Friday, December 30, 2011

63. Butterfly Scarification

Here is an update of my butterfly scarification. It's about 3 1/2 weeks old now, done by Brian Decker in Brooklyn. It has been very itchy off and on these last couple of weeks, and there is only one small area where any type of scabbing occurred...it's in the branded area of the body and I don't think it will be there much longer. I've been using peroxide once to twice a day at this point, and will continue so for another week or two (if you didn't know, peroxide damages healthy healing cells, which is why it's never suggested for body piercings!), and after that I will use almond seed oil for a short time. I'm not sure there is much I can do after the main healing has happened, as I do not keloid well. It will likely end up resembling a white tattoo, but I'm going to do what I can to make it raise. It's still new so there is still time!

My skin was a little dry in the picture, but here's what it looks like today!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

62. Prank Time!

After Christmas dinner, I went to my shop and spent two hours wrapping up my co-worker's station. It took me a long time to figure out how to get him back for a prank he pulled on me with fire crackers. I feel so accomplished. :D

Monday, December 26, 2011

61. My Clarity

I have done quite a bit of thinking in the last few weeks about the people around me. With the end of the year just around the corner, I've found myself reflecting back on Twenty Eleven, and the challenges I've faced this year based on my appearance alone. I had my chin completely tattooed early in the year, and it has been the topic of conversation with almost every person I encounter on a daily basis. I love my tattoo, but I'm a little burned out on the amount of asinine questions and ignorant remarks, day in and day out. It doesn't have to mean any one thing in particular. It doesn't matter what I will do with it when I have children, or when I'm old. I wanted it because it makes me feel strong, beautiful....free! It separates me from you. My skin, this reflection of my inner self.

Being accepted by others has proven to be quite a challenge after I had decided to take the step towards being a visibly modified individual and finding a career in body piercing. I never thought I would ever be judged in life based on my appearance or what I do. Especially in the recent years, I've begun to see the true colors of others, even those who are my family members. It's not always easy to explain when "because I like to" isn't a sufficient enough answer. With the invention of Facebook, it's has been increasingly more difficult to keep all aspects of my life hidden from my family and friends who do not fully comprehend or accept my drive for change. I've found that I have less friends and less respect from family than when I started out in life, solely because of the choices I've made in modification. I never thought it would be this hard. I've been shunned by family, friends, the general public. I don't regret my decisions, however. I continue to be kind to those around me, to those who may not understand or who may feel negatively towards it, and I still continue to change my appearance despite what others say and think. I may have less in life physically, but the experiences and challenges have formed me into the person I am today. I've realized that it's okay to be different, and that I am happy with myself! I have come through of all of this with unwavering perseverance and I still continue to thrive! I've found a new perception of understanding...a sweet clarity I cannot begin to explain. I cannot imagine who I would have become without modification in my life. Only in the last few years have I been able to fully grasp this new concept and it continues to shape itself as I move forward in life and continue to alter my physical appearance. I love life. I am free.

Monday, December 19, 2011

60. 6mm/2g Conches

I thought I would share my first proper set of large gauge conches! Generally, I only do one side, and once I did a tandem with 8mm (0g) jewelry but I still only pierced the one side (the other side was done by another piercer at the same time). I love doing this kind of work!

I did this set on one of my fantastic regular clients. Two 6mm/2g conches with glass.




Going this route as compared to stretching makes things a lot easier (and safer!). Healing these are pretty similar to healing a normal cartilage piercing. I recommend hot saline compresses, and chamomile tea bag compresses if scarring shows up. I've found that some people will experience no problems at all, but some people will experience prolonged soreness and off and on, and minimal scarring during the first few months to a year. Even after the piercing has healed, you can still experience off and on soreness. My conch has been 4mm/6g for years, and if I sleep on it wrong, I will have a little discomfort and soreness for the first part of the day.

If this is a procedure you're considering, please go to an experienced professional! Consider that this is a permanent removal of cartilage, and a permanent modification of the ear that will likely not return back to normal after removing the jewelry. Larger sized removal like this may also yield the results of some hearing impairment/loss when wearing certain kinds of jewelry (like eyelets/tunnels) or when not wearing jewelry at all. It's important to make sure you know all of the pros and cons before considering this kind of modification. Be safe with your body my friends!

Friday, December 16, 2011

59. 97pt Play Piercing

I did a lovely 97 point play piercing with feathers on Wednesday. It took about three hours from start to finish. I had been wanting to do a design with feathers for quite some time and I think it came out pretty nice! I'm so glad I was finally able to achieve this. Kayla did a wonderful job as well, and she looked beautiful too!

(this kind of piercing is temporary and not intended to be permanent)





Monday, December 12, 2011

58. Butterfly Scarification

My scarification is one week old today. It was done by Brian Decker last week at his Brooklyn studio (scroll down to see a fresh picture). I've been doing a wet heal and today is the first day I haven't worn a bandage. It's a little sore and itchy, but I am incredibly pleased with the work. :D

Saturday, December 10, 2011

57. Boston / NYC

Last weekend I went to Boston and NYC. It was pretty neat! I love traveling to the east coast and I wish I could do it more often. :D I worked at Zaza Ink in Worcester and got the side of my neck tattooed by the owner Joe. Joe and his wife Irene are such nice people. :D Here's a not so great picture of the tattoo. It actually hurt a lot more than I thought it would!



I then went to NYC and saw Brian Decker for a scarification on Monday. It hurt LESS than the tattoo!! And Brian was so nice. It was nice to talk a little shop and hang out. I love my new piece too. :D



Here's a picture of me and Brian Decker together. :D



I walked around Manhattan and did touristy things. I've never really been to NYC and walked around so it was a cool experience! There was so much to look at and so many different kinds of people. I feel like I didn't get enough to time stay, but it was still a lot of fun. Next time I go back, I hope to stay for a few days longer. Here's a few pictures I took. :)






56. Corsets

I did two corsets over our customer appreciation day, a 21pt and a 20pt. Here's some pictures. :)

(this kind of piercing is temporary and not intended to be permanent)


Thursday, October 13, 2011

55. Update

I know I haven't updated in awhile. I do need to keep up on my little blog! A lot has happened and I couldn't keep up, but I will be sure to from here on out. :)

I've been a lean mean working machine! I just returned from a guest spot in Boston and will hopefully be out on the road again in February for a convention in Iowa. I will also be at the Massachusetts Tattoo & Art Festival at the end of March. The traveling is so much fun and I just love meeting new people and seeing familiar faces. :D

Here's a few pictures of what I've been up to. :)

I've been doing a lot of the heart daith piercings. I exclusively use the niobium hearts from LeRoi. Here's a couple I've done with the pink and rainbow hearts!



I've had a lot of requests for the triple forward helix in the last few months.


Here's a picture of a tongue project I did. A scoop, standard tongue, and tongue tip, all six months and older.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

54. 66pt Play Piercing

Here's a cool 66pt play piercing I did. I think it came out pretty neat!

(this kind of piercing is temporary and not intended to be permanent)




Wednesday, August 24, 2011

53. Stone Eyelets

I purchased some beautiful Blue Tiger Eye jewelry for my ears. 1 3/4" from Evolve. :D



Tuesday, August 23, 2011

52. Fancy!

I got my certificate for attending classes at APP. :D

Thursday, August 11, 2011

51. Skindependence 2011

I didn't update about my Montana adventure. To be honest, I had a great time, but later learned that some of the people associated with the event are...well... I don't have much to say except I enjoyed doing piercings and learning scarification, but I will not be attending another year. There is nothing else to say.

I did a lot of AWESOME piercings though. Here are a few pictures of what I did. You can see more on my Facebook page. :)

Here's three of the corsets I did. (these are temporary piercings and not intended to be permanent)

32 Point Hand Corsets


26pt Tie Corset, Photo by Jared Kerr


24pt Chest to Back Corset
7 on the chest...


...and 17 on the back.


I did a few cool projects aside from corsets. Nothing too fancy, but here you go!

6mm/2g Conch Punch


8mm/0g Conch Punch


Three surface anchors on the chest.


Five surface anchors on the mons pubis. The top one I re-did this year (she snagged it out). The bottom four are from last year and are one year old in this picture.


Twelve scrotal piercings. The upper six are from last year and healed. I did the lower six this year.


I took a lot more pictures of work I did, but I didn't feel like posting it all here. You can see more pictures on my Facebook or IAM pages if you're interested. Here are a few random shots and such that were fun. I hope you guys enjoyed the pictures. :)






Tuesday, May 31, 2011

50. Energy Pulls

I haven’t been posting as much as I should be, even though I made a commitment to the blog! I have a nice update here though, energy pulls! It’s been a few years since I’ve done anything like this on someone, and I found it to be a pretty inspiring experience. I feel like I’ve re-kindled this forgotten love I have for flesh hooks. Not long after bringing up the idea of pulls again, I started talking to an old friend named Cole, who I used to work with on a small suspension team a few years back. After catching up and discussing having a little show here at my work, we decided to get another suspension team together. We're calling ourselves Mile High Suspension...its a little cliché, but it works! I’m very excited to get back into the suspension scene, oh how I’ve missed it! It will be amazing to help others achieve their goals, and spread positive energies throughout Denver again. :D

The last month has been busy with energy pulls. Mothers Day, my assistant Chris and I helped two young gentlemen pull for the first time. They had a lovely time!




Last weekend we did another awesome pull from a chest to back. For first timers, they both did an amazing job!