Embracing female tattoo culture
Halloween is getting closer, the nights are drawing in and we’re stock piling the sweets for ourselves! To celebrate this spooky time for year we’re doing a mini series of Halloween inspired tattoos…
If you’ve got a Halloween tattoo and would like to see it on the blog, send it to us at hello@thingsandink.com
24-year-old Shannon Wright is a blogger as well as Production & Marketing Manager from Doncaster, South Yorkshire. We caught up with Shann to chat tattoos, her grungy style and body confidence…
How old were you when you got your first tattoo? I was 19! And I was at a Gay Pride Festival in Birmingham.
What was it and do you still love it? I got some lyrics by The Smiths round my ankle. They’re one of my favourite bands. They say ‘Save your life, because you’ve only got one’. I wish the artist had used a thinner needle, because they’re harder to read then the second set I now have on my other ankle, but I still love it! It meant a lot to me at the time because I’d just come out of a toxic relationship, and it was the first time I felt like myself again and realised I had so much of life to look forward to!
What inspired you to get tattooed? Suicide Girls. I think I was about 13 or something when I first realised alternative models were a thing and I’ve wanted to be one ever since!
Has having tattoos helped you to see your body differently? 1000%! Even before I decided to lose my weight, I wanted them to help me love my body. I always hated my legs because they were quite big (I was a UK28) and I’d never get them out. Even in summer when it was boiling! So my first lot of tattoos I got them on my legs and it gave me such a confidence boost! I learned to love myself and my skin. I just thought if people were going to look anyway, then I’ll give them something to stare at.
What do your tattoos mean to you? I couldn’t imagine myself without them now. They tell my story and make me who I am. Especially on my weight loss journey, they encouraged me to become a better and healthier me and gave me something to strive towards. I have to acknowledge my tattoo artists @lilyjtattoo and @pippa_kovacs_tattoos, without them I couldn’t look the way I do and be who I want to be so I owe them a massive thank you!
Do you have any future tattoo plans? Of course! I’ve just started a chest piece. But I’m actually booked in later this month to finish my sleeve and start my new one! It’s going to be a spooky sleeve with all my favourite ghoulish things like the Addams family, Halloween and goosebumps!
Your style is pretty grungy do your tattoos reflect this too? Kind of! I think my tattoos add to the grunge look, but to look at then up close they’re all really bright and colourful. The majority of my tattoos have a meaning behind them so they tell a story, more than just reflect a style or image.
You’ve recently started blogging, what can readers expect to see in your posts? It’s kind of an extension to my Instagram, so it’s going to be full of recipes, fashion advice and just general chit chat. I get asked so many questions daily that I find myself repeating myself, so I thought if I started a blog, it would be easier to answer them and help people.
You’re really active on Instagram, what inspired you to share your life on social media? Honestly, I think it was the key to actually making me change my life. I think it’s easy to wake up and say you’re going to change but if you post it on social media it’s a sort of pressure to mean what you say. But it’s also such a beautiful community and I have the support of my followers to thank everyday for helping me and encouraging me to be the person I want to be. It was probably one of the best decisions I ever made. It’s kinda like a diary and when I feel like I’m going to give up I scroll through and it gives me that boost to carry on.
You’ve also shared your weight loss journey, has being so open helped you stay motivated? Definitely. I have some of the best followers. I’ve made some beautiful friendships, and it’s just an amazing community. I think I’d have given up a long time ago if it wasn’t for those guys.
What sorts of reactions do your posts and/or tattoos get? Does this differ to the reactions you get in real life? I’m lucky to say I rarely get any negative comments. Maybe two in about three years of posting. My goal is to just be real. I want people to see that I’m not perfect. I think it’s so easy to follow other people on Instagram and want to be just like them because they look and seem perfect. I think social media has a lot to answer for when it comes to us being negative about how we look, or having to look a certain way.
I just want to show men and women that it’s okay to just be you. We’re all special and beautiful. Which brings me on to real life. I’m very aware of the stares I get or the negative comments in supermarkets and shops. However, I’m being the person I want to be. I’m comfortable in my skin and I love the way it looks. I’m a massive believer in if it makes you happy just do it. I’d rather die knowing I did everything I wanted to do; than wishing I had done everything differently. Life’s too short!
The feline welfare charity, Cats Protection in Coventry, is holding a collection of tattoo fundraisers to help cats in the local area. Cats for Tatts will showcase three flash days in three different tattoo studios in the city of Coventry…
The three tattoo flash days, and the cat-themed raffles will raise money for Cats Protection’s Coventry Branch, part of the UK’s leading feline welfare charity which help around 190,000 cats and kittens each year.
Cat design raffle prize by Joanne Baker
Each studio and tattoo artist is drawing up sheets of cat related tattoo designs for you to choose from and book. Once you have your tattoo you can donate to Cats Protection, alongside some of the artists who will be donating a percentage of their fee.
In addition there are two cat-themed raffles – one will see four lucky winners get one of four unique tattoo designs – including the Tatts for Cats china cat (above), by the renowned artist, Coventry born, Joanne Baker.
The second raffle includes a number of unique prizes such as a bespoke pet portrait and custom artwork. After all of the ink is dry you can vote for your favourite tattoo which can win the ‘Cat’s Whiskas’ trophy.
Cat flash sheet by @stephhesketh
Cat flash sheet by @emilylouise.tattoo
Tattoo flash designs by @boo_ink
Dolly Osborne, volunteer fundraiser for Coventry Cats Protection:
Tatts For Cats promises to be three really special events – especially as it will help raise some much needed funds to help us care for unwanted cats. We would like to thank all of the wonderful artists who are giving up their time, talent and money to make the lives of little kitties a little bit easier.
As someone who has been a part of the tattoo community for a long time, I am aware it has a long and established history of supporting good causes. It also has a significant number of cat lovers. We thought it was time we brought these two elements together to help our furry friends
Make sure to follow Tatts for Cats on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for more details and updates.
We just love Halloween, it seems that you do too, what with all the Halloween inspired tattoos we’ve been spotting lately on our feed. From your favourite films to spoopy bats – there were just too many for one blog post, so we’re doing a mini series…
If you’d like your Halloween tattoo to be featured on a future post send it to hello@thingsandink.com
24-year-old tattoo artist Alice SB at Forever Bound tattoo studio in Bristol has been tattooing bravery medals to raise money for Papyrus – the national charity dedicated to the prevention of young suicide. We caught up with Alice after the flash day to find out what inspired her to raise awareness for suicide prevention and World Mental Health Day…
The flash day took place on Friday September 28th at my tattoo home, Forever Bound in Bristol. The inspiration for the day came from so many different places. I’m lucky to have never been immediately affected by suicide but I’ve had mental health issues for as long as I can remember. I’ve been in some pretty nasty places, but I’m so crazy proud of myself for being where I am now. And I don’t tell myself that enough!
Locally, Bristol has quite a bad rep for suicide rates. A lot of my customers are students, and Bristol Uni had one of the highest suicide rates in the country last year, and I think the first place to start to deal with that stuff is open conversation wherever and whenever it can happen. I’m super lucky to have amazing customers who are so open with me about their own mental health, they are a constant inspiration. I can’t emphasise enough how amazing my customers are.
I think the designs mostly came from my own experience, every day with mental health means a new challenge even if it is just leaving the house or getting out of bed, and we one million percent should be rewarding ourselves more for the things we conquer. I find that having depression/anxiety makes me such more encouraging of other people’s recovery, but less so of my own. So I thought it would be nice to do something a little more self love focused.
The conversation on the day was super varied! We all did a lot of laughing and a bit of crying. Some of my customers were super positive about the whole thing, There was a lot of really positive talk about personal growth and about my customers finding their own coping methods and ways to love themselves. But equally, some of the day was really heavy. I had a couple of customers who had been really immediately affected by suicide, be it a friend or a family member, and some themselves. It was really rad to think about how they might use their new tattoo medal and how it might help to change the way they view themselves and the wider world.
The general feedback was super positive all round, and everyone was so happy to contribute to Papyrus. They are such an amazing charity, who’s work is focused around youth suicide and it’s prevention. They offer support and education about suicide from a young age in loads of different formats.
All in all the day was really amazing. I really hope the girls’ new tattoos will help to remind them of how far they’ve come, and how tough they are. And to know that we can maybe contribute in a small way to improving the wellbeing of other young people with mental health issues is the best feeling ever. I’d like to thank them all too, if you can put that in there! For the support, and the trust, and for generally being top notch little human beings.
