got my first tattoo. :-) it's been a long time coming. I've wanted a tattoo for about 15 years now. and I finally got it! and love it!
I almost got a tattoo of a rose when I was 19 when a bunch of my girlfriends and I went to Hawaii in '99 but the tattoo artist I was gonna get it from wasn't in the shop. guess it wasn't the right time.
why a rose you ask? to represent my grandma, who was better known as mommy ros. she passed away in '95. I miss her hella! so many memories. she was the sweetest! and she always had a smile on her face. even with no teef. haha. she was also a G. when she and the 'rents would play mahjong, she would always smoke cigarette's. backwards. with the ashes falling on her tongue. crazy, yeah? hella! smoking in the house? yeah, that happened back in the day. crazy too! and I could sit there and watch them play for hours. cuz they would literally play for HOURS! like into the morning or whole days type hours. insane! anyways, she loved roses. she and my grandpa, amang, had rose bushes in the front of their house. wonder if they're still there? and apparently, my mom also planted roses at the house I grew up in in west Seattle. or they're my mom's roses or something like that that my Dad kept up, replanted and all that jazz. and they're still there. :-) so the rose represents my mom as well... :-)
well, throughout the years, I learned about the accent Filipino script, baybayin, aka alibata. so I wanted to incorporate some characters into the tattoo. my mom's nickname was dimple so I also wanted that to be a part of it too. I figured out the translation in Filipino, figured out what the characters were and drew up a design: I made the characters look like a rose, just what I wanted! unfortunately, not exactly. I translated in the wrong language, Tagalog. I'm ilocano so I actually wanted a translation of dimple in ilocano. figures. ugh! back to the drawing board.
eventually, I figured out what the ilocano translation and characters were but couldn't figure out how to draw them into a rose. lame! so I kinda actually gave up on that idea for a while...
so how did the idea come back, you ask? well, I was reading through livingsocial deals and there was one for a tattoo shop in slc called anchor ink. when I looked up the map for the shop, my mom's name was the name of a street a few blocks down the road. I thought, it must be a sign to get the tattoo now. :-) btw, my mom's name is Editha, aka Edith, aka dimple. the street name is Edith Ave. coinkidink? no, I don't think so. ha! it was time!! hehe.
my cousin, Cindy Cabalo, is an awesome artist so I asked her to come up with a design. I wanted a rose and the baybayin characters, as mentioned. I also wanted a sampaguita, which is the Philippine national flower, for each of my nephews and nieces. (I'll add flowers if need be. hehe.) unfortunately, she also said using the characters to form the rose was difficult. she had another idea and through several drafts, this is what she came up with. :-)
loved it! however, I wanted the sampaguitas to look more like this with rounder tips...
cin made an attempt but it was a tad difficult. she was gonna make another attempt but she was too busy enjoying Hawaii. ;-) I didn't wanna wait any longer so I decided to go into the tattoo shop on the 9th for a consultation and to see if they could do it that day. no openings, darn. I talked to one of the tattoo artists, Austen, and set up an appointment at 530 pm on the 11th cuz Cherie didn't get off til 5. she wanted to be there. for support. and to see me cry like a baby. ha! me, cry? psh! I was too excited!! :-) I emailed him the pix of the design and the sampaguita. he came up with a very similar drawing of the sampaguita as cin's. they both said the flower was a lil difficult to draw so I just went with it. :-)
the next 2 days took forever. I was so anxious and excited at the same time! Cherie ended up getting off early and I called Austen to see if we could come in earlier. 4, sweet! Cherie got there before me. she went in to get tatted too. well touched up and a lil three star addition. :-) with buzz, who was another artist available at the time. I shoulda took a pic of her laying there, cringing. ;-) the tat looks sweet! ask her. haha....
we sat there for a lil while the guys prepped. buzz kept getting interrupted so they didn't get started til later.
patiently waiting, palms kinda clammy. it was hot up in therr. hehe.
the stencil on my back. ready as I'll ever be.
here we go! it actually wasn't as bad as I expected. :-) have you ever been tested for allergies? it's kinda like that, but hella more pokes at once. lol. or for those of you who like getting "scratched". lol. jk... Austen said your endorphins kick in at about 2 minutes. I was good. for the most part. haha. the top left was rough. and over the bones. I cringed. several times. hehe. stretched once. well Austen needed to stretch. haha. it wasn't towards the very end where my back started hurting a lil for sitting like that. it took about 2 hours. not bad! :-) Austen still needs to do a few thangs to it but I was so happy when he was done! sat through it like a "trooper", as Cherie called me. :-)
I believe this is about half way through.
yay! hehe.
thanks, cuz, for the design! thanks, Austen for a beautiful and amazing tat! thanks, anchor ink for the deal! thanks, Cherie for the support! mad love!
dedicated to my mom, mommy ros and my nephews and nieces: Tyrell, Darius Jr., Antonio, Nathan, Teja, Leiani, Jairah and Jerico. love y'all to death!
that white/grey speck in the middle is our destination
