Ashley76

Female college student. Among other girls the "pinterest" tattoos are very popular- small white ink, small symbols in B&G, etc. Yesterday there was a girl in the gym in front of me that had some weird black shape. Once she stopped running I realized they were tiny elephants. Guys are very into the tribal and the black out style pieces. That being said, I do see many people with larger, bolder tattoos. A girl who sits next to me in Chemistry has an octopus that covers her entire chest. Another girl I've seen on campus has two large Alice in Wonderland images done on her thighs. There's also a lot of nerdy tattoos: Harry Potter, Supernatural, gamers, LOTR, etc. I truly think that's a generation thing, because many of these things have come to define our generation. Good tattoos aren't a rarity, but they get overshadowed by the lower quality ones. I think a lot of it, especially with the women my age, are still associating feminine with small and dainty, and that tattoos are still in the stages of becoming widely accepted

My dad discovered mine a few weeks ago. My mom found out the night I got the outline done because I kind of casually mentioned it (parents are divorced). I was leaning against the couch and the very bottom of my tattoo was peaking out from under my shirt. My dad walked up and yanked my shirt up on my side and goes, "Does that come off?" My sarcastic reply was, "With laser removal." After about two days of him not talking to me he finally came around. It's kind of become a running joke with family friends because my stepmom told them, and they all know I'm the least likely person to get a tattoo the size that mine is. He's still not happy and doesn't understand why I had it done, but he's kind of brushed it off now.

I grew up in a very conservative area where tattoos are still frowned upon. Ironically my boyfriend's family knows that I have a tattoo while only my mother and stepfather are the only ones who know in my family. My boyfriend teases me about it and going to church, but its all in good fun, especially since he went with me as support when I got it done. As my best friend put it to me, "Jesus says my body is a temple, I'm just decorating the walls."

Western horsemanship. I used a gauze pad just under my bra strap as a padded layer, and then my spanx shirt. Protected everything pretty well and kept things from rubbing.

On my rib piece its hard to ignore the pain, but my tattoo artist talks me through it and is good at predicting a possible jump or wince. A few times in the session I nearly crawled off the table trying to avoid the pain, but he didn't seem to notice too much lol. Having a friend there to grip their arm/hand during the worst parts is extremely helpful. I'm sure my friend doesn't appreciate the bruises I've left on him, but he's dealt with it pretty well so far!

What do y'all do in regards to bras? I have a rib and side piece that will be about three days old at the time of my horse show. I'm well endowed, so a sports bra is necessary! What can I do to make sure my sports bra doesn't rub or irritate the upper portion?

I'm getting my first tattoo in approximately two hours! I made the appointment almost a week and a half ago. I'm nervous as can be, but the excitement outweighs the worry.

I didn't read every single page, so bear with me if I missed it. I noticed the majority of you are in corporate and business situations. Can anyone share their experiences as a doctor? Nurse? Veterinarian? I'm curious to see what people have to say about some of these professions. Personally, I know two different doctors with sleeves. One is a sixty year old biker, bodybuilder, and orthopedic surgeon. I've known him all my life and he's an incredible doctor. He doesn't show his sleeves at work. The other is similar. I'm in school to become a veterinarian, which obviously means I'll be interacting with people, but not on the same level as lawyers or salesmen do.

Yes, still planning to get the lettering. I'm having a friend of mine come along as a distraction, so he'll be taking a few pictures of it being done and the final product.

A friend of mine has told me something similar about having even vs. odd number of tattoos. I am a bit on the superstitious side (umbrellas mostly, and salt. Always salt.) but this is not a superstition I will take notice of. Ironically, I do prefer to have things in odd numbers. Even numbers are considered 'too perfect' in my mind.

I'm excited to announce that sometime next week I'll be going for a consultation with either Cole Dunn or Brad Ausbrooks at Carter's. If things go as planned, I should have my first tattoo by the second week of February. I think this will be a great gift "to me, from me" for my birthday. I can't wait to post pictures when its done!

It's official: I need to stay off this site for a while! Not only do I have plans for my first tattoo, but I'm starting to get ideas for other ones! This is a dilemma I wasn't expecting...

I'll be letting the tattoo artist doing a freehand script. Nine words should fit easily across my ribs and still leave room for the flowers. If I show people my tattoo I want them to be able to read it! Have any of you had experience with having a tattoo done over an old injury? I broke a rib a few years ago on that side and I'm concerned when he goes across that rib it might hurt a bit more due to the calcification that had developed on it.

Thank you for the links! I'll definitely read those. And I probably should swap the order of money and appointment. I'm expecting it to be a medium sized tattoo, so I'm assuming I'm looking at two or three hours of work; gotta save a good chunk of change.

Carter's Tattoo Company in Bowling Green, KY. It's a very simple tattoo design wise (two lines from Hamlet and a few magnolia flowers on my rib cage) and I've seen his work on several different people, including text pieces similar to what I want.