same as it never was..

yesterday was the start of a huge project for me: my 1st tattoo sleeve!!

it actually began back in march, when we commissioned an awesome artist/tattooist (terry mayo of cat tattoo in addison), to create a sick alice in wonderland sleeve for me.. he listened to all our ideas, and had a few of his own to add..

we went back in may to check out his finished artwork, and we just about fell to the floor! the drawing was about a million times sicker than we had ever imagined... basically, it's a very naughty alice who, OOPS, has decapitated the cheshire cat.. the tat also features a scary mad hatter, the aforementioned head of the cat, and the white rabbit (with a nipple ring).. there are other cool things, like the card guards, and mushrooms with faces, and skulls on gates.. and before it's all done, the caterpillar (who ARE you?) and the queen of hearts will be added..

so next came the waiting for the funds to accrue.. and we waited.. waited.. (he is very expensive, and i'm just a poor girl)...

thanks to some saving, and amex's generous start-up bonus, i was able to finally set up an appointment for yesterday.. terry blocked off 6 hours for me, and i headed over to cat..

we got there at noon, and it took a little while for terry to size the stencil just right, and for him to place it on my arm.. so about 1pm, he was ready to rock and roll on my right arm..

mind you, the most i have ever sat for the needle before was at tops two hours.. so the thought of sitting for six just about scared the ink outta me!

amazingly enough, though, i was able to take four hours of torture.. and truth be known, the pain wasn't really that intense until the last 30 minutes or so when all my endorphins said BUH-BYE..

he kept Doug and i pretty entertained while he was working.. he is a bit of a character, and definitely easy to talk to.. funny guy who likes zepplin..

the other artists in the shop are just as cool, and we enjoyed talking to them during the day as well.. they would all come in from time to time to check out terry's progress on this awesome piece of art..

by 5pm, i had had it, and terry finished up for the day.. he got my whole arm lined and ready to go for the next stage.. it's gonna be a while before i can get back in (unless some of you wanna make tattoo contributions!), but as soon as this heals, i KNOW i'm gonna be itching to get back in under the needle..

lawd, wish i could go today!!!

as soon as i can, i will post some pics..