#30585
    mikemaciazka
    Participant
    @mikemaciazka

    Hi, my name is Mike. I’m here because I want to find ideas and resources for future tattoos.

    I currently have one tattoo. It’s a memorial to my daughter, Abigail Rose. She was born 7/19/07 and passed away 21 hours later on 7/20/07. She had HLHS which is a congenital heart defect. She’s our little angel now.

    P1100301-2.jpg

    It is located on my left arm starting just below my shoulder and is about 7 or 8 inches tall.

    My wife wants to get their names tattooed on her wrist, but was wondering how much that location hurts. Any comments? Or other locations that may be better?

    My wife and I have a son who just turned 1 in June….Oliver Thomas. I want to get something that symbolizes him now that his personality is starting to come out. He’s a little monkey and a comedian as well. He is always climbing on anything he can and loves his sock monkeys and other stuffed monkeys he has. He’s also a little ham…always making people smile and laugh with how he acts and reacts to people. I’ll have to link a couple videos of him.

    My idea right now is to have a monkey (more of a cartoon style) along with his name below it or somehow linked to it. This is a new idea I just got a little while ago so I haven’t put much thought into it yet. He’s only 13 months old now, so I may wait and think about things a bit more, but for now that’s my idea and I’d like to work on developing that to see if it’s something I really like.

    I’d also like to get a tattoo to memorialize my grandpa who passed away a week after my daughter and my father who passed away a year and a half before she was born. Something that works for both of them…more of a “we’ll never forget you” type tattoo. Any ideas as to what I can get started with would be great.

    And finally, I’d like to get something that symbolizes my heritage…I’m Polish and would like to get something to show this…whether it be the Polish Eagle or whatever, I’m not sure…anybody have ideas or tattoos of something related that they can share?

    My biggest problem is just getting the ball rolling for ideas. Once I have some ideas I can work with them and change them to my liking and then if it’s something that just strikes me as being the one, I’ll do it, but otherwise I’ll take my time with these as I want to make sure they are going to be the ones I want to have.

    Thanks for taking the time to read this intro. I hope I can get some ideas here.

    Mike

    #67098
    BIKERinBLACK77
    Participant
    @bikerinblack77

    Welcome to the forums.

    Sorry to hear about the passing of your daughter. Memorial tattoos are of the highest tribute in my opinion.

    For your son, how about his name and b-day with a monkey climbing ontop or something along those lines. Or a big bannana tree with serveral monkeys crawling up and having his name form the leafs or in the bark of the tree?

    And, I am a big fan of larger pieces…so why not get a nice chest piece or back piece to symbolize your heritage and make it a memorial for your daughter and grandfather. You could get portraits, with the word always remember in the polish language, and have images such as doves, praying hands/rays of lights, etc.

    I’m not very good designing other peoples tattoos. I’m the “hole puncher- apprentice” lol. Just my quick thoughts.

    #67133
    Sherav
    Participant
    @sherav

    Hi Mike

    I am sorry for your loss (I know it can annoy when people say it but having lost most of my family by 22 I do know how the pain feels but not as deep as that of a child – you have my deepest prayers).

    Onto a more positive note that ink is very nice and does justice to your memories.

    With regards to your son why not have the monkey hanging from the letters of his name?

    Here is a website of devotional tattoos that might inspire your thoughts for you grandfather and father.

    http://www.religioustattoos.net/Other_Tattoos/index.php

    If you are not a religious person or is simply not your style here are a few ideas;

    Were they into any sports – my friend has a pair of boxing gloves with ‘Never Forgotten’ above and their names on each glove as an example.

    You could have a setting or rising sun with their names making up the rays.

    Portrait tattoos with their names.

    The wrist is a sensitive area due to the number of pain receptors in the area but is more than bearable so I am sure your wife would be fine.

    Take Care
    Matthew

    #67147
    mikemaciazka
    Participant
    @mikemaciazka

    Thanks for the comments and sympathy.

    I really appreciate the info and the ideas. I now have a few new ideas for my son and for my family members. Thanks for “opening my eyes/mind” to the new ideas. I will have to work on a few things and talk to some artists I know locally for some sketches.

    Again, thank you.

    Mike

    #67149
    nickthenug
    Participant
    @nickthenug

    Where do you get your ink in MN?

    #67170
    mikemaciazka
    Participant
    @mikemaciazka

    I had my tattoo done by “Alien” (Steve Butterfield) of Alien and Co. He’s actually based out of Sioux Falls, SD now, but he used to work in MN years ago. My sister-in-law and her family are very good friends with him so they host tattoo parties at their house with him 2-3 times a year. I had mine done that way last October.

    My wife will be getting hers done at Captive Elements in Blaine. I’ve seen quite a few nice pieces done there. I’m considering them along with Ink Tailor, Adam Chiodo for my future work. Unless “Alien” is back in town when I decide to get some work done.

    There are a number of other shops that I have seen good work from, but I only have the one tattoo myself, so I can only really talk about his work. I know a lot of people who have gone to many different places though.

    #67183
    Outlaw
    Participant
    @outlaw

    sorry for your sad loss..

    with regards to your son, how about a monkey sitting on top of some childrens building blocks, and on the blocks the letters for his name ??
    or a monkey holding a big bunch of balloons as if he was being lifted off the ground, and your sons name on the baloons??
    the list is endless and many people could give ideas… you father and grandfather piece might be a little more tricky
    you could possibly go for your family crest with a ribbon gently wrapping around it with their names in the ribbon, and the polish flag flying above the crest at half mast ??

    if you pm me i could possibly draw something out for you if you like.. 😉

    #67394
    mikemaciazka
    Participant
    @mikemaciazka

    My wife got her first tattoo today (probably her only from the way she talked about the pain…). I personally like the pain, but she doesn’t…she said she’d rather have another child. That’s fine with me too.

    Here’s what she got:

    DSCF8283-2.jpg

    Our daughter and son’s names…she found the font online (child’s handwriting) and she liked it a lot, so she went with that…a pink star for Abby, a blue star for Oliver, and an orange star for the future, whatever it may hold.

    DSCF8281-2.jpg

    Our son at our daughter’s grave…

    #67395
    mikemaciazka
    Participant
    @mikemaciazka

    Also, my wife and I have been discussing the tattoo for my son…I’m starting to like the idea of letters on blocks…maybe stacked in the shape of an L.

    O
    L
    I
    V E R

    for a pattern with a monkey sitting in the L or doing something there (hanging or juggling something else…not sure yet). It’s a start for an idea.

    I originally was liking the idea of a monkey hanging from his name and still like the idea, but I can’t really decide which I like more and I’m having trouble doing more than picturing it in my head. I can’t draw to save my life and my wife may take some time to help me with that later, but I wish I could get my thoughts out on paper as pictures. I can visualize but can’t draw.

    So if there is any more feedback for this, I would appreciate it very much.

    Also, I’m debating on where to put it…if I go with the blocks stacked in an L shape, I was thinking my back….left shoulder. I could keep it close to Abigai’s tattoo.

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