Dakota County Fair 2011 Recap!

Just yesterday my 14th Dakota County Fair week came to a close!  This year I didn't blog as much because I couldn't get the wifi to work there on my laptop.  And, by the time I got home at 11:30 pm, I was just too wiped to download, edit, and post pics!  But, now that I've had a chance to do that, I thought I'd share a few photos from the week.

 This photo above is me painting my 3.5 year old Sammy.  Behind me is my husband Wayde and our littlest, 1.5 year old Toby! My boys came along for the booth set-up and tear-down.  I couldn't do the fair without my husband, who takes care of the boys while I'm there and is always super supportive of my business ventures! Also my mom, who took this photo, and splits up the days painting at the booth too, and my dad, who was a big help with tear-down night this year!

I actually enjoy some of the slow times during the fair days, because it gives me a chance to try out new ideas on my own arm and hands. Here are a few that I did this year...

 

The chicken was really fun!  I'll let you all in on a little secret...I've been working on a new step-by-step book of really fun hand designs.  It's almost ready to go to print, and will be available in the book section of my online store soon!

 Angry Birds were very popular new designs this year.  I thought I'd take it up a notch on my own arm, since I could work on it slowly between customers, and did this full scene above.

 Having a little fun with some paisley print!

 

Thought I'd try a full-body unicorn.  Usually I do a head/neck design on my board, but once I had this one on my arm, I did have a customer request it on hers too!

Another fun hand design!

For 2011 I added a nice display book of hand animals and full face designs.  Here are a few...

 Barbie eyes...always so freaky!  I had to take her photo to show her what it looks like since, for obvious reasons, you can't just look at yourself in the mirror!

 

"Cheek Art" designs are what I do the most of by far, whether they are actually on the cheek or somewhere else on the body, like the arm...

 Many thanks to everyone who let me take their photo for my sample board!  I have a big board of photos in my display and people have fun looking for themselves the following year.  I always have fun seeing kids who are little on the board coming back as teenagers!

I'll end the post with my cute, curly-headed little Toby.  Like many of the kids who stop by my booth, he loves my big mirror stand!