W – Wonderful Inking Moment

WMy new wonderful writerly friend shared with me a wonderful inking moment. I have to share with you.

Let me introduce you to Skye Falcon.

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Skye had a fan-girl moment and had one of her favorite artist – Christina Perri, sign her arm and that’s right, she got it tattooed as a permanent reminder of a wonderful inking moment.

I think that is so cool!

So, what artist would you consider getting tattooed on your arm? I have a pretty cool signature if my work speaks to you. hehe!!!

I – Ink Research

I

Where do I do most of my research on tattoos? The internet, of course. Type in your favorite book and tattoo and see what comes up.

Here are some of my favorite results:

The Great Gatsby

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Stephen King

Stand-By-Me-Lassi-Tattoo

J.R.R. Tolkien

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What is your favorite book? Who is your favorite author? Google them and tattoo and tell me what you come up with. 

*Photos courtesy of the linked websites.

 

#TattooTuesday – Lyndsay McCreery

SydTattooTuesday

Have I got a Tattoo Tuesday for YOU!!!!

Take it away Lyndsay, 

Each and everyone single one of my tattoo’s has a meaning. I currently have 6 tattoo’s, 3 individual ones and 3 that make up one big one that start my sleeve. They each cover a scar, a scar that remained from a past that I longed to escape, and I fount the best way to do it. What better way to start over then with something beautiful?

My first ever tattoo at the age of 18, it was a rash decision I’m not going to lie. I didn’t go to a tattoo parlor and get it done by a professional. I was visiting my cousin who by out of consequence had been doing tattoo’s. I knew exactly what I wanted so I told her and got it done the same day. You can imagine that it’s not very good right? The rule is always get your tattoo done by a professional. Even though she isn’t a professional, it’s my first and probably most memorable one. The meaning behind it will always be one I live by. I may think negative thoughts about myself or my surroundings, but I will only speak about positive thoughts. Don’t embrace the negative, instead embrace the positive. Because there’s always a silver lining, even on a cloudy day.

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Now my next tattoo came a few months later, now this one I planned. I found a drawing online and immediately sent it to my friend for her to draw for me, it was everything I wanted. I had always loved Batman and the characters. My favorite was The Joker though. I saw a lot of myself in him, now I’m not a sociopath or a serial killer or anything but I just connected with him. His scars was a big part of it, he had scars that everyone could see, he didn’t try and hide them. It’s as if he wore them proudly even though they were a source of pain. Another thing was every time Batman defeated him, he never stayed down long. He got back up and he fought back harder. My next tattoo made me realize I can’t take my scars to seriously, I couldn’t take life to serious. I have to find something to life about, I have to find that strength to wear my scars proudly not because I’m ashamed of them, because I’m proud of them. They each represent a battle in which I lost, but I got back up and fought harder and I sometimes won. Because I have to lose sometimes and I’m okay with that.FullSizeRender (2)

 

My 3rd tattoo as you can see is also Batman. Now as a little girl I didn’t spend my nights watching Disney movies, I spent them watching old batman movies. I watched every single film, night after night. I fell in love with it, and the whole idea of it. I didn’t have a hero growing up but Batman quickly became mine. Now the reason why I chose the Bat signal is for a number of reasons but i’ll give you the only one that matters most. For me, the Bat signal means hope. A hope that a hero is out there, hope that someone is always looking out for you, but most importantly that you can always find hope. So now I look down at my wrist everyday and I see scars, I see sadness but I can always find hope.

Now my last tattoo is a bundle of 3 which make up one big tattoo. Now this I put a lot of thought into it and I planned for months. This one probably means the most to me, because it represents the 3 most important people in my life. My brothers and baby sister. Now I’ll have to explain this one for you to understand it. I’ve battled self harm since I was 9 years old. It was something that got me through each day when all I wanted to do was give up. I didn’t think I’d have anything to fight for, anything to live for. Then by the time I was about to turn 11 came my brother Jude. He was born and suddenly I had something to fight for, because he needed me. I was the one to fed him, changed him and made sure he had everything he ever needed. He was my reason to fight, but then I also had another reason to fight as well, because along came my brother Alexandar. I did the exact same with him as I did with Jude. I was living with my dad when he came along but that didn’t stop me. I cared for them because they didn’t have anyone else who would. I struggled but I managed. Then Dixie came into my life. A little sister I always wanted but unfortunately 5 days after she was born Jude, Alexandar and Dixie got took away and went to live with there grandmother. I saw them maybe 5 times after that and I’ve not seen them since. That was 6/7 years ago. The stopwatch represents that no matter how much time has passed or much will pass, they’ll never leave my life and my heart. The birds represent that they may fly away but I’ll always be here waiting for them with a home and welcome arms. They’ve flown away and they’ve grown into such beautiful children, but it doesn’t matter if I’m not in there life anymore, as long as they are happy and they have the childhood they deserve then everything will be alright. They’ll hold a place in my heart and they have permanent place in my life. It may be in ink and on my arm but at least it’s close to my heart.

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My tattoo’s each hold a painful memory underneath but as I look at them today I no longer see pain, I see beauty and happiness. I plan to have more, I plan to have something to remember my battle with self harm, and I plan to have something to remember the fresh start I have made. I’ll leave you with a Batman quote that oddly fits my tattoo story.

“It’s not who you are underneath, but what we do that defines us.”

Thanks so much Lyndsey, amazing story of over coming. I love you ink, too. 

If you have a tattoo story and want to be featured on Tattoo Tuesday, leave me a note in the comments. 

Tattoo Tuesday – Angie Richmond

SydTatTWOIt’s been a while, but I have a new inked up Author to share with you.  Give a great Tattoo Tuesday welcome to Angie Richmond.

 

1.     How old were you when you got your first tattoo? I was 19 when I got my first tattoo. It was a spurt of the moment decision and I chose the design off the wall of the tattoo studio. It’s a sun swirl design in blue and purple and located over my heart. I call it my ghetto tattoo LOL. It really looks terrible!
2.     What made you want to get your first tattoo? Growing up I was a HUGE fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers. I remember when I bought the Blood Sugar Sex Magik cassette tape and the booklet inside showed all their tattoos. From that moment I knew I wanted tattoos. I think I was 12 years old. 
3.     How many tattoos do you have? If only one, do you want more? I have 5 tattoos…and counting 😉
4.     What is your tattoo story?  Tell me the most recent or your favorite.

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All my tattoos have some sort of significance for me. Even if it’s just as simple as who I was at the time. I have a tattoo of a butterfly on my right shoulder with my grandmother’s initials underneath – she loved butterflies. But my most recent tattoo (which was done June 26th) represents a new beginning for me. It’s a quill with the words This is my journey. It’s located on the inside of my right forearm. It’s a reminder for me to stop and enjoy the moment. That everything I do is part of my journey in life. I wanted the quill because it incorporates the writer in me.
 
5.     Tattoos on a significant other, like or dislike?  Why? My husband doesn’t have tattoos…yet. He’s been planning out a piece that will represent a new beginning for him too. But in general I think tattoos are HOT! They tell the story of who a person really is. Plus they are living art!
This picture was taken right after is was done. It’s the best one I have since now it’s all flaky and healing. Thanks again for featuring me. Below are some links you can include.
Twitter: @write_me_happy

Tattoo Tuesday – Michael P. Thomas

SydTatTWOIt has returned after a month long hiatus, we are back with a good one.  A quality guy, with quality ink.

Welcome, Michael.

Hey Sydney,

Thanks for considering adding me to your lineup — I do love me some tattoos.  Here are your questions, answered; I hope it’s stuff you can use.

1.     How old were you when you got your first tattoo?

Barely 18.  It was my freshman year in college, I went with a guy in my dorm I had the biggest crush on, it was his first one, too.  We were never boyfriends (alas), but we’ll always have Berdoo Tattoo.

2.     What made you want to get your first tattoo?

One of my friends in high school had one (scandalously!), and she inspired a conversation one day, a bunch of us talking about, “If I ever got a tattoo, I’d get…”  Couple months later, the opportunity presented itself, and voila.

3.     How many tattoos do you have? If only one, do you want more?

I’ve been tattooed eight times, by eight different artists, but one is a cover-up, so only seven of them “show.”

4.     What is your tattoo story?  Tell me the most recent or your favorite.

They all have stories, ranging from “Cuz my friend was getting one that day, too,” to “In memory of my friend who died quite suddenly.”  The sea turtle is probably my favorite, for lots of reasons, including its location — for years I longed for a forearm tattoo — and the awesomeness of the workmanship she put into it.

honu2September 11th of 2001 was something of a traumatic day for flight attendants.  I happened to be in Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii, and to tear me away from the constant and chaotic news coverage of my workplace being flown through the side of someone else’s, my friend took me snorkeling.  We’d only been in the water a few minutes, and we were practically swarmed by these sea turtles. They calmed, they comforted, they fed and frolicked, and they communed, at least with me, on a spiritual level that I have experienced in the Animal Kingdom neither before nor since.  We were both strong swimmers, but we followed them way too far from shore — we couldn’t tear ourselves away.  An ocean full of oblivious fish and sympathetic sea turtles shifted my focus dramatically, and made clear to me that the Circle of Life is so much bigger than we are, and so much more important than the events in any one life or of any one day, graphic and horrifying though they may be.  Like the waves in that same ocean, Life rolls on.  Towards you, then over you in the blink of an eye, and then, yes, on without you.  The honu is my totem animal now; I visit them often and learn something new every time, and with this tattoo, I can carry with me (and, some days, access) their strength, their grace, and their spirit of adventure.  Also, it’s just a gorgeous tattoo by an artist who “got” me and what I was going for, which I think always shows.

5.     Tattoos on a significant other, like or dislike?  Why?

Love ’em.  In my book, Kiss Me, Straight, Todd flips for his straight co-worker Josh, whose torso full of cheap, off-the-rack tattoos lends him a bad-boy-gone-good aura and heightens his sexy factor considerably.  In my real life, when I met my husband, he didn’t have any tattoos, didn’t have his nipples pierced — I had a lot of work to do.  And this kid went big, which I love about him.  He waited for the right tattoo and for the right artist (who did my sea turtle), and for his first tattoo he got a huge phoenix-man the length and half the breadth of his back.  And he’s 6’3, 350, so that’s a commitment to ink.  I think a well-chosen, well-executed tattoo shows a sense of adventure, a creative spirit, and a certain tolerance for pain, which are three deal-breaker qualities for me in the romance department.

Michael P. Thomas is a flight attendant whose passions include cheap wine, strong coffee, and fine-lookin’ men. His first novel, Kiss Me, Straight, is available in eBook and paperback at jms-books.com and on Amazon; his second one, Crazy Like Fox, comes out in September. He writes gay fiction because when he was coming out, he sure was glad to have it to read. After misspending his youth in San Francisco, he now gets his tattoos in his native Colorado, where he lives with his husband.

Visit him at misterstewardess.com
Follow him on Twitter @MrStewardess

If you have a tattoo story, let me now if the comments. I would love to feature you on Tattoo Tuesday.