Gettin' My Ink On!

I am proud to announce that I, Kiersten, have officially had my first tattoo! It's exciting!!!!

 A couple friends of mine paid for this tattoo as a birthday gift. I have some awesome friends. To share the love, here is a pic of us:



(From left to right: Kiersten(Me), Jackie, Whitney)

We started by checking out our local tattoo parlors. One, just plainly called "Tattoos" across from the Concord Mall in Elkhart, IN started off by dissing the artwork. It turned me off. Not to mention the building was very tiny and run-down. Not appealing. 

So we went to another parlor called Divine Tattoo. (Elkhart, Indiana)

The front desk guy complimented the picture, he was very professional, and the environment was welcoming.

I set up an appointment to talk to the tattoo artist later that day!

This is the beautiful sketch of my owl (Drawn by my sister Brittany, who was offered to be a tattoo apprentice I hope she takes it!) Anyone who knows her should also know that she is a fantastic artist!

I came back later that day to speak to the tattoo artist. He said he could do the tattoo, asked about size, and we set a date! He only asked $140 for a hand-sized tattoo! HUGE!

Showing up for my appointment, I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect since it was my first tattoo. The tattoo artist explained what he was doing step by step and cracked some jokes to calm my nerves. He was very helpful. He separated the colors and his work station was very clean (In other words, I have no fear of infection or disease at this moment) The ink room was also big enough to house my audience of three, and it could have fit more! In the midst of our random babbles and conversation, he proudly announced that his entire staff is drug-free (Which isn't always the case in the tattoo world). I was in good hands!

At about this time, my girl Paige from PBandJ Apparel began recording. Yes, it was caught on video. When the video is edited and ready, I will link to her youtube for everyone to see.

For now, here's some pictures:

(The outline in progess)

(Left: the black shading in process. Right: the finished outline with black shading.)

(Adding colors!)

(Three hours later... FIN!)

At the end of my experience, I had not shed a tear or yelled a profane word. Yay for me!

I will post more updates on the experience and my healing process.