Sandra's Cherry Blossoms

I met Sandra at the local laundromat at the end of August and she shared this lovely tattoo on her upper right arm:

There are two elements to this design, the cherry blossoms and the quote. The cherry blossoms were inked after her father was initially diagnosed with cancer. The quote was added when Sandra decided to move to New York from Oregon.

Reading "When your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme...", this quote is from the film Pinocchio, in the song "When You Wish Upon a Star".

The tattoo was done by Dragon at Star Tattoo, in Portland, Oregon.

Thanks to Sandra for sharing her lovely tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!


Here's a little bonus:

Frank's Anvil

When someone is "not sure" how many tattoos they have, the one they do offer up can seem a bit random.

Take Frank, for example, who volunteered this anvil for us here at Tattoosday:

Why an anvil? "I'm a big Looney Tunes fan," he told me. The anvil, falling from great heights, is often a cartoon catalyst for one of those big expanding bumps on the head of say, Wile E. Coyote, for example. Thus the name on the anvil, ACME, which was said coyote's chief supplier of items designed to aid in the capture of the Roadrunner.

This particular piece was inked by Jae Connor at Electric Lotus Tattoo in Boonton, New Jersey. Work from Electric Lotus has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Frank for sharing this nostalgic tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

The Queen of Clams

One year ago today, I posted about meeting a couple of Kansas City burlesque performers outside of Penn Station (recalled here).

Since then, I had the pleasure of meeting another local performer, Legs Malone, and documenting one of her tattoos here.

Coincidentally, I am sharing here today, a tattoo on the ankle of one Miss Clams Casino.

It would be one thing if I was catching these performers in their natural habitats of burlesque shows, but my encounter with Clams was so fleeting, I was fortunate enough to snap a photo and take her card.

A brief ride on the F train (two stops only) afforded me enough time to spot a tattoo above her ankle, introduce myself and take a picture before necessity required I transfer to the R train.

So, here's the tattoo that so intrigued me:

As I mentioned previously, I barely had time to snap a photo, let alone get the story behind this cool tattoo. Thankfully, Miss Clams Casino was generous enough to send me the story at a later date:

"Every year I go to the Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend in Las Vegas and play in the official Burlesque Hall of Fame Poker Tournament. I enjoy poker, but I know that I'm probably not going to win, so I like setting little goals for the game with fabulous rewards...in 2009 I decided that if I won a hand with a pair of Queens I would get a tattoo to mark the occasion. Long story short, a few hands in I was dealt a pair of Queens and won the only hand I won that tournament. A few months later, my friend Scarlet Sinclair was getting started as a tattoo artist and was looking for willing guinea pigs. I told her the story and that I'd like some ink involving Queens and hearts and she came up with this incredible design. I went to see her at Matt's Tribal Dragon Tattoo in Bethpage, NY and was her 7th tattoo ever. She's incredible and I love the queen living on my ankle."

Thanks to Miss Clams Casino for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Please feel free to check her out on these sites:

http://www.MissClamsCasino.com
http://www.GameShowSpeakeasy.com
http://www.casinoofortunecookie.com
http://www.burlesqueonthegogo.com