Tuesday, March 19, 2024 08:31

?>

Archive for February, 2009

my favorite color is kitties

Sunday, February 1st, 2009

Yup. That pretty much sums it up. I love me some kitties. With four running around the house…we are pretty much at our max, despite my longing to save all the wayward kitties of the world. Saturday, however, I did not let that stop me. I got another kitty…another boy even!!! His name is Sabbath, and he lives on my right thigh. He is made of ink, but I love him none-the-less.
A while back, I promised myself that to reward myself for losing weight/getting in shape, and to give myself some incentive to keep at it, I would get a tattoo at the ten pound mark, then another at the twenty pound mark which would be my final goal. I met the first goal a while ago, but had to find the time and room in our budget for the ink. I’d already chosen what they would be, two of Emily the Strange’s cats. The first would be Sabbath, her kitty with a scarred ear (his right ear!–how appropriate!). The second, Mystery. Her oldest kitty with the curly whisker. The choosing of these was twofold, one I love them, they would be perfect on my quads, which after working so hard to give them some definition I want to draw some attention to them. Second, G and I wanted some sort of matching tats. After much tossing around of ideas, we thought that if I had two of Emily’s cats, and he had the other two (Miles and NeeChee) it would be cool.
So, I was able to get in on Saturday to get my ink. I’d long ago chosen the place and person that would do the art. Kore at Tatus by Kore. We pass by her shop every time we get our hair cut, as our salon is upstairs from her studio. Plus, she came VERY highly recommended from a couple of our friends. All of their art is top notch, which is key. Also, she only does custom work. So, no flash on the walls to pick from. No one will look through a book, say they like mine and get an exact copy. I like that. Plus, she is the artist, and that’s that. No trying to be sure that the artist I get will be as good as another, and with it being her shop, when I go back I can still get her.
Anyhow, Saturday was the day. I woke up early (for a Saturday), and felt like a child on Christmas. I did some poking around the house, then went for a run (I wanted to be sure I got it in…I wasn’t sure my willpower would hold after the inking), and got ready to go. G drove me over to the studio, armed with my reference material. I walked into the shop, and gave my name, and got my release form. G went to move the car after getting a good parking tip from Kore. Once my form was filled out, and my ID approved, I changed from my shoes to provided slippers. I followed Kore back to the drawing area, told her where the tattoo would go, and showed her my reference piece with the specified changes. She commented on how cute the kitty was, enlarged him, made suggestions to improve the look of the tattoo (one of which she said would make it look more like an original tat, rather than a coverup). We chatted about it as she drew, then she gave me the drawing to hold up to my leg to confirm the size. After I said it looked good, she made the stencil, and we headed over to the workspace. The prep didn’t take that long, but there was more than I expected. It made perfect sense, but as a tattoo virgin, I had no idea. So, I got shaved, sterilized, transferred, she had me confirm the transfer, and then I was ready to go. Her studio is very comfortable. Lots of beautiful artwork, calming music, she gave me some aromatherapy oil to soothe me, made sure G and I were comfy…it was all very nice. She is a very spiritual, very calming person. I felt immediately at ease with her, and I could tell immediately that I made a good choice with my selection of her shop. She got everything prepped, and as she looked at the placement on my leg, she mentioned that it was right in the area of the acupuncture points for the stomach. She asked me if I had stomach issues, which I replied that I did. She showed me on the cart, and exactly on my leg where the points lie…my tat was resting with the top and bottom points at each end! She said that people were usually spot on when choosing their sites. Our bodies tend to tell us what they need. I thought that was pretty amazing. She gave me some breathing advice, and told me that the outline process was like jumping in to cold water, and the coloring process was like swimming. Then, she started. I’d mentally prepped myself for the worst…but really, I didn’t need to. It wasn’t bad. I mean, it wasn’t the most pleasant feeling ever, but it wasn’t very painful for me, either. I breathed as she told me, and we chatted as we went. She told me how their were two types when it came to responding to the tattoo process. She said I was the type that relaxed in to it. She said I was definitely a tattoo person…which made me feel good. I was terrified I would be jumpy, or cause her to jump, or knock something over. But, I was chill. She finished him up, sterilized him again, cleaned him up, and photoed him. She gave me all the info for taking care of him, along with her initial sketch, signed and dated, and the tracing she made the transfer from. We paid, and made sure she knew who referred us. As we were getting ready to go, another potential client came in, to ask about having a piece done. I sort of eavesdropped, as I felt it would be useful info for when I get my Raven done. I liked how she handled the question, and how she responded. She totally addressed concerns I had in terms of the perfect placement and how that works with an original design. It really cemented me wanting her to do my Raven…which is something really special and meaningful for me, so who does it is really important.
It was a fantastic experience, and I highly, highly recommend Kore for anyone local looking to have work done. Also, I found out she runs a martial arts school. I’ve been thinking about taking some classes, and she talked some about her school, and I got a good feeling about her classes and how she runs the school. I may look into taking some classes there, once I am done training for the HM.
So, I am now one of the tattooed. Click my flickr link in the lower right hand corner to see a shot of Sabbath. I will take another photo later, when I don’t have to have ointment all over him, so there won’t be the glare. Now that I’ve got him, it is really, really good incentive to work hard to get to my goal and get his sister, Mystery.