Monday Montage: Tattoos, I Love You

by  on  in Monday Montage • 33 Comments

I am not sure if I have written about my tattoos and my love of being tattooed and wanting more tattoos before… did I mention that I love that I have tattoos and want more. Oh yeah, I really do. Really really do. In fact I hope that someday I will be fully covered, minus my face and rear end, but who knows? When that is the only real estate left I may be willing to sell it to an awesome tattoo design.

I have numerous tattoos and I love them all, some are aged and not the best quality, some are downright awesome, but all of them are a part of me and my story. And though you may think that tattoos have nothing to do with travel, many of my tattoos are inspired by my world travels. For something a little different today, I am going to share my tattoos. I figured it would be fitting considering my ‘Blog of the Week.’

Blog of the Week

Eva from The Tattoo Tourist, is a northern California girl just like me, and she has a love of travel and tattoos just like me!  I feel like we are kindred spirits in many ways. Her articles are mainly about tattoos (if you are even thinking of getting a tattoo, make sure to check out her site first) but she also writes about music and her past travels in South America.  It really is a must read… there is a meeting with a witch doctor, young stupid love, and lots of crazy mishaps! NewLogo-1

When I told Eva that she was going to be my blog of the week she asked me to mention her work with P-Ink. Eva is the Northern California leader for www.p-ink.org which offers free tattoos for breast cancer survivors to cover their mastectomy scars.

Coming up in October (the weekend of the 10th to be exact), there will be a P.Ink Day. It is a their big “raise awamendopinkreness” event of the year and will hopefully bring media attention and donations to help fund mastectomy tattoos for survivors for the rest of the year.  From Eva, “It’s a great cause and I’m proud to be a part of it. I have been through it myself (that is how I tipped over the edge and became a straight up tattoo fiend!). I have 3 survivors paired with three awesome artists this year and I am pretty excited.​” So make sure that you go to P.Ink and help in any way that you can!

Eva is one busy lady, on top of her work on her awesome blog and charitable work,  she has another project that she just started with her friend Jennifer. I wanted to share it here, Mendo-licious is the place to go for all the recipes you could think of for edibles (where it is legal of course). Check it out!

Pictures of the Week

Now for my tattoos, some are old, some are new, all of them are loved. 🙂

 

This was my first tattoo... It is on my left shoulder blade and was yellow morning glories and a colorful butterfly. Now it is kind of blobby (and will be covered up most likely). But hey, for being on my tanned shoulders for 18 years, it looks pretty good.
This was my first tattoo… It is on my left shoulder blade and was yellow morning glories and a colorful butterfly. Now it is kind of blobby (and will be covered up most likely). But hey, for being on my tanned shoulders for 18 years, it looks pretty good.
My second tattoo... a monarch butterfly. I got this is honor of my Granny who passed away when I was 19. She always wanted a tattoo and died without getting one, so I got it for her.
My second tattoo… a monarch butterfly. I got this is honor of my Granny who passed away when I was 19. She always wanted a tattoo and died without getting one, so I got it for her.
I did not make it through the 90's without a tribal tramp stamp. This one was my third tattoo and one that I actually really wanted done at the time. My Auntie Melly sat with me the whole time I was having it done. Good times.
I did not make it through the 90’s without a tribal tramp stamp. This one was my third tattoo and one that I actually really wanted done at the time. My Auntie Melly sat with me the whole time I was having it done. Good times.
While living in Taipei, Taiwan, Chad and I chose Chinese names. Mine was Chao Mei Li (probably spelled wrong). I had it tattooed on my wrist during my time there. It was my first "traveling" tattoo. It reminds me of our time living there.
While living in Taipei, Taiwan, Chad and I chose Chinese names. Mine was Chao Mei Li (probably spelled wrong). I had it tattooed on my wrist during my time there. It was my first “traveling” tattoo. It reminds me of our time living there.
This one is a hilarious story... Chad and I were bored one day after Thanksgiving and decided to go get tattoos. I was going to get something small on my wrist to mirror my Chinese name tattoo. I ended up with Meara, my Irish pin up girl largely displayed on my inner arm. This tattoo is one of my two favorites. I love it.
This one is a hilarious story… Chad and I were bored the day after Thanksgiving about 6 years ago and decided to go get tattoos. I was going to get something small on my wrist to mirror my Chinese name tattoo. I ended up with Meara, my Irish pin-up girl largely displayed on my inner arm. This tattoo is one of my two favorites. I love it.
This one was another spur of the moment tattoo. Chad and I and our friend Marisa all got matching tattoos one night on a whim. This says, "I'd eat your brain" which is a lyric from a National song. It was our favorite song to sing together. Now everyone thinks I am a zombie fan girl (so far from the truth), but I still love this one. It's a good thing I do, because it is on the back of my neck.
This one was another spur of the moment tattoo. Chad, I, and our friend Marisa all got matching tattoos one night on a whim. This says, “I’d eat your brain” which is a lyric from a National song. It was our favorite song to sing together. Now everyone thinks I am a zombie fan girl (so far from the truth), but I still love this one. It’s a good thing I do, because it is on the back of my neck and everyone sees it.
My lower arm half sleeve. This one started out as a world map outline with black and grey roses and ended up with deep colors, moths, and our first trip mapped out around the world.
My lower arm half sleeve. This one started out as a world map outline with black and grey roses and ended up with deep colors, moths, and our first trip lined out around the world. Photo bomb by Jingle.
In the past, USA Navy men would get an anchor tattoo when they had made it all the way around the world. When we went back to America for a visit last year, I earned my anchor.
In the past, USA Navy men would get an anchor tattoo when they had made it all the way around the world. When we went back to America for a visit last year, I earned my anchor.
This one is my elephant gypsy girl. Luckily you cannot see it too much in the picture, but this one has a blue aura around it from the tattoo artist being so heavy handed that it "blew out" under the whole tattoo. It is rare, but does happen. It was a bummer, but the tattoo is still beautiful.
This one is my elephant in the traditional gypsy girl pose. Luckily,  you cannot see it too much in the picture, but this one has a blue aura around it from the tattoo artist being so heavy-handed that it had a “blowout” under the whole tattoo. It is rare, but does happen. It was a bummer, but the tattoo is still beautiful.
My most recent addition. I got this bongo style dot work fish at the last Phuket Tattoo Convention by the amazing Obi who traveled from India to be there. I will be getting more from him in January. Woo hoo!
My most recent addition and other favorite. I got this bongo style dot work fish at the last Phuket Tattoo Convention by the amazing Obi who traveled from India to be there. I will be getting more from him in January. Woo hoo!

 

 

Now it’s your turn! Are you a tattoo lover or hater? Do you have any tattoos? What would you get/did you get if you have any? Leave a comment and let’s chat!

 

  33 comments for “Monday Montage: Tattoos, I Love You”

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