Tattoos

This thread idea may have been done before, so forgive me if I'm doubling up.

Who has a tattoo and what does it mean? Or do you know of someone who has an interesting tattoo and/or an interesting meaning? I know at least several of the regulars have one or more, and I imagine there would be many more that I don't know about.

I have just the one. It's a helm (ship's wheel) on my upper arm. Apart from DW, I've never discussed with anyone what it means as I know that ultimately, many people wouldn't understand it or just think I am into boats or something.

To me, this is what mine means:

- A link to the ocean, and my love of the underwater world and the beach.
- The spirit of adventure and exploration.
- I like that it's circular (complete) and that each spoke points to a direction - N, S, E, W, NW, NE, SE, SW. To me this represents opportunity and choice.
- It reminds me that I am in control of my life, and my choices are mine alone, with the wheel being a symbol for control of direction.

my husband has the cd cover design of Motley Crue's "Dr Feelgood" on his upper left arm.
To him it means his love of the band and the song that started it all.
It is awesome!!!!

Wow Slyder... the meaning of your tattoo is really fascinating! And I like the fact that it's something different - not the rose or the butterfly etc.

I have a tattoo'd toe ring. I used to wear a toe ring... but it would hurt when I squashed my foot into shoes.. and particularly when I was jogging. So I got it tattoo'd on instead. And boy did it hurt getting it done. And a week later the ink 'rejected' (not enough fat in my toes) - so I had to get it re-done! That was about 10+ years ago. I also have my make-up tattoo'd on - eyeliner (done about 17 years ago) lip liner & lip enhancement, and eyebrow enhancement (about 10 years ago). All the make-up stuff looks totally 'natural'. The lips are lip colour - but my original lips were uneven and no defined line. I have plenty of hair on my eyebrows... so the tattoo is more like a brow pencil beneath the hair to define my brows. The eyeliner is a fine black liner.

My DH was so proud of his tattoo when we first went out. And I had to supress the laugh when I saw it, because I thought it must of been some big impressive tatt when he mentioned it. It was a tiny little symbol on his chest/pec. It's the symbol for "chaos".

Jodie, I'd better clarify - I'm a bloke. I think a butterfly or rose on me might be very different!

Are you saying a real man wouldn't have a rose? I'll tell my brother that - he has a rose on his butt rofl.

Here is the old topic about Tattoos BellyBelly Forums ~ Pregnancy, Birth & Baby

Love

i haven't got any tats due to a chronic dislike/phobia of needles - my four piercings were an attempt to get over the fear but didn't work! In hindsight, should have got the tats done first... But this is a good story...

A friend of a friend really liked the look of japanese kanji but hated the trend at the time of getting asian symbols tattooed, especially when the person didn't have a connection with the cultural heritage or meaning of the symbol (kind of like maori tribal armbands). But she still wanted to get something in that style, just for the look of it. She was in a chinese restaurant one night and saw on the menu a symbol that graphically was perfect. So now she has the chinese lettering for 'wonton noodle soup' tattooed on her foot.

Apparently she's always wanted to go into a chinese restaurant, stick her foot up on the counter and say "I'll have one of those please", just to see the reaction...

(P.S. as this story came to me via a friend, apologies if the subject of the story is out there in BB-land and I've stolen or misrepresented your thunder!)

I'm sure I've done a post describing what my tatts mean. :) It's not a short post as I have a few. I'll see if I can find it.

ETA slyder it's lovely that your tattoo means so much to you. I am a big believer in having meaning to the ink you put on your skin that will be there forever.

I actually had to dig it out of the hotseat thread in Archives! Lol!

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Just how many tattoos are there???

This is a long answer:

I think I have 15 (and everyone's going 'you think?') My first was a 2 cm fish on my right hip. My XH is a Pisces and he thought it would be cool for both of us to get a tattoo of a fish. Yeah right. But it got me started down the track of tattoo addiction. I have a winged unicorn on my left shoulder blade, which I got to signify my freedom when XH and I got separated. I've got a tiny posy on my right shoulder which is my innocence. I have my three children's names on my left ankle, and four intertwined flowers on my right calf, which is my sister, my sister-in-laws and me (we all have the tattoo, even though my brothers are no longer with them)

I have a band going round my left arm, which my tattooist did for free as a token of our friendship.

I have 3 butterflies on my tummy, which I got after I went on my first date after separating from my XH. The guy I went out with kissed me and for the first time in 10 years, I got butterflies in my tummy. I thought it was a momentous enough occasion to document in on my tummy! Lol!

I have an angel holding a baby on my left upper arm, which I got to signify my motherhood, and I have the 7 deadly sins 'crossworded' on my right upper thigh. This is my -ahem -wicked side. Needless to say, it's a big tattoo!

I have two geckos under my belly button, which both my sister and I got together, and - my biggest tattoo - creeping vines all over my lower back, which I got in Australia and my sister got in Singapore at exactly the same time on the same day. I have a scorpion on my spine, which is for my beautiful DH, who is a Scorpio.

Last but not least is my favourite, which is a baby coming out of an egg, floating on clouds and with rays of light shining out behind it. This tattoo took me weeks to draw, and I wear it proudly on my right arm.

It's not the biggest but is the most intricate. It was done the month after I had my tubal ligation reversed in July 2001, and marked the start of my TTC journey. In May this year, all going well, after almost four years after I got it, my award winning tattooist will be adding the baby's name to the bottom of it.

Except for my fish, band round my arm and the unicorn, I drew all my own tattoos. But except for the bub's name, I've decided on no more tattoos. This is partly coz I'm running out of skin, and partly because I'm getting too old and too conservative to keep going in my old age! Lol!

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I have since added Charllie's name to the top of the last tattoo. And I still hold to there being no more tattoos for me. :)

slyder : that is the coolest av i have seen !!

i have 3 :
a celtic one , that at 17 just looked cool and i wanted it , it was the one that stuck out the most , in the small of my back

a angel , which is my design , its on my inner ankle , its my garudian

and on my hip i have my name in chinese/japanese .. lol who knows , i was in the uk at the time and it was only 10 pounds .... i had my belly button re done then , and my tounge and my nose and scaffolding in my ear ...

use to think it was cool .... now .... no way ...lol oh how we change

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Jodie, I'd better clarify - I'm a bloke. I think a butterfly or rose on me might be very different!

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oops... sorry Slyder... I have the avatars switched off... and I guess I didn't think about your 'sex'. :redface:
I must admit... when I read about your tattoo... I was thinking "mmm... bit butch for a girl - but good on her - at least its not a rose or butterfly!" :lol:

at the moment I only have 2

the first one I got in my senior year of high school (yes I went into the tattoo parlour in school uniform) and got a love heart on my tush. Everybody else was getting their ears pierced and I couldn't see the point (I already had 3 in one ear & 1 in the other and I didn't even wear earrings very much)

When I was 26 (after 7 years of hunting a decent design) I got my second one done. It is a Zulu shield - because my heritage on my mother's side is Zulu (my great-great grandmother was a Zulu princess of the Ximba tribe) - gallery pic.

Now I'm currently trying to work out the design for tattoo number 3 - I know it will incorporate details of mum and dad who have both passed away, it will include names/initials, DOB, DOM & DOD (date of birth/marriage/death).

That is a fab tatt, Schaz! I look forward to seeing more of your work as you get it done.

And as usual: I've got all of mine in the gallery here: My Tattoos

Lol everytime there is a thread on tatts, I'm in there posting and linking to my photos! <slaps wrists>

Honestly though, anyone else with tatts, please feel free to link it to a gallery pic here. I luuuuurve looking at other people's tatts. I can talk tattoos til the cows come home!

sushee... the link doesn't work...

Bugger! Okay try it now :)

i'll have to get Dh to take piccies of mine

i have a japenese symbol of strength on my ankle (we were having some very nasty family issues at the time plus starting the AC journey)

two intertwined roses on my right shoulder blade (for DH and I - we gave roses to each other as part of our wedding) and a butterfly has been added to these (cos i give DH butterfly kisses and he thought it would be prefect)

a gothic moon with a heart on my left shoulderblade - as a tribute to our angel babies. i want to add to this in some way for our third angel (heart represents one baby, moon the second) - but not sure what i want to do

will try to post some piccies tomorrow


ooh - yeah, almost forgot - DH has a tat that is a converstion starter every time - he has the Bundy Bear (old label) on his leg, with "caution: drop bear" around it - it's amazing how many people stop and talk about how good it looks (DH lives in shorts) - and the number of guys who've said "omg, my wife would divorce me for that!!" i love it though - it's who he is!

Is anyone else having trouble with my link? Because it's very definitely working for me. Failing all else, click on my 'photo gallery' under my mood and it's one of my albums.

working now hun

when it had "here" instead of "my tattoos" it went to an error page