SPOON!

When out of granola bars, I've been known to toss a spoon and a jar peanut butter in my gig bag for an emergency dose of protein while dancing. Having multipurpose make-up spoon is an even better idea.

~N

A Short Photo Journal

Who got hairspray all over the mirror? I'll give you one guess.

My blog has been a little heavy on the costuming posts so I thought I would throw in a short "day in the life of" post.

My lucky charms. I did not wear false eyelashes for the Visioncon performance and it felt completely off. I think it was due to the lack of false eyelashes. Call me superstitious.

The most eyeshadow I have ever owned. I bought this E.L.F. palette during the Christmas holiday for $5. My favorite color is the bronze-gold in the second row from the top, fourth from the left.

These 5 lucky ladies are lined up hoping to be picked as tonight's ring of choice. I went with the pearl, rhinestone, butterfly ring.

I rarely get nervous at the venue or during a performance. I do however get nervous during the "primping" process when I'm getting my make-up, hair, and costume together. I made repeat trips into my office to huff on these lovely pink roses clipped from my friend H's garden to de-stress.

I usually listen to non-bellydance music when I'm getting ready to relax and take my mind off the upcoming performance. I brought my laptop into the bathroom and listened to this song to Elivs Crespo's  Por El Caminito and merenged around the room to get rid of my butterflies. 

PS. Daryl (Norman Reedus) is my desktop wallpaper. You're jealous, I know. It's ok.

I load up my bag with flyers and business cards from local dance studios. I'm not affiliated with any studio but I always pimp my local community.

Ready to walk out the door. A huge thunderstorm is coming so I'm keeping my hair up until I arrive at the venue.

So, the rule of thumb is to always try on your costume before your performance. Right before I took the above picture I put on my belt and it practically fell off of me. I've toned up enough around my waist that the belt hooks were too loose. I had tried on the costume 2 days prior but apparently did not dance around vigorously enough to ensure the belt still fit. My first inclination was to tighten it up using safety pins. Realizing this was a horrible idea (that I've used in the past) I grabbed the sewing kit in my bag, snipped out the hooks, and restitched them in under 5 minutes. I'm pretty sure it would have taken me that long to pin the thing together with safety pins. With this accomplishment I declared out loud, "'Cause I'm a Motherf*cking Professional!"

Here are volunteers counting bids and donations.

My performance was at a fundraiser for the Doula Foundation, which for friends who know me, is pretty ironic. I was kept hidden in a back room while the live auction was being held in the main venue.

And I waited...

I was asked to be at the venue around 7:50-8pm. I was pushed back to dance between tables at the end of the live auction after they auctioned off 2 Moneyball posters autographed by Brad Pitt. In case you didn't know, Brad Pitt was raised in Springfield. I don't think the crowd was very excited about owning more Brad Pitt memorabilia but they forked over $250 each for the posters. I finally got to perform for 3:44min and left by 9:15pm. I grabbed my umbrella, hiked up my skirt (literally) and made my way home through the rain.

~N

Crafty Bits

(the green smears are my left over sketch marks for symmetry)

I did some mehndi on a mutual friend last night. It took me about 1 1/2 hour from set up, work, to clean up. Not bad for a novice. The design is a mix of free patterns from the internet with some of my own doodles to bring it all together.

I use Henna Caravan products. I used their pre-mixed paste for this. Two month old mix actually. This henna was bought right before the 4th of July, used, and then the leftover was stored in my freezer until last night. I have used their powdered henna and mixed it myself. It is also excellent quality. The henna stains usually last around 3 weeks on us pale white mid-western gals.

The Henna Page - Everything you ever need to know about henna and mehndi.
Henna Caravan - My favorite henna vendor.



I found 4yds of this, the most awesomest pink metallic lame fabric last weekend. This was not the droid I was looking for but I bought it anyway with my mom's discount. It must sit on a shelf for a bit until other projects are finished.



I've also been playing with polymer clay. I made the above skull beads from this pattern. Mine aren't as cute. Nor do they have the eyeballs.



This was an experiment with how small and detailed I could be. Not too bad for a first try but I've managed to break some of the detail off the outer edge. It's ok though. I meant to beat on it and see how hard it would be to break once I was done.

~N

Now playing: Incredibad
mood: 3-day weekend!

How I apply false lashes.

now playing: cable tv
mood: baked goods

A lesson on stage make-up

whatever kind of make-up he uses, i need some!