be a really good reason for a party, so I've always celebrated mine with friends and family, each year planning something different to do.

My family actually has a birthday tradition.  I was born at 12:12 a.m. on July 28, so it really started with my parents and sister showing up at my apartment at 12:12 a.m. every year with ice cream cake, balloon and gifts.  My sister was born at around 2 a.m. on a day in May so we'd show up at her place then for the same little party.  Well, my parents don't stay up as late anymore, so the tradition has morphed a bit, wherein everyone shows up at some crazy hour of the morning and we have ice cream cake for breakfast, with balloons and gifts.

This past Sunday was my brother-in-law's birthday, so we all met at their house at 7 a.m. for the mini-party.  Unbeknownst to me, my husband made a deal with my mom to surprise me with a joint celebration, thereby getting out of having them descend on our house on Wednesday morning at 6 a.m., two hours before he had to leave for work and an hour and a half before he normally gets up.

Ice cream cake for breakfast is the best!  I got some great gifts...

... and then later that day was my self-planned birthday party.  First, we spent several hours at the Turtle Back Zoo, where I hadn't been in years.

After that, and just in time because as we left the zoo the sky turned black with an impending storm, we continued on to Monster Golf, an indoor mini golf venue that's all lit in blacklight and laid out in UV-reactive paint!  Of course, I had to pull out my UV face paints and painted myself and my friend.

I loved the glow, and we matched the whole place!

Dinner with friends was a terrific finish to the day.

My July 4th

My 4th of July this year was long.  And hot.  I have no idea how the kids do it, running around in the sun and heat, but I wish I was one of them sometimes.  Of course, I don't remember being that fine in that sort of weather, so maybe I was always old?

(Of course, I'll only be 40 at the end of this month, so "old" is a state of mind.  Or body.  I haven't decided which.)

On the morning of the 4th, my husband Eric and I made shampoo, since our web store was out of stock.  Then in the afternoon, I was hired by a wonderful event organizer, Premier Productions, to paint kids at a big party at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, NJ.  It's a beautiful place, and the event organizer was very good to the entertainers.  She had canopies, tables, and chairs set up for each of us, plus enough cold water to keep us going.

That striped tent had games for the kids to play.  There was also this terrific balloon artist.

Plus, a magician.  The balloon artist apparently had a large number of requests for aliens, because then the kidos came to me to have their faces match!  As someone who's ever only painted one alien face before, it was fun to have several in one day; gave me a challenge to change them up a bit as I went.

Even some of the club staff got painted, like this Tinkerbell fan, which is always fun for me.

Some of the kids stuck with the patriotic theme, of course.

And others didn't.

Some went completely another direction and were looking for my favorite, the horror faces.  One boy was very definite about wanting to be a vampire, and another, age 12, just gave me the instruction that he wanted the most gory, bloody, horrible thing I could do.  So here goes, a vampire and a zombie.

And you just have to love kids who play up to the photography!  Hams are the best!

Believe it or not, after four hours of this, I went home, took a shower, and then Eric and I went to a party hosted by one of our own friends.  It wasn't until the next day that we got to see fireworks in Ridgewood.

Road Trip

This past Sunday I was hired to do face painting and temporary tattoos at an adult party at which kids would be in attendance.  I was actually referred by a Maryland face painter who'd painted at the hostess' niece's (follow along with me here) party while the hostess was visiting.  It sounds more convoluted than it is.

At any rate, I'm grateful to my Maryland colleague for the referral.

The party on Sunday was in Long Branch, NJ, over an hour from where I live, and part of the Jersey shore, but they were adamant that they needed me there.  And what a party it was!  I got to try a taste of the phenomenal catering, as the hostess insisted that I eat.  I made sure to try some of the multitude of gorgeous pastries and chocolates.

It was hot on Sunday, incredibly hot for an outdoor party, but I found a spot under some trees and not far from the really great Israeli band that reminded me of my dad's music from my childhood, and made due with the shade.

The kids were really great, and gave me a chance to do faces I love to make up for the school carnival of cheek art.

We had the requisite butterflies... but what cute butterflies!

And a puppy!

A monkey!  Monkeys have always been tough for me, but I think I'm kind of getting the swing of them.  The partiers approved, at least.

I haven't painted, of course, 'til I've done a tiger or two, and this brother and sister due accommodated.  When the girl got into my chair right after her brother, she was all about "pink and purple," and when I told her I could do a pink & purple tiger, she immediately jumped on the idea.

This young lady's mom instructed her to stay away from face painting, so we did her arms.  Her favorite color is blue, same as mine!

They chose some great glitter tattoos, too.

And this young man wanted a mica powder tattoo, that looked great... but got even better when he suggested I use the silver glitter in the blank area!  We both agreed that it was a very cool tattoo.

All in all, the heat and distance were really worth it; the party was great!

Just Clowning Around

On Friday evening, I painted, in clown, at a school carnival in Franklin Lakes.  It was crazy busy, so no photos, but it was fun, despite the heat and humidity, plus divebombing gnats and mosquitoes.  Ah, the adventure that is outdoor employment!

The kids were good, and there was one terrific girl who helped me end the line when it got late.  I promised her an awesome face in return for her assistance, since I sent her down the line with a full paintbrush, to number the rmaining kids' hands.  The idea was that if you weren't already on line, you weren't getting painted.  She actually staved off several kids who tried to muscle their way in, brave soul that she was.

She was going to be my last customer, and I was all set to do her up with a full face tiger (her previous request) and tons of neon yellow glitter to go with it.  She got into the chair.... and requested her name, Brianna, across her face.  That's it.  Sigh.  I felt bad that she waited all that time and helped so much for just that, but if that's what she wanted, that's what she was getting.  I did use my best handwriting and tons of glitter, at least.  And she was happy, which is what matters in the end.

Meanwhile, it was that evening that I met Patty Cakes the Clown, a very nice guy who's still early in his career.  He twists balloons, though, and is great with the magic.  I started to teach myself ballooning, only to discover that, as infatuated as I am with watching it done, I'm not fond of doing it myself.  So kudos to him!  Also, he's great with the kids and like I said, the magic.  We were trading some magic tips for face painting ones.

... and he's encouraging me to really work up a clown "character!"  I think it's a great idea, so you might be seeing a clowning option from me coming down the road!

Blast from the Past

About 6 or 7 years ago, I face painted at my friend's daughter's 4th birthday.  That was early on in my face painting career, when I was much more of a novice and not nearly at the level of quality I am now.

Well today, I got the best compliment based on that party anyway!

I painted this afternoon at the 4th birthday of a young man whose mother and sister attended the party so many years ago.  Mom kept me in mind all these years, and called me for this party!  As a face painter, I never know who I'm going to see again.  It's really great, and a testament to mom's opinion of me.

The funny thing?  This was a pirate party and I didn't paint a single pirate!  I did, however, forget my camera so I can't show you the tiger, bear, vampire, butterflies, lion, and other critters I did paint.

I got up at 6:30 this morning.

Yes, on a Saturday.  I had a good reason, though.  I was face painting with two other artists at the Valerie Fund walk in Verona Park this morning.

We were all painting furiously for several hours straight, so I only had a little time to take photos, but here are some of them.

Two princesses and a monster.

A request for a red skeleton that was neither bloody nor angry, so we added glitter.  Nothing with glitter could be angry.  Except maybe my cat.  He glares at me when I get glitter on him.

My first bumblebee in many years.

A shark.

A tiger.  As you know, I love it when adults want to get painted.

A request for a unicorn with rainbows, for which I simply didn't have time.  Instead, my model compromised with me for a unicorn with a rainbow mane.

My very first werewolf.

And some wildcats.  I painted the two on the left; one of the other two artists painted the leopard.

What will you be doing for Labor Day?

Personally, I think you should be coming to the Rutherford Street Fair, where I'll be face painting at the Giants of Generosity booth from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Yes, I'm already talking about September 6, 2010.

Who are the Giants of Generosity?

They're a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that simply finds people in need and helps them.  Through internal donations from its members, other private donations, and fundraising efforts, Giants of Generosity works on a "pay-it-forward" philosophy of giving.

Their funding has gone to medical bills for a man who was gravely injured during an assault when he tried to come to a woman's rescue as she was being attacked.  It's gone to a woman's cancer surgery and radiation treatments.  It's helped pay the rent of someone in need.

For more information, visit their website.  The testimonials there made me cry.

I'll be charging for face painting, and all of the proceeds will go to the organization.  Please come out, support this worthy group, and get some information from them!