Tornado6

I am totally going to Chicago in June. :cool:

I'm messing around with a bird under the collarbone right now. I've got to keep my décolletage clear for work, and I have some sun damage/wear and tear on that skin anyway. Right now, the bird is facing out, but it's head is turned in. The slope of the back and the tail points down towards cleavage. It is funny how bendy that part of the body is. Mock something up and move around in front of a mirror!

Thanks :) I have a really great doctor, but even she thinks I'll eventually need surgery because of some complications. So I'm not putting anything on my belly or near my good veins for a long time. It is what it is* *upside down on wrist

I think your dragon and volcano reference pictures are cool, but the execution isn't doing it for you. You've got a good idea. Let someone fix it :)

;) The omen is actually my son's first tattoo. I'm more into N64 Mario hehe.

My first is just healed, but I think it is 'good'. I waited until my late 30s, and went to one of the better shops in town. It is 'just a walk in', but it isn't poorly chosen $75 flash. My favorite part, by far, was showing my artist the reference, and having him come back with a drawing of exactly what I'd had in my head for months. Now it is on my body. Awesome!

I take a lot of medicine for ulcerative colitis. (Infusions every eight weeks, like chemo, but not.). I recently added medicine for anxiety. I've never been an anxious person, so this setback has been at least as difficult as the physical illness.

You are all doing awesome things! I teach a wildlife ID class to youth on Saturdays January - July. I'm getting my ducks in a row for this year's team. We took a team to International last summer, and I think we'll take another this year, but I have a vacation blackout at work the week of the competition. My husband is shooting IDPA this year, so between him and my class, I'll be at the range a lot! I think I'm going to have to pick up a shooting sport of some sort, because I can't imagine plinking away all of that time. We're taking a family vacation to the Black Hills this summer. This is the first year since my son graduated, so I haven't quite adjusted to not having 'school nights' around the house yet :)

Or not, tickets sold out and I wasn't far enough up the queue. So maybe my Grandma in her belly dancing outfit ;)

Well... U2 tickets go on sale today for next summer. He and I both want U2 related tattoos (he wants an engineering diagram of an atomic bomb, and I'm playing with refraction/reflection in drops of water). I hadn't intended to make this my next, but the opportunity to take a road trip and get it done in Chicago after the concert, on my birthday, is just too much to pass up.

A botanical print only has so much wiggle room, but my artist drew a nice mash-up of my references and used the photos for color reference during the tattoo. I did have one tattoo in my references, but it was just a placement idea. I have a substantial Pinterest board of tattoo ideas, but very few of them are tattoos. It is just a handy way to grab images that strike me for whatever reason. It has a bunch of architectural items, like my avatar here, right now, because that's what I've been looking at most recently. I can't imagine working with an artist who would not consider looking at these while working up an image for me. Isn't that what we're paying for?

I asked my son to keep it within the confines of a button down shirt until he knows more about the direction his life will take. He knows he's going to have an interesting holiday with his dad's side of the family. His dad and aunts are tattooed, but his Grandma will be disappointed. My mom asked to see it. He has a video game tattoo. I would not have it, but it is well done and important to him. He put it on the back of his upper arm, and he'll be able to expand it fairly easily, and highlight things that will be more important to him later in life on his shoulder. I just can't understand being so upset with your child over something so - unimportant. If a tattoo is 'the worst thing you've done' then you are a pretty good kid :)

My son's from the same day.

I work at the home office for a Fortune 500 financial firm. Our dress code is so old school that it doesn't even address tattoos and piercings. Nobody would be hired with anything visible, I'm sure. I trained a young lady with a pierced nose. She wears clear plastic at work. We sometimes see a foot tattoo in the summer, when open shoes are allowed. My boss and VP have seen my tattoo, because I chose to lift up my pants hem and show them, but nobody walking through the halls would ever know it is there. I'm totally fine with this. I didn't get the tattoo for my coworkers :)

I've been thinking of this one for almost a year. My mom saw my Pinterest board and she saw my ink doodles on my leg months ago. They saw the pictures the day it happened, and mom was pulling up my pants leg to see it on Thanksgiving. Of course, I'm way old enough to not need their permission or approval of anything. I took my son to get his first. I wanted to make sure he got a good piece from a safe shop. I did make him wait until he turned eighteen, and I had some ideas about placement. I think it turned out really cool, and I think he's pleased with it.

I've been lurking for aftercare for a while. I am thirty #>^*£! (37 :) ) and I've just healed my first tattoo. This is my botanical print wood sorrel, still a little weepy from the first time it was washed.