So my husband and I were talking about tattoos recently and I said I want to be covered (barring hands neck and face). I am pretty sure he squealed on the inside before saying "If you want them, I'll buy them for you!!"

He is mulling over an idea of his too which got me thinking about the whole meaningful tattoo vs that just looks fucking awesome. I am a fan of both. My husband has a mix of both. The few I currently have and the next few projects I am working on are all meaningful ones, but I do see myself getting something just because I like how it looks and nothing more.

As a kid I liked tattoos. Which in a way is odd, because I am talking from back when my parents were still together, so around 6 years old , when we lived on a farm in the late 80's early 90's. Not too many tattooed people to come across there. The tattooed people I did see were bands on rage and video smash hits of a weekend (Australian music video shows for those playing at home) . I was constantly drawing on myself and getting my older sisters to draw on me. I just knew that one day I would get tattoos. Its only the lack of funding that has really prevented me from already being covered.

Fast forward to when I was 9-12 and living with my Dad, I discovered his stash of tattoo magazines. I would flick through those things for hours. I am pretty sure I heard a choir of angels the first time I opened one! Dad was always talking about getting a tattoo but we were barely able to eat and pay rent let alone afford him a tattoo. So it never happened.

I moved around a bit , moving back with Mum during my teen years and then as a way of removing myself from a toxic relationship I moved back to Dad.

A year later at 19 I got my first tattoo. There were only two shops to choose from (travel wasn't an option for me so local it was). The first shop I went into, they were busy so I was looking at the flash on the wall when they walked right by me, left and locked the door! Yeah, great first impression. They came back after half an hour or more (there was no way to unlock from the inside either) . So I went to the next shop and that's where I got the tattoo! It was to signify that new step, new life, transformation and all that jazz. Seven butterflies from the front of my right hip (first one sitting quite close inside my undies line) and they wrapped up over my hip with the last two sitting closer to my back.

I knew I wanted more but, funds or lack of kind of got in the way.

I met my husband the following year and we soon started a family. Twin girls first up.

Yeah those poor butterflies were never going to be the same again :D

(during twin pregnancy back in 2007)

after third daughter,

Those poor butterflies have been through a lot. But I don't want them covered. I have considered adding to it or getting it fixed somehow. But then again I am a sentimental bastard who loves it even more now. I have considered work on my stomach but part of me doesn't want the stretchmarks covered. Each time I look at them I think of those pregnancies. I didn't get any extra with my single pregnancies, but those twins. I had stretchmarks on top of stretchmarks and they bled like a bitch. They were so painful. But its all part of the big picture you know.

We had another little girl and with that I wanted a tattoo for my kids. I mulled over a few ideas , in the end going with stars and just their first initials. I headed back to the first shop I went to back in 2004. (It was now 2010) . By now a third shop had opened (Conspiracy ink, and then changed to Conspiracy tattoo) but I just felt comfortable going back to where it began. The shop had relocated, from an arcade now to a street front shop. Mauz had another bloke in there too and it was him, Drew, who did the letters and stars. I bought with me font that I liked, Drew had a look and made it look better, I flicked through their stars folder but went with standard 5 point stars. [/img]

earlier this year

I began thinking of other tattoo ideas. I fucking love skulls so that was going to be an idea (possibly a bit later on) . I started looking at symbology etc related to tattoos too. I really like the stories behind it all. I love traditional and I love Japanese tattoos , but don't feel I could do it justice (I personally feel I would need to deicate an entire space like whole arm or leg etc to it). But I came up with an idea of a raccoon on my right thigh and an owl on my left. Raccoon is all about me, owl is all about my belief system. Well that didn't come to fruition as soon as I had hoped! Husband lost his job (company went into liquidation) , I was in and out of work, youngest daughter was in and out of hospital. Shit times basically!

Fast forward a few more years and I then started thinking about my arms. My family isn't what you call a close knit family. Lots of issues over the years. But it is what it is . It is the only family I have ,regardless. So I wanted something to do with them. I am having my right arm for the men (not all just some. some uncles are just too dodgy) and the left arm for the ladies. I was going to wait until I had my thighs done seeing I wanted them done for so bloody long. But when one of my Pop's died, I thought fuck it. I will start it now. He and my other Pop (who passed when I was 15) were both pipe smokers. It is one thing I really remember about them both. The smell, watching them clean and pack. So that's what I went with.

Something a friend of mine is dead against. Personally I don't give a shit what you get. You want every single tattoo to have 500 meanings? Go for it. You just like the stories or traditions behind certain tattoos? Go for it. You just like the image itself regardless of if it holds a meaning or not? Go for it. Its a thing called personal choice and interest. Yet she tends to get completely hung up on the idea as if her way is the only way.

anyway...

So that's the journey so far.

Nothing overly exciting, earth shattering or revolutionary. But that's how it started and where I am at now.