Dan

I apparently have been lucky after reading this thread,

I have many tattoos from my knees to my ankles and have always healed fast with no extra swelling or pain on my legs,

the only issue I have had on my legs were my ankle bands,I had bad involuntary legs jerks while getting the tattoos.

with the mild weather we have here in northern cal,shorts and sandals have made it more comfortable to heal as well ,

also the use of saniderm on my tattoos that have no color in them is a real plus too.(I have found that Saniderm does not work good on color tattoos,on B&G it works great !)

Hi & welcome Sandra :) , I'm in Northern Cal,do you have any tattoos ?

Hello,

I have discovered this forum few days ago and since then I have read quite a lot of topics and I'm amazed by the friendliness of people here.

I decided to register to be able to add my opinions (occasionally) and ask questions (more likely).

I'm a female, after 30, from the middle of Europe, not native English speaker, please forgive my mistakes.

I got my first tattoo 7 years back, tribal phoenix and I had it improved/partly covered last Friday. There will be one more session after two months, when we can see how it heals and how the colours settle.

I had two more tattoo sessions this year, watercolour sparrow on my inner forearm and small text on the inner ankle.

I plan a tattoo of owl for the next year to add to my sparrow. And I don't think it will be the last one :D

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This is my sparrow :)

that's a really nice tattoo,I like it. :)

Long before pinterest and instagram, we went to libraries, museums, flipped through art magazines. Hell I found a reference for my dragonfly tattoo from a magnet on my mom's fridge. I've found inspiration from old church stainglass, science/biology text book illustrations, art books from asian bookstores, logos, paintings, album covers, etc etc. Used bookstores are great. There is so much in this world that can inspire a new tattoo aside from other peoples tattoos.

We need to remember tattooers aren't mind readers.

I think you need to have a better understanding yourself as to what you want tattooed on you and define it for the tattooer...aside from the vagueness "i just want something beautiful". That conveys the message that you just want the tattoo for the sake of having a tattoo. What do you really want? Flowers? A skull? Hot Stuff riding a unicorn? A shunga demon? These can all be beautiful tattoos...it sounds like the tattooer you've chosen truly wants to personalize a tattoo for you. Which is great! There are other tattooers that will slap on whatever off the wall and do a great job, and that's fine to if that's what you're looking for.

You've got 6 months to really understand yourself what you want and figure out how to express, articulate and communicate that to your tattooer. Good luck!

back in the early 80's it was still cool to pick pieces from the flash on the walls of the shop.

would love to see you again bro. come Saturday, i should be there all 3 days but Saturday for sure.

ya man,I sent you a PM,I'm going,lets hangout,anyone else interested pm me for a #

Ha - there is a "parody" site: https://www.facebook.com/Christianity-against-tattoos-413025322192930/

Kinda makes me embarrassed to be a Christian.

I didn't mean anything negative about Christians,just so you know. :)

that silly one kinda goes with this silly one.

Is there anything that can be done differently during healing to preserve the color in a tattoo? I know that there are products that claim to preserve color, but I'm wondering if there is anything special that can be done that really works. I would think that you would just want the healing process to be as normal as possible and to not have scabs that could come off and let the ink out of your skin. I wanted to see if I was missing anything and am looking for thoughts and opinions in this thread.

the only thing I can think of is to keep it out of the sun, FOREVER ! either with clothing or sunblock.

Hello Tig and SStu.

Not sure if it's the best way of doing so but here's a link to the tats I have uploaded on this site:

Pictures of WorldBFree's Pictures | Last Sparrow Tattoo

I like the wolf tattoo a lot,pretty cool :)

Chill. We know how you feel about @Graeme. Let it go - be part of the solution. Get Great Tattoos!

LOL you chill,we all know how Graeme is to people here,I don't need to chill,do you say let it go to him ? I am as much entitled to my opinion as you or anyone here is ! we all know how you feel about me ! so maybe you need to chill sweetie. I have not said anything more than you or Graeme have ever said here,(which is our opinions and thoughts) you sure do seem to come after me for anything non hallmark I ever say here.

LOL I'm not the only one that says their opinion ,you sure did seem to ignore this one and all his I have seen like this in the past LOL

I'm waiting for @Graeme to step in with his righteous fury, sparks flying and banhammer at the ready

You want to see a forum with people run off? Try thetattooforum. Seems to be set up just so about a dozen regulars can berate new folks and run them off. Only a few survive

IMO that's true with any of the online "tattoo" discussion forums,I have been involved with online discussion forums of a wide variety for many years and of the 4 tattoo related forums I know of,running off new members with rudeness is the common theme, Graeme here is a perfect example of that.for some reason he gets a free pass to do it.anyway,I see that rude crappy attitude at all the tattoo related online forums I have looked at.I belong to 4 of them.

I did not know what my my side/rib/hip tattoo was going to be until I met with the artist at the show,a couple years ago,

and I had a first session yesterday on my arm/shoulder,I told the artist that I liked water lilies and skulls and told her she could do whatever she wanted with those basic elements,she loved it,I consulted with her a week ago and when she showed me the drawing,I was blown away and told her I love it and to do it that way,and IMO this tattoo is going to be amazing !

so it does turn out great when you tell the artist to do what they want,this is what Alycia Harr at Classic Tattoo in Grass Valley California did on my upper arm/shoulder.I just got it finished on Monday ,I am very happy with it..

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I keep the artist applied saran wrap on for the first 4 hours,then wash & apply new saran wrap & cocoa butter,then wash and one more clean saran wrap to sleep that night,then start with

washing with this soap every 4 hours for the next day in a warm shower scrubbing with the palm of my hand,

after each wash I apply a very light coat of the cocoa butter,

starting the next day, shower normal once a day and keep a very light coat of the cocoa butter on 24/7 for the first 4 or 5 days,

once it starts peeling & itching after the first 4 or 5 days I start using the fragrance free Lubriderm.

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This was next to my step daughter's house in the very funky San Leon area, birthplace of the Bandidos MC. Mrs. T and I spoke with the other neighbors and realized that if we didn't do something, Marshall would continue to suffer and possible die if untreated (she's a nurse and I'm a retired firefighter/medic). It wasn't even a choice.

This also keeps the step daughter out of the line of fire if the next door property/mule owner get pissed off since they will likely face a fine.

I would have done the same thing in calling :)

Granddaughter's 6th birthday party yesterday.

We noticed that "Marshall" the mule next door was in distress. We found he had a 2 1/2" infected cut on his lower leg. The owners disappear for weeks at a time so we had to call the SPCA. The poor guy can barely walk and needs immediate medical care.

thank you for calling the SPCA

Hellloooo everybody!!

It's that time of year again...where we all start oohing and aahing over the lineup for the Bay Area convention and some of us start talkin' travel.

@sophistre and I met up yesterday and decided that it would probably be fun as hell to go, so the PNW will be representing for sure.

Who else is in? Any plans?

I'm just hoping to get the conversation going!!

is there a day and time and place for a LST meetup at the convention ? I might go this year , so you all may have the pleasure of meeting me ! LOL

saturday is a good day for me.

I have many tattoos all over my body,the least painful place for me has strangely enough been my neck. go figure.

I say bring on the stares,I like the attention,I like when people look at my tattoos,I get stares,and like Colored guy said,I get a lot of people turning their heads,as if I am a serial axe murderer and I will get 'em if they look ! LOL

I got a large one in March on Kauai with Sam Shaw at Kulture Tattoo Kollective. The island of Kaua'i, Hawai'i ,and I had a first session in grass valley with Alycia Harr on aug 24th , Sacramento Tattoo Artist Alycia Harr Presents :: Sacred Temple Tattoos second session sept 14th

and while in the chair getting tattooed I am always thinking of my next tattoo !

Well, I finally quit my job of 9 1/2 years. Some may say that is stupid but the stress level was taking a toll on me. The last year was hell and not getting a raise in 4 years was eating away at me. Still living with my grandparents who have raised me, I have to take care of them. But when i'd get home, I wouldn't "de-stress" and would still be in a shitty mood, which isn't fair or nice to them.

I made plans to quit and had tons of back-up plans set up. Two of my back up plans actually worked. I got a full scholarship to grad school which I applied for back in March. So Now I work on campus 18 hours a week and get a small hourly wage but my tuition is 100% paid.

Also, my friend purchased a business and immediately had me work with her. We deliver drinks like soda or snapple in NYC twice a week. Starting out, I told her to pay me very very little just to get the ball moving in her court. After about 8 months, is when I'm going to start making some descent money.

all in all, I am working less hours. Making more money (in 8 months). Tuition is getting paid. Thursdays and weekends off. Less level is at zero. Started going to the gym more. I am emotionally on cloud 9.

good for you,I have a similar issue with myself and my job of 20 years,and this graphic a friend sent me makes sense right now for me.

I had a great experience getting a tattoo at a show,I had a 9 hour one shot done,

if the artist is good and reputable they will use all the same sanitary and clean procedures as they would in a shop ,so IMO it's not an issue,

I know many people that have had tattoos done at shows and have had really great experiences and great tattoos !

my real first name was taken,and most of the ones with my real name in it are usually taken,

and I have been known to have a certain amount of flatulence ,mostly after eating poultry or potatoes,chili does it too. LOL

no deep meaning,just thought I would have some fun with it. :D

I did not know what my my side/rib/hip tattoo was going to be until I met with the artist at the show,a couple years ago,

and I had a first session yesterday on my arm/shoulder,I told the artist that I liked water lilies and skulls and told her she could do whatever she wanted with those basic elements,she loved it,I consulted with her a week ago and when she showed me the drawing,I was blown away and told her I love it and to do it that way,and IMO this tattoo is going to be amazing !

I am going for my first session on my right arm/shoulder with Alycia Harr tomorrow (08/24),excited to see what she has for me.