The Tattoo Project
***If you want to join The Tattoo Project, please email a write up of your tattoo along with a pic of your tattoo attached to the email. Include your first name (tell me if you don’t want your first name published. If you don’t specify NOT to publish it, I will include your first name), the significance of your tattoo and anything else you would like to say about it (who did it, cost, love or regret it, your tattoo experience, likely to get more, etc.). Send all entries to wwfd301@yahoo.com. I will notify you when your tattoo will be published on my blog. THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!!!***
I am excited about this project! Get excited with me, damnit!! Feel free to tell me what you think about this idea.
Here are my tats to start with!!
- My first tattoo was small…a lady bug. I was terrified of the pain so I didn’t want to go big. People told me it looked like a mole so I decided to go bigger next time. The only significance it has is that I liked lady bugs and thought it was cute. Cost: $25.
- My second and third tattoos. love all things Calvin and Hobbes. I’m an EMT so I wanted to make Calvin a medic. Hobbes is his patient. Someday, I may add to it to make Hobbes look more injured…maybe stars around his head or something. Cost: $70 for both.
- This is my fourth tattoo. I am in love with this tattoo. My mother always loved cherubs so I grew up loving them too. I love how the beam and ribbon look like a cross. My children’s names and birthdays are included. This took about two hours (one sitting) to complete. Cost: $300.
- This is my fifth tattoo. I got this one because I wanted to sit with a friend who was getting a tattoo and at the time, the studio had a rule that only customers and artists were allowed in the tattooing room. I decided on something small just to get me back there. =) Cost: $45 (the studio has a $45 minimum fee).
- My sixth tattoo…my Terror Management Tattoo. I got this on the fourth of July in remembrance of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. (Terror Management is a psychological theory that states that when death is salient, we cling tighter to our worldviews. This tattoo is a perfect example of that!) Cost: $130.
- My 7th and 8th tattoos. My kid’s footprints with angel wings. This was the beginning of my half-sleeve and although I like it, I would have planned it much differently had I known I was going to end up with a half-sleeve! Cost: $170 for both
- My 9th tattoo. My mother’s name is Jay. People called her Jay Bird or just Bird and she loved Blue Jays. My mother was also a double amputee (both legs above the knees). She was wheelchair-bound for about the last 14 years of her life. Now that she has passed away, I take comfort in knowing that she doesn’t need her legs anymore and is soaring high! Cost: $170.
- My 10th tattoo. Shortly after my mom died, I was in the garden and a Blue Jay kept hanging around me which is odd because they are normally so flighty. In a joking way, I looked at it and said, “Mom?” I got this tattoo to remind me that although my mom is further away from me in some ways, she is closer to me in others and if I look closely, I will see signs that she is with me. Last year, after I got this tattoo, a Blue Jay was on my front walkway. I opened the door and if flew away. When I looked down, I saw that it had left a feather. I was so overwhelmed! About an hour later, my niece texted me that a Blue Jay flew close to her son (who my mother never had a chance to meet) and it left a feather on the ground next to them. I am certain those were both signs from Mom!!! Cost: $70.
- My 11th and 12th tattoos. I went back to get more added to the feet and bird because it needed to be brought together. At my 11th sitting, he added the clouds and moon. The 12th was the comet. It is a cool tattoo but I am not crazy about how it is all pieced together and I am debating having all but the bird, sun, and earth lasered off. Cost: About $600 all together.
- My 13th and possibly final tattoo. I LOVE THIS TATTOO!! This is God (inspired by Michelangelo’s painting on the Sistine Chapel) and an angel near a cross. The angel is reminding me that all of my deceased loved ones are being watched and cared for. But more importantly, God is in charge. He is looking down on me and is protecting me and carrying out His will. I am never alone. I am always protected by my Heavenly Father. Cost: About $500.
- I go to Physical Graffiti in Rochester, NY. Joel did an excellent job on all of my tattoos! Thank you, Joel!!
- Close-Up of the Process
- Tattoos bleed
- This was my second sleeve after it was finished. It was very bruised after it was done but it healed nicely.
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- Carly says: I always said my 1st tattoo would be the lyrics from my favorite song ever…which happens to be Blue Monday from Orgy sooo one of my friends brought me to this dude who just opened a lil tattoo studio and he said it was mad cheap…40 bucks cheap and as u can see it looks like crap and now its all raised n scarred over and misspelled ..yeah i don’t regret getting’ the tattoo; i just regret going to this person…how misfodunate!!
- Carly says: I got this in Chicago 2 years ago and I got it because it was my nickname in high school and still is. I told myself I’d get it tattooed on me somewhere. And I did.
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- carly says: My tattoo of the moon. It was a birthday present from my Aunt Nicki (this is her blog by the way) and Uncle Chris when I turned 20 I got it because i just love the moon now it really needs to be touched up. There are spots that I just don’t like n they look crappy but other than that it’s a good tattoo and it didn’t hurt too much.
- Carly says: After I got my moon tattoo, I wanted one of the sun and I found a pic of the sun that I liked but it didn’t have a face. The sun just needs a face so I found another one with a face that I liked ‘n’ combined them. This one hurt like a B**ch and the dude did an awesome job! I get a lot of compliments on it…I’ve never been to the same person more than once but I think Ima go back to this guy for my next one. When I was little I always told my parents “when I grow up I’m gunna be covered in tattoos.” I now have 6 tattoos. And will be getting’ more.
- Caz says: This tattoo is my first and I had it done for my 42nd birthday last year. If it wasn’t for my mum coming with me, I probably would’ve chickened out (she got one too – a question mark on her thumb!). The three stars represent the three stars in my life – my children! I’ve been wanting a tattoo for about the last ten years but never had the guts and I still can’t believe I finally did it! As much as I love it, I think it will probably be my last.
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- Sandi Says: This is the last tattoo that I received. My dad passed in 2001. These are his hands that lay to rest and close to my heart.
This one was sent to me by a friend. It was sent to her in a “I don’t do tattoos but this is one that I would get if I ever got one” message. I tried to find it on Google so I could give proper credit to the owner. I apologize that after searching tons of pics of “Batman tattoos” and “Batman sleeves” and “Superhero tattoos,” I didn’t find it so I don’t know the source. But it is cool so here it is!
- Traci says: Seth Markus did this Buddha quote. I was just ending a significant relationship and there was a lot of hearsay.
- Traci says: The tribal and orchid piece was a gift from several people for my birthday in 2007. Grandma and Grandpa Wacker always gave me money for my birthday. I always put it toward new ink. They have paid for most of my ink.
I got the hummingbird / tropical flower ink the day I got out of the hospital. It represents overcoming abuse and manipulation, and recovery from PTSD. -
This is my friend Kathy’s tattoo. Here is what she has to say about it! ”My tattoo is of a butterfly with a pink ribbon as it’s body. The word “survivor” follows the outline of the upper part of the wings. It is my first tattoo and it symbolizes my journey through breast cancer. The tattoo sits upon my upper right breast, which was the one that had the tumor in it. I got it for a couple of reasons. Mainly, I wanted it to act as a conversation piece with the hope that others would see me as approachable to discuss their own diagnosis’ and battles. (I had always wanted a tattoo but was too much of a wimp to get one. After all I had endured during my battle against breast cancer, I figured I could probably stick needles in my own eyes – so I opted to get the tattoo!). I felt that I was not only “ready” but deserving of this tattoo. My 91 year old grandmother couldn’t understand why I would want to “mark up my body” in such a permanent way. I reminded her that the scars I have all over my chest from a chemotherapy port incision and a double mastectomy are permanent and I had no choice about those! This was something I had a choice about and it was beautiful. I had the tattoo done by Mariah Rose at White Tiger tattoo in Webster, NY. I will definitely get another tattoo….I just won’t tell my grandmother.
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What a neat idea and post! I came by during the whole 30-day writing challenge and was intrigued by this subject. I don’t have any tattoos… but I love your first foot one in particular. I am tempted….!
June 11, 2012 at 10:49 pm
Katherine, thank you for stopping by! Go for the tattoo!! =)) Thanks for the compliments!!
June 12, 2012 at 6:54 am
Awesome…
June 12, 2012 at 7:20 am
Thanks!!!
June 12, 2012 at 7:44 am