Tattour!

Ok, so I thought I would be soooo clever and combine the words "Tattoo" and "Tour" in the title of this post, because I wanted to share the few pieces of ink I have. Hence the really weird title....

Anyhoo!!

I am by no means totally "tatted up", but I have a couple fun little pieces of body art to show off. And I have several more planned! Most people do not expect me to have the type of tattoos that I do, so it is fun to share them. :)

My very first tattoo was actually free.... score! And I know what you are thinking, but no, it was totally legit! To celebrate Dia de los Muertos, this amazing tattoo shop, Under the Needle, was offering a selection of free tattoos to whoever wanted them. I had wanted a tattoo for several years, and I thought it would be a fun way to get started!

As I have mentioned in my About Me page, I have always been very drawn to Hispanic culture. So even though I am as white as the driven snow, I still felt a connection to the images of the sugar skulls they were offering. A whole group of us stood outside the shop for hours until it was our turn. The artist that I had the pleasure of working with, Matt Lentz, even let me customize my tattoo just a little bit. Instead of red, I asked him to use pink and he graciously obliged. 45 minutes and half a bag of Jolly Ranchers later, I had my very first piece of ink!

About 8 months later, M and I went back to the shop to cash in birthday and Christmas gifts from our respective mothers. (How cool are they??) And that is when I had the stars added around my skully friend. I made my appointment with the same artist as before, gave him literally 2 directions for what I wanted (14 stars, and swirly bits) and this is what he created. I was so excited!! This one took about 2 hours, and the last 20 minutes I was definitely feeling the pain, but it was so worth it!

My 3rd tattoo was also free! And in case you are keeping track, this means I have yet to pay a penny for any of my tatts! The next November, they decided to do the 2nd annual free tattoo for Dia de los Muertos thingy, and I got this cute little dude:

This one took literally 4 or 5 minutes, in fact I think laying the stencil down took longer than the actual inking did, but hot damn it hurt worse than my first one! This is the closest I will ever get to my foot!

I plan on going back someday and getting a second one, shaded in pink instead of red, and with a little bow on its head. Then the 2 love-bats can fly among some simple little red and pink hearts! :)

In addition to getting the little girl bat, I want to do a sleeve of butterflies. They will be flying up and around my right arm from my elbow, up over my shoulder, with the last one in the hollow of my collarbone. I want them to not be outlined, so they look more natural, and in all sorts of bright, beautiful colors. That one is going to be my celebration for losing the weight that I want to lose! :)

Do YOU have any tattoos? Have you ever wanted any? I would love to hear what you think about the ink!