Story Time - My First Tattoo

I recently got my first tattoo...

It isn't overly complicated and this might be a short post but I thought I better tell you the meaning behind my minimalistic tattoo and what caused me to get it. I haven't been posting regularly lately and I apologise. I have been finding myself recently and that has been a lot of crying, turning off my phone and taking a break from social media. Luckily, I have a group of supportive friends and family, so I am getting there quickly. 

And that leads me to my tattoo.

Firstly, this tattoo was not on a whim. I have been thinking about this for years but I never had the courage to do it. I had seen and heard horror stories of people getting awfully done tattoos and this was going to be on my body forever, so it took me awhile to come round. But recently, I fancied a change. I knew this tattoo was something I wanted and since I have been home (in Dorset) for the week, I thought, why not?

I got in contact with the ladies from Invictious Ink and explained my situation. They were lovely and really helpful when touching up my idea.  

My tattoo is made up of five individual large-ish stars connected by dotted lines to make them appear that they are in a constellation. These symbolise my siblings and me. The first star is for my older sister, then me, then my younger and sister and finally, my two younger brothers.

My tattoo is not finished though and it won't be for a good few years!

From my older sister's star (the first) there is a smaller star coming off of it, again connected by a small dotted line. This is for my older sisters son, my nephew. As myself and my siblings begin adding to our own little families, I will be adding their children to my tattoo. Every time one of them has a baby, I will have another little star added to their main, larger star.

One of the main questions I got asked is (and I am sure it's the same for many people), did it hurt? For me, no. It didn't hurt. It was on the fleshiest bit of my arm, it was a small, simple tattoo and it was only line work. I didn't have any shading done, so I barely felt it. Although, I have heard it has hurt other people.

However, if you want a tattoo, get one. It isn't a good enough reason not to get one just because it might hurt. If something means so much to you that you want it on your body for the rest of life, take the chance and do it. 

This tattoo means a lot to me.  I love my siblings and I am very lucky to have such a loving family. I wanted to do something to show that I care as sometimes, I find it hard to express it. Also, I felt it was symbolic for many reasons. You can never quit on your family, they are on my body forever now. Also, even as we grow and make our own families, we will always be part of one, large unit. 

I love you lots Stacey, Grace, Tyler, Kai and Ralphy ox