Sometimes: I get tattooed too. Always: Betty has cute hairdos.

And then I show them all to you at one time.

This week has been incredibly rewarding and very tiring! I love the feeling of really having earned my weekend. I have a bunch of projects to show you today, and then I am going to show you some pictures I took at the beach a month ago!

I started this half sleeve of lilies on Brooke a few weeks ago. I really can’t wait to work on it again. Love tattoos with giant flowers!

My dear friend Nic came to visit me and get her sleeve worked on! Progress was made. Exploding planets, UFOs crashed into giant space crystals, the machine Maria from Metropolis as the master of the universe, and TINY ROCKET SHIPS. Wait. Let’s have a Father Ted moment: These rocket ships are small. THOSE rocket ships are far away. Moving along.

Courtney got her first tattoo, and what better sentiment for that?

Vanessa is awesome and always wants awesome tattoos. That’s really all you need to know, but I’ll go on to say I couldn’t be more excited to be doing this one in particular. I really wish we could work on it again tomorrow but it’ll have to wait a few weeks, as I only just did the linework on Friday.

I also got a better & healed photo of her anglerfish tattoo:

I’m so happy with how this guy healed. He was so fun to do! Poor guy will never catch that thing he is chasing.

Yesterday I started this giant coverup of old black stars on Justin. I’m SO pumped about this tattoo. The bird is inspired by a letterpress print and the flowers are all southern state flowers. I learned while drawing this tattoo that the giant bushes that took up my whole front yard as a kid were Carolina jasmine (the little flowers interspersed throughout). I love that about my job! I am so much better at identifying birds and flowers than I used to be. Justin has been such a breeze to work with and I’m really looking forward to our next session on this piece!

Kathryn’s birthday was yesterday and her delightful husband Michael surprised her with a tattoo. The rose is by none other than Melanie Nead, my tattoo dad, and she wanted a banner with this Tennessee Williams quote added and a pretty bird. It was so much fun to work on her (she sat like a champ!) and to chat with them both while I worked. They were also incredibly sweet about me running really behind.

A month ago, Rob and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary with five days at the coast! It was relaxing and the weather was pretty amazing for the Oregon coast in winter. We spent most of our time walking with the dog on the beach during the few daylight hours, drinking hot cocoa, and watching more movies and shows than anyone should in such a short period of time. It was GREAT.

Rob calls black and white photography “reverb for photographers” because everything looks good if you put it in black and white. I think this is pretty spot on, but also I love this picture of him and the silly dog.

I will make promises not to pick up every shell I see. I will break those promises.

Ruby’s personality is exactly like this.

We went to Cape Lookout.

The weather was amazing.

I stood on a huge log.

I will never get tired of jumping pictures. Ever.

Ruby was so tired and happy by this time. It was day 3 or 4 of long beach walks.

Beach walks.

Beach!

The last thing I took pictures of . Valar morghulis, tiny fish.

I know I always say I’ve been busy, but guys, I’ve been busy.

This past weekend my dear friend Nic came to town and I’ll post photos of her tattoo we are working on soon but not yet. For now:

Before she came I met a lovely lovely lady who works for my father in Texas while she was on vacation in Portland, and got to tattoo her (I did pi, which is almost like pie, but mathier):

I worked on Candace’s PNW thigh piece again but the photos are horrible. You’ll have to deal with a little more uncertainty, friends. It was a delight and she took me on a Frank’s Noodle House date afterward. Speaking of Candace, SHE IS THE INTERNET’S HIVE MIND. By this I mean she started a bomb personal blog over at Woodgrain & Gold and it’s about the cutest thing ever. She also started an INCREDIBLE blog for Icon’s jewelry shop and general goings-on, which you must check out.

I got tattooed by the lovely Lisa Maurine, a persimmon and a cut persimmon and beautiful crystals because I love those things so why not have them all at once? You will notice a few things about these photos. 1. I have a beautiful new tattoo (will be color eventually). 2. This photo is bizarre because it looks like I only have 1 tattoo. 3. Yes, I am pretending to eat my new tattoo because I love to embarrass myself in public places by acting a fool. Check it:

Alena also gave me a tattoo which marks me forever as (this is a multiple choice question):
a. a nerd
b. a wizard
c. both a & b
d. neither a nor b
Here is your photographic evidence. Select an answer carefully.

(the correct answer is clearly b.)

I also worked on Alena’s Game of Thrones tattoo again but the pictures are still horrible and it stresses me out so I’m holding out on you. I did get to tattoo her fingers with the same Twin Peaks stuff Melanie did on me a few weeks ago:

A few weeks ago, my friend Alice let me tattoo her and it was such an honor and a blast. I am so excited to finish this piece. The photo is from her Flickr, which is why it is so much nicer than the photos you usually get (you see, Alice is actually good at photography! What a nice change for you all):

Anyway I’m sure I’ve missed some things, but this is all you’re getting for now.

Oh, also, I just had a snack of plain yogurt with maple syrup, jam Rob’s mom made, almonds, and a little teeny bit of salt. EAT THAT. Or don’t. That’s fine too.

Also also, the night before last I made a cocktail out of whiskey, orange liqueur, fresh muddled tangelo & lemon & bitters & fresh grated ginger, dash maple syrup, dash soda, shaken, ice, lemon slice garnish, go. Good evening to you all.

I’ve been busy lately! I always say that. I think, as my boss/tattoo teacher/tattoo dad Melanie Nead once told me of herself, “I think I’m just a busy person.” Better than bored.

Speaking of people and their awesome dads, here is the finished product of Pat’s tribute tattoo to her dad. I am really excited to have been able to do it, but I am consistently bummed I didn’t get to meet him myself. He sounds like an awesome guy. Somehow Pat’s sister Becky escaped without being photographed for the blog (probably my camera was dead. Bummer), but they got both got these tattoos together. It was really fun and they are amazing, and Pat brought us 3lbs of gummy bears. Holy gummies!

I got to start a big Pacific Northwest thigh piece on our awesome Friday counter girl & my friend, Candace. I’m really excited about this tattoo, and I can’t wait to work on it again really really soon! Pictured are Oregon & Washington state outlines, state birds & flowers from each state, Mt. St. Helens, Vista House, and native Pacific dogwood flowers all around. Lisa Maurine is pictured being really cute in the background to the left!

I started this coverup on Sam. Obviously it’s really in-progress, but I’m excited to finish it up!

I did this Portland tribute on Wesley, and I want to do more things like this! I’m so in love with doing traditional, I love the muted color scheme, and I adore the quote and banners. He sat like a champ and I am so glad we got it done in one go!

I feel so honored to have been asked to tattoo my very own tattoo Dad! I love doing script and I love Christmas and I love even more how much Melanie loves Christmas. This was so fun. DAD, YOU ARE THE BEST.

I reorganized my drawers, got new ink, and am totally stocked up! I love that feeling!

Oh, also, I made this recipe for Irish cream for Rob’s family for Christmas, taken from the Serious Eats website:

If you want to experiment with flavors, omit the vanilla and almond extracts and honey to start with a simpler base. Then add your own flavors to taste. For a darker, less-sweet version, substitute melted dark chocolate for the cocoa and 1 tablespoon brewed espresso for the espresso powder. To sweeten it up, use 1 tablespoon melted bittersweet chocolate in place of the cocoa. For a thicker and richer drink, add four eggs before blending, then serve the same day for best flavor.

Notes:

Refrigerate and shake before each use. This will keep for about 2 months.
You can substitute instant espresso or make your own espresso powder by brewing espresso and drying then crushing the grounds.

Here is a cute picture of the Irish cream and the yarn bows I made to go with. I am so into using yarn to wrap gifts. Also, this stuff tastes amazing, even if the ingredients are not the kinds of things I normally use ever.

 It’s been a busy week at Icon, and I should definitely have more to show you than I do – my camera needs to be charged, so everything I have to share either came from my photo-saving coworker Betty or are low-quality iPhone and iPad photos. Be that as it may, I have some really exciting new stuff to show you!

I did these cute scissors on yet another Kirsten (the third I’ve met in Portland! All so nice!). I love these and I love her blog project from the past year, Dollar Dress Friday. The tattoo was her way of marking the project’s culmination, and I was so stoked to do it; you may or may not know I love sewing, but I do (I have 3 sewing tattoos myself!). Funnily, so far all the Kirstens have been getting tattoos that feel would eerily spot-on for me, too. How about that.

I also got to work on this super fun project. It’s on Michelle, the only other recipient of a tattoo of sewing shears from yours truly! Michelle is also my middle name, adding to some name coincidences in my life lately. This is her new tattoo, a compass with a cute pink pencil incorporating flourish from a big gold candleholder in her childhood home. The line from the pencil loops around and integrates with an extant tattoo by someone else of a heart-shaped button, and threads (ha-ha, “threads,” get it?) through into a needle on her inner forearm. It’s a little confusing to photograph but it looks so cute in real life, and Michelle is SO fun to work with. I’m really proud of this piece, and excited to get to do some black and grey!

This weird fish is an anglerfish. She now lives on my dear friend Vanessa’s inner arm, and boy, does she ever need some braces. Vanessa has a bunch of sea life tattoos from me, but this guy is kind of a creature unto herself! Not only do they look super weird, but anglerfish have some pretty strange mating habits, as we discovered while looking through reference photos. The males are far smaller than the females, and only the females have those funny little lanterns. That is not the strange thing about their mating habits. You have to go read that somewhere else because it’s kind of gross and amazing. Vanessa and I both like how they always look confused, and she pointed out that the lantern makes it look like the fish is constantly chasing a carrot on a string. Such a weird animal and so fun to tattoo – totally unlike any other creature! Well, except maybe other crazy disfigured cave- & deep-sea-gremlins. Sorry for the crappy photo quality, but I really had to share. When I look at it, I can’t stop making funny noises in my head that I imagine such a weird gnashy-looking mouth would make.

Today I covered up an old Chinese character on Megan’s neck with some lovely autumn leaves. She wanted something that reminded her of playing in the fall leaf piles with her brothers as a kid, and I love that idea! Especially since Texas has mostly pathetic autumn leaves (it has other strengths, okay?). It was so fun to work with her and hear about her awesome writing job! I really enjoyed this tattoo.

This little rose tattoo is inspired by some imagery from beautiful vintage cardstock. I did this on Nikee, and it looks like we might be doing some trade in the future! She was such a delight to tattoo and I love how these roses, if not the picture, came out. The pink is actually quite vibrant, but who’d know from the photo? Oh well – healed pictures later, I hope!

I’ll be back in a few days with a sneak peek of a big Pacific-Northwest-themed thigh piece on Icon’s lovely shopgirl and my friend, Candace! Unless I posted it already and forgot, which is actually totally possible, but I don’t think it’s the case. We also did a Friday the 13th flash day this past week, which I only half-assedly participated in (I already had appointments that day, and squeezed some in whenever I could to help out, but didn’t get a chance to do any flash myself), but it was a super fun albeit crazy day. I ended it by tattooing some really cute tiny arrows from a vintage Eames print on my extra-awesome cousin (and fellow Icon employee) Kari. And that, my friends, was also awesome. Because EVERYTHING IS AWESOME AND BEAUTIFUL (I think I just said both of those words about 14 times each in this blog post).

I do want to tell you all that myself and the ladies at the shop are plotting a Twin Peaks flash day soon. Really soon. I’ll keep you posted because I bet some of you are almost as excited as we are!