Currently I am on the road and it could not be a better experience! I had no idea what to expect out of this trip but I love the personal growth and epiphanies I have been reaching. It is better than I could ever have imagined, and I attribute a lot of that to my past experience at Earthdance with Kat Hay of Spirit Spinner.  Check her out, she is an amazing yogi and hooper who is currently in teacher training and is only destined for success!

This is the first transformational festival I've been to and also the first time I felt like I fully utilized the workshops. I connected with so many people, educated myself on new topics, talked about new concepts, and tried new things! Everyone everywhere was creating constantly, it was so incredibly inspiring.

I feel like I am in the process of accepting love into my life in so many different ways and this weekend I was able to make leaps and bounds in that direction. I originally decided to go to the festival after Nora Morales, a fabulous body art and costume designer, accepted me as a part of her crew for a production of and explanation of the story of the chakras. There were nearly 30 people involved and it is the biggest show I've been a part of to date. Everyone was in full costume, head to toe body paint, and many headdresses created by Nora and her partner. That experience alone was enough to call that weekend a success but it ended up being so much more than that.

My favorite workshops:

• Trust: Power in Integrity and Competence by Eternalmagdalene
• The Art of Thai Massage by Nina Lombardo

• Crystal Bowls Sound Healing and Sacred G Breathing with Vishal Subhit

Along with the above I did workshops on communication, rope dart, Budokon Yoga with Barbara Alfonzo, dragon staff with Krisstina Hawks of Ninja Pyrate, and the flute wtih Spider. I ended the festival with 10 hand massage, which I highly suggest everyone try, it created a sensation like no other. I also experienced my first session of laughter yoga, which might possibly be the best thing I've ever encountered. You basically run through different "hee hee", "ha ha", and "ho ho" laughter patterns. Of course at first they are forced, but by the end they are authentic! It was so silly and fun, and the woman who ran it had the most beautiful and cheerful smile on her face. I've never left a festival so enthused and positive! Of course I slept for 14 hours straight, but once I got my rest I am so ready to go! Learning how to take care of my body and keep it healthy may be one of the most helpful skills I've acquired.

Thank you Earthdance! You are one of a kind and I am so grateful, I appreciate you fully!

Up and coming this week I have Further Fest. There I will actually be one of the featured artists. I'll have a gallery of my work and I will be vending with Kearsley Schweller of Bearfoot Happiness. She with be selling hand stitched journals made with recycled and custom marbled paper, they are truly made with love. Along with that she has some pins, bandanas, and hopefully scarves that are in the works. I will be selling original acrylic and watercolor paintings, prints of my photos, infinite healing balm, massaging lotion bar, deodorant, and SCOBY to make your own Kombucha!

Kearsley will also be co-teaching in her first workshop, which is so incredibly exciting! She with be working with Amber Stigers, they are focusing on flow arts and free writing and how one can utilize these as tools to recover from trama, particularly with PTSD victims from war. I think that is just absolutely amazing and it makes me so happy and honored to call her my friend.

Currently I only have pictures to post that show my process of making the Infinite Healing Balm, which I have to say truly helps nearly every skin irritation and problem. This weekend at Earthdance I got eaten up by fire ants and my saving grace has been this balm. Granted its not magic, still taking about 3-4 days for the bites to heal, but it is definitely helping and it's all natural with no harsh chemicals!

My recipe for the healing balm relies a lot on neem oil, which is very powerful and if you click the link you can find out more about it. I created my own recipe combining the following recipe links and if you have any questions so you can make your own just email me. Also for that pretty sea foam green color I get, I use blue morracan chamomile essential oil. It helps with inflammation and the blue oil mixes with the yellow of the neem oil and creates such a pretty calming color.

Healing Neem Balm
Homemade Neem Cream Recipe of Eczema and Psoriasis
Fix Pretty Much Anything Salve
Homemade Itch Relief Stick

For the deodorants I used this recipe.

Finally for the massaging lotion bars I used equal parts bees wax, shea butter or cocoa butter, and avocado oil or jojoba oil. Melt them all down together in a double boiler and if you want them to smell then add whatever essential oils you want after you take them off the burner. I added peppermint, clove, wintergreen, basil eucalyptus, and ones similar to that so that it makes the skin tingle a little bit and adds for a more invigorating massage.

So please wish us luck and send us good vibes as we tackle our first professional step into the festival world! I expect nothing this weekend but growth. I'm sure we'll learn lots and run into unexpected problems, can't lie I'm a little nervous, but I'm positive whatever happens, is supposed to happen. You can't stop the movement, you've just got to flow with it. Have a happy week!

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Yes, yes!! I am finally finished with this acid wash denim jacket! It's a medium to large, extra long jacket with bomber style sleeves. It's perfect for your next party, rave, or any place with UV black lights. Everything is painted with fluorescent paint and really puts on a bright show once you get it under the lights.

Keep your eyes open because next I will be working on some denim dresses!

I hope everyone is excited about the UV paint as I am, I definitely won't be a stranger with it in my coming projects. :)

At the end of the week I am leaving on a big road trip, down to Charleston, Florida, back to Charleston, and final stop in Nashville. I will be body painting dancers at Earthdance in Florida for World Peace Weekend and the following weekend I am a featured artist at Further Fest in Tennessee!! I am so entirely excited for this trip as I am taking big steps for myself in the art world. I will definitely come back with a new perspective, more experience, and hopefully some new friends.

It may be teeny tiny but it's the first time my name has been put on a festival poster!!! I am so incredibly excited! My plan is to travel with goods to sell so expect my jackets and some more art goodies and balms to be with me on my travels. If you want one just holler!

~ much love to all of you incredible humans, keep doing you ~
✌ ♥ ☯

**This is going to be a rather cluttered blog post. I've neglected to post for wayyy too long now and I have many things to cover**

First off, I am so proud of myself! I unexpectedly woke up naturally for the most beautiful foggy sunrise last week. Only a few of the forest pictures turned out and smashed them together for this epic flower image.

I also managed to capture this oh too typical midwest sunset photo. These type of photos always make me feel nostalgic.

Earlier this week I also had the pleasure of face painting the neighbor girls. It's always such a joy being around them! Can't wait to get more chances to get creative with them! Don't forget, you can hire me to paint at birthday parties and events. I really comfortable working with kids, and many of them at once. I'll even dress up like a character if the party has a theme!!

Also, if you don't already know, I have begun painting denim and I will have a whole line of hand-painted jackets, vests, and dresses coming soon. I have finally finished my first vest. It is Grateful Dead inspired and part of it was painted while I was watching the streaming of the Fare the Well show on the fourth of July. It's also for sale, email me if you are interested!

I used acrylic paint on this, and after it dried I ironed it. That helps it stay on pretty well. I would definitely wash this on delicate and as few times as possible. After about 20 washes it might fade a little. Thankfully we normally don't need to wash denim jackets very often. :)

I hope you all have a lovely week!