Week 52: Finally got inked in 'Gratitude'

For those who have stumbled on my blog just today, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year wherein I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here!

Last week of my adventure challenge and I wanted to make it BIG! After contemplating for almost a year now, finally finally I got inked. For me a tattoo is more than a style statement, it is a way of life. Something I want permanently etched on my body because it means a lot to me.  What else would I have got tattooed than 'Gratitude'?

After a year of continuous pondering and 6 months of 'tattoo fever' (which means asking anyone with a good tattoo anywhere "From where did you get your tattoo done and did it pain?"), I finally made up my mind early this month that I am going to do this!!

So began the real quest for a good and hygienic tattoo parlour. During my 'tattoo fever' days, to all the people I asked this question - 6 out of 10 said Aces High Tattoo Shop. So I checked out their website and social media handles and decided that I will get my tattoo done at their Jupiter outlet. I must say, the shop is extra clean and you feel confident as you enter the place.

Next big quest was for the design. 4 months of incessant google search led me to a rough idea of how I want my tattoo. I wanted a tree with 'Gratitude' written at the roots of the tree. I had selected a design from the internet which was close to the kind of tree I wanted.

A small and simple tree with the change that 'Gratitude' will be at the roots

I sent my tattoo idea to my tattoo artist at Aces High Jupiter named Branden and oh boy, he transformed my tattoo idea into a charming beauty. The first version which he sent did not have clarity in the words 'Gratitude' and hence I asked him to rework on it. The later version just hit the bull's eye and I was so very excited about materializing that design on me.

I wasn't happy with the lettering in this version

The second version - Perfect!

Now the next part was the placement of the tattoo. I wanted my tattoo to be in such a place that it is not visible all the time and I could have the freedom to chose when to show it. Actually, no. I wanted it on my wrist, but my wrist is too tiny to fit even 2 letters forget about an entire tattoo design! I did not want the tattoo on my ankle, so I was left with either back shoulder or below the neck. I didn't want to play around with my spinal cord, so I chose my right shoulder back. This was a tough call!

Further it came to enduring the pain. I was told by everyone that since I am bony (with less or no flesh at all), it is going to hurt a lot. I was jittery as I entered the tattoo studio with no idea how much pain to expect. The stencil was placed on the shoulder back and after confirming the place is perfect, I lied down on my face to get my first ever tattoo done!

Branden working on the beauty he created!

Did it pain? Definitely yes! But not as much as I expected. Or maybe I expected much more pain and hence was kind of relieved with lesser amount of pain. Branden even commented, "By the way, you are doing extremely well for your first tattoo". It pains when the needle scratches the skin ruthlessly, but it is bearable.

After an hour or so, Branden declared that the tattoo is done. Sujoy looked at it and was talking with Branden saying, "The brown color in the leaves is not very eminent, can we use a darker shade?" Branden on this explaining that he used a caramel color and maybe dark brown color would look better. All this while I was still lying down with my head down and then I blurted out, "Guys can I see my tattoo please, then we can decide on the brown shade". Then Sujoy took a picture of my tattoo and showed me.

It was scintillating! Yes, the brown was a little faint but the overall tattoo looked gorgeous! I was extremely delighted with the outcome.

The caramel brown was hard to see against my skin tone

So we chose a darker brown to fill the leaves and it took some 5 more minutes and then I was done!

This brown looks better

I was a happy customer when I came out of the tattoo parlour that day! Thanks to Branden who made my first tattoo experience such a pleasant one. I now understand why people get hooked after their first tattoo, it is addictive. I have already started thinking about my second tattoo idea.

Branden, the skillful tattoo artist. And he is just an apprentice currently, beat that!

My tattoo is healing now and the colors look much brighter. You need to take very good care of the tattoo in order to avoid any infections and accelerate the healing process. 

Yayy, yayy....I am inked finally! :)

An eventful year comes to an end, 2015 has definitely been a BIG year in terms of new learnings and growing as a person. And I continue to live with my motto - 'I simply live gratitude'.