Revealed

I'd been wanting to get some new ink for a while.

I've told the tale of the drunken flower and my inspiration for redemption. Lord knows it was time to get that thing covered once and for all.

I also wanted to get a couple of designs that represented The Offspring.

I would never...evah...get anything that had anything to do with The Mr. permanently marked on my body. It says nothing of our love and devotion to each other. In fact, just the opposite. I don't want our relationship to go into the crapper. And as soon as you start decorating your body for someone else, I'm convinced it's jinxed.

But that's just me. I'm superstitious like that.

The rules are different for The Offspring. There is nothing that can change the fact that they will always have a hold on my heart.

I decided to get their astrological signs.

The Boy is a Taurus.

The Girl is a Cancer.

I called our friend Anthony to see if he could come up with something.

I adore his work. He did some pieces for The Boy's nursery and I knew whatever he came up with would be perfect.

I love how he made a crab, which isn't the most attractive of creatures, look somewhat abstract and so feminine. And the Taurus was exactly as I had it pictured in my mind, but better.

I was worried that it would be difficult to cover that damn flower.

I shouldn't have.

I spent about two hours listening to the hum of the needle.

And now....

The drunken flower is no more.

I ♥ that owl.

All of the feathers and shading were done free-hand. Or free-needle, you might say. You can't see that old flower at all!

But I know it's there. Underneath. The owl is hiding it in his feathers.

Good owl.

The Taurus.

The Boy digs the fact that he is tattooed on my body.

Forever.

The Cancer.

See that little starfish? The Girl decided that it's Teddy.

Of course.

About a year ago, The Offspring and I were putting on temporary tattoos and I placed one on my inner forearm. I loved the way it looked.

I was apprehensive, at first, about getting any work done on my arms. It's so visible and "in your face", at least for a girl. But in the end, I opted to do what I wanted and not play it safe.

Rarely have I taken the safe route.

I also went with classic black and white. I considered color, but after talking with the artist, he strongly recommended against it. My skin gets pretty dark in the summer and he felt that they would age better and I'd be happier long term if I steered clear of the color.

It was a good call.

I did have a few moments of panic. I knew about the healing process and that tats go through a really ugly phase. But the work I've had done thus far has had minimal fill-in and shading.

About a week after getting them done, they started peeling and the owl looked like he was molting.

After some harried messages to my friends with more substantial work, my nerves were calmed. All would be fine.

So there they are. The ink. Revealed.

I'm very pleased with the end results. Very.

Which is good, because if I wasn't that would really, really suck.