virgin (tattoo) diaries, pt. 5

If you're following my adventures in ink, you'll remember my latest dilemma: to colour or not to colour.

As if it was even a question! C'mon. I am actually incapable of monochromatic, let alone grayscale. Hubby puts his foot down at one accent colour in each space (*pout*) so my house is definitely a compromise. When it comes to my body, though, he has zero say. I'm a walking bag o' Skittles, mostly. He's OK with it, provided I don't push it on him too much.

I try, though, because I'm a giant pain in the ass.

I had the remainder of the work done in October (yeah, I'm shit at timeliness) and I am absolutely in love. Smitten! I decided 5 minutes into my appointment, however, that I just wouldn't be totally satisfied to leave it as-is. I like to meddle with things, over-work them. It's why I can't make pastry to save my life (I'm my mother's biggest failure). But David's a total pro and won't lead me astray. I'm saving up to get some additions to it, maybe in the fall. More flowers, more confetti, more awesome.

I'm probably not going as far as getting sleeves, but I definitely feel like it has the potential to be even more spectacular if we expand it. Just a little.

It feels right. It feels like me. It was worth the pain. (It hurts, you guys. A lot. Like hot Exacto-knife slashes, over and over. Don't let anyone tell you that it's like "a million bee stings" because that's an understatement. And a bloody lie.)

I may be reconsidering my original tattoo body map. I'm thinking that I like concentration: fewer, bigger pieces. David does amazing things with poppies and I'm so very fond of his animals. He'll be seeing a lot more of me.

Of course, now that I'm hooked, I'm stocking up on inspiration. Here are some gems, for your eye-feasting pleasure:

virgin (tattoo) diaries pt. 4

I'm sick today. 

Delirium is setting in: I'm convinced that this super-cold will be my ultimate demise. Oh, the agony! I'm pretty dramz about being sick. My Mother just spit coffee at her netbook screen (understatement of the year, yeah, Ma?). It's not that I am a wimp when it comes to pain (hello, giant arm tattoo). Mostly, I just can't stand letting go of control. Body aches and sniffles forced us to cancel our big Thanksgiving dinner (this vegetarian was even gonna cook a pork roast!) and abandon all plans to do home improvement-y stuff. Well, now hubby's flying solo on those projects, and the pork has been demoted to the freezer. 

On the upside, I can catch up on some blogging and delve into guilty-pleasure TV. Umm, Breaking Amish and Drop Dead Diva, anyone? I won't apologize. 

So yeah, blogging. Typing actually hurts. Hurts! But, it hurts the core of my being to be a giant lazy blob (I thrive on being busy). And in the spirit of pain, shall I give you the latest in my adventures-in-ink?



(This is officially a saga, by the way. More parts than the goddamn Lord of the Rings.)

My precioussss is two weeks (and four days) old today. Technically it's not flaking or scabby anymore, but there are shiny areas that resemble scars and I'm for sure going to get in trouble for picking. I didn't pick. Well, mostly I didn't.

In less than two weeks, I get it coloured. But wait. I can't imagine loving it anymore than I already do. TRUE LOVE FOREVER! Maybe I'm having cold feet about the colour? Me! I'm flip-flopping, but I'd better decide very soon. This man is highly coveted and I've waited 7 months for my appointment.

If I go colour (which I've always wanted), I can't go back. If I stay black and grey for a while, I can always change my mind. But the design was meant to be coloured - there are parts that seem unfinished. Will that just bug me? Also, Mr. David Glantz is a colour master!

When in doubt: Photoshop, right? I attempted to see what my new tattoo would look like in Technicolor but it resembled a child's colouring book. I won't share the results. Let's just say it wasn't a win for Team Colour. 

Instead, I'll compare some of my faves from my inspiration board on Pinterest and elsewhere in the blogosphere:

{ BLACK + GREY vs. COLOUR }

Place your bets!

{ Pinterest // Inked Girls }

 { Pinterest // Now and Then }

 

  { Pinterest }

{ Pinterest // Inked Girls }

{ Pinterest // Jason Kim for BlackBook Mag }

p.s. I'm still conflicted!

virgin (tattoo) diaries pt. 2

One month! One month!

If you haven't read Part 1, you can do so here. Lazy? Here's the gist: wanted a tattoo forever, finally committed, booked a super in-demand artist, had to wait 6 months for my appointment. Well, 6 months is now 1. 40 days, to be exact. I'm not quite sure how I haven't been bursting with impatience. Well, I have. But what can I do? I haven't even seen the final drawing yet. Really, I'm not even sure he's started it yet, but I'm trying not to be THAT girl. I'll bug him in a couple of weeks, yeah?

All of this waiting has not allowed doubt to creep in, like you might expect.

Nope. In fact, quite the opposite. I've already decided on my next THREE tattoos. Oh boy. Here's the thing: if, in an interview, say, you asked me to name my greatest weakness, I'd probably not say "getting caught up in things" but that would be the truth. I'd likely choose a strength disguised as a weakness ("I'm such a perfectionist."), something that didn't paint me as a flake prone to too-romantic whims. But I am that. And well, I'm "caught up" in this thing. 

I suppose I should wait for my 1st before being so rash. Extreeeemes!

But if I love it as much as I think I'm going to, here's the (body) map of my tattoo-plan:

Lower left arm: birds & flowers
Upper right arm: bees!
Right wrist: my sis and I are getting matching word tattoos, something from our secret sister-language, natch
Leg TBD: bike (avec doggie riding in basket!)

I'm a ridiculous human.

I also just bought tickets to see Rich Aucoin (my latest music-crush) at Lee's Palace on the very same day as my tattoo appointment. Bloody gauze and front-row dancing. Yeah!

Stay tuned, my pets!
 
Until I can share images of the actual thing, enjoy some inspiration I found in my travels:

p.s. The images on the left side of each panel above are the work of tattoo artist Peter Aurisch. One day I will travel to Berlin and make him draw pretty things on me.

(Other photo sources here)