else

I wonder if you wouldn't have better luck contacting the ink makers directly?

My Sweet Pea decided to be responsible, so instead of buying her a tattoo I paid her rent for July and bought her a bunch of groceries (and a couple things to unwrap of course!!) BUT!! Total win!! She decided that she wants to wait until she gets back to Denver to get her first tattoo so that she can have Marie Sena do it :D Hooray!!

Congratulations @Shaun1105 !!

I LOVE it @Duffa !!! Wow!!!

Sea-Tac isn't bad as far as airports go. I would browse some shops, drink some coffee, pick up a book, look out the windows...

What @slayer9019 said - I don't think any tattooer is "out of your league" - it just depends on how long you might be willing to wait. If you like someone's work, give them a call or shoot them an email :)

I haven't had much of a problem with this but my impression has always been that it was because of the ointments/lotions/whatever... the less of the stuff I use the better off I am I think.

I was all set to go for it :-) Her BFF convinced her that the "responsible" thing to do would be to ask for money instead... since when are 18 year old kids responsible????? Her birthday still isn't until next Saturday though so we'll see if she changes her mind. and yes, if I'm buying I get to pick who does it - which is why I was all set to go for it!! Get my baby girl started off right!! - - - Updated - - - West Coast Best Coast!!! ;)

I love the glazed/beaten look in your eye ;)

I've had good results with arnica for other things. It hadn't occurred to me to use it pre-tattoo, I'll definitely give it a shot next time and see what happens.

putting this here because there were all those "parent-child" tattoo days posts recently and I don't know where else this would fit. My daughter's 18th birthday is coming up - we were having lunch the other day and I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she hemmed and hawed a little bit but eventually says "well, since you're all into tattoos, I was kinda hoping you'd pay for a tattoo for me". Awww! Kinda sweet right? Honestly though, I'm a little bit on the fence about it. What she really needs is money. She's not working right now... she's flat broke and living on ramen noodles and canned green beans... (when I asked her what she wanted I was sure "money" would be her answer) Hmmm... I'm thinking on it... Not sure yet what I'll do.

I laughed when I read this @CABS !! I've had pretty much the exact same thoughts in my head about it!! :D

He is SO NICE!! You're going to have a great time!!! I can't wait to see what you get :D

This is so funny to me!! :D I guess it's just taken for granted that if you're *here* that you'll be getting a lot more tattoos!!

One of my all time favorite songs :)

Hey Guys!!! I've been missing y'all!!!! I left my contract in Central Texas and am back home on the farm in Oklahoma for a little bit. The internet there is spotty and best, I've barely been able to check the activity stream and posting is pretty much out of the question. I'm in St Louis for the weekend at a conference so will do my best to get caught up on what's been happening around here. Really and truly missed you guys :D

Love it!!! To be honest, I was expecting something much weirder!! ;)

What flavor nurse are you?

You wouldn't believe how jealous I am!!! I want that on ME!!!

Are you on Instagram?

Ahhh! Paco is a doll. He's like a sweet grandmother that says "fuck" a lot ;) Couldn't be easier to sit for!!

I know that they *do* take walk-ins (they took one while I was there in fact), but you'd be best off to call ahead... For all but the last hour or so that I was there it was just me and Paco. It's a really nice shop with a great atmosphere. Super comfortable!! Spacious. Parking right there is a little bit of a hassle though, but I expect that's the case over much of Austin.

My daughter was so into drawing on herself when she was little!! Every time she got ahold of a marker she was coloring on her arms and legs... one time (while I was out of town) she got into a multi-pack of colored sharpies and drew on herself scalp to toe!! I'm not at all surprised that now, as she approaches her 18th birthday, she's planning to get a tattoo!!

Just to be clear, Paco and his buddy weren't being shitty about it, they were specifically talking about how it's kinda cool but also adds extra pressure when they're tattooing a collector. They didn't mean it in any kind of negative way at all. I was just a little taken aback. Although tattoo collectors are something I'm aware of, I had never even considered putting myself in that category... really, just a person who is into getting tattoos!!! The getting them from a bunch of different people is as much a consequence of my work as it is a choice, I move every couple months or so, it would be impossible for me to stick with only one or two tattooers...