i miss dance

stupidly, i turned down an opportunity to teach and vend at Bellydance Congress. but i may be able to redeem thyself and hook up on a double veil workshop in Japan. if we coincide it with a trip to Malaysia, it would be a great excuse to run around the entire area for a few weeks. an agency nurse job would allow for these times when i get the wild bug and must run off to boogie and travel.

i don't make time for dance, as a mom i choose between surf and dance for my free time..surf wins. not enough hours to do both. but with winter surf on south shore , dance may be taking a front seat again.

honestly i have not felt much urge to dance about anything for the past few months, at least. but the last couple of weeks a big cloud lifted and i'm feeling that familiar lovely skin crawl feeling when a good song comes on. i have come to terms that i will probably not, right now, take the time needed to work on 'belly dance' but instead use what time there is to dance with veils, which is the true love anyways. we can slip a little bellydance in there.

i remember that urge ..that need to hit open space and twirl until the legs could not do it anymore..

great bhuz link to history of veil dance :)

READ!! http://www.bhuz.com/forum/belly-dance-traditions-styles/26334-history-origin-veils-belly-dance.html

filled to capacity with veils!

despite the 100 days of rain we are experiencing on big island, i am filled to capacity with veils and more orders..this is the busy time of year with Rakkasah right around the corner. I normally get clobbered in Feb and Mar with wholesale (and retail) orders

Every piece of real estate that i have is filled with a silk either marinating, or slowly SLOWLY drying in this humid environment. takes forever. if i had a blast of 20 minute sunshine i could really get the conveyor belt moving again but looks like we are under a gray blanket for some time. shit. the only thing that's keeping me going with all this rain is knowing we'll be back on the sunny shores of oahu soon. well..i hear it's raining there right now too but i'll go in the water over there when it rains. big island beaches are a different story. and cold. so i may as well work. still waiting on the processing of my nursing license application. they take their time. still looking at part time jobs in oahu. still thinking i'll just use the summer to take the kid to the water and show him the fish. Moki should be with us too so i'm likely to be the beach escort. fine by me. good opportunity to work on getting that lean brown body back. no sense having playboy boobies if i dont have the stomach to match.

above is a photo of Elise from Montreal, Canada . Her site is . Photo was taken by JS Cossette. This is one of many photos forwarded to me by dancers who wish to be part of my costume cheat sheet.

Elise is also a long time vendor for A'Kai veils and her store site is http://www.cicekpasaj.com/

The costume cheat sheet will be a gallery on my site featuring dancers in all different colored costumes. What I'm wanting to do is link the pictures of the dancer with some akai veil choices so that shoppers can help determine which color veil will work with their costume.
]
As so many of you already know I am a budget minded dancer and when I started working with colors for akai veils, i wanted to make veils with colors that would match up with multiple costumes. So it's common to see a veil that for example has turquoise, pink, and orange in it..so you guessed it, that veil can go with a costume that is turquoise, pink, or orange. (also they are pretty flashy)

So, most of the veils you see at offer multiple choices on how they are used.

well. it's something to do on a rainy day..doesn't look like the sun will come out any time soon. yes i'm starting to lose my marbles over it.

dance costume 101

note to self:

dear self, please make time to dance every morning. you make better veils when you dance with them. you need to understand the beast to properly feed the beast. please also feel free to purchase used costumes to wear for photos and for future haflas. you know darn well you want to dance again.

also how about getting off your butt and finishing up that costume page? the quick guide to what akai veils go with what color costumes. it's halfway done you know.

dancer redefined

boy some days it just really hits you..i have dance in the blood. no matter how long it's been since you've shimmied, put on the right music and despite wisdom pain you are right back to where you were before. i was joking with a postal worker yesterday about his nice veins..seems i remember exactly how to start an iv after all these years. dance is the same. haven't practiced in ages but it's right there. gotta bump the cardio up to handle a forty five minute set but that should be pretty easy once we're surfing again. dance and surf go so well together. when i surfed my veil dancing was awesome..i was sooo strong

gotta dye some goodies today and i think the first set is for myself. i have an idea. second one will be for Mahisha..she's channeling some pop rock energy this way

photo taken at Makaha beach which may very well be our next home

loving silk

i'm pretty tired but happy after a productive (and fun with the baby) day. just posting photos now of things that 'may' be listed soon.

played with some painting on both veils and clothing, below are the veils..i'm loving the element of surprise

when i have a moment

I will be dyeing some silk that will be very simple in color..they are not really solid color because solid would imply a very even finish..these will have a gentle blending of color but they will not be like the previous 'swirls' or meltdowns i've done in the past. they will be well blended so the boundaries between colors won't be as apparent.

The top two photos are examples of the newer type of blended color pattern, notice how the colors that mix are not as visible. The next photos show examples of the older swirls that have distinct boundaries and mixes of color. Of course both will still be available. I'm hoping these appeal to dancers who prefer a more simple, monochrome but not perfectly solid color veil. For solid color veils I still think your best bet is to shop at your local fabric store.





Will be dyeing them in the popular colors that most of us buy our costumes in: red, pink , fuschia, burgundy, silver, gold/sunflower, copper, chocolate, purple, green, teal, blue, turquoise, etc and probably a handful in pastels like peach, lilac, mint. Of course there will be some nude color ones. So check back and if you are in need of a simpler more monochrome style rectangle, email at akaisilksinfo@yahoo.com

the best way to change up your costume is with a veil

Recession got your spending down? I just wanted to point out that veils to a dancer are like accessories to a stylist. Think about a simple black top and pair of jeans. Accessories alone can really change the overall look of that outfit.

Veils are the same way (as are silk skirts). A basic gold or silver costume can take on a totally different look with the addition of different colored skirts and veils. You can go monochrome (all one color), or a multi colored skirt with a simple veil, or layer your skirts for a gypsy look, or layer with tribal accessories for a tribal look.

The most affordable and easiest way to change the look of your costume and to get more mileage out of it (important for haflas and many performances) is with veils :)

What I did with the photos above is show you how a turquoise costume and a red costume can really be changed up with the addition of skirts and veils. For the cost of one Bella or Sim designer costume (which we all love) you can get approximately 6 to 8 complete skirt and veil sets. That's a lot of costume options!!

fresh produce!!

I have new art supplies arriving shortly. Both soap and veil stuff. Yesterday after spending most of the day packaging sales from the Obama sale, the baby played on the floor while i whipped up a batch of the most gloriously beautiful mahogany colored soap. It's swirled with brick red and burgundy, has a thick layer of black gold, then topped with a thick layer of gold dust. God i love micas. Mixing soaps brings me back to the primitive joy when I first discovered mixing dyes for veils and the colors that would come about with experimentation. The past few years I've missed that aspect of it because if you have a best seller, you make the best seller. People want the best seller. Of course the artist wanted to make what the artist wanted to make but best sellers have their purpose huh. I had to mix in what I wanted to do with what I should do. With what made sense to grow this into a business that helps feed those growing boys.


So anyways working with the micas make my eyes round out and mirror with glee. I mixed a METALLIC cappucino color and showed it to Zack like..WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT. i immediately thought of my dye artist friends and wished they were here with me in my kitchen looking at that color.

Unfortunately i didnt have enough to make full bars so i made a thin layer of guest tray soaps. Later I may cut them and stack them and glue them together with a thick layer of another color but I'm afraid to touch them . I've been thinking lately about making rock soap, soaps that resembled different types of crystals and rocks. Of course everyone wants more merkaba soap cuz it sure is cute with a merkaba scarf and rub and dub dub but come on i have new shit to play with!! wheeee!!!!

I also pulled out some of the marbling tools I bought in a flurry many months ago and then never got around to. It's important to change your medium. Dyeing a rectangle piece of silk doesnt have to be the same all the time. Just one new type of dye can change the world. (put that on a coin). I'm still hesitant to indulge more into bellydance veils, any new things for bellydance veils will likely be a leftover recipe from dyeing what i want to dye..mostly more of those ruanas and a sleeveless one I'm working on and more dresses and god knows what since if we move to the desert again then 'm likely to be saturated with golden sandstone colors and bright wildflowers, sunsets, hey even smog is pretty with the right lighting.

so hey the etsy store is pretty bare right now. i still sell more scarves to stores and thru craft fair than thru the store but i dont think the phenom has caught on yet. maybe i'll have to lower the price to get people hooked on them. you wear one you get compliments. all women love compliments. there's so much to do .

whether or not i pack the etsy store again when we get back from az will depend on our moving date if and when we go. i HATE stock just sitting in a store. its like going in a physical store and seeing the same exact item on display and you wonder why it hasnt sold yet. i hate that i have some items in the etsy store like that. items should have a shelf life of a few weeks. no one wants stale merchandise. time to revise!!! that hot pink dress in there ..well she just needs a smoky black and pink cape to go with. (that cape sold). i have a rust colored dress not listed but it would go lovely with one of the ruanas not listed yet. so much to do .

if you are not excited about your art you need to get another job :)

ps this one sold

veils are back on tour with Bellydance Superstars

I'm pleased to announce that there will be a quantity of silk veils back on tour with THE Bellydance Superstars (see www.bellydancesuperstars.com for tour dates) . I am delighted that the silks will once again be a'veil'able at their merch tables, please ask to see the selection when you are at the shows!

i stepped out of my box

the veil kundalini is soaring right now, i credit the previous communications with James (see previous blog) and listening to a lot of music today.

still have to figure out how to load the new camera pics to the computer (say a300 and i'm a happy girl). i've thoroughly enjoyed NOT dyeing ombres the past couple of days (yeah the island is drenched so i dont attempt anything i 'have' to do and just opt for what i can do when the sky has turned into a waterfall)

paint paint paint. ok ombres still kick butt ..they have that in motion appeal , they are really MADE for motion but you know sometimes we have to do new things. things that aren't asked for but instead pulled from us by the mighty art spirit.

the veils that were painted do not have the same sharpness as the crepe de chine, not by any means, but it's a different silk. i did use the heavier silk though. i want sharp patterns.

ombres used to be, and still are, the signature of akai. but there's about to be a new one and to my extreme satisfaction, no one else can do it. these are ooaks and even i can't replicate them.

wheee for new

aww lookie old pic!!! that was years ago

please visit http://www.craftmarketer.com/

Crafters, this is a highly recommended source to help you market

http://www.craftmarketer.com/

and i have a story about how this is all related..

Two years ago I bought this book about how to market your crafts online, from this site Sell More of Your Crafts | Helping You Profit From Your Creativity

I signed up to James's newsletter ..the book was useful and his site has always been informative as well. He just sent out a newsletter the other day so I wrote back, thanking him, and asked him if he'd ever considered marketing his books on etsy..I am pretty sure I've seen a category for books (I dont think you can resell books but if you are the author you can market them) and also suggested to him to market in the forums as a lot of crafters would be interested. I even started a forum topic about his site and had quite a few people respond that they were going to check it out.

So he wrote back thanking me and offered to add my url to his site. And then he got to looking at my site, wrote back and asked...are you Laura King and did you used to bellydance in Colorado ? Yup..that's me.

Turns out he handles the email contact/newsletter for Adnan Sarhan of Sufi Foundation of America and Adnan Sarhan . Wayyyyy back when I first started akai, I was going to Adnan's workshops. Eva Cernik has also been a student.

One of the workshops I attended was a weekend long retreat in New Mexico. He led us thru many meditations..Ive tried to meditate on my own for many years but have never experienced anything quite like the meditations Adnan led us thru. He also teaches/advises on whirling. I was the impatient child and would always ask him..when are we going to spin , Adnan? He kept telling me, oh later today, and then maybe tomorrow. And then it never happened (I was a whirler on my own before knowing of him so I was like..huh? He told me I wasn't ready to spin..I still need to get back with him on that)

Anyways Adnan has been known to offer words of wisdom to people. He had once advised James to market his crafts book (and it has done well for him)..Ive since run across many other people who have been 'advised' by Adnan what their calling is, or what to focus on, etc. Adnan never told me that I'd make veils, but during one of the longer meditations, I saw large colorful veils swaying in the breeze and covering windows like light covers..something you'd see in one of those really cool asian movies. I kept saying hey maybe someday I'll make veils for a living but I never set out to make it happen, just sort of drifted into it.

Of course I lost contact when I first moved to San Francisco then Hawaii. I've always known how to contact Adnan but was afraid to tell him I still drink coffee :)

Today, James tells me that Adnan had asked about me a few months ago and they could not find me in the database (I'm sure I was originally part of their Sufi mailing list but since i change emails and addresses so often who could keep up). I had NO idea Adnan would be trying to get a hold of me, or that he would even remember me. Adnan must teach thousands of people. I figure he must remember me as his problem child. I remember him once telling me that i had great potential as a veil dancer (he didnt say bellydancer) but that i had to work on it and focus, etc. As many of you know I let dancing slide to focus on making veils for others to dance with.

So Adnan's behind all of this! I didnt see people on ebay making veils and say oh that looks like fun let me try. There is a pretty involved history to this and how it all came about and I don't think it was an accident.

James wrote about this briefly on his blog today Sell More of Your Crafts | Helping You Profit From Your Creativity ..James was at the workshop I was at and I remember him not directly but as a presence there, and I remember having emailed him years ago requesting to be put on the mailing list but didnt put two and two together.

I was so choked up to hear that Adnan's been trying to find me..he's in New York right now teaching, and i'm going to see if I can talk to him about sponsoring him for a workshop in Hawaii..but I can't wait to talk with him on the phone. I can't wait to find out what he needs to tell me or why he's been trying to find me all these years (the last time we talked, akai was in infancy stages..i dont even think i'd named akai yet)

Soo..by chance anyone out there also take a workshop by Adnan, or bought a veil from Tamsin, etc? Where else does this connection go?

here is Tamsin's site Silk veils in beautiful colors and blends.

I just posted a couple of youtube vids on the rest forum

i bought my second, third, fourth and fifth silk veils from her..gently used by previous workshoppers but ones i greatly loved for many years