hollyjoybee

I have no words

Breathing was definitely a bit odd in that place but once I realised just breathing normally wasn't affecting him working on me I was all good . That was the only issue I had which was a total relief haha , thanks Mike :)

Healing my sternum is proving to be a pain in the ass. Bras suck at the best of times but right now I'm cursing their very existence!

I have never come across an artist who actively keeps me up to date with how things are going. If I want to see any drawing ahead of time it's my responsibility to contact them and ask. In saying that I've never had any artist draw anything up for me too far in advance if it's not a massive piece. Sure you could contact the boss but in all honesty I'm not sure they would do much more than think you were being a bit of a difficult customer.

When I say rubbish obviously that's in my opinion. Really shouldn't judge !

This doesn't surprise me in the least... anyone youngish woman with tattoos or man with tattoos , a beard and skinny jeans now thinks they're a 'tattoo model'! I agree with @TrixieFaux , @Eilin should definitly go on! Beautiful with fantastic tattoos... sadly most of these 'tattoo models' have rubbish tattoos just for the sake of it..

Hi Faolan, I havent gotten my chest tattooed but it sounds to me like thats probably the cause.. however if you are concerned give your artist a ring.. don't hesitate to do so as they know far better than us the affects tattooing has on the body. Hope the swelling goes down for you and it's not causing you too much bother! Well i managed to survive getting my sternum tattooed yesterday! I was really worried about it after being told horror stories and also because i'm incredibly self concious of that area! I did indeed need to have my boobs out for a short amount of time getting the stencil on etc... i was really really embarrased while that was happening.. however my tattoo artist was an absolute gentleman. He ensured we had privacy , talked to me the whole time i was derobed and put me totally at ease. Everyone else in the shop was incredibly respectful too. By the end of it i couldve walked around the shop with my top off and not cared haha!! Its amazing how quickly you get into it. The suggestion of vest underneath a softer bra is an absolute godsend today so that's definitly got my vote too!

Too many to list! Most recently .. 'But you were such a pretty girl Holly' :rolleyes: and from one of my older ladies who's nails i do 'You're never going to meet an oil baron and skip off happily into the distance now are you dear?' On the whole i have to say most of the comments i get are pretty positive. In the early days of becoming visibly tattooed I was really conscious of being stared at especially by older women... now though i don't even notice!

Long time no post! :) Tomorrow i'm getting a black and grey death head moth on my sternum from Piers Lee who's currently guesting at Red Hot and Blue tattoo here in Edinburgh.. Excited and nervous at the same time!

Hello Ladies (and Gents!), I havent posted in absolutely ages but i've been reading with interest ! I'm getting my sternum tattooed tomorrow and i have to admit i'm pretty nervous... Generally i've found being tattooed ok so far however my partner has a relatively small tattoo on his sternum and he really really struggled with it! I'm planning to wear a crop top kind of sports bra that is now too big for me (one of the downsides of any type of weight loss for me!) and also a vest top which im going to pull down around my waist. I'm really really self conscious about my lower tummy area after having carried two single pregnancies and one twin pregnancy! This thread has been incredibly useful in the run up to this tattoo so thanks folks!

Yes some really great advice here. Thanks folks its all much appreciated. One of the Many things I appreciate about this forum is good advice without being made to feel stupid :)

@Iwar Im a spotty git.

See if I was able to have a back piece this would just solve so many issues. As an aside i would love to have my hands tattooed.

@semele that's really helpful - thanks. I don't have a desire to appear untatttooed and work self employed and anticipate doing so for my whole life. Being the only trade I have ! I've seen a few pharaohs horses design that come down between the breasts to the sternum and up to kind of should/collar. I'm gonna go buy me a sharpie tomorrow. Might try and persuade my ten year old to draw it for me haha - - - Updated - - - @David Flores yup I totally hear ya. It's not something I'm aiming for in the next while for sure. I was actually just talking to the guys in the shop I go to today and the verdict was I'm definitely trying to completely disassociate from my 'old self' and it's definitely time to stop and enjoy the ones I have without always healing new ones.

A positive something ? If I'm going to go for it I want it to be pretty spectacular. This might well be tmi but I'm not very large breasted at all so my thinking is this may cause slightly less 'distortion' to the piece as I age ?!

Hi folks. I'm gathering some opinions and information on ladies with chest pieces. I would really like a phaorohs horses chest piece however I'm hesitant for some reason. Firstly my mum would hate it (but I'm 27.. Should it matter?) Secondly ladies who have chest pieces - did it drastically change how you appeared ? That sounds like a ridiculous question. I don't have any torso tattoos. My backs a no go , after twins and two other kids my tummys a no go. If I'm going to actually make the jump fr a chest piece I want it to be a fabulous one. Has anyone ever drawn on themselves to get used to it or am I just totally mental ?

Had my elbow and arm ditch tattooed today and neither was as bad as the back of thigh !!!

No, I've decided that when/if I pluck up the courage to get a chest piece I'm going to get pharaohs horses there instead. I got a small amount of script from the apprentice at the shop I go to. He do a great job actually I'm really impressed. It's just above te knee ditch so plenty space for a larger piece above it .. I won't be entering Into that in a hurry though. OUCH!

Back of my thigh winning the pain contest so far by a MILE

This is a funny one because on the one hand I see people with people's names written on their necks and few other tattoos, or big paragraphs of text which is pretty illegible and I think 'what in the name of all that's holy were you thinking?!?' On the other hand I think who am I to criticise ? It's their body, they may absolutely love their tattoos. When they look in be mirror that neck tattoo proclaiming 'Shug' for all to see might make them happy. Is that not the whole point or tattoos ? They are for the person who wears them not for us. Not everyone is going to get what I perceive to be a beautiful tattoo and actually that's ok with me. If we were all the same the world would be an incredibly tedious place. I have a few script tattoos. They don't mean anything or sentiment. I'm a big word geek and just love the way slightly unusual words look in fancy lettering. Last night I got 'Vagabond Soul' tattooed script. It won't make any sense to alot of people but I love the way the words look. Anyhow I digress. There's my contribution :)

Edinburgh had its one day summer yesterday and everyone else was walking around half naked and the only part of me not covered was round my collarbones ! Pale skin all the way (glad I did because my peely waly Scottish chest is now sunburnt. It was about 18 degrees haha)

Hi lovelies, no pics to profer as yet but hopefully Alec will post soon. Hate taking pics myself until they are healed. Kinda feel like they are their property until then lol! Went in expecting a ditch moth came out with a mandala on my upper bicep. I love Alec to bits and we have a great customer/Tattooer relationship because I love that I tell him I want something but he always comes up with something bigger and better. However this means I rarely know what I'm actually getting haha. I love it , it's beautiful but my arm is visibley bruised round the inside arm. Guess it's just where it's placed. So from now on I'm just goin to post the space we are filling. Next week we are doing the little gap at the top of my forearm between my swallow and my elbow. Sailor jerry heart with banner is the plan ! We are going to do another mandala with the centre on the 'wrist knuckle' to give it some semblance of cohesiveness ... Maybe :) pic will follow as / when Alec posts :) Just to add I'm really going to miss the wee bugger when he's off to the states. I hppe some of you might manage to catch him somewhere. He's a top guy , super quick and really down to earth :)

I'm having some real trouble healing the gorilla on my right shoulder. It's a blast over of a colour butterfly piece I hated. The part of the tattoo that's solid black is honestly SO dry it looks like elephant skin. It's still itchy and I'm about 4 weeks in. I dunno if I'm doing something wrong or I should be treating it differently to my other tattoos ? :/ im meant to be back to get it finished with colour next week. I shall get in touch with the artist and see what he reckons. All the line works healed perfectly so I'm hoping it'll be ok to go ahead :)

I'm back in with Alec Benjamin at red hot n blue this Wednesday. We are doing a traditional style butterfly/moth in my left ditch. Then my last appointment with him before he leaves I think we are doing a dear John letter filler and perhaps a sailor jerry style heart with mum on it. We shall see !

Yeah so ummm JEALOUS! Really gorgeous, you're in possession of a very beautiful elbow !