At long last, my tattoo is complete!

 Guess what I did yesterday?!? That's right, I finally got my right hip tattooed! My plan all along was to have the tattoo wrap around both hips, but my artist Muriel Zao went on maternity leave so she could have a really cute baby, and then she came back right before Tribal Fest and I was like "nope, no money for a tattoo now!" and then when I finally made an appointment she was booked months out, because she's in demand.

So when I first started my tattoo, I thought long and hard about it, found a beetle species I liked, researched the heck out of it. But beyond that I was a little unsure what I wanted. I knew I wanted vines, but what sort of vines? And should they have some sort of decoration on them? So when I showed up for that appointment, Muriel had a book full of vine borders to look through, and I chose a style I liked and she used it as the inspiration for the pattern that would go over my left hip.

The original plan was to do a "same but different" vine over my right hip. Then I toyed with the idea of a peacock feather worked into the vine, but discarded it. But I still felt like I wanted something other than just a vine, because after all, it's my RIGHT hip and I'm pretty right-dominant in my dance, so it's going to be in pictures a lot. So then I thought maybe a cactus flower, because cactus grow in the desert and they're pretty, but it would have looked weird on a vine, because cacti aren't vines. Then my brilliant friend Jen suggested passionflower, because it grows on a vine, grows in the desert, and is beautiful.

Pro tip: Don't ever get a passionflower tattooed on your hip unless you actually like pain. It hurt a lot. I have still maintained my record of not cursing or crying while getting tattooed, but those little white details all over the flower were the closest I've come.

Second pro tip: Always work with an awesome artist. I told Muriel that I wanted a passionflower and sent her a couple pics I'd found on Google, then when I arrived she pulled up an image search on her iPad and we worked together to choose a couple flowers to combine to get the ideal shape/angle and the colors that would compliment the red-purple accents already in my vine, which makes it look like we planned this all along.

And here's the original beetle, the vine from the second appointment, and the vine from yesterday. It's fun to see how the colors mellow as it heals!

I'm pretty excited because the timing worked out perfectly, I don't have a performance until Open Stage at the start of October, and this beautiful flower will be just freshly healed then, ready for me to show it off! Yay! Thank you Muriel!

Vendors I Love: The Gypsy Kiss!

Let me tell you about one of my favorite vendors ever, The Gypsy Kiss! I've been addicted to Amy's creations since before I even started taking bellydance classes. She found me on Twitter when I was still just shimmying around my living room, and now we interact so much that some people are convinced she's part of the AZ dance community (she's actually in Wisconsin).

There's a lot of reasons why I love The Gypsy Kiss. Of course I'm all about one-of-a-kind creations. There's also the fact that Amy draws from a lot of my favorite sources of inspiration... Faeries, Art Nouveau, vintage materials, and of course tribal fusion fashion trends! And even though she uses high-quality materials, her prices make her work accessible to amateur dancers who want some pro-level adornment. But I think what I love most is Amy's great personality! Her love of what she does shows through in every item, every product photo.

Want one of the above items? Here's direct links:
Natural Beauty Hair Clip (shown modeled by Amy herself)
Genuine Tiger Eye Bindi
Flapper Deco Headband
But really, you should browse the whole shop and pick out your own favorites!

Pictures old and new of me wearing hairclips from The Gypsy Kiss! Yes, proof that I've been buying from her for a long time, there I am with brown hair! Gasp! I think that beautiful spiral clip is the second thing I ever bought from Amy. And the clip I'm wearing in this newer shot is one of my most recent purchases. Let's not discuss how many things I've bought from her between then and now, ok?

Vendor Spotlight: Mermaiden Creations

  

Since the holidays are just around the corner, I thought I might start featuring some of my favorite vendors, just in case you need to buy a gift for a dancer in your life!

You may have noticed that I really like to do a big ol' tribal hair garden around my bun! For extra variety, I like to add a beautiful chiffon rose by Mermaiden Creations into the mix. Although at the rate I'm buying them, I'll soon have enough to go all the way around, without any cheap fake flowers mixed in.

 

 This absinthe green is my favorite. I'm wearing it in that picture above, and I also wear it any time I wear my peridot green 25 yard skirt, because they're pretty much the same color. This shade stands out well against my red hair, but I think it would look good against any natural hair color and a lot of unnatural ones, too.

 Mermie also makes fascinators out of her roses. I am not-so-secretly hoping someone will buy this elegant one for me for the holidays, but you can feel free to buy it for a dancer in your life instead, because I am not going to die from lack of peacock feathers, believe me!

She also makes jewelry! I am partial to these earrings because I picked the spiked beads out, I saw them at the gem show and they said "MERMAIDEN!" in a surprisingly loud voice for something with no vocal cords. But the silver beads are cool, too! They are over 50 years old! I love sellers who source unusual supplies, it really makes their work stand out. These earrings would be so beautiful with a fusion or even ATS costume.

You should also check out her great Roman glass jewelry, and her new stacking rings which would even make a great gift for non-dancers!