I got my 1st Tattoo!

I had the idea for awhile, wanting to get my logo I designed on my wrist and what better time than for my 40th birthday! My logo is two things I love, palm trees and Jesus. For me, palm trees always meant the beach, sunshine, and beauty which equaled peace, tranquility, and paradise. And the subtle cross in the palm tree trunk, is my ode to Jesus and a reminder of what He has done for me. It’s about my faith in Christ and also in myself and the abilities He has blessed me with and to remember to keep striving to be the woman He designed me to be.

Never stepping a foot in a tattoo shop, I was very intimidated and scared in getting a bad tattoo job that I was stuck with forever, so I did a lot of research beforehand. I actually found a tattoo parlor, called “Vessel Tattoo” that was a Christian establishment and I had just read a bible verse about this concept. “Be a pure VESSEL of love, faith, and peace, sanctified to honor God with a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:20-21. So that was already a good sign. I met with the owner who was a diehard believer, for a consultation and showed him my logo. I told him that I wanted the “watercolor” look without any black outline and he thought it was really cool and measured my wrist and we set a date and I put down a small deposit for it.

Day of, I was nervous, but excited and I got to pick out the colors and he put a traced stencil on my wrist that would be the guide for the tattoo. Before he started, he prayed over the experience, the curiosity about it from strangers and the conversations around it, and my faith and that God would bless it all. It was really cool and I felt peace going into it. We didn’t use any numbing cream, and I do have a descent pain tolerance, but it did hurt with all the nerves and veins in a wrist. Though, he did have a great worship music playlist on in the studio and a movie in the background. And we talked all things faith, Jesus, life experiences, church, and family. You leave with a sealed clear bandage that is left on for three days and it does get kinda itchy, but completely heals in two weeks. And the whole thing, start to finish took less than 2 hours and it was a cool, edifying experience and I love my new tattoo!