My 1st tattoo

Check out the process:



2010 will mark the 4th birthday and anniversary for the loss of Gabi. I have wanted a tattoo in her name since she passed. After much research and thought. I decided on a tattoo that had meaning behind it and something I would want to have forever.

I came up with the idea of a pocket watch with the time 12:07 with wings and a halo. That is all I wanted. As you can see I got so much more.

I did much research looking for the right artist and luck should have it I met a guy, Michael, standing in line at the Johnny Cupcakes tour and his friend Ryan's had this awesome rooted tattoo (it is a tree and going down to the roots) and it was awesome. He told me the guy was in Orlando and he had done both of his tattoos. Through him I got introduced to Enrique Zayas at Chrome Lotus Tattoo.

Here is the rationale behind what I wanted for a tattoo:

12:07:
12:07pm was the time that Gabi was born and it was also the time I looked forward to. Every time the clock read 12:07pm it meant I had another day with Gabi. We had 12 awesome days with her. Hence the clock on the tattoo reads 12:07.

The numbers on the watch:
I looked and looked for the font of the numbers and it hit me that my dad had given me a pocketwatch that had been passed down to me on my wedding day. His pocket watch has numbers 1-12 but for the tattoo I could only do 12, 3, 6, and 9.

The G:
The G is Gabi's 1st initial.

The Wings, Halo and Pocket watch:
In my initial thoughts I had it being just a G with wings or something and I also did not want a tattoo that was just her name. So I went with the wings and halo and the watch since it has a few meanings- an angel in heaven and also that time flew bye and it wasn't enough time to be with Gabi.

The Sunshine:

The amazing part about this is that I never told Enrique that on Gabi's headstone we have: "Our Grace from God. You will always be our Sunshine." Since Kristen would always sing to Gabi- You are my Sunshine. When I saw his initial sketch, having only told him about the watch, halp and wings and saw the Sun and the Sunshine. I was blown away and asked myself how did he know.

Did it hurt? Check out the video of me and my initial reaction to it. Now I will not lie and say it was pleasant. After the outlining and his shading I was fine. It was when he started coloring that I was in some pain.

Click here to see Enrique's website.

I get to wear pants for the next 2 weeks but it will be well worth it is fully healed and the true colors come out. I know some don't like tattoos and others do. I've wanted one and glad that this was my 1st tattoo