Dear readers,
It is with a heavy heart that I regretfully tell you that my dog, Ferris, thought my SD card would be an excellent snack. This means I have lost over 100 pictures of the last couple days — including the tattooed banana.
Until I buy a new SD card (or however long it takes me to buy a new one), there will only be — and trust me, I hate it too — text only posts. :[
Please bear with me. I trust there will be MANY more tattooed fruit pictures to come.
Thanks!
We’ve all seen that episode of LA Ink where Kat Von D is making a house call to one of her crazy celebrity friends, right? Well imagine this without the TV show and a whole lot more swearing and crossdressing. Cruiser Ink’s Brandon Sauder came to my house today to discuss the piece that would make up the beginning of my sleeve.
Brandon has been into tattoos since he was a young lad. The first tattoo he ever applied on a generous piece of flesh was when he was 15, with nothing but a giant safety pin and india ink. Three hours later, the courageous phrase “LIFE IS JUST” was brandished on his friend’s back (who spent all three hours straddling a chair and biting on a rolled up sock). After that, it all fell into place. He practiced on himself before going head to head with other people’s skin, creating excellent pieces of art while embracing the traditional tattoo style we all know and love. Sailor Jerry, anyone?
Brandon has been tattooing for a little over a year, his skill and knowledge of the craft of tattooing still growing. After hearing about my own desire to become a warrior on the front lines of art, he offered me a business proposition, to be an artist in New Jersey when he finally opens shop. His request was given an even bigger push when he saw the sketch I made for the tattoo we were discussing. Needless to say, I am more than happy to take up the offer!
Tonight, we applied the transfer and did the outline of my tattoo. Since his shipment of new inks hasn’t come in the mail yet, we banked on two weeks from today to pick up where we left off to begin coloring. My first big arm piece is a success so far — weirdly and terribly painful in some spots though (the rumor is true, anything on bone hurts!). In the end though, the image came out beautifully, and as Brandon said, “It’ll look pimp in color.”
Cruiser Ink doesn’t have a website — yet. In the meantime, you can check out their Facebook page, linked here. So anyone in the New Jersey area looking for great tattoos, give Brandon a call.
Click on the link below to see more pictures.
So it was 12:48am and I couldn’t wait any longer. After work, mom and I ended up staying at Sean’s house for a while talking, which pushed my get-started-goal farther than I wanted. Not to worry, though! I got home, prepared mentally for about an hour, and then got to work.
My dog, Ferris, was also very excited, possibly more than myself. I cleared the floor and vacuumed where there was lots of debris (there was originally a table in the middle of the floor). After vacuuming, I took out my pattern tissue and instructions.
Something that I was taught in my high school Fashions and Design class was to circle your pattern arrangement. This is extremely helpful and I cannot encourage it enough. When you’re looking at the instructions, you’re bound to be a little confused or risk the chance of looking at the wrong setup. Do yourself a favor and circle your pattern arrangement!
After circling (even though I knew tonight was not going to bring any sort of tissue-to-fabric love), I peeled the tissue paper apart. An hour later, I managed to have everything cut out. Of course, I had to put Ferris in his crate because he was chasing the cat, who happens to love tissue paper. Eventually I had to threaten said cat, Pierre, with a fearsome spray of water from the Water Bottle we use to keep the animals in order. It didn’t take much persuasion, and I was able to accomplish my short term goal of getting my pattern pieces cut out.
Hopefully tomorrow I will have completed the next stage: Pinning, Marking, and Fabric Cutting. I expect perhaps these will be in separate entries, I never seen to have enough time in the day. Also tomorrow, I’m meeting with Brandon of Cruiser Ink to discuss the next installment of body art. Pictures will follow!
So it’s been years since we’ve made these chocolate covered pretzels. After all was done, we ended up using three pounds of chocolate and three pounds of pretzels. We filled up a big tub, and still had lots left over.
EDIT: I just checked the USPS tracking info for my Halloween costume pattern, and it left Bellmawr, NJ – not too far from where I live. With any luck, it should be here by tomorrow! :D
Good evening, readers! I just spent the day prepping for the arrival of my Halloween costume pattern, Simplicity 9966. Much to my aggravation, it turns out that ordering the pattern online only ended up making it exactly how much I would have paid if I went to the store. But before I really took this into account, I pushed the “buy” button and now I’m waiting patiently as Halloween comes closer every day.
Taking a fancy in gypsies since my first visit to the Penn Renn Faire a couple of months ago, I thought it would be appropriate to take on such a character, since the Sunday after Halloween, I’ll be going up to said Renn Faire for their Halloween extravaganza. I want to be the prettiest gypsy.
I have a habit of doing things pretty last minute (wait til I show you the pictures from the Renn Faire). But today I was out at JoAnn Fabrics buying necessary materials.
Be warned: There is no theme in this blog. It’s not just about the delicious meals I prepare. It’s not just about the delectable pies I make for my friends. And it’s certainly not just about camping trips. It’s about all of those things, of course. But instead of this being a dreary old blog where I do nothing but write about otherwise insignificant events in my life, I will also provide pictures for you to gaze upon while I continue to write about said insignificant events. :D That way it’s not terribly boring and perhaps I’ll inspire you to do something interesting with your time.
I have no pictures now, since I decided only an hour ago this would be a fantastic idea. But next time I’ll be posting away beautiful pictures and the stories behind them.
