Tattoo crush – Megan Smith

get-your-tat-out

“Tattoos are personal in meaning, but still provide pleasure for others”

Name: Megan Smith,
Age: 23
Location: Sheffield
Occupation: Social Worker

Megan portrait

What got you into tattoos and what was your first tattoo? I think through college I thought a lot about my first tattoo, I was going to gigs and seeing people with sleeves and thought they looked amazing. When I moved to Sheffield, almost all of my friends had tattoos and it made me even more eager. My first tattoo was a horse shoe on my foot, it swelled up like a balloon and I couldn’t fit shoes on for days, but it was worth it.

Where did you get your tattoos done? Steve Byrne designed and tattooed my foot and my back when he was based in Leeds. Cassandra Frances (Cfb Tattooist), End Times Tattoo Studio in Leeds designed and tattooed my arm.

Megan's first tattoo
Megan's first tattoo by Steve Byrne

 

Russian doll by Cassandra Frances
Russian doll by Cassandra Frances

Are you planning any more tattoos? Not at the moment, I’m still too obsessed with my Russian doll, but I would love to have a tattoo of a women with amazing hair next… will leave it a year or two to figure out just what I want though.

Where did your inspiration come from? Well for my back, it was from looking at tattoos Steve had already done and picking out aspects that I liked, for example, he had done the falling heart-shaped petals on my friend.  For my others it was something significant to me that I wanted, I looked through the tattooists’ work to find parts I wanted to incorporate into the designs.

How would you describe your style? Traditional western style.

Is there anyone you would like to get tattooed by? I would like to go back to Cassie for another one.

Do you have a favourite tattoo? Definitely my arm, but I think thats just because it’s new.

Flowers by Steve Byrne
Flowers by Steve Byrne

Do your tattoos have meanings? Yeah definitely. For me it’s my life story and even something generic like flowers on my back is significant, as I can remember what was going on for me at the time I had it done. I like that the meaning is personal to me and nobody else has to understand what that is to enjoy them.

By Steve Byrne
By Steve Byrne

My blog has moved – welcome to its new home

Hi everyone,

My blog has moved to a fancy self-hosted new home, but I don’t want any of you to lose track of where Th’ink lives. Its new home is th-ink.co.uk, and all content will exist here from now on. All links should redirect automatically to here, but if there are any issues please do contact me (alice@th-ink.co.uk), as I would like to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Thanks for following.

Lots of love

Alice Th’ink
xxxx

My beautiful new iPhone case, by Rachel McCarthy

Pretty iPhone case
Pretty iPhone case

I bought this lovely iPhone case from the Brighton Tattoo Convention last weekend. The lovely Rachel McCarthy, from Modern Body Art, makes them and she will make a unique one for you if you order one. She sells lots of other craft-type things and prints, too. Of course her tattoos are amazing and she is another person to add to my list of people I would like to get tattooed by.

My beautiful lamp tattoo, by Claudia De Sabe

Alice Th'ink
Alice Th'ink and the final ink

I fell in the love with the work of Claudia De Sabe at my first tattoo convention in Brighton. I have wanted to get tattooed by her ever since. I managed to get on her waiting list at the Jolie Rouge, London, last year and I had a consultation with her at the end of last year. My one inspiration: a lamp.

This is all I told her at my consultation and, of course, where I would like it positioned –the inner top of my left arm.

After my consultation, an appointment was booked for 10 January 2012. And I didn’t see the beautiful drawing until then – the grand unveiling of my beautiful vintage-inspired lamp.

lamp stencil
The lamp stencil

The amazing thing about this design is it captures both of Claudia’s styles in one tattoo. The beautifully intricate and vintage nature of the shade, then the Japanese-inspired base. It’s just perfect and I loved the stencil instantly.

Claudia was also so lovely when she was tattooing me, so friendly and concerned about how comfortable I was. It was actually a really lovely experience.

I decided to let Claudia pick the colours, too. I hadn’t quite decided. And I am so glad I left it to her because I couldn’t be happier with the finished tattoo…

Claudia De Sabe lamp tattoo
My beautiful lamp tattoo
after tattoo joy
Post-tattoo euphoria (and maybe a little tipsy)
Showing off my new tattoo at the London Tattoo Convention (shortly before this photo my tattoo was spotted to be featured in Bizarre magazine!)
Showing off my new tattoo at the London Tattoo Convention (shortly before this photo my tattoo was spotted to be featured in Bizarre magazine!)

I love you Claudia!

Alice Th’ink

xxxx