Janerae

I am still searching for an artist, in the meantime I am trying to gather up pictures for possible ideas. I keep coming back to the roses, and really like this kind of rose art work. I'm thinking of having the roses/vines wraping around my wrist spiraling up my forearm and have the "Believe" covered up. I'm thinking black and gray, maybe just a hint of reds and greens colorwise...am I on the right track of thinking?

I love Firefly and Serenity....I have downton Abbey saved on my netflix, but haven't gotten around to watching it yet (watching How I met your Mother currently)....Doctor Who keeps getting in the way though :)

Awesome, Thank you. I am leaning to the anchor if I can figure where where I want it. I'm leaning to Tim Beck from Freedom Tattoos in Peoria, IL. He seems to stand out and isn't too far for me to travel with young children. I'll see what i can find from him in some of those places.

No date yet--still need an artist, but next one will either be my roses or butterfly for the child I lost.

My first choice is 2 hours for Freedom Ink...still need to look into that place. Next stop would be 4ish hours for Chicago. - - - Updated - - - My first choice is 2 hours for Freedom Ink...still need to look into that place. Next stop would be 4ish hours for Chicago.

I am loving this site so far, I've found answers to many questions as well as have a few more form...hoping this doesn't come out to be too long. I guess to start with, I might be missing it, but is there a place to ask about a particular artist and/or shop? So now to my tattoo questions. I have a few ideas I have loved and wanted for about 15 years now. The basic ideas I have are 2 cover ups--a large back piece with a tree and black birds, rose and vine wrist/arm cover up, anchor, butterfly, and a Celtic motherhood knot. I'm looking at getting my wrist tattoo covered with roses and vines--maybe having the vines work into a Celtic motherhood knot. I am not interested in having a full body work or sleeves done--I'm hoping to have this done in a way that looks gorgeous and not out of place...or stupid a la those warp tour tattoos I have just come aware from this site. The tree (a linden for our German heritage) and blackbirds represent my family--still needing to find out if i need to get my fairy lasered or if the type of tree I want will cover it. The butterfly for the baby I lost--I always felt little "butterflies" in my tummy for the few short weeks I carried him or her....thinking on my ankle---not sure where else would make a good placement. My big question is the anchor tattoo--my favorite bible passages in short involve faith, hope, and love...hope is the anchor to our soul. I've wanted an anchor with the word faith either below or above it. I know anchors are commonly associated with the Navy--is it insulting to have a non-sailor to be tattooed with an anchor? My hubby is career Army, so I know some of these things hold deep meaning to service men. So Anchor--insulting or not...if not any suggestions as to possible placements to work around the other pieces I want to get done. Thanks! - - - Updated - - - photos of current tattoos and story behind the fairy. - - - Updated - - - this is pics of of current tattoos that I want covered up...and the story behind the fairy. At 18 years, my 3 best friends (Jennie, Anne, Betsy) and I decided to get friendship tattoos--Jennie drew a fairy design for us. Each of our birthdays fall in a different season, so each were going to have the fairy tweaked to show that season. It had a full dress on, kneeling down looking like she would take off flying at any moment, with a look of reckless youth on her face...representing our passage into adulthood and leaving our childhood behind. Mine was Winter, so reds, gray, black with a punky pixie hair cut. I was the first to turn...and the only one to get the tattoo after my horrible experience. He initially tried to talk me into sexing my fairy up, claiming I'll want a sexy fairy when I start going to bars and into college--I maintained no, my design was what I knew I wanted, so he just cleaned up the design to work as a tattoo and the stencil was EXACTLY what I wanted, though I did give in when he said the placement I wanted would be wrong for my tattoo--I wanted it on my shoulder, he said center lower back would be a better placement. I started getting iffy after he finished the outline and it didn't look anything like what was discussed--he reassured me that it only looks wrong because of just being a partial outline and I was looking at in a mirror, once he finished, added the shading, and colors it would be exactly what was drawn up on paper. To make the story shorter--I ended up in tears with a free tattoo and the owner fired him on the spot....small town--he currently works at McDonald's and tattooing from his mom's basement.

I've got a few ideas--I can't wait til I can make a post. I've got general question and ideas for cover ups. I think more traditional. I'm wanting my wrist letter covered with a rose(s) and vines, a motherhood celtic knot, something to cover up my awful back tat...still trying to cement what I want. I'm about 4 hours south in Macomb (2 hours from Peoria)

Did the poor thing even see you coming?

Welcome--I'm new as well and really considering driving up to Chicago to have some work done, I swore I would only have 1...now I want at least 4-6 more :)

In general my biggest mistake was being too naive at 18, which is kinda cliched in itself, lol... As far as crap tattoos I've seen--way way too many to list here, I think a google image search would sum many that I've seen.

She sounds like the same kind of lady that handed out flyers at our local bookstore during harry potter book releases--if the *worse* possible thing my kid wants to do is get tattooed I'm sticking with I've done a damn good job as a mom.

major creeper--speaking from a female's POV--I don't think he ever gonna get laid again without paying for it...

Since my toddler is giving me a few minutes of quiet time by playing quietly, I thought I would post my story and pics of my current tattoos. At 18 years, my 3 best friends (Jennie, Anne, Betsy) and I decided to get friendship tattoos--Jennie drew a fairy design for us. Each of our birthdays fall in a different season, so each were going to have the fairy tweaked to show that season. It had a full dress on, kneeling down looking like she would take off flying at any moment, with a look of reckless youth on her face...representing our passage into adulthood and leaving our childhood behind. Mine was Winter, so reds, gray, black with a punky pixie hair cut. I was the first to turn...and the only one to get the tattoo after my horrible experience. He initially tried to talk me into sexing my fairy up, claiming I'll want a sexy fairy when I start going to bars and into college--I maintained no, my design was what I knew I wanted, so he just cleaned up the design to work as a tattoo and the stencil was EXACTLY what I wanted, though I did give in when he said the placement I wanted would be wrong for my tattoo--I wanted it on my shoulder, he said center lower back would be a better placement. I started getting iffy after he finished the outline and it didn't look anything like what was discussed--he reassured me that it only looks wrong because of just being a partial outline and I was looking at in a mirror, once he finished, added the shading, and colors it would be exactly what was drawn up on paper. To make the story shorter--I ended up in tears with a free tattoo and the owner fired him on the spot....small town--he currently works at McDonald's and tattooing from his mom's basement. I am wanting a cover up done--waiting til I can drive over to a place that has some great reviews (thinking of posting here to see if anyone has experiences with Tim Beck in Peoria IL). I'm perfectly ok with having some laser work done , if needed. I've got a tree that I am wanting as big back piece. I am also looking at having my wrist tattoo covered--hoping for roses and vines. I still like my wrist tattoo, but now that I find myself as a wife and mother (neither of which I ever thought I wanted) and the fact it was to tie in with the fairy--I'm ready to let it go for something better. EDIT: I gotta figure out how to add pics...so those are pending. and here are the pics...

Wow, I opened this expecting a ton of fat hate. I am just starting a major weight lost journey and a major back piece is what I'm planning as a reward for losing the 100 pounds I need to lose. This has been something I've been worried about since I have 3 other tattoos I want to get done over the next year.

Thanks! I hope I do too.

I feel better regretting my first tattoo after reading through this...my regret comes from going to a bad artist...at least I still like the concept of my piece. Also I showed my hubby (who is 9 years older than me) pics of hipsters since he wanted to know what they were...his only comment "Hell, Tim and I use to be beat up those yuppie asshats back in the 80s/90s..."

I have one lettering tattoo and I spent months perfecting the lettering then triple checked the spelling when giving the artist what I wanted then checked the stencil several times. I am a terrible speller but I was not having "beleive" (seems to be the most popular screw up) on me. Spell check and/or friends are a MUST for wording tats.

Just wanted to say Hello to everyone. I am Jane, I currently have 2 tattoos and working on planning a few more and hoping I can get some honest feedback and opinions from strangers since friends and family are too nice. Jane