Reason to be cheerful...

My friend Shannon came to visit and bought me some Tara Healing Incense.  I love Tibetan incense so much.  I love the packaging, the earthy scent and the memories it evokes.

 

Here it is all tied up with string...

 Tibetan script on the box...

 What a perfect gift for me...

 I wasted no time in lighting it surrounded by some of my most treasured things... our Tara statue and a painted mani (prayer) stone given to us by friends on a trip to Tibet.

 The scent immediately reminded me of mystical monasteries that I had visited...

 Our collection of mani stones from three different visits to see our friends (backpacking with rocks isn't ideal but I feel its worth it now!)...

Now my house smells earthy and woody with a hint of juniper... thank you Shannon!

Happy Friday everyone...

Tara

The garden awakes after winter...

I'm loving watching my garden wake up after the winter.  Warm weather and spring rains bring so much growth and all the plants look healthy and keen.

 

Here is the first rose-bud....

The fig tree breaks into leaf and grows at an amazing rate each day...

 The fig tree - I think its magnificent...

 Make a wish...

 

 The lemons are prolific this time of year...

New henna for Fountain Gate!  Shannon and I are so happy to be going to Ishka at Fountain Gate Shopping Centre tonight to do henna.  We are very excited about this new venue and to be spreading the henna and glitter love even further...

If you live down Fountain Gate way, we will be there tonight (Thursday 27th September) from 5pm till 9pm.

 Tara

Meet Percy...

Meet Percy, the possum who has taken up residence in the roof of our back-yard shed.  I am so delighted he has chosen our backyard as his home.  Luckily he only has access to the lean-to part of the shed, so any damage he does to the roof lining is neither here nor there to us.  If he was in our house roof then we would have to have him removed and relocated to the wild (possums are protected here in Australia - yay!).

Every day I go out and chat to him, but being nocturnal he's mostly asleep when I do.  Sometimes he shuffles about but mostly he's in the land of nod (or is it selective hearing when it comes to my mindless chatter?).

He doesn't care for weekends too much, when Mr Tara starts up the power tools in the shed because it disturbs his slumber, but mostly we live in harmony with this little fluff ball.

An ear and a nose poking out...

In the garden spring has sprung and everything is having a growth spurt.  My roses are just about to bloom - I can't wait till the do!

Spring daisies...

 Winter's moss...

I do feel a creative spurt coming on with the arrival of some lovely gifted vintage linens and doilies.  It's been a while since the last shop update (I blame the recent henna madness).  Watch this space...

Tara

Spreading the Henna Love...

This past week I have mainly been spreading the Henna Love.  I have never done so many henna tattoos in one week.  I'm not sure if the moon aligned with something or other, whether its something in the water, or whether its because spring has sprung and Melbourne is in the mood for some Henna Love...
 

Needless to say, whether it was wielding my henna cone alone, or teaming up with my wonderful Henna buddy Shannon, it was a most wonderful week.  Here are some of the highlights...
 

I started at Tree of Life, a beautiful bohemian store in Chadstone where I did henna for the staff.  It was a great way to spend an evening painting these lovely ladies...

 Here we are at the end of the night, all hennaed up...

The next night I did Henna for the VIP shopping night at Ishka Chadstone.  Here I teamed up with Shannon and we did henna for the customers. 

First up was my little cousin Erika who seems to appear whenever I pick up a henna cone...

 Here is Shannon with a happy customer...

 This is me in action...

 Summer is on its way.... the feet are coming out...

 My first henna torso.... I loved the way it turned out...

Next henna event was Friday Night Henna at Ishka Chadstone with Shannon.  This is to be a regular gig for us and its fun for us to use Ishka as a henna venue since we both used to work here years ago.

Here is Maha, I loved her stories of Egypt and her lovely sunny nature...

 Friends with henna (one by Shannon, one by Tara)

If you find a kiwi foot.... you do this!  For me its the perfect combination.... Silver Fern, NZ, Jandals and an Indian Anklet.  (For those of you who don't know....I'm from New Zealand, a Kiwi!).

 I want to try this one on myself...

 Here is one of Shannon's amazing pieces of henna art...

Gabby and Paris, fun sisters who stopped by for henna...

The next event (see, I told you it was a big week...), was Saturday afternoon henna at Ishka.  Since it was raining I didn't hold my stall at St Andrew's market - I came here instead...

This is Christina... a delight to meet...

Finally, with the week of henna events over, on Sunday I visited my cousins for afternoon tea.  Knowing there might be a few wanting henna, I took the cones along (because I was literally on a roll here...)

Here is cousin Erika, lining up for her 4th (!) henna tattoo of the week.  This time she asked if I could do a snowflake as she is going to a Winter Wonderland Ball.  I like the way it turned out with the sparkly holographic glitter...

 My cousin Judy who likes green...

Danielle, a willing model who has beautifully clear skin and a lot of enthusiasm for henna.  Going forward no limb of hers will be safe in my company!!!

 Amanda with her purple sparkles...

 Brittany with holographic silver...

To finish the week off, yesterday I did this.... just for me...

So ended the glorious week of henna.  Shannon sent me this great picture of the two of us.  It really made me laugh with the caption on it.  We have always called ourselves the Henna Twins - due to the difference in our size it makes us giggle.

Shannon reminded me that this week is the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.  To bless our henna business and acknowledge the ancient art of henna, we both created altars in our homes.  This is my one...

Thanks to all the lovely people that participated in our henna week.  If you have visited Nomadic Tara's facebook page you will be able to see all the photos from the three public events.  A reminder that Shannon and I will be doing henna every Friday at Ishka Chadstone from 5pm till 8.30pm over the summer.

Tara
(Phew!  that was a long post, well done you for staying till the end....)

Note: Photos on this post are a combination of mine and Shannon's (thanks Shannon for capturing our henna week so beautifully)

Come join us...

A reminder that Shannon and I will be doing Henna Tattoos at Ishka, Chadstone, tomorrow (Wednesday 12th September) from 6pm till 9pm.  Come along and join our happy event!

I thought I would show you the three stages of henna staining, as many people ask me about the process.  Here is the henna tattoo I did on myself yesterday.

This is when the wet henna paste is applied to the arm...

This is about 2 hours later when the henna paste has dried and flaked off.  A bright orange colour like this is a good indication that the henna is going to stain well...

This is the next day, the henna has turned brown and will continue to darken a little more over the day...

Henna tattoos should last up to a week and a half, depending on which part of the body they are on (hands don't last as long since they are always in water). 

I love henna art, and feel lucky that I have been able to learn about this ancient tradition and can share the henna love wherever I go...

Tara

A soggy market...

It was a soggy market on Saturday...  not many stall holders turned up, visitors to the market were few.... and henna was not the order of the day...

 

Here is my stall, wrapped in plastic...(!)

Since it was quiet, I got to chat to all the other stall holders - what a lovely bunch of crafty souls they are ... I penned this sign for the neighbour's massage stall...hmmm, a little jealous of that nifty tent he had... although he did offer me shelter which was nice.

Yep, not much happening here...

Oh lonesome me...!

  Grey skies, not smiling at me...

 Wait! ... is that sunshine?????

Yes siree it is.  However, it lasted about as long as it took me to get the camera out and snap these photos :)

It was a quiet day, but I still felt grateful to have my little stall.  Being outside all day in the countryside is doing me the world of good.  I still managed to sell some jewellery, despite people on occasion, having to shop under my plastic canopy!!!  Needless to say, I've decided to make this a weekly event for Nomadic Tara and her henna endeavours.

As if to mock me, here was Melbourne's weather on Sunday in my backyard...

 Sun dappled leaves...

 Daisies bathed in sunshine...

 The succulents lapping up the heat...

  A nicely swept path down the side of the house...

Oh yes, spring is here....

Hope your weekend was fun.

Tara