InkyMama dissected--Or, I'm an AWESOME list maker.

I will say it again--I'm quite new to blogging. Hell, I'm quite new to thinking I have anything to say that's worth writing down. I am still figuring out my voice, and as such, I was not sure if I should post this or not. I wondered if I should "keep it (this blog) light," or restrict it to one topic only. But...I knew when I was starting this that I would have a hard time keeping to one topic, be it crafts, knitting, tattoos, mommyhood, or what have you. And the fact that one of the few blogs I follow is written by a woman to whom nothing is off-limits factored into my decision as well. I don't want to feel like I have to censor myself. Now, nothing I say here is "shocking" or a "great revelation," it's just that for so long I've squashed my voice that even making a (partial) list about myself is a pretty big deal.

How to say it

I've been thinking about lettering tattoos lately. They're one of the most popular types of tattoo to get, and I understand the appeal. Words are powerful, powerful things, and the words you choose to have tattooed on your body are a strong statement about who you are.

I wonder the mindset of those who get lettering. I wonder, are they getting a belief tattooed? A wish? A goal? Are they getting who they are or is it who they want to be that they're getting tattooed on themselves?

Braaaaaains (two awesome tattoos)

The end of the summer is the beginning of the slow season in the tattoo world. It seems counter intuitive, one would imagine that with the return of the college students business would go up, but for some reason that's not the case. The positive aspect of this drop in business, though, is that when someone comes in, a lot of the time they want a custom tattoo, not just a piece of flash (not that there's anything wrong with those!)

Breakfast Bonanza! Or, how much bacon can one family eat?

After a good deal of interesting family dynamics in action, we were invited to the folks' for a big family breakfast this morning. Grandmother and Uncle David had arrived Friday evening so they could attend a cousin's wedding on Saturday. My Sister-In-Law's mom was coming, and my cousin Lisa and her husband were expected to come as well. It was a Big Deal, and in spite of two weeks of weirdness, when the invitation was extended yesterday, my desire to see my Grandmother trumped anything else, so I said we'd attend. (We being Big Eddie, Jasper, and myself, as the big boys wouldn't be home from Omaha at 8:00am).

The food was plentiful. Oh, what a feast was prepared--a sausage, cheese, egg, and hashbrown breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, fresh berries and cantaloupe, pancakes (your choice of plain, chocolate chip, or blueberry), and ever so much bacon. I think they said they cooked three packages of bacon. That's three pounds, and there were only two pieces remaining by the time we left.

Calming Down

We made it home around 2:00pm, much gratitude to my brother for rescuing us. I don't recall the last time I've been so carsick. I was smushed up with my knees under my chin the whole way home, since Big Eddie and my brother are both so tall that they have to ride with their seats all the way back. I am not a short lady, and I am prone to motion sickness anyway, so riding in the backseat of a low-slung Subaru zipping down the interstate was not a recipe for awesomeness. But then, even swings and merry-go-rounds make me nauseous, so what do I know! We made it back, and Big Eddie did get to go in to work today, so at least we have been able to maintain that normalcy.

The big boys are spending the night with Grandma Laura in LaVista. This afternoon they went up to visit her (Laura's) sister at her new house. It's a big beautiful place on an acreage, with fields and trees and an orchard, and all kinds of places for little boys to run around and explore. When I spoke with Laura this evening, she told me that they were wonderfully well behaved, that they ate well (except for the Kalamata olives, and really, I can't blame them for not eating those), and that they even picked and ate Concord grapes right off the vine. Oh, how I wish I could have seen that!

Mister Jasper and I spent the afternoon being...not so productive. We napped and napped until dinner time, but I was so exhausted (in the brain, mostly) that it only did us good. Big Eddie will be home soon, and then we can sit down and try to figure out what to do next.

Day Trip from Hell

Here's something fun! What started as a quick trip up to Omaha to drop the boys off at Grandma's has turned into a huge mess. The head gasket on the van blew right as we pulled off the interstate. The van was overheating and white smoke was billowing, it was a tense trip into LaVista. We made it to the house, and discovered that the oil was soapy frothy, and that there was oil in the coolant. So we are currently waiting for my brother to come here to take Big Eddie, Jasper, and myself back home.
This is not how I pictured today going--an inane statement, I know, but I'm pretty upset right now. Mainly with myself, because coming up here was my idea, Grandma said she'd come down and pick the boys up but nooooo, I had to be headstrong and push ahead with my own plans. Now we have no vehicle, Big Eddie's missing work, and I feel rotten for orchestrating this whole mess.

What a day.

Big Eddie

So! I would like to introduce you to my partner, Eddie Greer (or, as we call him here at home, The Big Eddie). He's my best friend, an amazing artist, and an extremely talented tattooist. Since this is a tattoo-y blog, it's only fitting that I share some of his work with you:

Custom cherry tree in bloom

Wicked snake on my left arm

Sailor Jerry inspired pinup

These are just a few examples (some of my favorites), you can see the rest of the photos I've uploaded (so far) on my Flickr, just by clicking here.

Since he ever so graciously gave me permission, I will be posting more of his work once he gives me the photos :D

And hey, if you see this guy on the street, don't hesitate to talk to him--he's really quite nice :)

P.S. He also tweets! Follow @BigEdRoy for awesomeness.

Well *THAT* Was Embarrassing

Yes, I'm very new to blogging. There are many technical things that I am learning about. One area that I am not quite sure about is how to attribute things (namely images) to the owners/creators.

I had a couple of posts up that had several images of tattoos, various photos that I had collected around the web. After doing a little research (hello, wikihow!) I realized that by posting the photos without attribution was a violation of copyright, as well as a violation of basic courtesy. It seems obvious to me now, but at the time I posted them, all I was thinking was, "Hey, these are some awesome shots of vintage tattoos, flash, and pieces people have!"

So, I'm feeling pretty stupid right now. Imagine me, quite red in the face, hurriedly deleting posts. Hilarious! Nobody told me to, I just wanted to remove them so that I wasn't breaking any laws, on the books or generally held. So now I'm on a mission to learn how to A) post photos with correct attribution, B) learn how to copyright the photos of mine that I upload on to here, and C) not make more goofy beginner mistakes (or at least ones that could get me sued).

Do you blog? Do you have any tips you can share/sites you recommend/general help for this noob? Advice is welcome, I thank you in advance. Now I'm off to delve further into the mechanics of blogging, and hopefully I'll have new *legal* posts of vintage tattoos and ideas to share with you soon!

Work In Progress--Knitting Edition

So I'm totally knitting, again. It goes in waves, like everything does, so I'm seizing on this desire to knit and running with it.

On the needles right now: SUPER AWESOME KNUCKS (fingerless gloves that one embroiders with an 8-letter saying, a la knuckle tattoos).

Here's the pattern: Knitty: Summer 2006

Here is where I was two days ago:

I'm knitting the fingers two at a time (thumb, thumb; middle, middle, etc), so that way once I have all of them done, all I'll have to do is the joining round, knit up the hand, and decide how long I want the cuffs to be (in all likelihood they'll be as long as I have the patience for).

These are the coolest thing I've knitted to date. I'm beyond a novice knitter, but I wouldn't quite label myself as "experienced," so this is a pretty cool challenge for me. These ones that I'm working now are my practice pair, to see if I can decipher the pattern instructions, and produce some really bitchin' gloves.

Of course I'm thrilled at the thought of being able to embroider whatever I can dream up on them...but I bet you can guess what it'll be :) 

InkyBaby's First Summer

Ah, Jasper Levi. A strapping young lad of 6 1/2 months, who had a lovely first summer.

Always with the fingers in the mouth.

Baby's first trip to the Milwaukee Wiener House!

LET ME OUT

At Grandma Laura's House

I only put a few up on here, obviously. I should really look into putting photos onto flickr or some such place, that way I could share more chubby babby goodness witcha...

Summer Days...a retrospective...

Ahoy, yo.

Every day I think of something to blog (no, really), but...well, a whole summer at home with the boys took up 99% of the time (the other 1% I was sleeping or reading or knitting or making jewelry or sitting out on the back steps while my eyes rolled around independently in their sockets o_0).

BUT! Summer is over! School started yesterday--Sammy started 3rd grade (so we shook hands in lieu of me hugging and kissing him before school) and Little E is in the 1st grade now (yeah, I hugged his head in a manner that was humorous to him and his friends, but still satisfied my need for MOMMA HUG BABBY).

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SUMMER:

My older brother came back in late June for his annual Return to America with students from the junior high where he teaches. He arrived bearing gifts, including this...well, I guess it's a teddy bear, for Jasper:

• Sam learned that turning too abruptly while riding his bike (which is some kind of BMX style bicycle, the handlebars/front part can spin a full 360) leads to spectacular falls.
• Sam also learned the meaning of the term "road rash."
• Eddie learned how to ride a 2 wheeler!
• I learned that I am not quite suited to running alongside a nervous 6 year old as he's learning to ride a 2 wheeler #nervousmommy
• Both boys learned that sometimes kids are mean, sometimes some kids say things to hurt other kids, and that, in fact, some kids say swears and flip other kids off :(

Such a summer. A list of the things Jasper did could be another entry in and of itself, so maybe I'll do that.

*Also: if you thought the part where my older brother and mother think my tattoos are offensive was AWESOME, you're in for a real treat here soon!) #detailsarecoming #teaser 

Hey Look, I'm still here!

So...hey there. It's been three months and one week since I posted, so I thought I'd say HI.



So yes, we had our baby--Jasper Levi was born January 26th, 2011, at 2:28pm. He weighed 6 pounds and 4 ounces, and he is BEAUTIFUL.

It was a bit of a shaky start, but we're all doing well now. I will probably get into the details of his birth, and early days, in later posts, but for now I just wanted to let you know that I'm still here, and with all the big changes going on in our lives I'll be posting a LOT.

Hello, Friends!

So I've debated on whether or not I should start this blog for a few months now. Seeing as how today is 1/1/11, I got the feeling I should start this today, or I might never do it.

I'm Christine, a tattooed momma and partner to a tattooist here in Nebraska. I am pregnant (!!!) and our baby's due date is 2/22/11. I am momma to two young boys, ages 7 and 6, and the baby on the way is another boy. Huzzah!

I want to blog to you about these last few weeks before our baby arrives, about being a tattooed momma, and about how we all get along in our little family home. Baby makes 5 :)

Of course, this all could change (and probably will) but at least I'll have a record of a bit of time in our lives.

Feel free to talk to me, I'm always around, and always interested in conversations!