Aisha's mehndi

On Friday, I had a very last minute bridal for a wonderful Pakistani- Fillipino family. Turns out, the mother in the family is from an area of the Phillipines that is fairly close to where my Father-in-law is from.

While she only had 1 day until her wedding, and it was getting late, she still wanted to make sure she had some henna for her nikkah.

Henna takes 2 days to develop in color, but her nikkah was in the evening, so we're hoping it will be dark enough by then.

She would have gotten it the night before, AT her mehndi, but she was very busy and the artist that was there was not very good, from what I was told.... by everyone.

Since we had no pre-planned design, I had her look through some bridal books to see what she liked, and on the first page of a Bhavini book she saw a design that she liked, but we put it all together very differently, and it turned out lovely! (if I don't say so myself ;-)

She opted for a simpler design on the tops of her hands.

I also hennaed several family members, I was there until 3 am!

I did a 2 hand mandala-type design on Sumreen, the family member that found me online.

It was a fun night, I'm so happy I always have such nice customers -- I've been very blessed over the years!

Belly Henna at Perfection

The other day, I hennaed a woman's belly at Perfection Dermagraphics.

She and her husband are photographers and her husband photographed the entire experience, and happily sent me some pictures in exchange for some linkage on my site.

I just love what professional can do for a site :-)

This photo is by Jose Fonesca of www.klipartstudio.com

The rest of the pics are on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/auroramehndihenna/sets/72157623404613653/

Check em out!!

Here is a photo of the finished product, taken by me.

I decided that my arm has had enough "bare" time, and it was time to henna myself.

I opted for a design in the style of Kiran Sahib, with a little twist of another artist, Rajeswari.

I think when it's at peak color in 2 days, I will gild it with some glitter pastes, and maybe even some swarovski crystals.

:-)

I love the variety of appointments I get, and how henna fits so well.

On Saturday, I did henna for an 11 year old's birthday party. On Sunday, I did henna for a 60 year old's party.

The 11 year old's were great! I don't think I saw one smudge, and suprisingly they all wanted somewhat traditional designs! I think they had alot of fun.




I also did henna at a 6oth birthday party for an Israeli woman and her family.

I think I probably did 15 different hamsa's in 15 diferent varieties. I don't get to do them often, so this made me happy. Everyone really enjoyed getting the treat of henna, I'm happy I could have been part of this special occasion!




Here is an example of what was done on the birthday girl.

A khamsa, or a hamsa, hand of Miriam, or hand of Fatima is a symbol used throughout the middle east by Jews, Muslims, and some Christians to ward off the "evil eye" or bad thoughts and actions, and to protect ones self or home. It is a hand with 5 fingers, and sometimes an eye in the center.







:-)

ON FRIDAY, I did bridal henna for an Egyptian Family. It was a fun crowd, while I was doing henna for the guests, I could hear drumming in the other room where a family member was belly dancing.

The family are Coptic Orthodox Christians, and I think at least 30 family and guests (including the Bride) had tiny Coptic crosses tattooed on their wrists, which is common practice among Egyptian Coptics. A few non familiy members and kids got their crosses hennaed on instead :-)

One of the younger guys in the family asked me if I could do a llama, so I told him to find me a pic on his iphone. He found a cartoon character of a llama, so I copied it. He decided when I was done that it was to be named "super llama". And so, Super Llama was born....

The Bride, Brandy, opted for only simple palms done. She liked the larger flowers, and the idea of putting the hands together to form a heart shape.

:-)

Busy Weekend

I just love the variety I get for appointments.
I had 3 this weekend, as well as on of my first few days at Perfection Dermagraphics in Des Plaines this Thursday.

First, on Thursday I had one of my first few introductory days at Perfection Dermagraphics. This is an absolutely incredible tattoo shop in Des Plaines, where I am taking my private henna appointments. This provides for an excellent oppotunity to finally take smaller appointments, as well as appointments for people who don't want to pay the pricey mileage which can often accompany out of state and distant appointments.

A little bit I learned about Perfection that I was extremely impressed with:
This shop is like no other I have seen (and I've seen quite a few). When you walk in, the scene is quite different. No blaring death metal, no punk kids in mohawks or intimidating bikers hanging out in the entryway. The shop looks a lot like the dentist office next door.
The master tattoo artist Stephen Knight ran me through the cleaning processes, explaining along the way every reason why things are done in that exact way. Just cleaning up after a tattoo appointment involved THREE different glove changes! It is BY FAR the cleanest shop I have ever seen.
Then I watched Steve do a tattoo on a client that would be comparable in quality to a painting, a true piece of artwork.

I can think of no better place to bring my henna clients.

You should check out their site at http://www.perfectiondermagraphics.com/