Day 31

A cute monkey I learned at T&S. I am a bit speechless today from some bad news but plan on being more gabby tommorrow :)

Day 30

Why is it, that when it is 9:00 at night and I sit down to dabble I have to choose something that has teeny weeny lines that cause my eyes to go cross eyed?! I should stick with the full faces and lots of sponging. I wanted to try a celtic knot for st. patty's day but had a devil of a time painting it on myself. I'm Irish....my maiden name is Doyle.....so I should be a natural, right?? Hmmmm....not so much. I went to my stroke seminar today and learned that even if the person had the stroke 5 years ago, the brain has the ability to be "trained" in new and better movement patterns....which to me is kinda wild. I was always taught you had about a year to make gains and then, well you were stuck with what you had. Apparently, not so. We watched a video of a woman who was post- stroke who was probably 30 and had 3 kids, the littlest was 18months. I have no clue how this woman dealt. She struggled to flip a playing card over on a table. It was a victory to her when she did it. Her 18month old sat in a stroller beside her at rehab.

Makes me count my blessings. I also counted my blessings that Icould run out at the lunch break, do an hour gig and make $ in a such a fun way. But it's not about making money one bit, is it? It's about enjoying the ride.

kim baker

Day 29

I got this idea from someone at the Fabbulas face painting convention 2 years ago. My son loved it. I've been liking the white outline on designs lately- they seem to make everything pop even more. Sorry, too sleepy to post more. Will post more tomorrow. I will be teaching face painting tomorrow to a newbie- should be lots of fun!

kim

day 28

OK, I know, I know, I have been missing for a few days. I went to Twist and Shout in Boston which is the most incredible balloon twisting convention. This was 4 days long and I came back exhausted and both kids with Strep Throat- thus no blogging time. Since I have just come off the tails of T&S I am balloon crazed. I love it. I learned so much and met the nicest bunch of people from all over the world. These people are so friendly, they are not your average slice of america, that's for sure. For 3 and a half days, I took endless classes on all of the lastest techniques and cutest designs. At nigth we had entertainment- stage shows, awards, magicians, comedy and then we all jammed in a room in a literal sea of balloons supplied by the 2 major balloon suppliers. Heaven. It is in Tempe, AZ next year.....I might have to save my pennies. So here are 2 pics from the event.....and yes, I shall return to face paint pics but I might be sneaking in more balloon pics here and there, I guess because I can :)

Day 27

I learned this one from Jodi Carr in 2007- she is a terrific teacher and such a talented artist! :)

kim baker

Day 26

Holy Moley! I have so much work to do before I go to Twist and Shout in Bosotn for 4 days. I can't wait! This weekend I did a party- it was ALL 2 year olds, except 1 or 2. Oh my Lord, I have never had so many squirmy worms all in one party. I was trying so hard to paint well, but let me tell you something, if you think you are a good painter and nothing is challenging anymore, paint a slew of 2 year olds. I would LOVE to see face painting done on these squirmy ones by the best teachers- mark, wolfe bros, pashur, wiser...the list goes on and on........I think it would be so funny to see who could pull off the best face. Whenever we watch them paint, they are painting on us! Still as zombies.......I do have confidence that Marcela could whip it off amazingly well- since she seems like a fairy angel to me- she's got that smile that is part kid.

kim baker

Day 25

I think Matt posed perfectly for this one. Saw Lucie's pic of the Joker and tried my best to give it a whirl. I have done a more complicated joker that takes longer but this one is nice and quick. I did a gig this evening and had a wonderful time. The kids were so well behaved- unusually patient. Usually I have one wild or persistant one- but not tonight. I love my job. Tomorrow's gig is at a great ice cream parlor- i might have to load up before I go :)
oh, and i would like to say how excited I am for the 50degree heat wave forecast for monday. Ahhhhhhh, can't wait. Perhaps a robin will pop up.
kim baker

Day 24

Sorry everyone, I was under the weather last night and fell asleep very early, before posting to the blog. Which brings me to the subject of my paranoia of having a gig and getting a stomach virus and not being able to go. That has happened to me only once when I got the supposed Swine Flu and ended up in the ER. The hostess was more than happy to have me steer clear of their household and happy that I found a great replacement. My worry is that one day, I won't be able to find a last minute replacement if I get sick. Knock on wood, it hasn't happened yet, but I do have paranoia about it. I imagine mom's of young ones might be like "bridezilla" if you tell them, "houston, we have a problem".

I am off to make Lobster Bisque tonight if I could find the darn recipe- it is sooooo good. Lobster tails were on sale today for Valentine's.

This pic is of Caitlin- I was practicing a mask with what I learned from Marcela. What I learned when I did this yesterday, is that I need practice. I like it, but absorbing Marcela's talent via osmosis is not as strong as I had hoped. :)

kim baker

Day 23

Hi everyone. I think I will be posting a bunch of skulls since I really need practice on them. Hopefully my December skull will show my efforts when compared to this one. I am starting to get soooo excited for Twist & Shout. I am a bit scared that it is 23hours a day of balloon twisting. I am one of those people that NEEDS my sleep or I get cranky and sick if I get too over-tired, but who wants to miss hanging out in a jam room and shooting the breeze and twisting with the best of the best? These are the guys/gals I have been watching on videos for 2 years. I am guessing I will have to pass on much sleep and just absorb everything around me. After this convention, I have a stroke convention I need to go to for my job. How will be able sit still and pay attention to the ins and outs of cerebral vascular accidents after having just gone to a balloon convention? Daydream, I guess. :)

kim baker

Day 22

Exhausting day today. I'm sleepy and speechless :)

Matthew posed perfectly without any prompting. Looked like he had on a tad of eyeliner for school the next day- but that's OK, he's a boy's boy.

kim baker

Day 21

Ahhhhhh.....what a fun day. I did a class with Marcela Murad- her masks class. She is so sweet and talented. I learned a ton. I have been painting for 3 years and today I learned some awesome pearls of wisdom. If you ever get the chance to take Marcela's masks class- please do, you won;t regret a minute of it. She cames around repeatedly and helped each one of us with feedback to our designs and strokes. Here is a pic of our masks that we each painted at the end of the day.

It was a real treat.

Kim Baker

Day 20

Superbowl is just about to start and I just squeezed in some painting time. I have now learned (with my husbands suggestion) that I can eaaaasily bribe my kids into getting painted if I trade Wii time- 20 mins. Works great! They were all over it. I was paying them $2 every time I painted them. What happened to the days when they begged me to face paint them? This design is from one of Marcela's books with a few tweaks. I love all of her books. When I paint, I bring them all and let the kids choose any design from them (in addition to my own pics they have to choose from) and I paint them. They really like that they have all of the choices and it truly does not slow my line- I just let them peruse for a while and then they get in line when they're ready. Here's a giraffe I twisted yesterday.

kim baker

Day 19

So I had a gig today where is was so "on", thank goodness, after all of my whining the other day. I did face painting and balloons. I never take pics at a party because I do not feel that it is the time to ask for permission to post. I wish I had one pic today. I just loved it- will try on my daughter tomorrow if she'll let me. It was nice, I got a 30% tip. I have been spoiled by being tipped. I get tipped about 70% of the time and that extra tip makes me feel so tickled, not 'cause I'm greedy, but because it was a compliment. I have to tell you though that of those who do not tip, the vast majority of them are on the wealthy side. I was wondering today why that was- I used to think.....well that's why they have all of that money:) Now I think that those with less money HAVE been tipped and understand how it makes you feel. I have always been a good tipper, but I think I will try to be a tad more generous. It really can make someone's day. It made mine today.
Oh, and a little 3 year old girl dressed in a snow white costume looked at me with these huge eyes and said "I think you are magic".
Now THAT was my best tip ever. :)
kim baker


This is a balloon twister/face painter friend that I painted last summer- she is simply amazing. She can smack me at twist and shout in 2 weeks if she is too shy to enjoy this posting:)

Day18

OK crew, here is the amazing meatball/gavy recipe from my friend gina.

1.5 lb ground meat: beef/pork combo

1/2 cup or little more bread crumbs

small amount of milk- 1/4cup or less

2 eggs

about 1/3 cup grated parm cheese

3T parsley

3 or more cloves garlic minced

Mix bread crumbs with milk and let it sit while you mince garlic. Mix everything else together. DOn;t over mix. Should feel moist.

Bake in a glass dish with a small amount of water in the bottom. 325degrees x 2omin.

Throw in pot of gravy and cook ALL DAY. For gravy she used Tuttorso crushed tomatoes- some bog cans of Italian style and 1-2 cans of tomatoes in thick puree.

I'm gettin' hungy....

Here's a pic I painted on my daughter- copied it from one of the Wolfe Bros. Cheat Books. I get asked to do this design ALOT.

Happy weekend!

kim baker

Day 17

OK, so can I just say that i think it is a bitch to paint myself? I mean painting myself is OK, but i can't seem to do my line work or tear drops when i am straining my eyes to one side. Ugh. I do have a practice head but i don't love how the brush slides with the paint on the head- and they can be a pain to clean....and who loves a pic on a fake head? Not me. Whoa, I sound whiney. Well I painted tonight and had one of those times where i hate what I do. My creativity, lines, and color just no good. So, i don't like these days. I have balloon days like these too. So, i assume you all have these days too where some gigs you are SO "on" and others, not as many, you are "off". I hate those off days. Luckily I am just painting myself today. So I don'f feel like posting my pics but since this is a journey of practice and messing around, I will. I need to bribe my kids more so I can paint them. I even looked disgusted in one of the pics...LOL.

kim baker

Day 16

OK, so no goofin' off with painting today since it is my son's 6th bday. I asked him what he wanted for dinner and he said McDonald's- works for me! I was so excited today- I ran into someone today from my town that I worked with years ago in physical therapy. She told me started face painting- yahoo! I love it when I find people who love face painting like I do! I used to talk face painting until my husband turned blue in the face. I then decided to start a guild in my area of NJ so I could gab and share ideas with FPers in my area and it has been wonderful. I have met the nicest, funniest, down-to-earth people. I appreciate every one of them. If you ever want to start a guild in your area, let me know and I"ll help you with some ideas. :)

This pic is NOT painted by me, but painted by my fellow guild member and friend, Niki Belvin of Funny Face in NJ. She is a wonderful artist. She painted this at our december jam. I hope you don;t mind me bragging about you, Nik!
kim baker

Day 15

I thought I would think about the pressures of this industry a bit. I remember starting out and I would be nervous. My hand would shake and I would have a hard time making smooth lines. Once i did a face or 2 and the kids had their big smiles, I would get lost in my face painting world and relax. I would remember that they are kids who are so tickled to have their faces painted and I could do no wrong. I had to realize that kids for the most part, unlike adults, are naturally accepting, honest, easy to please people. They just want to look special and beautiful if they are a girl or scary if they are a boy (90% of the time). They do not judge, they are not critical and i feel that the rare few who are, learned it from their parent, and I feel badly for them. They need that love and acceptance more than ever. So when you hear a child say to you "that's not the color i wanted!!!" or "this is not like the picture!" or "why didn't you make the picture go that way instead?" just breathe.......and rather than be ticked at the kid, look past that child and wonder where this judgement comes from. They are emulating someone else, Lord help them. Let them know their beauty or their coolness. The kids are craaaaving it. That is what you are selling. It is not just artwork and paint to be washed off that night or sweat off that hour, it is a memory. Don't ever underestimate your power to "fill" a child's bucket.
This pic is from a party I did for a good friend. Most of them wanted tropical faces.
I love this job.
kim baker