Monday 7 May 2012

My new Tattoo

So yesterday I went to Liverpool Tattoo Convention as I was booked for a full day's sitting with Mark Poole - Custom Tattoo Artist from Stoke on Trent.

Mark is pretty unique as he sketches is design idea, (which he produces based on the inspiration you give him), directly onto your skin, no transfers.  I got there at 11am and it took an hour for the sketching process ....

Mark sketching the design onto my arm
After a quick toilet break, he started tattooing the outline just after noon.  Here is the outline finished

Finished outline
I got another break to have a quick wander round the convention whilst Mark set up all the colours to use.

The shading on the Dodo was first... I love the eyes so much, she looks, shy and bashful

Dodo shading
At this point, it was 4pm and we broke for lunch/dinner for 30 minutes.  The pain had been very bearable all the way through so far, however after this break the first 5 minutes when he re-starts is a bit sore..... so we never stopped again until it was done....

The finished tattoo.....



All in all it took 8.5 hours.. during which time the main pain was my arse going to sleep!  7.5 of those hours was the actual tattoo, and the last 30 minutes was very painful when he did the shading on the top of the carousel and around the outside of the Dodo, he changed to six needles at this point and they were brutal!

I'm so very happy with it, he is an amazing artist.

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Time for.....

..... another rant about dog walkers..... well walking the dog is huge part of my life

So after countless days of soggy dog walks, today I thought I'd head up a little country lane, which is a no through road, with cattle grids and lambs running around... its roughly 3 miles to the top and back, so a bit shorter than our normal walks, but I thought at least I'd not get home with mud up to my knees....

Anyway, on cue, as I left the house it started raining.. we toddled off to the lane and Tia ate sheep poo and tried to pick up cast off lamb tails, the lambs ran around calling for their mums, it was all relatively peaceful and my feet were dry... then a big 4x4 heads down the lane, I walked into the field to let him pass but he parked up by the cattle grid and just sat there.... so I figured it was a courteous dog walker waiting for me to pass before he got his dogs out.  I went passed and two dogs were barking in the back, so I thought since I wasn't far from the top of the lane where I was going to turn round and come back, I'd head across the footpath over the fields, so that Tia an his dogs wouldn't need to glare at each other (okay so it would probably just be Tia doing the glaring and moaning!)

The field wasn't too muddy to start with which was a bonus, when I got half way across I turned round and saw him let his dogs out the car.... approximately two minutes later, I saw him letting his dogs back in the car..... by any stretch of the imagination I can't see how this counts as a dog walk!!!!  Its basically just letting your dogs out in the garden, which he could have done at home!

I imagine him leaving his house in the morning, saying to his wife, I'm just taking the dogs for a walk completely convinced that, that is what he was doing... so what could his excuses be for this very poor dog walking example:

a) He has to be at work... so get up earlier, do you think you have fulfilled your dog owning duties, by literally showing the dogs a field for a couple of minutes and then heading home?  Look dog's this is what you could've had if I could be arsed!

b) It was raining..... contrary to popular opinion dogs do not hate going out in the rain... yes I am sure some dogs look out the door and think eiuw its that wet stuff again, they may even appear slightly reluctant to get their feet wet.... this is where you, as their pack leader take them out in it anyway.... even the most reluctant dog will be having fun in 5 minutes, they're dogs, they don't care if their hair goes, flat/curly/frizzy * (*delete as appropriate)

Does she look like she cares that she's a bit wet?????
So Mr Gas Guzzling 4 x 4 labrador owner, I think you are one step away from having one of those dogs that may as well not have legs.. you know the ones, usually they are dressed in pink & diamante and you don't walk them you carry them around in a handbag, because they're not a living, breathing animal that needs exercise, they're a fashion accessory.  

I suggest you walk your dogs to the fields (where we live all of the villages are surrounded by fields, there is no need to drive "out into the countryside"), then if you only let the dogs run around in the field for two minutes it doesn't matter, the dogs have had their walk and you saved the environment a tiny little bit... oh and was it really worth getting the car upholstery muddy for that brief two minutes of freedom that you allowed them???

Dog's don't ask for much, they love you for all of your faults, even when one of those faults deprives them from running around the fields doing what they love to do most... don't you owe it to them to love them in the way they need, not just when its convenient to you!
Filthy, Wet and Smug as hell!

Oh I forgot to say... the path across the fields turned into a muddy quagmire, I got home in my normal state, feet soaked, mud up to my knees... trousers wet up to mid thigh .... so much for a "clean" walk.. do we care, do we hell, it was fun :)

Friday 13 April 2012

It's been a while....

Realised this week how long it has been since I posted on my blog!  Since I became a quitter on the photo a day challenge I forgot to log on!  I'm afraid tweeting has gone the same way too.. oops.. I've generally had enough of the computer by 5pm and I'm restricting myself to no, or very, very little computer usage at the weekends!

Not that I have a whole lot to write about at the moment, but I can at least blog about my tattoo news!

So, I am having a half sleeve done at the Liverpool Tattoo Convention (my parents will kill me, even though I'm 41 lol!)!  My tattoo will be done by Mark Poole who has his own studio Hoodoo Inc in Stoke on Trent - he is amazing!  He specializes in Neo-Fantasy and  tattoos one off, custom designs.

If anyone wants to check his work out they can see it here

I love Mark Ryden paintings.. well not all of them, some are a bit weird even for me!  But his paintings are begging to be tattooed. So my design will be inspired by one of my fave Mark Ryden paintings ... but will be a completely new design.. Mark Poole is just taking the basic idea really.  He draw a rough sketch for me at our consultation - which blew me away, I mean, I can draw... but not just like off the top of my head like that...

So here is my fave Mark Ryden painting:


Mark will be tattooing the ride, with the main girl, but she will be riding a traditional fairground horse, which will appear to be jumping out towards you, with the girl clinging on to the pole... it will be done in candy colours, I wanted pretty candy box colours since it is on my arm.. the background will be more a suggestion I think, with no outlines just colour..... and the main girl will look less fixed like she is above, she will look more animated.. that's the general idea anyway.. I've paid my deposit and have 4 weeks to wait :)


Just found a blog interview with the man himself, his tattoos on others are at the end of the blog  http://talesoftheink.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/mark-poole.html

Friday 2 March 2012

Tattoo Inspiration

So I'm seriously considering having half sleeve tattoo........ I've wanted for ages but always decided against due to work.... however the small amount of time I have to either visit the office or a customer, I can easily cover up for.... likewise interviews etc... I keep thinking why put it off... also I really want a big piece and since my back is already done.. space is restricted!  I could have legs of course foot and ankle done on one leg already.. but the artists I'm leaning towards deserve to have their work on show.. like all the time.. not just in summer assuming I even wore shorts short enough to see..... so anyway, my two preferred artists for quite some time have been Jo Harrison and Leah Moule.. I've been especially leaning towards Leah Moule.... but I've now discovered some others that also excite me.

Jo Harrison and Leah Moule have ridiculously long waiting lists, so maybe I can discover someone else equally deserving of my tattoo sleeve (half)!  Anyway here are some of my fave artists and tattoos... Mark Halbstark is swiftly becoming a favourite

Leah Moule - Spear Studio
Jen - Nemesis Tattoo Studio
Jen - Nemesis Tattoo Studio
Jen - Nemesis Tattoo Studio
Jen - Nemesis tattoo studio
Jo Harrison
Jo Harrison
John Anderton - Nemesis Tattoo Studio
John Anderton - Nemesis Tattoo Studio
How awesome is this?????  John Anderton - Nemesis
I love this tattoo!  Mark Halbstark

Mark Halbstark
Mark Poole - Hoodoo Inc, Stoke on Trent
Mark Halbstark
Leah Moule

Saturday 25 February 2012

Get Knitted

So a few weeks ago I couldn't knit a thing.... so far I've knitted two scarves... the second one, I've copied an image I saw on Pinterest.. its like a short scarf, that wraps round your neck and secured with a button.... except I've knitted a flower that I'm going to attach to a large button and then sew it onto the scarf... not got a button yet, so will put a picture up when I have... anyway scarves were easy really... so I thought I better start and progress.. and I have just knitted my first item to a knitting pattern! 

They are fingerless wrist warmers... which was actually the item that made me want to learn to knit in the first place after seeing a knitting pattern on pinterest and realising that if I wanted them I'd have to knit them myself!  Anyway the ones I've knitted aren't to this original pattern that I saw, I actually bought a Paton's knitting pattern book to match the wool I fell in love with in Dunelm!  I've knitted the first wrist warmer, started it Thursday evening and finished it this morning... okay so it was to a pattern but it was an incredibly easy pattern.. I've looked at the other patterns in the book and most confuse me!  But these I love :)


Monday 30 January 2012

Photo-a-Day Day 153

Sweet.... as sugar

Photo a Day day 152

Storage.. my log basket


Photo-a-Day Day 151

Action...  Saturday's photo(s).. I'm a bit behind with my blogging... again!

Its a series of photos to represent action..... I love watching the birds flying around in the early evening, so hard to capture all the shapes they make though.... and my street isn't a picturesque setting either... :(


 













Friday 27 January 2012

Photo-a-Day Day 150

Fruit..... (I didn't have any actual fruit in the house.. unless a bottle of wine could count!) an apple shaped calculator... I thought it was a better representation than Apple Ipod!


Photo-a-Day Day 149

Mother... well I never saw my mum yesterday, so I've had to use an old photo, which is slightly cheating I guess, since I never took it yesterday :/