Saturday 11th January

On Saturday the 11th of January Lee and I went to The Ink Station in Heckmondwike for Nini to do tattoos for both of us. She had happened to have a cancellation so I got us in so that we could both get Jasmine's paw print tattooed on us. So we went there first. The tattoos took no time at all and weren't even really that painful. 

By the time we had finished it was about 2pm so we headed home but decided to stop in Dewsbury on the way. It's ages since I've been and Lee hadn't ever been and thought there was a record shop, so we parked up near the market. It was absolutely freezing cold and quite a lot of the shops were shut, but we did have a wander round the market and into some charity shops. The record shop was shut which was a shame. But then on the market there was a stall selling fresh donuts so we got some to share. They were delicious! I got a couple of tops in one of the charity shops and we got some bhajis from a stall near the market before coming home. 

We then met my mum and stepdad in Barnsley at about 6pm for tea and the cinema for Lee and my stepdad and drinks for me and my mother. We ate in The Lounge; I had some tapas as I wasn't overly hungry at that point. Lee and my stepdad went off to see Nosferatu and my mum and I went in a couple of different bars for some drinks. She decided she would like some dessert so we went to Dolly's Desserts and had brownies and ice cream. Then we went into the Botanist where there was a musician playing, and he was making quite a good noise, so that was nice. My stepdad and Lee joined us after the film and then we took them home. It was a nice, chill day. 

Here's my tattoo of Jasmine's paw print, right next to my tattoo of our old cat Ivy's face. We miss both of them and I'm glad I can have these memorials to them

And this is Lee's one, underneath his Yoshi tattoo

I really liked this old signage above this building in Dewsbury

Donuts! They were like seaside ones and they were lovely

Some kind of ridiculous rum cocktail that I think I had in the Botanist 

Brownie and ice cream in Dolly's 

And a limoncello spritz I think in the Market Kitchen

New Tattoo

What did you do with your Leap Day this year? Anything wild or exciting? Or was it just another day? I love Leap Days - they always feel so full of potential. To try to harness that, I booked a tattoo on the day when my regular tattooist Nini opened her books just before Christmas. It felt like an auspicious day to get tattooed. 

I was considering getting faces of Poppy and Jasmine to match my tattoo of Ivy's face, but the space was a bit small. Then I considered getting silhouettes of Poppy and Jazzy but decided this is something I might do in the future. So I decided to get flowers instead - poppies and jasmine, so that I know they're for my lovely cats but other people might not. I left the design with Nini and she definitely delivered - one poppy surrounded by jasmine. I absolutely loved her concept and then I waffled as to whether to get it coloured in or not. You may know that it turns out I have an allergy to a lot of red/pink/purple inks, and my body makes the tattoo very swollen and itchy and raised, and eventually most of the ink falls out. This was the case for the rainbow on my foot, so I've now had it coloured in with yellow and green and blues, instead. It is entirely fascinating that this happens, but also really, really annoying. I've paid a lot for those tattoos! 

So I decided I would just get Nini to do lines and shading, and if I decide later I want colours, I can always add them. Nini mainly works in black and grey now and she's really good at it. She is based at The Ink Station in Heckmondwike by the way and I love her - she always seems to get what I'm going for. I've also been tattooed by Kimi there and I really like her style too. 

I was thinking this tattoo would be smaller than it's ended up being, but Nini was absolutely right and put it so that it's in a good position however my arm is. That's why she's a tattooist and I am not. It only took about an hour and wasn't too painful - the worst bit actually was having to sit with my arm at an awkward angle for all that time! 

I absolutely love it and I am so glad to have it!

Lunch and Two New Tattoos

On the 8th of February I got two new small tattoos, again done by Nini at The Ink Station in Heckmondwike, who has done like three quarters of my tattoos. I love her and I love her style, so I keep going back! My friend Chloe and I had booked in for two hours together so we could hang out too, it was really nice to do this! We arranged to meet for lunch first at Leon, near Chloe's house. 

It markets itself as a healthy eating fast food place, and I was pleased to see they have plenty of veggie and vegan choices. I went for vegan meatballs on rice, and got them with waffle fries and a pink lemonade. It was all pretty nice, I would go again. We then went over to the petrol station where there's a Cinnabon outlet, I got two choco ones to bring home for me and Lee. 

We went together in Chloe's car to The Ink Station and got everything all copied and ready with Nini. I went first. As always, I hate being tattooed but love having been tattooed. I got three Heartstopper leaves on my left arm, and a Mary Poppins parrot umbrella on my right arm. Nini made them fit with my other tattoos because she is magic that way! I got the leaves coloured in but just some shading on the umbrella. 

Chloe got a lighter and a flame, I can't remember what she said it was from but it was cool. We finished and said goodbye before heading back to my car so I could come home. When I got home it was past 4pm so I just put my pyjamas on and read my book on the sofa. Lee made spicy noodle soup for tea and it was absolutely delicious, we will make it again. We shared one of the Cinnabons for tea, we reheated it in the microwave as the box recommended, and it was really delicious. 

I was wearing some new clothes - someone on my FB shared this Boohoo men's My Little Pony t shirt recently and I just had to have it. I've never bought from Boohoo before but also got a dress at the same time. They were both cheap and cute. The t shirt is a 2xl and it's fine on me. 

I got some of the Snag tights My Little Pony ones in the mystery bag sale so I put them on too. They looked cute with the t shirt and skirt I think! 

Tights and boots just before I set off

Vegan meatballs on rice, with vegan aioli

Heartstopper leaves!

And the very cute umbrella

These photos were taken as soon as they were finished, so bear that in mind re redness/etc

My Little Pony t shirt!

Really spicy and delicious noodle soup

And a Cinnabon!

New Tattoos for Lee and me

Lee and I both went to The Ink Station in Heckmondwike for new tattoos in early May. We had had the appointments booked for absolutely forever so I'm glad it finally arrived. I went over first as Lee was working. I had seen some of the lacy/henna type tattoos that Nini does and I asked her to design one for me, which she did. She started tattooing that, doing the heart first. Then she did the black pattern which goes all around my arm. I had to bend my arm right back which meant my shoulder hurt for a bit afterwards!

Lee turned up about twelve. His tattoo was Vault Boy from the Fall Out games but dressed as a punk. His friend Zoe had designed it for him. Nini did a couple of tweaks and did the colours. I think it looks fab! It was a bit bloodied in this photo which isn't surprising as it was a lot of ink altogether! He's happy with it

While I was there I booked a tattoo with Kim in November. I've been wanting to have something by her for a while as she's really talented, so I'm really happy I could book something. I'm going to have a Hello Kitty I think, but I've got a while to think about it! I also need to get my foot tattoo retouched - it had a whole rainbow in it but it turns out I'm allergic to a lot of red and purple inks, so those colours have totally dropped out of it. Nini was shocked at how much has gone! But my foot hurt so much I will have to psyche myself up to get it tattooed again!

I think this is the 20th tattoo for me now, I will have to count them. 

The carbon never comes off my skin at first, and obviously I didn't want to rub too much

Lee's! They're both on a similar place on our forearms

A New Tattoo!

A few weeks ago I got a new tattoo. I had booked the appointment way back in March when I was trying to help out my tattoo artist by giving her some money when she couldn't work. I paid a deposit and told her what I wanted, and at the time August seemed forever away and I thought for sure Covid would all be over by then and my appointment would be fine. Of course, when it rolled around we were in that mid-lockdown place and things were open again but I wasn't going many places myself. But, well, a tattoo shop is one of the cleanest places anyway, and if it isn't, you shouldn't be getting tattooed there. Remember, please, that you're paying money and you need to feel comfortable wherever you go. I have had most of my tattoos done by Nini at The Ink Station because I like it and trust them and I prefer to get tattooed by women (and also support self-employed women while I'm at it). 

So I felt okay going. They had things in place to stop there being a lot of people in the shop, and there was a plastic screen between me and the rest of the shop, and Nini was wearing a visor. It was well organised and felt okay but I think at the moment everyone's lines are different. I don't want to be in busy places, but I trust Nini.

I think this is my twentieth tattoo, although I'm not sure without counting. I have a list somewhere in one of my bullet journals (I'm one of those people, although mine is a lot less complicated and time consuming than some). It might be more. About three quarters of them have been done by Nini. My first ones were done elsewhere, Lee's friend tattooed me once in Ipswich, and I've had one done by a different artist at The Ink Station, but by and large Nini has done them. She's very talented and she's fast, which I appreciate because I HATE the pain of tattoos. She's also put up with me for years now, tattooing the odd lyrics I have, putting up with me fussing about fonts and so on. She's good, if you're in need of a tattooist in West Yorkshire I recommend her!

I had been wanting a Star Wars tattoo for ages, and I've seen some really cool ones with galaxies in, so I knew I wanted that. I like the Rebel Alliance symbol so I decided on that. I asked Nini to put a TIE fighter in it. That's as far as we got before I turned up at the studio. We talked about putting a Millenium Falcon in, but the problem is that a Millenium Falcon in silhouette just looks like a blob. So she said what about a bigger star, and I said, well Tatooine has two suns, so how about two of them? Nini drew them on, made up the stencil and she got started. She wanted a lighter lilac around the TIE fighter so that it stood out, and I said I was happy for her to choose the colours. 

It took around 90 minutes, which is getting on towards my tolerance for tattoos. I don't have a very high pain tolerance at the best of times, and by the time you're there in tattooing the artist is going back over bits that have already been tattooed, which I HATE. I dunno why I keep putting myself through it again, but I love tattoos and the pretty pictures on my body. 

So, here's my Rebel Alliance tattoo with TIE fighter and a galaxy. The rebel scum is part of the alliance, and she's here to stay!

Photo was taken just after tattooing, so it's very raised and sore, but you get the idea!

A New Tattoo!

At the beginning of July my friend Sarah and I went to The Needle and Ink tattoo studio in Penistone to get matching tattoos. We had been talking about it for a while, and then I saw an advert in Greggs in Penistone for this studio, so Sarah contacted them and booked an appointment with Emma.

We decided to get matching feather tattoos. It was my idea and I can't really say why. It was something about birds of a feather flocking together and something about flight and freedom and stuff. I'm not sure all tattoos have to have a deep and meaningful connection, you know? They can just be. Anyway Sarah was up for it. She talked to the tattooist about what we wanted and we made an appointment.

The studio is really airy and clean, I liked it. I could sit in the window while Sarah was getting tattooed across the room, meaning we could chat. Emma didn't mind if we took photos of her working too, which is nice. I went second. I had forgotten how much tattoos hurt, I think. It's been a while! The bit near my wrist was worst. The dots weren't so bad, they were done more softly. I don't think the photo is a good indicator of the size - it's around 4.5 inches long. It's the first tattoo I have that is almost on the top of my forearm, meaning that it's quite visible. That's okay! It's just different. But I do think eventually I'll end up with both arms covered in tattoos.

Sarah's is on her ankle, sort of bending round the front. I love the placement! I'm so glad we will always have these to match. I would definitely go back to the studio, too, Emma was really nice and I like her style.

You can just see the heart of my Yoshi tattoo on the left

And Sarah's!

Lunch Out and A New Tattoo

At the end of May I had an appointment for a new tattoo. While we were clearing out the cellar last year I found a card from my parents that my dad had written for me. I think it must have been when I finished my degree, when I was 21. Now, usually my mum signs all the cards, so the fact that this one was from my dad made it really special. I thought then that I would like to have "Love Dad" tattooed, and then I completely forgot about it. Then the picture popped up on Timehop in March and I thought, oh yes I really do need to get that done. So I made the appointment.

Then I asked my friend Chloe to make a 60th birthday card for my mum using pages from the book Rebecca, which I'm named after. She suggested meeting up for lunch so she could give it to me, so since I was over that way of the world for my tattoo I suggested meeting after that.

So I trekked off to Heckmondwike on the 24th of May. Nini traced the writing out of the card and got it all sorted. The tattoo didn't take too long but I really love it. It's nice to have my dad's writing with me forever.

I messaged Chloe when I was done and we met near Ikea and went to Pizza Express. We had voucher codes so we got three courses for £13 which was a bargain. I had garlic bread with cheese, a La Reine pizza, and ice cream. We chatted for ages and had a really lovely time.

When I came home I completely crashed - I think the week had been difficult and I just lost all my adrenaline and needed a bit of rest before my mum's birthday weekend. That's fine - it's allowed!

I took some photos of my lunch and my tattoo:

This garlic bread was small but really yummy!

Ham and mushroom pizza is one of my favourite things in the world

Salted caramel and chocolate ice cream

My dad had terrible writing. We think he should have been lefthanded but wasn't allowed to be (I'm lefthanded). Still, I love how unusual it is! I love it

New tattoos!

On our second day in Suffolk, the Sunday, we went to the supermarket to get stuff for the week and then relaxed for the whole rest of the day, watching loads of TV and films. I was working on a cross stitch and Lee did a jigsaw - so rock and roll!

However, on the Monday we went to see Lee's friend Zoe and she tattooed us! She's based in Curiosity Tattoos in Ipswich and I highly highly recommend her if you're in the area or you want to travel.

Lee wanted "You suffer but why" which is a Napalm Death lyric, Zoe drew it up. I wasn't sure what I wanted, but liked the henna design tattoos she does. Lee mentioned I should get some ivy leaves (since our cat is called Ivy) so I said those two things to Zoe and she came up with this amazing design for me. She offered to redraw any part I wanted, but I loved it just as it was. She added a couple of the edge leaves. You can't really tell here, but the henna ink is brown like actual henna. It was really painful, especially towards the top of my arm, but it's healing well and as I write on the 6th of March it's just really itchy! I love the shading, I love how it's got ivy in, I love how pretty it is!

All taped up just after it was done. It bled quite badly - I bleed a lot though.

Here's Lee having his done - he liked it much better than last time. 

Here's mine, isn't it beautiful? I'm so in love, especially with the swirls and the shading. I keep looking at it! I don't usually have my arms on show but I think this summer I'll have to to show it off!

And here's Lee's!

A new tattoo

At the beginning of December my darling friend Lucinda came to visit me and we decided to finally get the matching tattoos we've been talking about for ages, as she's about to move to Canada to study and I'm going to really miss her!

The tattoo says "Just chasing these words across the page", which is a line from the Libertines song You're My Waterloo. It reminds us of each other and also that we're both writers. Lucinda has a quill on her right foot so it looks like the words come from that. I decided to get mine in the same place. It was THE most painful thing ever - I whimpered throughout the whole thing, and swore a lot too.

I love it now, though, it's just gorgeous. The rainbow watercolour dots were an impromptu addition to match Lucinda's.

New tattoos!

I've recently acquired three new tattoos, bringing my total up to 10.. I've always got more planned - it's just a matter of time and money!

Firstly I had "libertine" tattooed in the crook of my right elbow. I love this font. 

Secondly I had this The Academy Is... lyric tattooed on my upper left arm. It's to remind me to always be positive. The dove tattoo is a memorial tattoo for my Dad, it's been there 4 years.

Then, since Lee and I have been married for 10 years and together for 15, we decided to get matching tattoos and eventually settled on these Yoshis as we both really like Super Mario. 

Lee's is purple with a pink heart. It's his first tattoo!

Mine is pink with a purple heart, I absolutely love it! 

All my tattoos are inked by Nini at The Ink Station in Heckmondwike, and I would absolutely recommend her!

My new tattoos

I don't think I've posted about my tattoos before. I have 7 now; I've got them all over the past 7 years. If I had unlimited funds I would have a million tattoos, I love them.

I had two new ones done on Friday. The yarn ball and crochet hook was something I started thinking about when I took up crochet last year. The lotus flower was something my artist had drawn and had offered to tattoo. I just thought it was really pretty. I don't think tattoos have to have any huge meaning behind them (although it's cool if they do) - they can just be pretty art for your skin.

My tattooist is Nini at The Ink Station in Heckmondwike. My first two weren't done by her but now I wouldn't let anyone else tattoo me. She designed the yarn ball after I said what I wanted. I wasn't sure what colour I wanted, so the two of us stood in front of all the bottles of ink trying to decide! I love the blue/teal colours though.

This is on my inner forearm. I have two more tattoos below it. 

This is on my ankle just above the bone. It's my first tattoo not on my arms!