My Tattoos: A Spotter`s Guide

Regular readers of my blog will know I`m a big fan of tattoos and always plotting and planning what I want next! Today I added to my collection -

Sore but well worth it!

I got my first tattoo way back in 2007 when I had 3 stars tattooed on my shoulder, it was a good starter tattoo and also means I'm freezable for 3 months :p

My next tattoo came at the start of 2012 - 

My Sugar Skull tattoo affectionally known a Cyril is a Mexican Day Of The Dead celebration skull and reminds me that life is precious. He also features the 30 Seconds To Mars glyphs because their music among other things helped me turn my life around.

Next up is my Triad tattoo- 

This one is pretty simple to explain, it`s a tribute to 30 Seconds To Mars and shows I'm proud to be part of the Echelon.

After 3 small, basic tattoos this year I was ready to go for a more complicated piece and opted for a Kingfisher and a Swallow on my upper arm. 

The kingfisher was a particularly special one as it`s in tribute to my Grandma who got the all clear from cancer earlier this year. Kingfishers are her favourite bird and for as long as I can remember I've associated them with her.

Underneath the Kingfisher is a rockabilly style sallow -

I chose a swallow because they are a summer bird and I have happy memories as a child of laying watching them flying over the garden on many a summers evening. The swallow is carrying cherries which are for Helen as they are her favourite fruit and fitted with the summer theme.

Today's tattoo was to comemmorate a few things, the first was the 5 year anniversary of my friend Nat passing away which falls this month (read about her story here). It was also in celebration of my beautiful Estelle & Esme turning 5 next week. 

I drew the rabbit as a combination of both the girls, Esme`s `up` ears and Estelle`s expression. It also has the Chinese Zodiac sign for rabbit which is conveniently my zodiac sign (see it was meant to be!). And don't worry I've triple checked and the symbol definitely means rabbit and not special fried rice or anything. 

All together!

People often ask me if I worry about what my tattoos will look like when I'm older and to be honest, whilst I know that they won't look this sharp and colourful forever, I think I will be pleased that I had the get up and go to go out there and get them done - rather than spending my life saying "what if?".

My tattoos also give me more confidence and reflect my creative nature, aside from the Triad, I've designed them all and it`s a great feeling having art that you`ve created as a permanent part of you. On a purely superficial level I have pretty bad spots on my arms and the tattoos distract from that and give me the confidence to wear short-sleeved or sleeveless tops.

I definitely want more tattoos, on my other arm i`d like the summer element of Mucha`s Four Seasons and I shall obviously need to put an Alice In Wonderland related piece in there somewhere ...... 

Love Jen

XxxxX