Aksham Henna

The Washington Update

2007-03-06T22:52:19Z

I am now settled in Washington and getting back into the henna swing of things. For those who wish to read my more personal LJ, it's "katefruit" and if you have an LJ account, I'll add you (assuming I don't think you're a stalker). For those who don't mind the abbreviated version, I have a more public personal blog at blogspot. As it says in the title, it's set up specifically for keeping in touch with friends and family and I'm updating it more often now that there are more people to keep in touch with.

Yesterday, I applied for my WA driver's license and registered the vehicle. D made me keep "Aksham" as my license plate. :) Yesterday and today have been beautifully sunny and while Michigan was floundering in four feet of snow, the first crocuses of spring were blooming here. What a marvelous place. I feel more at peace already.

I registered Aksham Henna with Thurston county and placed an order with Henna Caravan for Jamila and with Essential7 for essential oils. I also ordered notecards, letterhead, return address stickers, business cards and postcards from Vista. As soon as I get my business license, I'll open a checking account at Key and I should be ready to go. I should also restock Yemeni, Indian and Moroccan henna. Who has the best wholesale prices stateside? Last time, I ordered from HennaBoy.

The plan is to send out postcards to salons and tattoo shops in the Olympia/Tumwater/Lacey area and hopefully generate some weekly business that way. As I learned in MI, I prefer to stick close to home and don't plan to venture far afield for festivals and whatnot. Hopefully, this way I can conserve my resources and avoid stepping on the toes of already established aritsts out here.

In honor of Aksham Henna's second birthday as a registered business, I planned to post my advertising banner on HP since they have that two year waiting period. And now, the price is $250 to advertise with them. Pardon my acronym, but wtf?! It was $25 a year ago, right? Or did I just misread something? I hope HT hasn't upped their prices, too. :/ This being a public/professional LJ, I'll keep most of my opinions to myself, but.. Grrr!

Anyway.. my little fridge lives out in the storage shed now and I sold my Caravan canopy before we moved. If I buy another tent, it'll just be a simple, cheap EZ-Up. Jess is touring with her theatre company and has been spreading henna goodness across the US. She secured a job in Whitefish for the summer and is hoping to round of some henna clientele there. I'm thrilled for her and excited that she's enjoying henna so much since she seemed skeptical at first. And now.. all our visits can be tax deductible. ;)

Unfortunately, I missed the PNW henna gathering in February and was a little too slow on the uptake to get into my SCA barony's 1001.5 Arabian Nights feast/event, but hopefully there will be more henna opportunities in the near future.

Good Things Come in Henna Bottles

2006-12-04T05:45:20Z

What a great month for henna! I sold off most of my stock and won't be getting any more until after we move. I still have a lot of geranium and tea tree essential oil if anyone needs some. I have also decided to pare down my henna kits and cut the prices. Who really needs cotton balls and toothpicks and popcicle sticks disguised as "mixing sticks"? No one. Powder, paste, bottles, tips, cones, instructions, essential oil. The end.

I came to this determination while teaching two women how to do henna last month. Ironically, both were named Cindy and they scheduled lessons on a Sunday and Monday. As I was outlining a lesson plan and getting together materials, I pared things down to the essentials and that was the list. Ta da!

Teaching henna was a lot of fun. Cindy came to my home and I had prepared beforehand 25g of henna to the mashed potato stage so she could see what that looked like and how it changed after adding sugar and EOs to the yogurt stage. We spent a couple hours talking about recipes and designs and business and I felt very satisfied with how it went. My Monday lesson was at the other Cindy's house (a woman I met at Dexter Daze) and we got through the mixing stage, but plan to have a second lesson to talk shop about applying and the business end of things. Another very satisfying experience.

Then my friend Jess decided to jump into the henna world. I'd taught her how to mix henna while I was out there in October and she did her first batch on her own. It didn't turn out so well, we consulted and her second batch was much better. She got nice compliments on her designs and wanted to do henna on her cousins over Thanksgiving weekend, so I doodled out some autumn-themed sangeet style designs. Leaves and acorns with paisleys doesn't look half bad, really.

The Monday before Thanksgiving, I was invited to a college house that was having its Thanksgiving feast before everyone split for the weekend. I felt super old and at the same time, so young surrounded by all those college students and their energy and accomplishments. I met some very fun people and ate some very good food and did some beautiful henna. After dinner, we were treated to some incredibly guitar playing and Isabelle and her friends sang together. It really was a very peaceful evening.

I missed CW the Saturday after Thanksgiving because I was babysitting a nephew, but I was back November 30th and it was very quiet. Sarah came to visit and Liz made life better by being there, too. I've decided not to do henna at CW anymore, though. I figure that parking my name in 6 months of CW advertising and then moving would be rude to the person who took over my spot. Bill has an iridology reader lined up to take Saturday evenings, so it's good to know the slot won't sit empty. I'll miss my Saturday nights out, though. As soon as we get settled somewhere in Washington, one of my first priorities will be to set up something similar.

Tonight, I did henna at a bat mitzvah. I got the booking from the bat mitzvah I did during the summer. We had been worried I might be moved by now, but.. ta da! I'm still here. The evening was a lot of fun. They hired me for 2 hours and I had a line for all 4 hours. I came prepared to do lots of henna, but by 9 pm, I was all out of paste. And there were still people lined up, but the party ended at 9 anyway. The whole evening was great. I was under the heat lamps by the indoor pool so I was cozy and warm and felt like a reptile on a rock, ready to just bask and snooze. Tempting! People brought me good food and mango smoothies and girls kept coming back for more henna. A success all around. And then I left my wonderful heat lamps and went out into the snowy night.

Coming up... my last month at CW, a couple more lessons, packing and using up materials like powder, paste, etc.

Updated List of Sale Items

2006-11-17T19:03:16Z

I'm doing some serious spamming of items I'm trying to sell off. Here is the current list of things for sale:

600g Indian ($3.99/100g)
Several 1oz bottles ($1.49 ea if you get more than 10)
3oz Geranium EO ($6.99/oz)
3oz Tea Tree EO ($3.99/oz)
1oz Lavender EO ($3.99/oz)

36 2oz jars w/ lids (10 cents ea)
98 sheets of waterproof printable labels that fit the 2oz jars' lids ($10.00 for the pack)
18 pencil boxes handy for henna kits or storage caboodles (25 cents ea)

In addition, I'm offering a 15% discount for all orders over $25 before shipping and this is good for non-clearance items as well.

Henna Highlights

2006-11-12T04:26:10Z

Highlights from tonight

*Girl wants to get henna done between her shoulder blades* Girl: Can you do that? Kate: Depends how naked you want to get. o.O

Slogan: "Henna artists: keepin' it warm and moist."

*Girl gets a design done above her breast* Girl: Ok, so.. step two of the aftercare says keep it warm and moist. How do I do that? *Girl's friend comes up to her and starts steamy breathing on her boob* *Second friend takes a picture with her camera phone*

Our Lady of Henna: "Smear not, lest ye be smeared."

Sarah baked delicious brownies and I did wonderful henna on wonderful people and was glad I ventured out of the house. Alas, I did not have my camera, but the last customer of the night got a short "sleeve" of henna done and it was fun to just do some freehand.

Thanks to all of you lovely ladies who enjoyed tonight!

Moving Sale! Half Price Henna!

2006-11-11T00:43:01Z

Our lawsuit settled this week! It was some serious suck and we had to settle for about half what the case is worth and we're walking home with a fraction of that after attorney fees and the lawyer's 30%, but it's done. Done done done. And now, we can focus on moving to Washington. In the meantime, I have stuff to unload. At this point, henna powder.

Moroccan: 100g for $3.99
Indian: 100g for $3.99
Yemeni: 100g for $3.99

I won't sell this off in smaller quantities since I need to move it out. I accept PayPal and ship Priority Mail via USPS.

Next up will be things like essential oils and a digital camera if I can find the charger to see if it still works. (We had to disassemble it at one point) I've also got amber glass Boston round bottles for essential oils in 1 oz, .5 oz, 1 dram and 5/8 dram sizes with lids. And a whole bunch of 2oz sample size plastic jars with lids from when I was experimenting with body scrubs and giving friends samples. And 98 sheets of waterproof, laser printable labels that fit the lids.

Oh - and pencil boxes. I've been using them for henna kits and I have like, 20 left and it's just not worth moving them all.

October Update

2006-10-31T07:34:21Z

My week in Washington was fantastic. I'm so glad I went! I even got to do a little henna and while I was in Whitefish, MT I spoke at the Women of Whitefish luncheon. Just a quick blurb about what henna is and how I handle it as a business and then I did free henna on brave ladies. I was also pleased that I got to teach my friend Jess how to make henna and left some paste, a box of Jamila, a bottle and a few tips with her. I took a whole box on the plane because I figured paste would get confiscated and I didn't want to bring the box back opened - who knows what airport officials might think it was, right? I also got to do henna on my friend Des. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to meet up with Justine. But soon! Soon!

Since coming back, I've been catching up with orders and correspondence. I wasn't able to pull together a workshop on henna, but I do still have people who want to learn, so I'm trying to organize appointments for that to get it taken care of before I (hopefully) move. I did henna at a dorm night at MSU last Wednesday and took my nieces along. They got to make tie dye t-shirts and we went out to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant afterward.

And there have been a few nights at CW. This most recent weekend, I had an appointment with Leigh who wanted both her hands done for her wedding. She was lots of fun! The previous two weekends were quiet except for visits from Sarah. One weekend, she brought her friend along. Susan got fired, so this Saturday is her last day. I plan to make some nummy body scrubs and a rice pack for her. Apparently, Bill just didn't think she was doing her job well enough. I suppose it was generous of him to give her two weeks. He's not exactly at the top of my list, though. He held on to a check I wrote in May and cashed it right before I went on vacation and I ended up overdrawing my account. If we move, I sure hope I can get some money back.

My UPS box expired last week, too. I haven't renewed it because I keep hoping we'll move. Also, I'm not really in a spot to shell out $20/month for an address. But I have to admit, I've felt safe not having my home address on my website. Ah well, maybe one more month and then maybe we'll move and it all won't matter anymore.

Coming up, I have appointments to teach and a three day gig in Adrian this weekend. Maybe I'll make enough to replenish that bank account, hmm?

Happy Anniversary!

2006-09-27T01:27:09Z

Last weekend was the Clinton Fall Festival. My anniversary event. Three years ago, it was the first festival I did henna at. Of course, I hadn't planned to be back for a third year, I'd hoped to be living in Washington by now. But it also happens to be my most favorite SCA demo of the year and I went despite the fact that it rained all three days. Not straight through, but enough to really put a damper on the attendance. I cleaned up with a decent $250 which still doesn't beat the first year, but the weather was perfect that first year. And besides, it's a demo. Sunday, I focused my efforts more on helping with marshalling fighters, interacting with people and walking in the parade.

Friday, I came home to a really exciting phone message about a last minute henna-emergency for a huge party at the Grand Central Lounge. 400+ guests for a birthday party at a huge club. The party was being advertised on the front page of the website. I quickly called them right back to say I could do it, then hopped into the shower. Unfortunately, the birthday people had picked up another artist. I'm not sure who it was, though. But ah well, at least I now have my name in with another entertainment agency. Thank you for the referral shwankie.

Instead of rushing into Detroit, I kept my dinner plans with Meeta. We met at Al Noor for food, conversation and henna. It was good to touch base for a couple hours and talk to someone sane. :D

Last Friday, I went to LS, but they were closed for the weekend. Apparently, people were getting married. :D I plan to head back this Friday. For the sanity of posting a schedule on my henna site, I think I'll just say I'll be there every first and third Friday so that "every other" doesn't become too complicated when months have more than four weekends.

I've been making changes to my website. Updated the first page - I need to delete Apple Daze. They decided that since they're kid-oriented and I can't do henna on children younger than 6 it wouldn't be a good fit. Which is fine, I'd pointed that out to them right off. I also plan to split the galleries into "Melissa's" and "Kate's". shwankie and I discussed teaching a workshop in October in order to glean apprentices since we both plan to cut back/move. And I mean people who are really ready to handle business, not just learn how to make pretty henna. Unfortunately, the place I was hoping to get isn't available and at this point, I'm not sure where else I can pull together. Maybe November.. even if things go well with the lawsuit, I'll still be here at least through Thanksgiving.

Last weekend was a busy one for henna, despite the closed tattoo shop. Saturday night, I did henna at the hafla for Unveiled Bellydance's weekend workshop. I did henna at their opening night, too. Crystal had several performance lined up and I got to touch base with Oscad. Elijah from WotA was there, too and Tina attended (we did henna together at MSU). I did some fun henna on very excited women. Then Sunday I did henna for UofM's student group for the American Movement for Israel. Most of the kids were perfectly happy to let me freestyle, which of course, made for a far more rewarding evening. :D

CW is empty without elmur_fudd, but she made a guest appearance! She created for me a banana nut coffee, but all I could taste was the coffee. Then she added a bag of black tea to my usual almond milk steamer and it was lovely! I've enjoyed Earl Grey before, but I had to keep adding more and more milk and sugar. She solved the dilemma by just adding a dash of tea to my milk and sugar. :D

Coming up: finish the website and then I'm off to Washington for a week while my sister comes here to stay with D. Oh, and on a whim, I registered www.hennaferret.com. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but D says that when I have henna on my hands, I'm like a ferret because I get distracted by the pretties.

Game Day

2006-09-02T21:25:40Z

Yes, I'm writing before I go to CW tonight. There are things to say and I'm logged in anyway. Tonight is UofM's first football game and it's here in A2 which means my normally 15 minute drive downtown will take at least an hour. I remember clearly that last year, I seriously considered cancelling henna on game days. But I promised Deepali I'd be there tonight. And I promised memorysdaughter I'd be there tonight.

Tuesday's appointment went well despite getting lost. First, I missed the Southfield Fwy exit, but I try to allow enough travel time for one episode of getting lost. I don't exactly have a habit of getting lost (ok, maybe I do) it's more like I'm not willing to cut across 4 lanes of traffic to make my exit. I'm the queen of u-turns and have no fear about driving to the next exit and circling back around. Better that than to make sudden moves at fast speeds. To compensate, I allow a little more drive time than I may need to if it's a new location. Also, I'm a lead foot. My policy is "speed while you can because at some point, you won't be able to". I rarely have a problem making up for lost time.

The kicker came when Mapquest had me turn left instead of right on 8 Mile. I would have been right on time. Instead, I was 20 minutes late. Luckily, Vajna was cool people. And so was her aDORable dog Bakti (German shepherd/sharpei), her friend and her husband. Turns out, I've seen these people around at CW (that's where they got my contact info). Also turns out, Vajna rides horses and is infatuated with Friesians. The weekend before, she'd ridden a $500K stallion. *swoon!* And to top it all off, she's thrice disabled (two car accidents and a trip&fall), so you can believe we compared notes about that. Oh, and I did henna, too. ;) And she made me tea for my cough!

I did her hands and feet for Thursday's festival at her Hindu temple (someone's consort?). She was going to have henna done by Anju and was surprised that I knew of her. Anju had to move suddenly to Seattle this summer when her husband's job transferred him (I think?). Hopefully her color turned out nicely and people at temple admired it. I forgot to get pictures because around 12:30 am, I suddenly got the impression that it was time to go. Henna was done and we were just chatting, so it's not like I left mid-job. I just get these feelings sometimes and I listen to them. I never know why - I figure I'm probably narrowly avoiding an accident. Vajna also lives in a semi-rough part of Detroit (8 Mile & Woodward), so my instincts were on heightened alert anyway. (Called D when I got there, after an hour and again when I was on the road home.) I packed up, gave her a hug, bid Bakti adieu and drove home without incident.

Wednesday, I delivered henna to Deepali - or maybe that was Tuesday. Anyway, Deepali is new to the joy of henna. Learning and very excited about the whole process. We've been writing back and forth about paste consistency and bottles and whatnot. She's not scary like the local HP woman who has been messaging me via Frappr and telling me we should get together so I can teach her how to use her henna stuff. That one gives me the creeps, quite frankly, and I stopped replying to her after the first time. But no, Deepali is refreshingly non-scary. ;) Thursday night I hung out with her and Martha at the UofM Union. They did some free henna to draw people to their co-op's table. I brought simple design sheets, alcohol wipes and Garnier Fructis. We chatted about henna, of course.

I've noticed a disturbing trend on the henna forums this summer. First, the number of henna artists in my area (based on forums) has grown drastically. It makes me a little concerned about competition. But worse, it seems like experienced henna artists are.. squashing newbies. There has been considerable discussion about newbies vs. wannabes and most of it I agreed with. But recently, there have been people asking "Am I good enough to go into business?" and the response seems to be "No". A woman who has done henna for 7 years and still doesn't think she's good enough? What's up with that? I agree that as artists, we need to have standards and consistency and we don't want sub-par artists giving henna a bad name, but a big part of me wants to share my starting out story. On Wednesday, I learned how to make henna and applied my first henna design on my sister. On Friday, I was off doing a 3-Day festival and we made over $400 on little $5 designs. I went back a year later to a great response and since we'll still be in MI, I'll be back for a third year.

Good enough? Was I good enough? Maybe I was lucky in that I found a random powder in a random Indian grocery that worked well. Maybe my audience wasn't very picky about my shaky skills. Or maybe I was good enough and I'm glad I never asked strangers for their opinions. I wasn't great right off and I have certainly learned and changed a lot of things in the past year (I still don't know that I'd really have the skills to jump into the bridal henna circuit), but I stuck with it and people seem to like what I'm doing. Yeah, I'm concerned about competition, but I'm not going to decide whether an artist is or isn't good enough to do what millions of mama-jis and aunty-jis have been doing for millenia.

Also, I'm struggilng a little bit with how aggressively one semi-local person is about "advertising" on the forums when I have been told repeatedly that I can't advertise. And I sure hope that Black Cat, Red Cat has been in business for two years like the advertising contract states. I feel dramatic when I focus on these things, like I'm just creating drama that I don't need. But darnit, rules are rules. It's not my job to police someone else's forum though.

Went to LS again last night, but it was too cold and I didn't do any henna. I think now that the concerts are done, I'll cut back to every other Friday evening there. Well, off to CW in a bit. Man, I'm really tempted to cancel henna on game days.

MSU

2006-08-29T21:56:21Z

Oh man, where have I been?!

Sick, for one. Sick all week. And yet, I just enjoyed another awesome weekend thanks to henna. I'll back up a week, though, to the weekend of the 18/19th. The 18th was my first evening at Liquid Swordz and it went very well, in my opinion. The music was Way Too Loud, but my location was great. They provided a table and chairs and let me set up on the sidewalk right in front of their store. I was, of course, more than a little taken aback to realize that it's right next door to Deja Vu (strip club). It made me a little uncomfortable, mainly for the kind of men/thugs who tended to congregate outside on the sidewalk. In MI, you acn't serve alcohol at 100% nude clubs (just topless), so guys would go to 13 (a bar/restaurant) down the street and get drunk there and walk past me on the way to the Vu. But the guys in the shop promised to protect me. ;)

A darling old man named J. Dawson stopped at my table on his way home from a spaghetti dinner. He needed to rest. We chatted/yelled over the music for about a half hour and he told me about his family (which has lived in Ypsi since the 1800s) and all the businesses they've owned and the beautiful house they had down the street. I drove past it on my way home and it's a lovely Victorian that's been beautifully maintained. He also told me about his wife who had recently passed away. She'd been in an auto accident and was a parapelegic for over 30 years. They still had children to raise and everything and he hardly knew a thing about how to do it. But somehow, they managed it and they raised their kids and stayed married and still went on vacations and stuff together. I was in awe. And touched. I told him about D and the accident and he was so proud of me and sympathetic. Man, I still really need those experiences. He promised to pray for D and I gave him my business card and he even emailed me.

Business was good that night. Better than most nights at CW. However, Saturday at CW was quiet up until the last half hour. Muruga played again - this time without his friend's poetry, so it was more tolerable once he got past the trippy music. I decided to renew with CW for the next 6 months (though I renewed my UPS box for only the next three months). Still hoping against hope that we'll get to move this winter. I also sat up at WotA for a few hours on Sat and Sun, but did absolutely no henna. I've decided to drop WotA from the schedule. The drive and now the end of henna season just makes it not worth it.

The weekend of the 25/26th brought more henna goodness. Another Friday night at LS and the music was infinitely better. memorysdaughter came with me and despite the infestation of flying ants, the night was marvelous. To top it all off, the Ypsi Studio next door to the tattoo shop was celebrating its grand opening and had $1/minute massage set up on the sidewalk right next to me. And who should come strolling up the sidewalk but my new hero Yarrow. You bet I traded henna for body work! It felt so good, too.. I lay on her table, looking up at the evening sky through tree branches and leaves and it was quite an experience. She says she might be picking up a day or two in Ypsi. I may be scheduling regular massages. memorysdaughter got some work done, too (she's got some very real issues about being touched) and talked about it the whole way home, which was wonderful to hear. Yarrow didn't trigger the badness so it was a really special experience for her to be able to enjoy some touch.

The 26th was a gig at MSU arranged by the lovely and talented shwankie. Normally, she provides the paste and equipment so she knows what we're using, but this weekend she was really busy and asked me to handle all that. A huge compliment, quite frankly, that she trusted me that much on her reputation. I whipped up some lovely henna and went into organizer mode, kinda seeing myself as "senior artist" on this gig since there'd be another woman along. I made two little kits complete with: a baggie of henna, two bottles, three tips (oneo f each size) a baggie of alsohol wipes and an old towel for wiping tips on. I printed out design sheets and waivers and tucked them into sheet protectors. I double checked my directions, wrote down contact info, filled up the gas tank, bought a Rockstar and a bag of mints for my throat. Man, I was so sick.

I picked up Tina around 7 and we drove to MSU. More like we flew: 80 mph. Man, I'm going to die in WA's speed limits. We arrived on campus with enough time to be at the wrong place (I thought it was the Union) and drive to the right place (International Center) and set up before students were allowed in. And then, it was constant henna for 4 hours. Kids lined up within seconds and willingly waited over an hour to get a little three minute design. o.o Tina and I were churning designs out. I did a lot mandalas and flowers and several people let me just freestyle. memorysdaughter found us, too, since she'd just moved into her dorm that day. The best part was my last design, a guy who saw the winged dragon design and said "Umm, can you put a strong arm and little wings and L-shaped feet..?" and I said "TROGDOR!" So, I drew an S and a more different S and lines of majesty and "TROGDOR" over the top. And it was good.

Checks were received, clean up was accomplished, we took memorysdaughter to her dorm and then we flew home. At similar speeds. And I was passed by a cop. :D

Tonight I have a private appointment with a woman who wants pretty henna to wear to temple on Thursday. Exciting!

Dexter Daze

2006-08-15T18:05:32Z

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.

Art Fair

2006-07-25T16:51:09Z

Two weekends ago, I had my nieces with me and we had quite a weekend. Friday night, I did henna at the opening party for a friend's bellydance studio. Just for free as a way to support her. We parked ourselves on the floor and things started slowly, but picked up and were steady. I did some really fun designs and when the women finished dancing, they all came over for their pretty henna! I also met a guy from Liquid Swordz who would like me to work in their shop a couple days/month doing henna. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone else and seeing the shop.

Saturday, I dressed the girls up and we attended the Saline Celtic Festival in garb with the SCA. I had hoped to do henna there, but changed my mind since the SCA is an educational group. Also, I didn't feel up to going crosseyed doing knotwork. :/ Instead, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. In the evening, it was back to CW, but there was a pre-art fair street party going on outside. When there's something going on outside, no one comes inside. And we were sunfried and tired anyway, so we cut out early.

Last week was art fair here in A2. People here love it or hate it. In 6 years, I've attended once and that was enough for me. Downtown is closed off, parking it horrendous and people are grouchy because they can't get anywhere.

Wednesday was rough. I got downtown, drove around forever looking for parking. I found a meter and started unloading - only to discover that it was a one hour limit. I drove off and remembered much later that I'd left my signs on top of my car. So, they're gone now. Then, I parked at a two hour meter, knowing I'd be there for three, but hoping I'd be able to squeak by. All the parking lots were closed off to people with monthly parking passes only and the only other places to park were church parking lots that were charging $15/day. It still would have been cheaper than the $25 ticket I got. $25! That's the same penalty as when I parked too close to a fire hydrant. o.o To top it off, when I got home, I dscovered that the landscapers, thinking they were pulling weeds, had pulled out most of my plants, including my thyme. Grrrr!

Thursday, I awoke to thunder and rain. I checked weather.com and it said it'd be stormy from 9 am to 10 pm. I called CW and said "Rain and henna don't mix. I'll be in tomorrow." And three hours later, the weather was beautful. But at that point, if I'd gone downtown, I'd have only been able to squeeze in an hour. Apparently I didn't miss anything, though. Everyone said it was quite dead.

Friday, I got in trouble with the Sidewalk Police. I'd made a makeshift sign and put it out between festival booths to try to draw people over to the sidewalk. I was told I couldn't do that because it was a fire lane. Ok, I suppose my little foamboard sign could impede something.. somehow. They put in on the sidewalk, basically out of sight. I pushed it back into sight, but still on the sidewalk. They came back and hour or so later and said "The next time we have to do this, the police will move it for you." Wheeeeeeeeeeee! I suspect they really weren't associated with the fire marshal. My theory is that they were maintaining the integrity of the art fair and didn't want my sign out where people had paid several hundred dollars to have booths.

Saturday was pretty much a bust. I made it a full 8 hour shift (10-6) and it didn't really get busy until after 2 pm. I think that people who came before noon were just there to Shop and those who came in the afternoon were prepared to spend money and have a little fun. One highlight was that I had two Indian ladies, independent of each other, stop and admire my j-bottles and ask about them. I let them use 'em to see how well they work and both asked if I had any on me to sell. But I gave them my card and hopefully I'll hear from them. Oh, another memory was an Indian man who asked me out to dinner Friday. He wasn't rude or anything. Quite courteous and it was a little bit flattering. I told him I was married and he said "Oh, can we do lunch then?" *chuckles* But then he came back Saturday and asked for my phone number. I repeated that I was married and that it wouldn't be appropriate. It took some convincing, but he eventually left.

I'm not sure how much I made, I haven't totaled it up. But if I did this again, I'd certainly work different hours. And now, I'm at WotA and it's a rainy, cloudy Tuesday. Again. Thank goodness for the internet.

Planets Align

2006-07-10T20:52:49Z

Even briefly, it's good to feel that things are going well. Today, I dropped off business cards and brochures at Natural Canvas and met Chad. We chatted for a bit and he seemed like a cool human. This move was inspired by a woman who came into CW Saturday night and recommended it. She's on her way to California for job interviews this week and didn't want to get henna done, but assured me she'd be back. So if you're reading this: Thank you!

I wasn't at CW last weekend becauze I was in Ohio picking D up from Origins. Man, that would have been a prime henna spot. I'm just not sure how I could swing it. If I tried to do henna in the atrium of the Hyatt, they'd probably kick me out and I'd probably have to pay a booth fee in the convention center. But wow, yeah. I was really wishing I had henna on me.

Saturday I did that book signing for Donna Gambino. She's a physical therapist and her book was about a new low impact exercise method she'd developed. It took place in a Jazzercise center and she'd invited all sorts of fun female/exercise oriented vendors. Henna was slow at first while people trickled in and circled uncertainly, but eventually it was a big hit. I handed out nearly all my brochures and people asked all sorts of questions, so I'm hoping that this will generate a few party referrals. The event ended at 3, but I worked until 4 to get all the vendors, volunteers and demonstrators who'd been busy.

I did have the typical Indian woman run in, which was discouraging, but it starting to get to the point where it's just amusing. She hovered the last hour. She was there with friends who got henna done, but she wouldn't get henna. She watched, read through the HP slide show hand out I'd spiral bound, read my brochures and looked through both design books. And watched some more. As usual, people asked me how I learned this, so I told them about my younger siser who taught me (since that's easier than trying to explain about the SCA and since she really was the driving force in getting started for real) and the Indian lady peered at me and asked "Well.. aren't you Pakistani? Or Punjabi?" "I'm European." On the one hand, I was flattered that I might have been able to pass as a light skinned Pakistani, but on the other, I was so tired of this attitude that if I'm not Indian I don't know what I'm doing.

This doesn't happen with Near East/Persian people.

Saturday night at CW was great. Another visit from Jeff and Dave (see, now I've gone and forgotten which is which.. *waves to them* ():D) made me smile a lot. A chat with Susan, more henna for Liz - and free snacks from Liz. There was the chikkie who came by to preview my books before heading to California for interviews and there was Kyle(sp?) who had seen me at Top of the Park and got a lovely calf piece done from Bella's Wildflowers. She's so smiley, I just couldn't help but get as excited as she was about the henna. I'd really wanted to talk to her at Top of the Park since she seemed so interested and nice, but I was just too busy.

Two women came in who had just been down to Lucky Monkey looking for a henna artist. (Yay! It's always nice to know which advertising is paying off.) They got my number and called home, D picked up and told them I was at CW so they hurried right over! And then I did henna on two young women who were also smiley and just plain nice. It was quite a "feel good" night, really.

Oh, and Thursday I actually did some henna on myself for the first time in ages. I have a pic, but I have to install my digital camera's memory stick software, so.. maybe the next post. I met up with Meeta in the evening and we went to Al Noor for food, conversation and of course, henna. I did both her palms right there and no one seemed to mind. I love Al Noor. :D

This weekend is the Saline Celtic Festival, but I don't think I'll bring henna. I'll be attending with the SCA and they're a nonprofit educational group and I'd cross way too many lines. I'm also emailing back and forth with a woman named Cindy about scheduling some training. I'd hardly consider myself a master, but the idea of having apprentices/help/booth babes is nice. I just don't know how to handle it - I mean, how do you enforce standards or make sure they're just using your stuff and how do you pay them.. I'll have to just teach her and see how it goes.

Bohemian Street Fair

2006-06-29T03:15:57Z

Henna Tuesday night was a grand success. I had planned to do henna in Howell afternoon, but thunderstorms and hail just aren't good henna weather. Especially not with an hour drive round trip. So, I just went to Top of the Park (besides, they'd definitely pay me to be there whether it was sunny or snowing).

Since they were paying me a flat fee, henna was free to the attendees - so I took out the $20 section. Not to be miserly, but to avoid getting bogged down on a full hand or foot with 40 people in line. It was a smart move because I had a line all evening. I had only planned to be there for a couple hours, but I worked 3.5 hours until my arm seemed like it was permanently cramped in an L-shape and my fingers had lost nearly all coordination. It's been a while since I did that much henna, but I was going non-stop.

I finally had to cut the line off at 9:30 pm. It was starting to get too dark to work, anyway. A lot of people asked if I'd be back on Wednesday and were disappointed to hear I wouldn't be. I did my best to get people to take my brochures since the new ones list when I'll be at Crazy Wisdom. (Unfortunately, this Saturday I won't be there. :/) I really wish the A2 Summer Festival would take me on a regular basis. Bohemian Street Fair or not, it'd be a hit every night. And I'd be willing to stick with the discounted price (they paid me $75 for last night), though I'd probably set a two hour time limit. I don't think they'd be allowed to let me charge for henna, but maybe if I could put out a tip jar, that'd even things out. The exposure is worth it.

The organizers were great to work with. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Tonight I did some final tweaking on my design books. Worked in some things I liked from the HT book. I would really love to have a Moroccan eBook. Some bold, geometric designs would balance out all the organic floral designs.

Coming up, I have a book signing I'm doing henna at on July 8th and About Faces contacted me for a party on July 15th. It's on the west coast of Michigan, so we're discussing drive time, but I think I'll be able to work it out.

Switching up to a PayPal cart and advertising on HT has really paid off. I'm getting about three orders/week (compared to about one/month). But I really need to unload a whole bunch of Yemeni, Moroccan and Indian henna. I forgot that I had a kilo of each stashed away from last summer. It's been frozen all year, so it's not like it's been going bad, I'd just rather get it into circulation and used up. Anybody wanna buy a bunch at half price?

River, River - Book!

2006-06-25T18:22:13Z

I just downloaded the new HT book. Disappointing. Not worth $30, that's for sure. And I'm not trying to be a snob, just... that IndoArab book had more useful stuff and was half the price. I just regret being out $30.

This week I had a private appointment referred by Lucky Monkey. It was the day after the worst thunder storms I think I've ever experienced. No joke, from 6 am until midnight, it was storming somewhere in my area. The humidity was insane. They booked me for an hour since that's the minimum for non-party stuff and then the woman picked a design that took me about 5 minutes to do. o.o So I did henna on her daughters too and still ended up leaving early. They were very generous, nice people. The weather has been great this weekend, so I hope her wedding was grand!

Yesterday, I covered the afternoon shift for shwankie in Howell. It was the Balloon Festival and she had to leave early. I got there around 3 pm and stayed til 6 pm. Only had three customers. WotA's pricing policy is different from CW's since I'm not actually renting space there. At CW I chage $5, $10 or $20/design and they pay me directly. At WotA, the rate is $1/minute with a $20/15 minute minimum. I felt bad charging them this much when they picked designs that took so little time. I tried to dress things up and give them their money's worth, but in my design books, $20 gets a hand, not a bracelet.

I'm not complaining or saying either way is better or worse. Just commenting on how I felt. I'll be doing Tuesdays up there now, so I'll get used to it. Luckily, the conversation was fun. I met Elijah who does tarot readings. Vibrant person. He told me we wouldn't be moving until March, which I didn't want to hear. I kinda figured that's how it would end up anyway, I just really don't want to be here throught another winter. And I got to chat with the stylist whose name I don't remember. He'd just been to Greece (Rhodes) and had grand stories to tell. He reminded me of my brother Derrick, really.

While we were talking, someone drove by and shouted "I believe in Jesus!" (since it's a pagan bookstore) so as I left, I was stopped at the corner on a red light and shouted to them "I believe in Jesus!" and got a big grin and a wave. From Howell, I hurried back to A2 with a half hour of quiet time to have dinner. I sampled CW's enchiladas which are made with butternut squash, curry & cumin. Quite a flavor!

My first customers at CW were a couple young women whose mothers had contacted me about doing henna to welcome them into womanhood. They picked out a dragon and a yin yang. I also did a design that a woman had come up with herself. She wanted it on her palm. To her it symbolized fertility and she told me that she had been artifically inseminated a couple days before and she and her partner were really hoping for a baby. Fun!

dummergirl47 was also in town for the weekend and dropped by, bringing offerings of shortbread and wild tales from camp. I know she's nervous about camp, but she seemed really happy and excited about life. It was a good feeling and I have a lot of confidence in her. But it was great to see her - until she whacked me with her cane. :P (I'm surprised it didn't bruise!)

And now I'm home and a local friend named Jess (who is storing my surplus of henna powder in her fridge) is coming over in about a half hour. I'll be doing henna on her hands! Maybe I'll try some new designs. I was going to use this weekend's henna cash to do something special for myself, but I feel so guilty about the $30 for that book, I think I'll just deposit the cash in the bank.

Oh, and a girl (I'm assuming employee) at CW asked if she could do henna alongside me. o.o I was confused at first since she said she would do it for free. My thought was "Well, why would they pay me to do it if you're doing it free?" but what she meant was that she wants practice and would give me her portion of the money. I think it could work, though we'd have to iron out some details for while she's operating under my name and using my supplies. But the truth is, it'd be nice to train a few replacements for when I move.

Slacking Again

2006-06-20T16:13:00Z

I'm doing it again. If I don't write as soon as I get home, I just forget. And it's not like unmemorable things are happening, I'm just lazy and distracted. Well, no chance at recalling what happened a few weeks ago, but a couple weeks ago it was memorysdaughter's last night before heading off to camp. We were beset upon by a group od handicapped adults who told us jokes for hours and made us laugh hard. Can't say I got a lot of henna done, but it was a worthwhile evening.

Last Saturday, Tammy came up from Ohio with Rachel and I taught them how to make henna. I use the simple "something acid/something sweet" recipe so they were thrilled to learn how easy it could be after reading up on complicated stuff like the coffee/tea recipes. And there must have been something attractive about them because I was doing henna all evening. I made as much in one night as it usually takes me two months to make there. Grand fun!

Today I might head up to Howell to do henna at WotA. This weekend is the Balloon Festival and I'll be up there on Saturday (back to back shifts of henna on Saturday). Oh and Lucky Money has already paid off. Thursday I have a private appointment for a woman who wants to get something done on her back for her honeymoon. Instead of lingerie. I think that's a great idea, lots more fun.

Getting calls that start with "Hey I heard about you from Crazy Wisdom" (or Lucky Monkey) are great. Makes me feel good to know my small efforts to promote myself are paying off. My new binder layouts are working really well and I went with color brochures this summer since people don't take them anyway. *laughs* I only made 20. I got a banner ad up on HT and hopefully that will funnel in some orders to move the stock for my website. If it's not Jamila, it doesn't seem to be selling. I still wish I could get an ad up on HP. That'd really help sales. Ah well, next year.

Progress Report

2006-06-02T01:10:01Z

As henna season sets in, I find myself reorganizing. I redid my folders this week after buying the IndoArab book from Henna Lounge. I really wanted to toss a lot of McMehndi crap and try to add some more traditional designs. The $10 folder is down by three pages and the $20 folder is half full of designs no one ever picks. The $5 folder has more than enough.

I also bought new totes. I'd been lugging around this way too big bag every weekend to CW. Instead, now I have a 19" pilot's case (roller, hard sided, smallest luggage) for festivals and a roller tote for CW and private events. The roller tote means I have to ditch my cute caboodle I bought at TJ Maxx with nyx_hemsut and the neat brochure/business card holder from World Market, but I can live with that if life is a little simpler on a regular basis. I can think of ways to make it even simpler, too. Like condensing my folders down to one and using a color dot system and then having three folders with the same stuff in them to hand around.

Top of the Park responded to my email and said they'd like to have me do henna on June 27th for the Bohemian Street Fair night. I'll be in a tent with some bellydancers, apparently. And there's supposed to be a band from France called Les Yeux Noirs (gypsy-klezmer), but all I can find on the schedule is Joe Summer's Gypsy Jazz. Yay, two evenings of Gypsy Jazz in one month! The movie that night is Moulin Rouge.

Tuesday I dropped cards and brochures off at Lucky Monkey, a tattoo parlour in downtown A2. Liz from CW says they've been admiring my henna on her, so I went in and introduced myself. Apparently, they get requests for henna on a weekly basis. I also introduced myself at a new tattoo place down the street, but one of the ladies there already does henna.

shwankie and I also discussed weekdays in Howell. I told her Tuesdays and Fridays were open. On Wednesdays we don't see Rick (counselor), I could probably overlap with her so she can do mostly readings. Hopefully, we'll get this information pinned down and I can update my brochures accordingly.

Bat Mitzvah

2006-05-29T20:03:24Z

Mazel tov!

Wheeeee - last night was insane. It was like.. a wedding with teenagers. o.O The party was held at a country club and catered and even had valet service. When I walked in, I had to ask an employee if there were multiple events going on and she assured me that I was at the right place. Wow. Everyone was decked out in their nicest - it was like a cotillion or a prom. Party favors, kids' bar, adults' bar, dance floor, DJ, catered food, balloons, decorations, photographers... I really never knew it was such a huge event.

I started out doing gilding paste, but I don't know if it was just too humid or if I don't have the knack of it yet. I didn't think it'd be all that different from henna, but I had a hard time making designs because it all wanted to glump together. I'll have to practice. Eva gave me the go ahead to do henna and life got much better. I was hired for two hours with a possible third hour and ended up staying four hours - until I ran out of henna. Otherwise, I probably could have done henna for another couple hours. At 11 pm when I headed out, people were still asking for it.

The only difficulty I had was that after dinner was served, they dimmed the lights for dancing and I was working in the dark. Well.. in the dim. But it was hard to see what I was doing. I do wish more adults had gotten henna done, though. I would have loved to have done some really beautiful work or had people come back for gilding accents. Oh, and I was really sad when this cute little redheaded boy came up to get some guilding and said that he couldn't get henna because he was "allergic", then went on to tell me about the awful reaction he had to a design he got in Mexico. Classic PPD. :(

I did meet a wonderful woman named Anita who is of an Indian ethnicity. I showed her my nicer binder so she could pick out something a little more ornate. We chatted, of course and she asked the inevitable "How'd you learn about this?" which always leads to telling about nyx_hemsut because that's easier to explain than the SCA. ;) Anita was disappointed to learn that my sister lives in Utah, but she was thrilled to know someone in the area who did henna and we also talked about doing a logo for her company. I think some people took brochures and Eva indicated that she has a couple more parties to do, so last night could definitely have some good long term effects.

There were the inevitable smears and smudges, but there was this one little adorable girl who wanted to be decorated, but she was 5 so I did gilding paste. She kept coming back for more! I did a design on each hand and then one on her shoulder and she was so careful and neat about it. Little girls are always the sweetest about their designs - following the directions To The Letter.

My binders really need to be redone. I feel like I'm ready to graduate beyond McMehndi. I'd love to offer more traditional looking $5 designs. Henna Tribe is supposedly offering an eBook of traditional festival designs and I'm looking forward to it. Someday I'll have the courage to draw my own designs.

Oh and happy announcement, my store is entirely PayPal now! I wish I could convince CW to sell my henna kits. I never heard another thing from the Ypsi Food Co-op after I gave them 5 kits to sell. I should drop by and collect them so I can at least salvage the non-perishables and then test the henna to see if it still has any life left in it. I think I'll put up a banner ad on HT. I tried to put one up on HP, but there's a new rule that you have to have been in business for two years. :/ I was geeked to be celebrating my first anniversary so now I'll have to wait another year.

akshamhenna @ 2006-05-21T16:36:00

2006-05-21T21:04:06Z

Once again, CW did not fail me. The evening started with a meditation group that overlapped with my time in the back room. No biggie, I can share. So I waited up front and watched last night's band set up. I can't say I was particularly impressed, even though this group (Muruga) has a big reputation. For a brief rundown, check out his Wikipedia entry. Only the keyboardist looked like he was a musician. The guitarist looked like a lumberjack and the drummer who has played with all sorts of famous people looked like a mechanic. o.O Not to say that these are unacceptable trades, but sheesh, you're performing! Spiff up a little! And to top it off, I was subjected to his banter with two men who'd come early. They tried to be all wise and cosmic and I just wanted to hurl. I know it's a new age bookstore, so I run into it a lot there, but it still drives me nuts.

It took them two hours to set up and then 15 minutes of talking to introduce his best friend whose great poetry was the inspiration for the night. Oy. And then... and then! The music was- well, I don't know exactly how to describe it. Zen? Trippy? It was slow and then it was improv of the worst kind. And I don't mean that they played badly, I mean that I don't like the "improv" style. I'm sure they practice together because it all sounded like it was supposed to be this way. But I didn't like it. And I kept waiting for the good drumming because Jeff and Dave assured me that the guy was a wizard with the drums. It finally did happen, but it was that improv style and I wasn't able to enjoy it. I think they probably played for an hour total.

So, yeah... I saw Jeff and Dave which was great because I hadn't seen them in a month or so. And the tea room girls were having "prom night" so they were all dressed up and amusing people. Poor Liz was sick, though, and is getting all four wisdom teeth out this week so I did an "om" with "fearless" in Sanskrit on her arm. I met a Dominican friar/priest who was recently back from Bolivia (or so I gathered) and palling around with a woman who was getting her phD in biomedical research, specifically looking for a way to treat/diagnose arthritis - I think. My conversation with them was punctuated by a few other conversations at the same time.

We were joined by a man who walked into the back room, turned on both space heaters, opened all the blinds on the windows, opened a window, turned on the floor lamp and then turned off the sconce lamps. o.O When we walked out, I turned the sconces back on because otherwise, people think the room is closed. He returned with a bowl of soup and then unscrewed the lightbulbs in the sconces! If he had just eaten and left, it wouldn't have been a big deal, but he'd get up, wander around, come back, eat, chat, then leave again and did this over and over. Finally, someone from management came in and rescued the lighting situation. But he still stayed all night - and snagged a couple of my business cards and then called at 5:45 am! Not cool.

I also got to catch up with the two women who run a daycare in Ypsi. As hilarious as ever. *grin* And then the last part of the evening was spent with a couple I'd spoken to once before. The man is named Stefan and he has Tourets(sp?), but I forget the woman's name. They remembered me and asked how D was doing, so we talked for a bit about the accident and all that drama and I felt good, once again, to Talk about the crap and be supported even if by people who barely knew me. She even gave me a hug. :D

Yesterday, I also spent some time updating my brochure and contacting festivals since I'll be here all summer now. I'm planning to attend the Arab International Festival this year. For the past two years, I've wanted to go and in 2004 I forgot, in 2005 I was at the Strawberry Festival. So, if anyone in the area would like to head to Dearborn with me sometime June 16-18th, I'd love the company.

Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, if any locals would like to see Love's Labours Lost al fresco at the arboretum here in A2, I'd also love company for that. It's Shakespeare done outside and you follow the actors around and each scene is in new location. I went a couple years ago with my sis in law and have really wanted to get back to do it again. It's in June on the weekends and tickets are $15.

Emergency Henna

2006-05-18T19:47:50Z

Wheeee! Yesterday I got a call from a friend who needed me to cover a couple henna appointments for her. Various reasons leading up to it: she just wasn't able to do them. So, I tossed my frozen henna into a bowl to thaw while I got dressed, then drove north. Luckily, it was such a beautiful day and the drive was actually pleasant. And I was glad to be able to help and heck, make some cash.

And thus, I returned to old stomping grounds: Howell. (I lived in Brighton for a couple years.) She does henna at Wisdom of the Ages one or two days a week. I remember when that store opened up and what a stink there was in the local community about witches, etc. The store even got picketed. I'm glad to see they're still in business, though.

I did a design on a girl's upper back and then I did henna for a bride. Nothing complex, luckily. Man, I'd have been very ill prepared for full out bridal. But both women came prepared with examples of what they'd like, so that made life easier. Shawn asked me if I'd be interested in working with her one or two days a week, so next month I may have another venue. It's a bit of a drive, but one day a week wouldn't be bad. She also suggested that I take her time during the Howell Melon Festival since she'll be at Pennsic. And we chatted about how CW handles the Art Festival - a very valuable heads up.

Cash. Good connections. Job well done. Pleasant drive. I can't complain.

April showers bring .. May showers!

2006-05-14T05:25:31Z

Though I have been less than stellar about updating recently, I am still forging ahead in the wonderful world of henna and body scrubs. Mostly, as I hoped for a settlement with the lawsuit last week, I was trying to avoid accumulating things (ordering more henna) as well as getting rid of things (the last of the brochures, discounting henna, etc.). But we didn't get a settlement so now we have a court date in October, which means I'm here at least until November. So, now it's time to renew my insurance and apply to some local festivals to fill the summer season.

Tax weekend, I hosted various nieces and nephews. In preparation for making body scrubs, I was zesting a bunch of lemons, limes and oranges. The nephew picked up a lemon and asked "Why is it juicy?" I responded "Because I took off its skin. You'd be juicy too if I took off your skin." He just gave me an odd look. "You'd be juicy too" has since found its way into regular conversation on numerous occasions. I swapped the nephew for a pair of nieces (his older sisters) and took them to henna night at Crazy Wisdom after D and I taught them how to make a tasty Indian meal.

My #1 henna groupie memorysdaughter was there with her friend Mi(sp?) and it was a grand night. I picked up this talisman book and started reading random segments. One particularly memorable reading shared instructions for identifying a witch/thief. It involved a new wooden tub and seven virgins (preferably around the age of 10). The virgins were to dance around the tub until the saw the culprit in the water. Now.. call me crazy, but I think that sounds an awful lot like Being a witch.. ;) The next memorable reading was about how sometimes, witches who live outside Paris don't report their earnings to the taxman. *gasp* To which my response was "Well, y'know, you can only claim so many new wooden wash tubs and the services of virgins as a tax write off so often before it starts to look suspicious." ():D And the last great part about the book was a two page spread of a donkey decorated with henna. The results of that night are documented in the Groupie Gnostic Gospel which can be read at Our Lady of Henna.

Oh, and that Friday, I did henna on a bellydancer for her show. We were hoping for tribal, but my hand went with floral. Here are some pictures. I've started using fructose in my recipe instead of sugar (the dextrose seemed to make things clog) and she said that the henna stayed on all night and she actually had to scrape it off the next day because it was still sticking so well.

The Saturday of the 24th was Joe's night to play Gypsy Jazz and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The first set seemed to be a little more ethnic than usual. I had a pair of interesting conversation partners. The woman of the couple happened to be an occupational rehab therapist. She asked the inevitable "So, what do you do when you're not doing henna?" and I briefly explained about D's accident. I've stopped glossing that over because I've found that I never know where support/insight might come from. They listened very sympathetically and offered some suggestions and I really felt better afterward.

Susan also listens to the drama. She's the new staff manager (been there a month now) and she sits every week for her break while I freehand henna on her and we chat. My favorite barista/tea room girl still comes back every week for henna and I got to hear about her new apartment. I feel awful that I can't remember her name.. I'm horrible with names. Last week, there was a new face at the cafe counter. She came back for henna, too - "Just Married". She'd eloped the day before. I enjoy the regular faces as much as the variety.

Last Sunday, I was hired by About Faces to do henna at the International Women's Expo. Only for two hours - I wish it could have been longer. I dragged memorysdaughter along as my hennapprentice (she carried my signs for me) and hit the ground running. I did henna non stop for the two hours while she enjoyed the expo. I wish I'd had time afterward to wander, but we had to get to a family party. I'm quite possibly the only aunt in the world who would show up to a Catholic first communion party in full Middle Eastern garb. *shrug* "Oh, that's just Aunt Kate." ;)

Grrr - I can't remember anything else about last weekend. But this week, the wild conversation trend continued. I was supposed to do henna at the Book Festival, but it rained all day, so I cancelled. There was just no way I wanted to sit in the wet cold for 8 hours. Tonight's musicians were great. Still not entirely my style, but at least they sounded wonderful. One was really loud though. Oy - made conversation very difficult. memorysdaughter met me there and brought me brownies. Good groupie! I did henna on the quieter of the two musicians. The baristas and the staff manager got their fix. I talked with a man named Jay who wanted to tell me about his journey that started in '77 with a powerful religious experience. I was also subjected to the crude humor of a trio who might have been tolerable if they had the excuse of being drunk - and I learned a new euphamism for masturbation. *cringe*

The evening ended with a more civilized trio of gentlemen. One from Lebanon, one from Palestine and one from Dearborn (ooo, exotic!). We discussed henna briefly, they asked some questions, I shared stories about the Aladdines in Portland and then the younger man, from Palestine, asked me about the music scene in the area. So I listed off a few clubs and then they volunteered the Nectarine which, last I heard, was a gay club. I had no idea how to respond. o.O I wasn't sure if they knew and I wasn't sure if they were gay, so I didn't want to offend them. So I ended up just blushing five shades of red and giggling. So helpful.

Birthday Henna

2006-04-09T21:45:50Z

I missed last Saturday because I was sick, but this Saturday at CW more than made up for it. For starters, a girl emailed me last week saying she was turning 20 this weekend and would like a design made for her that symbolized "womanhood". Not.. fertility, but adulthood. Leaving her teen years behind. this is what I came up with. Naturally, I forgot my camera so I don't have a pic of her hand. :/ I decided moons and swirlies would be powerful, meaningful and beautiful. She really liked the design, so I felt great.

But the night continued to be surprising when Meeta showed up. I haven't seen her since November, but she's commented a few times here. She needed an excuse to not be able to work, so I covered both her hands with henna while we chatted and caught up on some doings. I'm sure this is no surprise to her, but I really enjoyed feeling safe enough with her to just.. talk. To open up - not that I said anything terribly profound. There's just a certain joy in talking with someone for the second time in your life and not feeling like I have to give the whole back story. Talking in the present is a huge gift to be able to give someone. Thank you, Meeta.

The music was miserable last night. No, I correct myself: the singing was miserable. Everyone who came into the back room commented about it and most agreed that if he'd have stopped singing, the music would have been a lot better. (The instruments were great, the voice was lacking.)

I finished the night off with a woman whose energy was all over the place. She was intense and beautiful, but wheee! I felt like I'd been on a Journey by the time I did henna, chatted with her and packed up my bag.

From here on out, the weather will continue to improve and hopefully, business will pick up at the book store. I'm not committing myself to any festivals just yet since I'm still really hoping to move this summer. But it sounds like A2 has a book festival coming up and maybe I cuold get in with that on CW's coat tails. Also, I'd like to do the art fair this summer and I would Really love to be able to convince Top of the Park to have henna. But I'm not sure of the dates yet.

More Henna Giggles

2006-03-26T19:11:30Z

I meant to link to this when it was going on, but since I posted that henna prayer, I decided I should provide this also. 2005 Henna Mix Parody is a whole bunch of fun "spoofs" on writing styles to describe how to mix henna. Enjoy!

Gypsy Jazz

2006-03-26T06:42:37Z

Last week at CW was unremarkable except for the music, which was stunning. A woman named Xiao Dong Wei played the traditional Chinese erhu (violin) with a bluegrass guitarist and a jazz mandolin.. ier.. ist? I watched her give someone a lesson before hand and then he and I talked and he showed me his erhu. The music was just captivating. She started learning when she was 5 and trained for 10 years before joining the Beijin symphony. Then she moved to the US and played in an alternative band. Led Zeppelin on the erhu.. that was a treat.

Tonight was another social, busy night. I only did a few designs, but I got to chat with Joe Summers who plays there on the last Saturday of every month. I'd enjoyed his music before. He calls it "gypsy jazz" which is.. exactly what it is. I do wish it was more gypsy and less jazz, but I'm not the one calling the shots. He does play the flamenco guitar and promised to try to remember to bring it next month. He was really neat to talk to, though. It made me wish I had a better mind for music so I could discuss it more intelligently.

So, the music was great. Dave & Jeff dropped by to say hi even though they couldn't stay. That was really sweet of them, it's funny how that can make an evening nicer. I did a few nice henna designs, but my paste has been runnier than I'd like the past couple weeks. However, not runny enough to handle the .5 tip without clogging. I don't know what's up, but it was aggravating. Almost enough to make me vow to try cones. I did henna on my own palm for the first time in months. A nice bold design since I had to work with the .9 tip (lost my last .7 tip).

Just before leaving, I spoke to a woman about doing a gift certificate for her friend and briefly chatted with the store owner. Then I got into a conversation with the mother of a girl I did henna on who asked "What do you do the rest of the week?" and then was so sympathetic as I told the brief version of my sad story that I wanted to cry. It still feels so good when people say "Oh you poor thing" and I don't have to pretend like everything is ok and I'm strong.

Henna Prayer

2006-03-24T21:13:56Z

Yemeni is my shepherd, I shall not want.
It maketh me to roll in its green pleasures:
It leadeth me beside unchlorinated waters.
It restoreth my soul:
It leadeth me in the paths of adornment for Henna's sake.

Yea, though I reach into my fridge empty of lemon juice,
I will fear not for dye release: For Coke art with me;
Thy tannin and thy phosphoric acid, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a fine paste before me in the presence of skunky lime juice;
To annoint my hands in lawsone; My cones runneth over.

Surely good stains shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the House of Spring Day Court in Las Vegas for 8 days this May.

Ganked from this thread on the Henna Page and posted specifically for memorysdaughter.

Social Night

2006-03-05T06:03:11Z

Tonight at CW was a very social evening. For starters, memorysdaughter dropped by with her friend whose name I do not recall. They visited for a couple hours and we laughed a lot. One notable exclamation was "Strip tarot!". I'm still trying to figure out what the rules would be for that. I am now dubbed Our Lady of Henna and I have groupies. Or.. at least one. And I was brought an offering of muffins. ;)

I also saw Crystal from SCA and did tarot readings for two girls, one of whom works at CW. The weird thing about the readings was that they were done on a totally brand new deck that didn't belong to me. memorysdaughter offered to let me use hers and it was so shiny and new that I was the one who peeled off the wrapper. But the deck seemed to like me because the girls felt like the readings were relevant. I just hope the deck manages to bond with her now. :/

We were joined by a father/daughter duo who I had done for before and it was neat to see them again, too. And the girl who went to Hawaii showed me her cute hibiscus tattoo. I did henna on some really fun people and chatted a bit about festivals and actually stayed until after 10:30. It really was nice to see so many different people.