One Last Friday the 13th Post, for Melanie

So one of my friends Jenise had contributed to the Great Friday the 13th Tattoo Experiment and her votes for my tattoo were not along the finalists.

She was also keenly aware that we collected $31 in donations for my tattoo, $11 more than needed. Ginger, another friend, had added a dollar to the kitty for my lovely Friday-the-13th born wife Melanie, so Jenise, in an effort to make the experiment a complete success, chipped in the funds to bring us to an even $40, and she, Ginger, and Melanie separately concurred that this design was the one for her:

Much to our surprise, when we went back at 6:00 pm, business was brisk but it was only a 30-minute wait.

Artist Joey Wilson tattooed the Zoe Sonenberg-designed flash piece right below Melanie's $14 Valentine's tattoo (that story here).

The end result is lovely:

Thanks again to all contributors and supporters of Tattoosday through this process, and for everyone's patience while I went "off-book" for the last couple of days.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Tattoosday's Trip to Hand of Glory

As alluded to in the previous days' posts, I got a little carried away with a Friday the 13th tattoo experiment and opened up the idea to readers who contributed the funds for a tattoo ($13 special plus lucky $7 tip).

I had seven people send me money (thank you Ginger, Jen, Sean, John, Jenise, Janet and Nicole!) and then vote on the design out of five sheets of flash (seen here).

the flaw in my plan was not collecting the money, but dealing with the votes. I asked everyone to vote for three choices, and assigned 5 points to 1st choice, 3 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd. Fifteen different designs were selected, and only four were selected twice.

The winner was this classic, simple design by Derik Snell:

I was early and first in line, so I got the first tattoo of the day at Hand of Glory's sister shop, down the block, called The End is Near.

Brian Faulk was the assigned tattooer and he made quick work of the design:

Photo by Zoe

The end is result is a little messy, but it should heal nicely:

Thanks to all the kind people at Hand of Glory/The End is Near for their help this morning. I am planning on returning later with Melanie for her addition. We'll see how it goes....

Update on the Great Friday the 13th Tattoo Experiment

Well, many generous souls allowed me to reach the goal and now we're halfway to a tattoo for Melanie. You can still donate, though. It will allow you to vote for what I get, and all proceeds go to the artist(s).

Here's where I'll be:

And here are our choices. Sponsors can pick the top three choices, along with where they want it to go. Check out the flash:

Flash by Joey Wilson

 Flash by Zoe

Flash by Derik Snell

Flash by Jacob Des

Flash by Brian Faulk

So those generous souls who contributed, please vote. And don't forget to choose a limb!

If you want to vote on my tattoo, you can still contribute to my (and Melanie's) ink fund by clicking on the "Donate" button to the left. Thanks, all!

The Great Friday the 13th Tattoo Experiment

Long time readers of this blog may recall this event, when Friday the 13th  fell on my wife Melanie's birthday.

I didn't get a Friday the 13th tattoo then, because we were celebrating for Melanie.

This month we have another Friday the 13th, and I'm itching for my own little celebratory tattoo.

But I want to include the Tattoosday community in this journey, and I want you to pay for it.

Wait, hear me out. I've placed a PayPal badge on Tattoosday for people to make donations. A Friday the 13th piece is only twenty bucks ($13 for the ink plus $7 for tip). I've already budgeted for my older daughter's
birthday on Saturday, so all my funds are tied up. But, in exchange for contributions, I'll trade power. Contributors will get to decide, within reason, what tattoo I will get and where I will get it.

So, assuming I get $20 in PayPal contributions today, whether it be $1 from 20 people, or $5 from 4 people, those patrons will have votes on what tattoo I get, and where.

Those who contribute receive a vote per dollar and will get to select the flash (which I will email to contributors and try to post on the blog from the shop). You also get to vote on which limb will receive the ink.

Hand of Glory's Flash from November 2009

No face or neck tattoos, no designs of genitalia, but if you pay, you have a say. I'll get it, I'll report it and I'll share it.

So, if you're interested, click on the Donate button on the left and secure your vote(s) through PayPal contributions.

Think about it, if twenty of you contribute a dollar, you can participate cheaply in the inking of yours truly. If you don't contribute, and I don't achieve my funding goal, oh, what a boring day Friday will be for all of
us.

The primary purpose of this experiment is  to see if it will work. If anyone out there is interested in seeing this work, please help out.

Any questions, feel free to e-mail me or post them in the comments section.

Thank you,

Bill

The Devil's Dozen

Friday the 13th, two months in a row?

Todd Lambright showed up this morning to Identity Tattoo carrying a bag full of mirrors, a black umbrella, a ladder, and a few shakers of salt.
We're hoping the bad luck carries us all the way till next month.
Or at least through Valentine's Day.
And since it was also a Friday, "not casual" was in effect as well.



We've had a busy morning smashing mirrors and tattooing.
I'm in between appointments right now, but after all that testing of fate, I'd be amazed if this next one shows up.
But if she does, we'll hand her the hammer and a mirror, and let her thumb her nose at Fortuna.
*edit- she did show up, and with a posse!*

Matt had an almost completed sleeve that we fit this murderous penguin tattoo into the last empty space.
Which happened to be the underarm/armpit area.
I battled my way through some hidden stretchmarks and Matt delt with some serious limb numbness.
But we survived and have this insanely poor quality picture as proof.
After he heals it up, we'll do the background and fit it into the rest of the sleeve.



My sister-in-law Casey came in late in the evening for a session on her backpiece we finished 4 years ago.
Just a little reworking, as I've gotten slightly better since the Cromwell studio days.
She smashed the last mirror, then we closed up the shop and headed home.

A pretty great day, for sure.
There may be an event for next months Friday the 13th.
I'll keep you posted.

I have a busy day lined up for tomorrow, but if you're around, stop in and say hello.
We'll be playing the Mountain Goat's "No Children" on repeat till Ben sheds some tears.