tattooing ::

As part of, what I'm calling an early midlife crisis, in the wake of turning 30, a couple of weeks ago I found myself shaking with fear, perched on a sofa, on an extremely hot day at skullduggery tattoos.  Just a week or so before I decided, maybe I'd like to get a tattoo, I had an idea I doodled away on myself, wore biro drawings on my wrists for days, but part of me thought I'd never actually do it. However, sitting in my mum's shop a few days later, passing time as we waited for Cromer carnival to begin, I drew my idea on my wrist once more to show my sister, when my mum saw to my surprise she said how much she liked it, then proceeded to offer to buy it for me as birthday gift. Before I knew it she was booking me an appointment and there I was waiting for the needles.

And do you know what, it really didn't hurt, not in the way I had imagined it would anyway and now I'm already planning more!

This tattoo, as quickly arranged and attached to my being forever, as it was, still manages to hold a great deal of meaning, which is what I was really hoping for I think.

I choose the ball of yarn and hook, for obvious reasons, but beyond that, it was the day before my 29th birthday that I received my very first crochet pattern commission and over that first year there have been ups and downs, but as I turn into my thirties this new little business/dream of mine is truly thriving.  I feel I finally know what I want to do with my life, it took me thirty years but now I'm there and I'm doing it and that is a fantastic feeling.  Having it be a gift from my Mum, is wonderful and every time I look at it, I'll think of her.  Not only that, but having it done in Sheringham, the place a little piece of me calls home, on a gloriously sunny day, with a tattoist who is the little brother of an old friend of mine, makes me very happy indeed.  

So I hope with all these positive associations attached to it, even if I come to despise the image itself in time (which I hope of course I won't) I'll still love the idea of it and the memories it recalls. 

As and aside if you are in the North Norfolk area I can strongly recommend Skullduggery, they were kind and helpful to me and my ridiculous nerves and though I don't have anything to compare it to and it's only a tiny piece, the work is great and it healed very quickly.