Tattoo Contest!

Welcome! Ashley and I are so excited to tell you about our contest! The lucky lady who wins our contest will be the proud new owner of a pretty little sakura cherry blossom tattoo with a sparkly dermal gem piercing in the center of the flower! Similar to the one in this pic!

This is a 2 part contest: You will first get the tattoo from me and then once healed, you'll go to Ashley to have her pierce you. You can put your prize anywhere you want it (within reason) and we want you to tell us where and why you want it as your contest entry!
How to enter:
Send me a pic or video of yourself pointing to where you'd like to have your new tattoo (it will be about the size of a quarter). Include your story as to why you think you deserve to win …and here is the kicker… you're going to want to make it really good, because the public will be voting! Send pics via Facebook message or direct email and I will post asap & confirm your entry so you can start sharing your link!

I will post your pic in a special album on my Facebook page and you can share it with your friends and family and tell them to share it with their friends and family and whoever gets the most likes will win!  Ashley will promote on her Facebook page, and Baltimore Street Tattoos will promote on theirs, as well.  However, remember… ONLY the likes on your pic in my special folder will count.

The contest is going to run from August 1st till midnight August 31st and the winner will be announced September 2nd.  This prize is valued at approximately $160!  Guys, you are welcome to enter, too, but the prize cannot be substituted in any way.  What you win is what you get!  Prize must be claimed before January 1, 2014.

 

Deep in the heart of Texas!

Waking up to day 2 of the Star of Texas tattoo convention here in Austin.  Yesterday was a little slow, but a lot of fun.  I did a cover up of a cover up ~ subject matter: Nightmare Before Christmas, which reminds me,  I really need to get photos of the "NBC" sleeve I did a few years ago.  I'm so bad about taking pictures.  I also got to do one of my convention special tattoos~ I designed a nautical star with a little heart in the middle and a number 13 below to represent "The Star of Texas 2013".  If you want one, I'm doing them for only $40, omg get one, they are super cute! 

I also sold some jewelry, 4 earrings.  Did you know I design jewelry?  I use vintage findings, beads, semi precious stones, and a limited amount of modern ingredients.  I make necklaces, charm bracelets, and earrings.  The earrings are designed as "singles" and meant to be mixed and matched.  I make jewelry that I would want to wear, so it's a really great compliment when other people want to wear it, too!

Last night Dave Wah and I went out for some amazing Thai food at a great restaurant called Mai Thai.    They have the best Tom Kha soup I've ever had.  There is SO much good food here in Austin, I love it here!  I think tonight we're going out for bar-b-que, yummm.

I have a feeling today will be super busy~ I'm doing "walk ins" all day, so drop by and let's do something!

Leaving My Mark...

My supah sweet client , Emily, sent me this pic today~ She's on vacation and has left my card at Captain Tony's Saloon in Key West, where you can leave anything you want stapled to the wall! Fun!  Maybe someone will see it and tell Jimmy Buffet about the tattoo I did that was themed around him! 

"If we couldn't laugh, we'd all go insane"

Erasing Her Past

I had the pleasure of meeting a lovely young lady from Saudi Arabia last week.  She was in town to have surgery at Hopkins and was referred to us to have some tattoo work done over her scars.  She was very badly burned over most of her body as a small child and had been having yearly surgeries as an attempt to "fix" the burns. 
Ironically, most of her body was also covered in a burka, so all I noticed was her beautiful face.  Really, she was stunning.  She expressed that she loved tattoos even though they are forbidden in her country for religious reasons with the exception of a tiny window that allows Muslims to get tattooed for medical reasons or to cover scars.  As she slowly peeled off the layers of dark fabric she was swathed in, I inspected the texture of her skin and sighed.  This was definitely going to be a challenge. 
She expressed an interest in a floral piece that incorporated traditional Mehndi designs but with more realistic looking flowers.  I looked her in the eye and told her not to worry, she was a beautiful girl and I was going to make her even MORE beautiful.   Since she was only in town for a week, we had to move fast and agreed to start the very next day.
I designed a huge piece to go on her thigh which seemed to have some of the most workable skin.  It was a large tiger lily with a few hibiscus flowers and mehndi swirly accents.  She sat like a rock for me and we finished in about 4 hours.  I couldn't believe this was her first tattoo, but taking into consideration the fact that she'd been through so much pain already in her life, the tattoo was probably nothing.  When it was over, we hugged and she asked me if she could come back the next day to do more work.  I was shocked and naturally hesitant.  I wanted to help her, but I feared that she might be biting off more than she could chew, so I declined. 
A few days later her father called and said she really really wanted to come in again and if I could fit her in the day before she flew back to Saudi Arabia, they would be very grateful.  Her leg was healing perfectly and they felt confident she could handle more.
She wanted to work on her ribs and hip area, where she was burned the worst.  I designed a similar piece for her, this one with lilies and cherry blossoms and more mehndi accents.  She sat again for 4 hours but this time was harder for her, it was definitely more painful and I think a lot of it was emotional.  We both cried a little bit when we finished and she said I was her "life saver". 
She's getting married in a few months and I believe her fiance will be seeing her tattoos for the first time.  She told me he thinks tattooed women are sexy, so I have no doubts it will be a very exciting wedding night for them.  I'm very honored to be a part of it and I do hope I've erased some of the emotional scars of her past along with the physical ones. 
I do have a few pics to post, I just have to upload them.

Fish Blood

...so I'm in a thrift store the other day... miles away from home... and I see a cute lil punk rock girl.. actually,  we nearly collided shopping carts... and my first thought was, "fuck! she's going to get all the stuff I want!"... anyway, I continue poking around and then I realize, I know her.  I've tattooed her.  I've tattooed her and I don't have a picture of it and it's a really cool tattoo!  Fast forward an hour and I'm pulling into a parking space at the next thrifting destination and whom do I see about to enter the store?  .. it's her!  yay! photo op! It's based on a Gustav Klimt illustration of women in water called "Fish Blood" and I absolutely LOVE it!

Tattooing over scars

I have an appointment today to start a rather large project that centers around a very large scar.  A lady I've tattooed before had back surgery and has been left with a scar that wraps around her waist like a belt as well as about 4 inches added on to her butt crack.  She has very dark skin and the scar is not very noticeable , but she has insisted on going forward with this project , in spite of the fact that I've estimated the final cost to be well over $1000 and potentially 4 sessions (or more depending on how she sits).  Today we will start the outline.

I've had very good luck with tattooing over scars, but it's always a gamble.  There is never any guarantee that the pigment will hold the way it should and that makes things very tricky.  We're going to be putting big, stylized flowers and vines ~ like a beautiful garden ~on her and I am hoping to be able to use a bit of color, if only red and green.  I won't know until I'm actually into it.  I hate not being able to promise her what the end result will be, but that's the nature of scar tissue.  Fickle and unpredictable.

I do have some photos of her scars and w/her permission, I'll post here and show updates.

The Importance of Communication

Free advice for my clients (and potential clients): Please understand the importance of communication.  I am not a mind reader.  If you have a fabulous idea for your tattoo I have to know what's going on inside your head in order to be able to deliver it to you.  Please don't assume that I will just "know what you mean", especially if I've never met you before.  We both share the same goal, we're on the same team, so don't drop the ball :)

Dealing with loss

I do a lot of memorial tattoos. Too many for my liking, frankly, and it's a catch 22. I truly enjoy creating a piece of art for the person experiencing the loss because I want them to be able to look at their tattoo and think happy thoughts about the person (or beast) that they are missing. On the other hand, I think I accumulate a lot of that sadness, it gets into my veins and weighs heavily. Over the past few years I've had a few of my clients pass away and when their family members come to me for memorial tattoos I don't always know how to express my own sadness for their loss because it's my loss, too. Nothing like starting a blog off on a happy note, right?