"'Twas the Night in the Ocean"

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the ocean, 

Every creature was stirring with the current's strong motion.

The fin socks were hung by the merkids with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

The mer-babes were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of tidal waves danc'd in their heads.  

With my mermaid in her tail and I with my triton,

We all settled down by our undersea garden.

When out on the reef there are arose such a clatter, 

I sprang from my seabed to see what was the matter.

Away to the reef wall I swam like a flash,

Raced to the surface and made a big splash.

The moon on the breast of the ocean below,

Gave the luster of the waves going to and fro.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a minute it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than tuna his coursers they came,

And he whistled and shouted and called them by name:

"Now!  Dasher, now!  Dancer, now!  Prancer and Vixen;

On!  Comet, on!  Cupid, on!  Donder and Blitzen;

"To the top of the sea!  To the top of the reef wall!

"Now splash away!  Splash away!  Splash away all!"

As marine debris that before the hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;

So up to the sea castle the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of recyclables--and St. Nicholas too:

And then twinkling, I heard, suddenly aloof,

The splashing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the ocean St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed in a wetsuit from his head to his foot,

And his BC was inflated to help him stay afloat.

A bundle of recyclables was flung on his back,

And he look'd like a tourist just opening his pack:

His eyes--how they twinkled, his regulator, how black,

His cheeks were all covered and his nose under a mask.

His droll little mouth was hidden under a reg,

And the beard of his chin, floated white with with waves.

The mouthpiece he held tight in his teeth,

And the bubbles encircled his head like a wreath. 

He had a broad face, and a little round belly,

That shook when he laugh'd, like a large sea jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laugh'd when I saw in spite of myself;

A wink through his mask and a twist of his head

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He breathed quite a bit and was graceful with his work,

And fill'd all the fin socks; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger on his inflator hose

And giving a nod, up the sea he rose.

He splashed to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight--

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

Inspired by: Clement Clark Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas." 

July 2014

    I was asked to do a sister birthday party on short notice.  I always love swimming in my tail so I was excited that this was a two hour pool party.  It's always a challenge not letting the kids see me in my human form so I was fortunate that my mermaid assistant was available on short notice to carry me in.  The girls seemed to have a great time, and they really liked their mermaid sea star hair clip.  They could wear it in the pool while they swam.  More and more kids showed up, and I was able to introduce myself to most of them and swim alongside them.
     I brought extra mermaid fins for the kids to swim in and hula hoops for them to swim through.  The older birthday girl swam like a mermaid so well and really enjoyed swimming through the hoops!  The other younger sister was so adorable swimming around the pool with her face in the water.  I had a lot of fun with a younger boy who didn't want to do anything with a mermaid, but at one point he needed to pushed on his float so I pushed him.  He blushed a little that a mermaid actually helped him.  Then we did a tail toss where the kids attempted to throw the hoops around my tail out of the water.  It was a funny feeling when the hoops would bounce off my fin.
     Then it was time to leave.  It was a fun to swim with and around the kids and all-in-all, I think we all had a great time!

To see more photos from this party or others, visit my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.434157823390444.1073741836.172686059537623&type=3

To contact me to book a birthday party, e-mail me at MermaidLindaStephanie@gmail.com  

June 2014

     The day after I finished the adult tail and did the photo shoot with LC Myers, I had a scheduled photo shoot with all the little mermaid I made tails for to be photographed by Simple Touch Images and  LC Myers Photography.  It was a little hectic as that morning, I got a text that one of the little girls came down with the flu and wouldn't be able to come, but we could use her tail for the photos.  I had quickly contacted a little girl that I thought would fit the tail, but got no response.  We were going to have one of the other little mermaids to wear her tail and this other tail to get photos of both.  Once at our location, we had many little mermaids and a little fisherman.  Then out of nowhere the girl I had originally contacted showed up to wear the tail.
     Each mermaid got her own photo shoot and then at the end we put them all together with the little fisherman.  They all did a great job.  It was fun for me to be on the other side of the camera, directing the girls and telling them things to think about and things to laugh about so we could get great photos of their face.  All the photos turned out great!

May 2014

     This month was devoted to finishing an adult tail.  Many of my waking hours were devoted to sewing and painting, painting and sewing.  The challenge with this tail was that I was asked to recreate a tail from an old, worn out tail.  This was quite a challenge, but I think I conquered it.  I was just about finished with this tail when I received a message from LC Myers Photography asking to do a photo shoot.  I couldn't say no; her work is amazing!  I asked if I could bring another mermaid, knowing the tail would be done by then.  Well…it was pretty much done the day before the shoot, but there were a few last minute details I wanted to get done.  I stayed up until 1:30am working on these details and awoke early the next morning to finish up.  With tails and accessories in hand, I took off to meet up to do the shoot.  We had a blast sitting upon the rocks and the beach to take photos.
     One unfortunate occurrence was my treasured sea star tiara was set upon the rocks and swept out into the ocean never to be seen again…at least not by me.  (Later I went to the store where I got my materials for that crown and they no longer produce the same materials…sad).  At the very end, she asked if we could go for a swim to take photos.  We were a little hesitant as neither of us was prepared with waterproof make-up, but it successful.  Unfortunately, the water was too brown to get any good in-water photos, but my new mermaid friend got to take a swim in her new tail.

     When I was climbing up to the rocks in the shallow water, it was so murky I was sure I was going to put my hand upon a crab!  Now…I'm a lover of animals…most animals.  I am not a fan of spiders--and crabs tend to remind me of spiders.  I know they are a vital part of the ecosystem so I have no intention of killing or eating crab, but they really do crawl around like spiders and I become an absolute shrieking girl when they come too close.  I was really hesitant to climb these rocks, but I knew if I could get out of the water enough, it wouldn't be a problem.
     Luckily, I got on the rock with no crabby interaction and LC Myers got great photos upon the rocks!  When we got out there were sea turtle present.  We were sure not to get too close as sea turtles are protected and there are limits to how close you can get.  It was nice seeing these residents bask on the beach anyway.  :-)

     I made some good friends in doing this shoot and you can look forward to seeing more from LC Myers and myself in the future!  :-)

April 2014

This was a big month of firsts!   April 5-6 was the 2014 Hawaii Ocean Expo to which I was the featured mermaid with the help of Mermaid Ayesha.  I got new Mermaid Linda Stephanie t-shirts to go alongside my new Mermaid Linda Stephanie banner!  I was revealing my new mermaid top and displaying the Barbie in a Mermaid Tail 2 tail and top I had just finished.  Phew...so much work!!  Here it is!

And the new Barbie in a Mermaid Tail 2 tail and top that I had worked so tediously on!  The first is what I was basing it off of.  The second is the result.  The crown is an e-bay purchased item.  

     A lot of work went into preparations for this long weekend, but I had so looked forward to this exciting event!   The expo went off without a hitch!  My little mermaids showed up to sit in and take photos with children.  Most kids are excited to see a mermaid sitting there, but they were certainly surprised to see little mermaids sitting there to talk to.  

     Prior to this event, I went over mermaid etiquette to my little mermaids sisters.  We went over poise, posture and positive attitudes. We also went over how to answer questions as a mermaid and what to say when you are caught off-guard.  Most importantly, I explained to them my mission as Mermaid Linda Stephanie: To Educate, Inspire and Entertain others about the ocean and it's inhabitants.  When each of my clients receives a tail, they are also given a Certificate of Authenticity and a contract that states that as a mermaid they will help protect the ocean and it's inhabitants; they will teach others what they know and pick up trash on the beach.  During mermaid etiquette training, I taught them some facts about common ocean animals.  I felt pretty confident that they would do great at the expo, but it almost caught me off guard at how great they really did and that they took what I said to heart.
     To each of the 108 children that we took photos with, I asked their name and their favorite ocean animal.  When they answered, I asked what they knew about that animal and then taught them something new about them.  It surprised me when one child sat down and my 7 year-old mermaid sister took the reigns and taught the child about sea turtles.  It was a proud moment that I could experience this, knowing how far she can go in teaching her peers about the ocean and it's inhabitants.
      And, of course, Mermaid Ayesha joined along in the fun taking photos with kids and talking to them about marine life.  The weekend would not have been the same without her!!  She is truly the sweetest mermaid!!!  9 hours in and out of your tail without water to swim in can get a little restless, but Mermaid Ayesha and the other little mermaids made the time swim by!  :-)
     To see photos more photos of the expo, visit www.Facebook.com/MermaidLindaStephanie and go to the photo section.  All my mermaid helpers did a great job!  What a fun weekend!

January-March 2014

     After the excitement of Christmas and my friend's daughter receiving her new monofin and her plain, fitted tail it was time to embark on a completely new tail!  I sat down with this 7 year-old and asked what she wanted her tail to look like.  Confidently, she said she wanted her tail to look like Merliah's tail from Barbie in a Mermaid Tail 2.  She showed me which one, and having seen the movie, I was familiar.  I asked to borrow the movie and watched it time and time again to get a sense of how she moves around in the animation and how it is displayed in different lighting.  This little girl wasn't going to get a copy of the tail, I wanted her to have an EXACT replica!  The real deal!  It took a lot of planning, but I was going to make her mermaid dreams come true! 
     After many, many, many, many hours of painting, my deadline was coming close.  It needed to be finished by April.  Luckily, I didn't run into anything unexpected, but I was trying some new techniques with paint and materials after having done some test strips in water.  Photos of this tail as well as many other "firsts" can be seen in the April blog!  :-) 
     I had a birthday party for a special little three year-old.  I finally got to make it to Waimanalo Beach! It is a beautiful, turquoise beach--ideal for mermaids).  However, water was out of the question as the birthday girl wasn't yet accustomed to the ocean like her soon-to-be mermaid friend.  I presented her with a mermaid headband specific to mermaids and rainbows as she has a unique story regarding mermaids painting rainbows in the sky. 
     We picked up trash on the beach, and I explained to them the importance of picking up trash: that it is harmful to the ocean's animals, and we need to protect them by picking up trash.  Later on, my mermaid assistant told me that he had seen one boy from the party go off on his own at one point and bring back a piece of trash to put in my trash can.  So happy he made the correlation!  While this was going on, I was busy with the other children, painting scales on each of them to have a perfect mermaid look!  It was a wonderful day!  :-)

To see more photos from this party, check out my Facebook album: https://www.facebook.com/MermaidLindaStephanie/photos/a.367064836766410.1073741832.172686059537623/367065243433036/?type=3&theater