Once upon a butterfly...

It all started with a single attempt to copy a butterfly.

Julianna loves getting her face painted. It has become her treat each time we go to the zoo or an amusement park. She is always happy when her face is finally done, and she is always careful not to smear it. Much to my dismay of course, she often refuses to wash it off.

I had a lot of down time during the summer, and because I was already anticipating that I will no longer be working as an employee in the public school district, I thought of looking for something I can do part time. I have always dabbled in anything related to party services. I tried doing balloon twisting and became quite good at making simple forms out of a twisty balloon. I have made personalized invitations for Julianna's birthday parties, and have been asked to make invitations for parties thrown by friends. I also make polymer clay figures. I thought I could try my hand at face painting because it seemed to complete the services I can offer an interested client. Well, I guess I was more inclined to dabble into face painting because the designs were simply too cute.

I started out with 3 basic starter palettes from Snazaroo, and three books from Marcela Murad a.k.a. Mama Clown. I asked a friend of mine if she would let me do face painting for her daughter's first birthday party as "practice". That was in August.

By beginning of September, I finally had enough confidence to want to try face painting for a bigger event. I then offered my services to my daughter's school's Family Fun Festival. Upon getting the organizers to agree that we will split the cost of the materials if I work the entire festival for free, I was able to order a more substantial amount of face paint products. I surfed the net for the site offering the most reasonable rate for the paints I wanted. I made sure these paints were FDA approved and were used by professionals. I also joined a forum for face painters to get their insights on products, techniques and everything related to face painting. Of course I had my very own living canvasses. Both my daughter and my husband moonlight as my (sometimes reluctant) models.

And so here I am. I am now a mother first, a wife second, and a part time party service provider. I paint faces!