Month: December 2016

Last year I looked back on 2015 on New Year’s Eve and it was really eye opening to see all of the amazing things that had happened within a year! Well, 2016 was no exception so I thought I’d do the same again this year!

Last January I spent my Christmas gift money on a GoPro camera, and re-launched my old YouTube channel with all new videos! I’ve since uploaded many fun videos of step by step designs, product demos, paint kit tours, time lapse paintings and more!

In February I completely re-designed and re-released a new edition of my cheek art face painting book, “Classic Carnival Cheek Art!”  The new book has new step by step designs, and is now offered along with a new design menu sheet and mini cheat sheet!  I also created a new selection of Easter word menu designs for my custom word menu design service!

In March I was so thrilled to place in Illusion Magazine’s “Spring” face painting competition with my honeybee design!  I also sold out my first ever workshop, “Achieving Detail with Speed,” for local artists here in MN!

In May I had the opportunity to travel to New Jersey to teach at the Northern New Jersey Face and Body Art Guild’s monthly meeting, as well as a full day of workshops on “Realism: Raised vs Recessed” and “Achieving Detail with Speed!”  It was an AWESOME experience, and my family was able to come out after my workshop for a few days of touring New York City!

This past August I enjoyed my 4th year painting at the Carver County Fair! It was my best county fair yet, and I also had fun utilizing my GoPro again to record some real time cheek art!

In September I hosted my first ever belly paint jam! It’s something I had been wanting to do for a long time, and with several pregnant friends (including a pregnant face painter friend), it really all came together nicely! What an awesome opportunity for artists to create masterpieces without the pressure of a paying client!

October was one of the most amazing opportunities of my career by far! My husband and I traveled to Belgium (happened to fall over our 17th anniversary), where I taught “Realistic Eyes” at the Jamvention! It was absolutely incredible on so many levels, and I really hope to go back again in the future!

This December didn’t disappoint! I had a couple new opportunities arise.  One was the chance to dress in full elf wear for an event I painted at for another agent, so I created my first ever elf costume…it was a blast! I also had the opportunity to work as a glass painter, decorating perfume bottles for a private event at Nordstrom’s! 

So What does 2017 hold?

And now I enter my “dead season!”  However, the dead season is anything but dead for me. I honestly look forward to this time of year, as I’ve stock piled a list of things I want to accomplish throughout my busier months.  I catch up on housekeeping, soak up lots of FABATV, and tackle new challenges. I’m planning to get back to working on my next book of course, but there’s more…

One of the things I’ve decided is to take online classes in accounting!  Yup…I know, it’s the opposite of the creative stuff I love.  But the accounting side of my business and working with Quickbooks causes so much stress in my life, I’ve decided to put my money where my bad, frustrated language is and do something about it!!  SO, I am taking a series of online courses through Coursera to earn a certificate in accounting, on my path to becoming a better business owner.

Of course, this sort of thing completely sucks the creative energy out of me, so to counteract this, I have given myself a really awesome creative challenge for the year. I’ll begin it tomorrow, January 1st, so be sure to check back tomorrow as I kick off one of my most ambitious personal challenges yet!!

Happy new year, and happy painting!!

We had yet another AMAZING Christmas season at Paintertainment!! Here are a few photos from the events I had the privilege of painting at this past month, both for myself and other agents & friends!

Loving that pixie paint on the polar bear!!

I love working with my balloon twisting and face painting friends, and of course the fantastic Santa Carlucci and Cheryl Claus!!

This was a totally unique event I did this year, hired through another artist friend…painting perfume bottles for a private event at Nordstroms!  Soooo fun to work with glass paint and customize some awesome gifts!

 Yes, I still do plenty of cheek art at Christmas time!!  This particular event the kids are always bundled up, and we are lucky to even see enough exposed skin on their cheeks!  This way they can wear their hats and scarves while still showing off their art!

Love doing this event, usually with my mom each Christmas…we always get a visit from the carolers!

This year I finally invested in an elf costume! I bought a few pieces on Amazon, and modified several items found at Goodwill. I went full elf…from the curly elf shoes to the pointy nose and ears!! It was a super fun project and I’m really looking forward to wearing this again next year! (along with some more additions I’m planning to incorporate for next Christmas!)

One of my favorite December events is at my grandpa’s memory care home…my Christmas gift to him!  Each year our family attends their Christmas party and I twist balloons for the residents and party guests in my grandpa Harvey’s house.  My little boys love to help too! Sam really loves twisting balloons with me at this event, and this year Toby joined in too! I was pretty excited to find a perfect little Sam-sized elf vest and hat at Goodwill too!!

Toby is my little joker elf. He did NOT want to wear anything elf, but really wanted the Santa hat! He LOVES telling jokes and came armed with some Christmas jokes!

Sam is great at making balloons and visiting with the residents! He’s such a great little listener, even when what they are saying doesn’t make sense to him. Sweetest elf ever!

Me and my Grandpa Harvey! I always make him a Rudolf hat with a light up nose. 

My grandpa doesn’t really remember who we are.  He told my husband he had no kids, no grandkids, and he just kept pointing out his daughter (my mom), myself and our boys.  But his face sure lights up when we visit!  We create smiles and that’s what counts!  And I have to say, I was touched to notice this little, shriveled up carrot balloon on his shelf in his room…

…a piece of an Easter bunny balloon sculpture I made for him many months ago! I can’t imagine the confusion he must have seeing this thing on his shelf, wondering what the heck it is and where it came from, but some part of him wanted to keep it, and that’s enough for me! 🙂

Among these fun events, I also had the opportunity to paint my little man Sam (and make a costume) as a black sheep for our church Christmas program, and adorned 13 little “angels” with some Pixie Paint bling! I also hosted a paint jam which was a BLAST as always!!

I hope you all had an amazing holiday season with your families!! I personally had a great Christmas and am excited for some fun things that are coming in 2017! Stay tuned…and happy painting!