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Last one for a while but going out in style. By Grez. <3

Went to my favorite shop tonight to follow up on a previous session and plan my next session with my Artist. The greatest compliment I can offer is referrals. One of my friends wanted a very specific tattoo of a design developed by another lady to cover brands of those who had been in human trafficking. A world most of us will ,hopefully , never understand.... OMG. The response from my artist and shop owner were incredible. The shop owner wanted to meet the lady. He offered free ink to anyone who had brands and wanted to cover marks that caused that caused pain in a former life. My Artist wanted to study the design and make sure they got it perfect. This is a side of the industry most non ink people will never see or understand. My next appointment is December 8th. I am going to cater in a couple Sweet Potato pies and double my artist tip. Life is good! Never underestimate your power to do good and help others! Meanwhile I signed up for five more hours on the next chapter of the dragon half sleeve.

@Gingerninja that is awesome! Great way to top off a busy year for you, and give good vibes while you beat the beast next year! Sent from my Le Pan TC802A using Tapatalk

@Leah3 weeks is still plenty early as far as healing goes, I'd skip the ointment and wait at least 3 more weeks before starting something else... I meant to update this thread sooner, but here's the latest on my red ink saga: The benadryl cream didn't do a whole hell of a lot for me, other than some short-term relief. The next suggestion was witch hazel, which I applied probably daily for several months. Things got better, but only to a point. Granted, I was told to have some applied with a tattoo machine and needle to get it under the skin, but topical application seemed to help. I then visited my local shop, got a new tattoo, and asked this artist if he would do as the first artist (who had a guest spot but lives too far away for me to conveniently follow up with, besides the point but still) suggested and actually tattoo the spot with witch hazel. He graciously obliged, which sparked a conversation with another artist who had a client with a similar problem and suggested rubbing vitamin E oil on the red ink. The witch hazel tattoo helped a lot right away, and once that felt "healed" I began applying vitamin E oil twice a day, then daily, and now every few days. Now, there are still some small spots that are a bit raised/hard, but nothing remotely like it was before. The whole experience has honestly soured my feelings about the tattoo - nothing against the artist or the design, but I can't help but associate it with this 15+ month long healing process... Sorry for the ramble, and hope it didn't come off as too much of a rant. Tattoos!

Here's my white tiger, in progress. It represents a dearly departed tiger named Jellybean that I worked with when I volunteered at a local tiger rescue. My artist had visited Jellybean, so it was a nice connection. I specifically requested a mellow tiger rather than a fierce tiger. My sleeve of special animals is taking shape. By the way, the work in the ditch hurt like a sonofabitch! It was worth it, of course. 😀

I love the wrinkles. :)

There may come a day when hand tattoos won't limit career choices, but we're not there yet. I have pretty heavy coverage; two sleeves, full back and one leg, but I can cover everything up with pants and a long sleeve shirt. My only comment for people that want to get hand tattoos is to go into it with your eyes wide open. In today's economy, there is no more job security. You may need to switch companies or occupations. Think long and hard. If you decide to do it anyway, go big or go home!

here is mine ( again because of broken links) tattoo by Jess Yen.

A slightly better image of the one above. This weekend's Flying Tigers tattoo at one day old. The little skin wrinkles are from the wrap. And my tattoo has a tiger tattoo on her leg, so that should be included as well!