Nothing very productive going on in my world of dolls.  I did give Uri a new face up the other day, and it's probably my most favorite one for him so far.  It's not exactly realistic, it's very pale and soft, but I love it.  It kind of makes me laugh because he's the doll that's always had such crazy face ups, and suddenly I want him in neutral colors.

What I really need to do is re-suede the poor boy, which might happen tonight.  I haven't sueded him again since I first got him, which will be two years next month.  The last of the sueding came off his head with his last face up removal, so it's time. He's also insanely kicky because I like my dolls strung very tightly, so some sueding would help calm that down a bit.

Fall has finally begun to show it's face where I live, and I can't help but be a little bit giddy.  The weather is beautiful; chilly and sunny with a little sweet smelling breeze.  I can layer to my heart's content, and I finally dragged my favorite over-sized brown sweater out from its hiding place.  I am a very happy lady.

In other news, since I always update here when I get a tattoo...I got a new tattoo! It had been a little over six months since my last one, and with bills paid off for the month I was ready.  The image has a lot of very personal meanings to me, but aside from that it is based on a song written by a friend of mine.  His song is called "Widow's Gun," and is an interesting, somewhat dark tale of a woman.  I always got a very specific image in mind of the gun when he sang, although the song itself is a bit ambiguous about whether the gun is real or metaphorical.  However I really wanted to do a little more work on my music sleeve, so this came to be.*

I'm not a gun buff by far, though that's mostly because I have never really been around them.  I have a big soft spot for the older guns, specifically engraved revolvers.  There is something poetic about a thing of beauty being so dangerous.  Plus all the time and energy that went into these works of art just blows me away.  My particular design is based on my own mental image, and an antique gun wielded by Betty Grable in a movie called "The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend."  Talk about a beautiful gun:

*Note: It's very hard to take a picture of your own arm, especially while trying to keep it straight. Hence why some of the tattoo looks funky or the lines look warped.  I can assure you that in person they're not. :)

Tattoo update!

Just a quick update concerning my most recent tattoo. It was my birthday this week, and it's my tradition to try and get some art on or around my birthday. This year I chose to get a Voltaire-themed tattoo. If you're unfamiliar with Voltaire, he's a goth musician who is also a bit of a renaissance man. He's done everything from stop-motion animation to toy designs to music of all kinds. He's a fantastic artist, and also a very down to earth, nice person.

I actually went to see him last week as a sort of early birthday celebration, and after such an amazing show, I felt a tattoo was appropriate. :) The piece was done by the very talented Frankie at Scorpion Tattooing. I credit him with the real design work, as I basically brought in a mock up and he turned it into something really amazing.

Tattoo!

On Saturday I went to my absolute favorite tattoo artist (and my only tattoo artist) to have a new piece done on the inside of my left arm. I mentioned before the subject matter was dorky, well... I got a piece of Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon art! :)

I mulled over the decision for a while, as there are just so many beautiful pieces of her work from the manga. I looked at all the weapons, the broaches, and some of the other sailor scouts' items. In the end though I knew I wanted something from Sailor Moon, and I wanted it to be a weapon that would flow with the design space. So I picked one of my favorites, her Moon Kaleidoscope.


In the manga, Usagi (Sailor Moon) goes to see the Dark Moon Circus with her boyfriend Mamoru (Tuxedo Mask) and their future daughter Rini (Sailor Chibi Moon). While they are there, Mamoru buys both the girls pretty glass kaleidoscopes. When evil attacks, the kaleidoscopes are turned into weapons by Pegasus.

I have always liked their design as they are glass, and very delicate. The center piece is so transparent you can see some of the decorations that circle around the other side through it. :)

So I took that piece to my tattoo artist, and after an hour we ended up with this:

It's still red in this picture, and the shading is not as grey as it will be (blood gets in the shading so it turns brown while it heals), but I love it. It's delicate and beautiful, and my artist did a great job. :)

As always I credit the wonderful Mark Hesse from Scorpion Tattooing with doing this beautiful work.

Tattoo!

Not a fantastic picture, but I just got back and alas the light is bad. It is *really* swollen (seriously, I look like Popeye) and a bit sore, but I am completely in love with it. My artist is fantastic. :)

It is the bubble of Glenda (or Galinda) in the musical Wicked. She descends from the ceiling on this during the show, and it's kind of her symbol. It was the charm on a necklace I purchased at the show, and I fell in love with it. I'm a big symbol person to begin with, and this one is just so magical. More pictures to come when it's less...angry. :P