Current mood:

caffeinated

Dexter Daze
Last weekend was henna at CW as usual. Jeff and Dave met me there. With pizza! How thoughtful. :) Thanks guys! *waves* And I met a really neat woman named Nancy. We talked for a couple hours and she was a great listener and so.. calm. It was a great feeling.

I heard back from Liquid Swordz and apparently, they have live concerts on Friday nights. It would be a great setting for henna, but this most recent weekend I had Dexter Daze. However, I confirmed with WotA for the Melon Fest while I'm here today and they don't need me on Friday, so I'll head to Ypsi instead.

Dexter Daze was... how henna should be. I set up Saturday morning at a leisurely pace and made my tent pretty with all the curtains and rugs. (Omitted the pillows this year.) This is the first and probably only tented festival I've got this summer since last summer, I got a little burned out on hauling everything around, setting up and tearing down. Henna was non-stop for 10 hours Friday and Saturday. I ran out of aftercare sheets, brochures, alcohol wipes and was a bottle away from running out of henna. (Gave free henna to people willing to go pick up more alcohol wipes from the pharmacy and watch my tent while I went potty.) I made over $1K in two days (compared to $300 in three days of Art Fair - of which, $200 was my cut). I plan to buy a little fridge for my henna now so the butter won't taste like henna anymore.

First, my tent neighbors were very nice. Second, I had prime real estate - a corner spot a few feet from the gazebo/stage where there was live music and performances. The weather was perfect, no joke. Pleasantly warm with some clouds and a breeze in the morning and evening. Not common for August. Parking was close, too. I met great people, too. Cindy, a Native American who wants to learn how to do henna so she can do tribal designs at powwows. I did her Lakota tribal design on her face. Yarrow, a masseuse with a studio across the street. I did fun henna up her calf both days. We bartered for a massage - I have never had such an effective massage. She worked on my arms for 10-15 minutes and it was like my muscles just bowed to her will. It seemed effortless on her part and my arms were so happy afterward. Unfortunately, I still had a few hours of henna left, but I am seriously considering making an appointment with her for a full massage because... wow. I don't think I'd be able to drive home afterward, though.

I got to freehand on a woman named Kiera who had beautiful blue eyes. Like faded denim. And there was a girl whose name I didn't catch. She came back for something like 7 designs and kept bringing friends. She was so excited about henna! I also talked to people who said last year's henna artist was way over priced which is too bad, really. I just don't think henna needs to be so expensive. All a person is really paying for is my time and skill and if $1/minute is a decent average for massage therapists who actually had to go pay money to get trained, then it's good enough for me.

A wonderful experience and one that I needed. Dexter Chamber of Commerce will be getting a thank you card, I was that impressed. It was also pretty interesting to see which designs were the festival favorites - and not just a group of girls all getting the same design. People independently of each other were choosing the same thing. Roses and turtles were at the top of the list - I was so pleased since the turtles are my own original designs. Oh, and one man got the "Duh" award for the weekend. His fiancee got a heart on her inner wrist and showed it to him (and he'd already had a few beers) saying "See my henna?" and he said "That's not henna, that's frosting!" and Licked It Off! Ewwwwwwwwwwww... *spasms*

My only disappointment henna-wise has been over the Sling'n'Slack. Disclaimer before we proceed: this is my journal and I can say what I want. I'm not defaming anyone. I'm just whining. And yes, I already posted my opinion to the HP forum. The SnS is in November. I missed it last year because I was up north dealing with a butthead father in law and a dying mother in law. I even posted about it a few months ago when the lawsuit didn't settle and it looked like we'd be in MI this fall. Then, one day there was a post about getting on the list. I missed it. The attendance list has people on it from out west, people who have already attended the western gatherings. People not local to the eastern side of the USA. I think it's very unfortunate that people who live within driving distance won't be able to go.