Halloween Bonus: Zombie Pinup

Back in September I posted Little Dead Riding Hood, courtesy of Amy, who I met in Penn Station.

Amy has a new tattoo, which she generously shared:


It's a zombie pin-up girl, and appropriate for the holiday today.

Like the previous piece, this was created by T.J. Mcinnis at Mcinnis Tattoo Company in Providence, Rhode Island.

Thanks again to Amy for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Have a safe and ghoulishly fun Halloween!

girly sleepover with my bestiiiie!

girly sleepover with my bestiiiie!, originally uploaded by daniellehampton.

Surprise!

Surprise!, originally uploaded by daniellehampton.

I keep finding little "I love you" type notes that Hank hid all over the house before he left for tour, and I just found one in between the last two pieces of my favorite bread I eat every morning! He really is the best partner and I just really wanted to share this one with all of you because it made me laugh so much to imagine him cutting up all of these little sheets of paper and hiding them in all the places I go to or see daily. For instance, I found one in my vitamins the first night he was gone, inside my computer the morning he left, etc. He's such a sweetheart and constantly reminds me of what love is. I never want this kind of sharing to seem boastful, I just am really grateful and proud of the love we have and really enjoy writing about it! Thanks for reading... :)

Happy almost Halloween!

Choose the Right Tattoo

Matt has twenty-three (23) tattoos and he offered up this simple trio of letters:
The CTR represents the expression "Choose the Right," a common thread in the ideology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly referred to as the Mormon church.

In essence, Matt explained, it means "follow the right path". Its akin to a mantra eschewing sinful activities frowned upon by the church like drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, doing drugs, and, yup, you guessed it: getting tattooed.

Matt finds great power in this tattoo because it represents an oxymoron: the letters CTR stand for a way of life that is contradicted by the fact that they have been tattooed on flesh. It would be like a Jewish person having the phrase, in Hebrew, "You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or imprint markings upon you: I am the Lord" tattooed on them. As a tattooed Mormon, this is Matt's way of addressing,and coming to terms with, the disparity between faith and his love of tattoos.

This was tattooed by a friend of his in Ogden, Utah.

Thanks to Matt for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Show and Tell

I was featured in Bleubird Vintage's Show and Tell this month! Bleubird is one of my most favorite blogs and this was a really fun idea to be a part of!

Here's my contribution, and be sure to cruise over there to check out what I said about this photo, and what all the other lovelies contributed as well! Happy Thursday!



Oh, and click here to visit Bleubird Vintage.

The only toy I collect!

new toy, thanks to my dear friend Alex at Super7!, originally uploaded by daniellehampton.

I love Vampire Rose. I am not a vinyl toy person by any means but when I first saw her at Comic Con this past July I fell in love. This is my third one, and my third one from my friend Alex. He works for a toy company called Super7 and this is one of the new toys that was designed by a really neat guy named Josh. I think it is the cutest most lovable piece of vinyl I ever did see and I hope one day to own them all. So thanks to my friend Alex...you are the best!

If you're curious about toys...check out Super7!

for Hank <3

for Hank , originally uploaded by daniellehampton.

Shiri's Logos

"Excuse me," I called, loudly, on the 34th Street train platform, "Can I ask you about your tattoo?"

Anyone reading this who has been featured here may recognize this as my opening salvo. Most people are open to my questions. Very few dismiss me. For this I am thankful.

Shira was the woman to whom I was speaking, and she was very welcoming to my inquiries.

Here is the best of the many tattoos I saw she had:


It's a fairly intricate (and extremely well-done) replica for one of the album designs for a band named Sponge. Shiri had a matching t-shirt, but taking a picture of that would have been borderline creepy, in my opinion. Unfortunately, the only image online I could find was small:


On her left arm she had two other band designs:


The one on the right is from the group Gogol Bordello, which surprised me as I had seen a similar tattoo several weeks before (and recounted here).


The logo on the left was from a group called Spookey Ruben.

Obviously, Shiri is a big fan of all these groups. The tattoos were all inked by her brother Ron.

You can see other band-related tattoos by clicking on the appropriate tag at the bottom of the post.

Thanks to Shiri for sharing her cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday

Today was a good day! I don't have much time to blog because I need to finish cleaning house, but I wanted to make a quick daily post to say "hello!" to all of you and to ramble a bit before I buckle down and finish the job. So Hank has been gone since last week and I have been enjoying all of this alone time, but of course missing my darling! He is having so much fun though, and it makes me so happy to hear that excitement in his voice whenever we talk. He's been in touring bands since he was about fifteen so that's a lot of seeing the world! Some of you may be familiar with his former band, Life in Pictures- he was the singer and I really love their music. You can check them out on any music site/buy their music from any major retailer if you're interested. His current band, Hour of the Wolf is really awesome too, and he plays guitar. He is involved in other musical projects as well...which is so opposite from me! I don't have much musical talent, so I hope our kids get all of his. We're both artistic in our own way, but a musician I am not! So anyway, he is having a blast. If you want to read up on his adventures, check out his blog here.

I have been keeping pretty busy over this week and I am getting so excited for Halloween! Tomorrow night I am hosting a little get-together at my house...Halloween treats and Hocus Pocus with some of my favorite ladies. It should be a great time. Then, barring that Sarah's sickness does not progress, I am heading to Tempe for a super girly sleepover at her new house, and we will more than likely check out our girl's burlesque show at a large party that night. Saturday we are going to head back up to Prescott and spend Halloween here! Terra is coming down from Flagstaff, so between RB, Jenn, and my girls it should be a great time. Our friends are having a party at their house and then we'll all be trekking downtown to Whiskey Row. I am just crossing my fingers that Suki gets healthy so we can enjoy an awesome weekend!

As for now, I am off to clean. I hope all of you have a beautiful evening! I will be doing my picture post either Friday or Sunday, so stay tuned! Love you all.

"You Gotta Go There to Come Back": Sarah Shares Three Tattoos

Sarah's half-sleeve jumped out at me in Penn Station as I was quietly bemoaning cooler weather and the dwindling of my blog backlog.

I was pleased to find Sarah more than accommodating, as she shared several perspectives of the ink tattooed on her upper right arm.

Visiting from Newcastle, Australia, her tattoos revolved around this piece at the center of her bicep:


I asked if there was any significance to these two women, but Sarah noted that they were just two pretty girls.

This fluid script is on the outside of her arm:


It states "You gotta go there to come back..." or, in her words, you have to "understand how shitty it can be, before how good it can get".

On her inner arm is the following tattoo:


Sarah says that this design of an angel on a cigarette break is based on the work of a popular London graffiti artist named "Banksy".


All of her work was done by Pat, the owner of 2012 Tattoo Studio in Newcastle.

Thanks very much to Sarah for sharing her incredible tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Ask me...

SO with Hank on tour and one of my number one Prescott girls sick with the flu, I have a lot of time on my hands outside of working out and doing things around the house! What better time to invite you, all of my lovely blog friends, to play a little game with me!

Go ahead and comment and name anything in my life you'd like to see a photo of! It can be where I sleep, my favorite makeup, the view from my living room window...anything!

Later this week I will make a picture post showing you all of the things in my world you were interested in seeing!

Also, please post this in your blog so we can keep the little game going!

Hank playing a show in Albequerque at the start of the tour...how adorable is he?!

Hour of The Wolf, originally uploaded by Miguel A. Chavez.

I miss my darling! Stoked he is having a blast though. :)

Hang the DJ

I met Rohan on a Brooklyn-bound A train.

He has "thirteen or fourteen" tattoos, and he offered up this one from his right arm:


The phrase "Hang the DJ" refers to lyrics sung by Morrissey when he was with The Smiths.

I was only on the train with him for two stops, so I didn't get a full explanation of the tattoo until later, when Rohan e-mailed me:

I got this tattoo for several reasons - first and foremost I love The Smiths and their music changed the way I viewed myself against the social and cultural backdrop that we're all in. I thought a jukebox with the lyrics "Hang the DJ", the refrain from the song "Panic", was ironic.


The jukebox is what allows all of us to be the DJ and in "Panic", Morrissey is singing about how the music the DJ is playing means nothing to him and his life, and I share that sentiment with most of what I hear. The tattoo is sort of an encapsulation of how I feel about rock and roll and how certain bands and certain songs can, when they're really good and really honest, mean a lot more than just entertainment value.

The tattoo was inked by Dusty Neal in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is currently working at Donny Manco's New Republic Tattoo.

UPDATE: I exchange a few e-mails with the artist Dusty Neal after this posted and he remembered doing this tattoo very early on in his career as an artist. He wanted me to clarify this point, and to communicate that he feels that his art has developed to the point that this piece does not best represent his work as a tattooer. A look at photos of his work on MySpace here certainly showcases some amazing tattoos. Dusty encourages people to check out his current endeavors and, with all due respect to Rohan and the tattoo in this post, judge his talents based on what he has done more recently, and not early on in his career.

Thanks again to Rohan for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

As a little bonus, here is the video from "Panic" by the Smiths:

Benjamin's Amazing Viking-Geisha Sleeve by Tim Kern

Please join me as I extend a metaphor.

I approach inkblogging as if I were one of those guys that goes out on the beach with a metal detector.

You find a lot of interesting stuff and, every once in a while, you find treasure.

Earlier this month, I saw a man in front of Madison Square Garden walking south. I was headed in the opposite direction and, despite my general reluctance to post sleeves here (I wonder if I can even do them justice), I stopped and asked him to show me the amazing work on his right arm.

I should also preface this by acknowledging how awesome it is to randomly find work by a tattoo artist who is at the top of his game, and is a recognized talent in the tattoo community.

Benjamin, the guy I stopped, was visiting New York from Denmark to see his artist, Tim Kern at Tribulation Tattoo. He was in town to begin work on a new sleeve. Benjamin happily shared his first sleeve:


Benjamin summarized the theme of his arm by stating that life is about choices. The two extrmes are, you can take a life, as represented by the Viking warrior at the top of the shoulder:


This is juxtaposed by the geisha who is taking her own life through ritual suicide:


The detail of the blood-spattered hand holding the seppuku blade is fascinating in its stark grisliness:


The sleeve also includes stunning waterfall and pagoda elements on the inside of the arm:


I especially appreciate the beauty and shading of the pagoda:


The color and artistry of this entire sleeve are astonishing and we are honored that Benjamin consented to contributing this work to Tattoosday.

We thank him and the artist Tim Kern for their work!

hoodie + tea + reality televsion...recovering from this weekend!

I look sad, but this is actually my "I am existing on 4 hours of sleep" face..."about to go to bed" face, and my "bummed I am missing my husband on tour" face!

Smiles tomorrow, I swear! xo

recovering!, originally uploaded by daniellehampton.

Weekend in Review

This weekend I joined some of my closest girlfriends for a weekend at our old stomping grounds- Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ for the Homecoming festivities. We don't go every year, but this year worked out for a majority of us last minute, so we took the plunge and decided to go. Our usual girl's trip/travel group was whittled down a bit due to Amy and Carrie living in Florida and Minnesota, respectively, and Autumn and Brenda pregnant, so it turned out to be just five of us.

I had the best time this weekend. I got to catch up with so many old, dear friends and my little heart felt like it was going to just burst from happiness the entire time. Many of you might not know this, but I was in a sorority throughout all four of my undergrad college years. I lived in the house/wing and loved every single second of the experience. When people meet me now, based off appearances they're sometimes surprised I was a "sorority girl," and I don't talk about it unless I'm with my sisters or if it comes up, so it's funny for me at times when people find out and it kind of bends stereotypes and preconceived notions. I love it. In case you're curious, I'm a Pi Phi alumni (Pi Beta Phi), which is actually the oldest sorority in the United States, we were founded in 1867 and there is more than likely a chapter in any major university you visit. Pi Phi is a huge, huge part of my life and it's a really special thing to me. I feel like it really shaped me into a wonderful woman, as cheesy as it sounds, and I met many of my very, very best friends through it. I know a lot of people have negative feelings towards Greek life, but for the most part those are people who probably haven't ever experienced it themselves. I am a huge proponent of "girl power" (haha), and a total girl's girl...so sorority life was made for someone like me. A big part of Homecoming is meeting up with all of the Pi Phis, and the active chapter will do a luncheon or banquet on the last day. This year we went out Friday night, Saturday morning for a late-start Tequila Sunrise, and Saturday night. Sunday was the luncheon. Overall the weekend was awesome. We ate yummy food, walked all over downtown, danced our butts off, and laughed 'til we cried. It's such a wonderful thing to be able to make new memories with old friends. Like I said earlier, my heart is so full of love and so happy, and I am so grateful for all of these amazing women in my life.

Now, pictures!

our room at the historic Monte Vista Hotel right in the heart of downtown Flagstaff. I LOVE this hotel so much, and the salon/spa Autumn and I worked at all through college is attached to this, so I would often have to go into the scary basement to get fresh towels. I am positive the place is haunted and Erin, Jenna and I swear we had a strange experience with the "Bellman Ghost." haha.



Jenna, Erin, and Shirley




dinner! We enjoyed a delicious Thai meal.






After dinner we headed down to Maloney's, which is a bar we used to frequent while in college. It is definitely not my kind of place now, but it was fun for awhile and we ran into a million people! I ended up seeing Kelli, my sister's best friend and one of my favorite people. Her boyfriend Mike attended NAU so they came up for the weekend and it was a pleasant surprise to see her. :)



Alana and me, squinty because the flash was way too bright for a dark bar!



more squints! ;)



outside, it was so cold. I swear I'm not that short, just crouching!



Katie and Terra, Autumn and my little sisters in Pi Phi and dear friends! I love them.





Big sis/little sis! Terra is one of the most important people to me in the whole, wide world. We've been through a lot together and now that she is back in the country I am so excited to spend as much time as possible with her. She is coming up this next weekend to stay with me, and I'm literally counting down the minutes. She is such a doll.



We spent Friday night bar hopping and ended the night at the Monte V, dancing to a fun band and being silly. Alana, Erin and I decided to eat pizza at 3am (NOT my style and I felt so gross the next day- although it was so delicious at the time), and went to sleep around 4am or so. The next morning was Tequila Sunrise, which is an NAU tradition where the bars open at 6am and it's just an all-around insane time. We thought about doing it/not going to sleep...but sleep won and we didn't wake up until around 8am and then headed downtown, still insanely tired!

Here we are! Alana does not look happy. ;)



heading down in the elevator


Here's Shirley, sitting on the patio at Charly's/Hotel Weatherford and enjoying brunch. We were incessantly entertained by the wasted, wasted people stumbling around!



beautiful day


tired faces...shortly after this I went back up to the room and napped my heart out with Jenna!


That night we decided to do Beaver St. Brewery for dinner and then go out once again to see friends and enjoy our last night in town! Dinner was okay, Shirley and I split a pizza (bad choice...pizza again?!) and a salad.

Jenna and Alana at dinner



Afterwards we went over to The Green Room.

Don't even ask what those drinks are...and yes, that is a Red Bull can floating in the pitcher.



Now this is a horrid picture of me, but the real gem is cute Shirley in the background. Her face makes me laugh every time and I'm leaving this up for Autumn's benefit!



Leah!



I stopped taking photos at this point because the night got a little crazy and I forgot to, but it was really fun time! :)

The next morning we slept in as late as possible and headed over to the Pi Phi luncheon I mentioned at the beginning of the entry! One of the neatest things about this afternoon was that one of my very special students, Anna, is a Pi Phi pledge now, so I'm taking part in her experience with her...I'm just so excited that she decided to do it and it's awesome that she's a part of something so special to me.

Jenna and Shirls downstairs in the conference room



Alumni photo!





Anna and me!



up in the chapter room- Michelle is in the middle and she is basically the chapter's "Mom." Her class was the founding Pi Phi class at NAU, and she's now the advisor. It's very neat to know her as an adult now, rather than the way it was before.



Here are some of the baby Pi Phis that rushed when I was a junior...they're all grown up and it's adorable.



more of the little ones



And finally, one more in the hallway!



So, that was my weekend! I definitely need to get to sleep now but I hope all of you had a beautiful past two days. I have a few things I want to blog about this week outside of day to day stuff, so I will be tackling that tomorrow night. Goodnight all! xo