SeeSea

Awesome @CaitlinBurnett10 awesome!!!

@CaitlinBurnett10 holy shit I just saw your back on Instagram! Whoa awesome!!!!!!

Just finished lining the last critter - a rusty crab with coral and the last of the anemone. Bittersweet. But that sucker is right over my sacrum to the tailbone and up both sides. So, bitter now and sweet later!

Ok girlfriend, let our dual sessions begin! Suck it up and sit strong - you've certainly proven that you can!

Just wait to see what her post in http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/2961-thread-we-commiserate-about-healing-our-fresh-tattoos.html is going to be!

Molly wrote me!!! Excited!!! After some chatting about a recent order mix-up and that I've been a loyal customer (read: Monmon Cat addiction), she told me that Horitomo's schedule had opened up due to cancelled travel plans and she offered me a sooner spot!!! April consultation!!! ::dances around kitchen::

@Wilhell - size is perfect - all the better to see the details! I love the pinks - really makes it pop!

There is a lot of tattoo aftercare information in other threads that might be helpful. I haven't heard of this one. Most people here fall into the Aquafor/lotion category, the Saniderm category, or the leave-it-alone-and-dry-heal-it category. And there are some brave souls who rebel and admit to using other products (I am one of them) but for the most part, we are viewed as suckers who spend too much money on marketing. ::shrugs::

I use this one for lotion - it's a little bigger area than the one you got, and has a nice bend in the handle. I can do my entire back with this. But I wonder about the surface of the pads with the one you selected - you want something very smooth like your fingers. The one below is relatively smooth and a little squishy but I still put it in a plastic baggie for smoothness. You might consider that depending on what it feels like. That being said - I never used it on newly tattooed skin. I managed to increase my flexibility over the last year so I can JUST BARELY touch every part of my back, so for the first 10 days or so, I only use my bare hands. Amazon.com : Aquasentials Easy Lotion Applicator : Body Lotions : Beauty Itching is so variable from person to person to area of the body to time of year, etc. Sometimes my back itching goes on for 3 weeks. I haven't noticed a correlation between the itch factor and the area covered each session. But yeah, trying not to scratch is insanity!

INSANE!!!! Go girl rock it out!

Before I figured all this out, I got the shakes and shivers really bad. Now I wear fleece, but the cure for all tattoo ills is ..... BROWNIES! Before, during, during, during, after. A little protein, some fat and lots of sugar. The perfect endurance food. My batch for tomorrow is in the oven now :)

You go, girl!!!

@jvince1230 - really interesting color palette. That's gonna be a crazy sleeve!

Welcome! What is the rest of the tattoo you mentioned on the bottom?

So you are about to go under the machine in 3...2....1.... (Or, the marker study is just starting :-) )

I'm dealing with spine/pelvis issues now, and I do have some herniations. Although they are not the complete source of the issues, getting drilled over my vertebrae does send some unpleasant feelings through my bones and I got odd pains in my arms and legs. It wasn't really much worse than any other part of my spine though. I'd guess that if you have neurological symptoms, then all the rattling might likely make them more apparent. I try to sit with as close to ideal spine position as possible - that might help you. I'm heading into sacrum/tailbone soon and I'm pretty nervous about it. Yes, mental mental mental.

Just tripped across these lacy fingerless gloves with UV protection - pretty colors and it made me think of those of you with sleeves wanting sun protection. These are lined, so they would be great for events like weddings or cooler days when you need some warmth, although they don't look that heavy. Pretty cute. But...not what I'm looking for. I need some heavy fur lined gloves for this glorious stretch of 23 degrees we are having. Oh, I wish that were Celsius!

If I see you on Sunday, I might take you up on that!

Awesome! I've got a session on Friday night, so we can send each other "sit strong, sit long" vibes around the world at one another. Don't forget a couple pics to add to the thread below, along with the blow-by-blows of your ridiculously insane adventure in progress! http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/5952-thread-posting-while-getting-tattooed.html

Well, it may come down to what area he works on Friday night. I'm thinking if he does all the below-my-waist to butt-crack I might not want to be driving!!! If he smashes ribs, I still have the other arm to drive. 6 pm would be great for me. I'll just have to play it by ear and see how trashed I feel but I'm gonna keep fingers crossed!

@Graeme - I just love this design! Very powerful and simple. (You know what I mean!) I can't wait to see colors start!

@Puglist - too bad you didn't get to wield the hammer on that one! :-) Racerback really helped me with back of the shoulders. Mine has thinner straps and crosses very high up so the tops of my shoulders and both shoulder blades were completely clear. - - - Updated - - - I was just trying to figure this out. One of my next 2 sessions will be all below the waist to butt crack and I've been wondering what to wear or if I will be able to sit in a car and drive! I don't wear skirts but I think I have a couple laying around that I almost donated last month but didn't have the heart to because the "still fit" and "that style could come back around again soon." LOL! I may have to be fashion backwards for a couple weeks. I don't think tights are an option - oh my, is it possible I still have garters laying around somewhere?!?

@Pugilist - in your new role as a mod, I'd like to request, if the rules permit, that this poster's comments be removed from my thread. I started this thread for the Ladies for tattooing issues we face that the guys don't. I didn't say guys aren't welcome - I said they were and several have provided good suggestions and everyone is welcome. But personally, I am more offended seeing this kind of garbage on a thread for ladies, started by a lady, than I do elsewhere on this board. I came here this morning and frankly, feel ill and disappointed to see this type of misogynistic behavior in a thread specifically for women. I also respectfully ask the poster in question not to reply, but to please go post elsewhere. I don't want to see any more of this behavior on this thread. I'm also asking those of us who would like to explain this to him, to refrain responding as well. Just let it die, ignore him, and he'll stop. Thank you. - - - Updated - - - Ahhh, I missed that he was just banned. Thank you for that. I hope @Pugilist was the one to do it.

This is a really good point. And I think a sweet spot changes from time to time, location, preparation and mental fortitude. Mine is around 5 hours although often I can sit longer. For me, it's more a sweet spot for both the session and how I am the next day because we don't start until 9pm-ish. I have to ask myself, is it better to brag I sat for 7 hours and be destroyed the next day, or sat 4.5 hours and feel reasonably decent, just tired. Sometimes he says he's at a good stopping point, but if I'm up to it, he could work on a different area and give me a duration. Like I can choose to turn a 4 hr into a 6 hr for example. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I like that sometimes I get that choice.

So he said my back wasn't big enough for the ship's mast I wanted (a Japanese wreck mast I photographed a couple times in Truk Lagoon) so he made it look like a regular mast. Which people have mistaken for a cross. Now, I've never said a THING about anything he designed so far, but I had to ask he make some adjustments on this. It took 3 marker studies before we could agree, but he updated it last Friday. For some reason, that section with the mast is so scabbed over and itchy - the rest of the work he did on Friday is mostly peeled but the mast is a chunky mess. Are the tattoo gods expressing anger at my questioning my tattoo artist? LOL :rolleyes: