Jump to content

Lizzie

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    172

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Lizzie

  1. Lizzie
    I'm intrstd in what people feel are the qualities they see most often in their mentors or respected peers in the industry; and similarly the qualities that sem to lead to successful business across the board.
    Skill obviously will play a part in my idea of a good tattooer, so that's a given.
  2. Lizzie

    ramblings & fuzzy feelings

    By Lizzie,

    We've had a couple guests here this month and it's been great. We've had a lot of fun so far, especially since Myles (Karr - who is also on this site) is here in Toronto now. We met him last year in Brighton, then shared a booth in Montreal, and thus, a loving partnership was formed. Haha!
    The shop got a beautiful new "tattoos" sign up on the facade and we've seen a small increase in our walk ins. I think it will take time to see a big effect from the sign going up, because it will mostly serve to alert the daily passerbys that this is a tattoo shop - not just some studio they whiz by everyday in the bus/car/bike without paying much mind.
    I think we started the shop without the sign because at our initial opening size of 186 ft2, it was intended to be a small street level shop for myself only. I wanted to be discreet and keep quiet, becaue I'd already gotten a lot of shit and backs turned to me when I let people know I was opening a place of my own. Once I stopped giving a fuck about it, I started expanding and up until a few m onths ago, housed a shop with a staff of 5, all surviving well, with NO sign out front indicatingi that we were a tattoo shop.
    That ain't too fucking bad if you ask me. But then again, I'm biased.
    I love my tattoo shop. I've learned more in this condensed 18 months of business than I had in many of the previous years combined. One of those things being that it's a massive undertaking. My manager and best friend Hayden bought in earlier last year and with 2 people at the wheel, this place is a well oiled machine.
    Can't wait to see all the new changes that this one, simple lightbox sign will bring. Keep you posted.
  4. Lizzie
    Today we close our doors for our 2nd annual staff tattoo party. We fill our fridge with healthy, water heavy foods, beer, ciders, and other tasty drinks, order a whack of Indian food, lock our doors, and hang out all day making tattoos on each other. The rule of anyone attending is you have to tattoo at least once, and be tattooed at least once.
    Last year was a lot of fun and this year should be the same. Despite the fact that we often stick around and just tattoo each other like this, it's only the Oct 23 & 24 weekend that we spend an entire day having fun and putting out this much work. Jimmy, one of the managers here, has made a point of only doing Simpsons tattoos when we set up a machine for him and let him rip.
    I think today might just be my Bart day. Unimaginative? Maybe. But I like things classic.
    Will post pictures! I wish LST.com had an iphone app to upload photos. I'd contribute a lot more
  5. Lizzie
    ...mostly because the fads are growing so thin I can't take it:
    1. OWLS jesus christ stop asking me for owls. Go to urban outfitters and get your fix, PLEASE.
    2. Animals with flipped up brims. GUH
    3. The same as it's been for years. Trees. SO hard to make fun or interesting or different if you do like 10 every year!
    Alright. Phewph. Let's hope another one doesn't come through the door the minute I hit "post now."
  6. Lizzie

    Artist Sabbatical

    By Lizzie,

    "Sabbatical" is a word I like to use a lot because it seems like such a nice set up for artists that tattooers don't really exploit. We have been offering the shop for some time as a place like this, taking a set of tattooers during the summer who can work as much or as little as they like for a minimal, cost-covering daily rent. This summer was the first attempt, I feel like it was a big success.
    I tried pretty hard to find a nice location for my shop and actually got my dream spot: Harbord street is a quiet street surrounded by suburbs -- the catch is that only a block north is Bloor, a busy/hip/main street in the downtown, and a block north of College, which has tons of good restaurants and sushi places, all the bank branches, a theatre, and a grocery store. It was nice to have vegan options to suggest or be able to show Nikki where to go to work out. And having one of the city's best espresso cafes next door makes that base easily covered. The community is just very self-contained.
    I do find myself sometimes disappointed in Toronto for the hustle bustle and the cold winters, but honestly if that's all we can moan about, big whoop. Snow is pretty and it's pretty comfortable to draw in a heated room with huge windows and 3 foot snow bails at the window.
    Being that this is a "blog" I thought I'd just ramble about how much I love the little nook of a shop that every visiting artist and my staff has helped to personalize in our first year of business.
    If anyone wants to comment... I'm wondering if there's shops that other members feel so fondly of, even if it is their own. Haha.
×
×
  • Create New...