I'm Back!!!

Sorry for the lag in entries, dealing with other peoples drama got me a little side tracked from my mission. But, that bullshit is over with and so here I am!!! A lot going on, the remodeling of the studio is going well, the front tattoo room is completely re-done and it looks amazing, Tim is doing a bang up job, I couldn't be happier!!! The new porch at the studio is almost finished, just some staining and then sealed. There's just been a buzz of handy man activity going on, i've never been surrounded by so many productive males before LOL

It has been the month of starting backpieces, 3 total and another 2 in November. I have been staying busy with some amazing projects. My clients and I have been doing some really great brain storming. All my updates of course are at my site http://tattoosbystacy.com/

My birthday is tomorrow!!!! YAYYY!!!! I must be the only 40 something woman that likes her birthday. It doesn't bother me especially when people ask me how old I am and when I tell them they usually say "WOW I thought you were in your late 20's" HA!!!! It's going to be a low key day, sleep in, relax, maybe a little dinner out, nothing too out-landish.

Fall is here, and the mountain is BEAUTIFUL!!!! A little crisp at night and it's been windy but the colors are sooo incredible. Nature is the perfect palette. I've been inspired to start a new painting, but surprisingly enough the colors aren't fall like at all. Maybe by the dead of winter I'll get into that.

I stumbeled onto a band last month called The Nation, apparently they've been around for a while, based out of NYC, love em!!! Very somber, almost Joy Division-esk. They're great for relaxing to but I have been oddly motivated by their morbid dark tone. I've only downloaded their recent release but fully intend on getting their entire catalog. I've also been listening to a lot of Rammstein, I know polar opposites but what can I say that's how I roll.

Well the day is-a-waistin and I wanna get some things done before my day of celebration tomorrow. I hope all of you are taking advantage of this beautiful day and doing something you enjoy. Peace, Love and MOTHERFUCKIN' TATTOOS!!!!!!

KOREAN FOOD ROCKS!!!!

BTW if you kids out there don't know. Went to Philly to hang with my friends and we hit up our favorite Korean place and chowed!!! Had a great weekend!!!! I always do when I'm surrounded by good positive people. Nerice LOVED her BERFDAY painting I did for her, it'll look great in their new house. According to her!!

Studio has been busy busy with the cooler weather coming in, suits me just fine since I'm a workaholic! LOL Remodeling is happening as well, love the color scheme we picked and it's getting under way!! I've been working on some really exciting pieces lately...starting a Samurai and Tiger backpiece that I'm just loving the progress on. This is Gene's first serious piece and he sits like an animal!! Posted pics above.

In a couple weeks I'll be starting a Geisha and waterfall backpiece and a Dragon and Koi back as well. I'll of course be uploading pics to my In Progress Gallery at my site http://www.tattoosbystacy.com

Loving the color change on the mountain!! My favorite time of year!! There have been a lot of deer in the yard lately too. It's incredible to watch in the morning when I'm having my juice, they walk right up to the house and eat the clover. Saw a young buck witht he family the other day, hopefully he gets grow a lil more before some hunter comes by and puts a bullet in him.

Well gotta run and get ready for my day. Enjoy the day everyone!

PEACE LOVE AND MOTHER FUCKIN TATTOOS!!!!!!

What a weekend...

I was kidnapped and taken to Jersey for a 4 hour drive...then made to wait 12 hours before someone put any type of food in front of me. By the time that happened we had to drive another 1.5 hrs. and ended up at "World Famous Elaine's" which is suppose to be a Haunted Dinner Theatre...BULL FUCKING SHIT!!!! Now even tho I was hungry, light headed and had started having my fill of small disease spreading children, I found myself seated in the dining room, surrounded by signs saying Zombie Beach Party, WTF?!!!! OK rolls come, thank Christ!!! Feeling blood sugar return to normal...so I'm looking around and this place is a dive...a Cape May New Jersey tourist trap. I'm locating fire exits that are blocked by tables, the ceiling that has water damage and prolly installed in the 70's so I'm sure I'm inhaling asbestos. Here strolls our lil blond waitress, with some goofy fake accent because she can't keep it going so I know it's fake...verbal menu starts, sounds yummy. All 9 of us place our order, and literally within 5 mins we get our soups, you can tell immediately it's from a can, hello? where's my appetizer? OH here in New Jersey you get that after your soup...morons!!! Ordered New England Clam Chowder, hello? OH here in NJ it's red not white...morons, that's Manhattan Clam Chowder. OK it's get better from here, spinach/artichoke comes during the meal and it's from a powder box mix, I shit you not!! I'm just glad I have rolls with butter in front of me. The waitress with her fake accent is snippy and rude...the speakers for the theatre keep giving loud feed back from the next room which is giving me an ear ache. Another waitress keeps hitting the back of my chair every time she walks by, I scooch in, I'm a big girl, I get it...BUT she keeps hitting it. Entrees come...I ordered Crab cake thinking we're in Cape May they gotta be bangin!!! HELL FUCKING NO!!! Dry as a bone, no flavour, and a lemon wedge on top...hello? Do I need to send Ramsey in to update your fucking menu?!!! OK this bitch waitress keeps bumping my chair, ima about to go galactic, still keep in mind no theatre production..OH in NJ the show is not with the meal, it comes after when the entire 100 of us in the dining room is done eating. WTF?! Dessert is served...best thing on the menu, key lime pie, cause that shit was shipped in, they didn't make it!! LOL lights go off, and the show begins...I have seen better high school productions. The sets were obviously painted by an amature Bob Ross(may he rest in peace, if he's not turning over in his grave), the show really has nothing to do with Zombies, a bit of a beach party I can tell but the entire production centers around a pregnant girl, mind you there are kids, lil weebles in the audience. Not age appropriate AT ALL. The show lasts for about an hour and a half, 30 mins too long for sure!!
Bill comes!! $500.00, yes people, that's right...thank Christ I was only paying for Linda and I. They've got to be joking!!!!!!! What a fucking rip off!!! BUT!!! I GOT THE COMMENT CARD!! MUAHAHAHAHAH!!!! Never again!!

I Wear Black On The Outside Cause Black Is How I Feel On The Inside

The title is from a song, wayyyy back in the 80's, some of you remember it, some of you would rather forget it, LOL Anyway...T-Shirts!!!!! Lovely, Yummy T-Shirts!!!! Hot off the press, arrived yesterday and I couldn't be happier. I've been getting bugged and bugged for a new T-Shirt design and well here it is. Get em while you can kids cause we're taking orders by email, Facebook and phone.

Been tattooing my lil fat knuckles to the bone, started a new leg sleeve last week, starting a new backpiece this week as well as a tribute to Time Burton sleeve. Drawing today, gotta catch up on my drawings. I've also got a painting a started over there in the corner stairing at me!!! I want two more arms please, anyone that knows how to make that happen I'll give you a free Body Suit!!! I also accpet cloning as an option.

Heading out to Jersey this weekend for a Haunted Dinner Theatre, better be good or ima gonna kick some Ghosts ASS!!! That's it for now folks, see ya on the flip side, PEACE LOVE AND MOTHER FUCKIN' TATTOOS!!!!!

Where Has The Summer Gone?

I can't believe August is just around the corner...amazing!!! Literally, the summer has just flown by...which can I just say good, I HATE HOT WEATHER!!! Autumn is my time of year and it's going to be great watching the leafs on the mountain turn. And then it's time for me to get to work on my own tattoo work, I like getting tattooed in cooler weather, and Jim and I have put the breaks on my leg long enough. I want this finished!!!! Only so I can move onto something else LOL

Here's a lil update for the Meeting Of The Marked convention in Oct. I am booked solid on the 29th and 30th, but still have an opening for Nov. 1st so if anyone is interested you should contact me ASAP.

OK enough with that...work has been jamin' I've takin on some great new projects; working on a drawing for a full back, Samurai and Tiger battling, which will be super exciting to start. Also starting sketch work for another back that I will be starting at the M.O.M. convention, a Tiger and Koi theme with Peonies. Doing some revisions to a sleeve of a theme that's new to me, a Masonic sleeve. I did a lot of research for this bad boy and according to my client this is going to be the sleeve of all sleeves. That's the sketch depicted above, I have a few additions I need to make, but other than that we are ready to rock and roll on this.

Updated my In Progress Gallery on my website http://tattoosbystacy.com A lil from Josh's sleeve, Jeremy's back, and Zakk's chest. I'll also be adding some healed pictures from Dale's thighs, she was down this weekend to add some flowers to her upper shoulder so while she was here we got some pics of her Tiger and Snake thigh and her other Phoenix and Chrysanthemum thigh.

Well my peeps that's it for now, I'm off to do my day off stuff, laundry, shopping, yadda yadda yadda, oh how domestic I can be. Stay cool and remember that sunblock!!!!!

SWEET 16!!

16 years ago, today I turned the Open sign on in a window and Chrome Gardens was born. When I first opened it was just me, answering the phones, tattooing, talking to clients, and then shortly after I brought on Larz "The Punkture God", also known as Larry, who was doing piercings for me and helping out. That first year was scary, but as time went on it got easier and easier, I met Linda in '96 and kidnapped her and straight away put her to work!!! We've had our share of artists come and go, some of the best times is when Bryan Campbell was with us. What a crazy motherfucker but talented, Bryan and I got our start together in the business and it was a joy to have him working along side me again. Having Janis here was a good time as well, and from that we have built an incredible friendship and bond. I love you Jan!!! When I reflect back through the years I can honestly say with no regrets I would never trade what I do, who I do it with or where I do it for anything in the world. I've made my own lil creative cocoon and I enjoy coming to the studio every single day! My clients make it fun for me, they keep me on my toes and without their support I would still be in Advertising...cringe to the thought of that sterile corporate environment!!!!! For the past year now I've had two awesomely fun people working with me, Jim and Mandy, they're top notch kids!! Mandy being my apprentice has racked my nerves some days but I love watching her progress into the talented tattoo artist she's become. Jim is a stand up guy and with a talent like his behind the machine I have no worries. They've made this past year a real pleasure and we're looking forward to many more. I can't begin to thank everyone the list is too long but you know who you are!! The Chrome Gardens family is a large one, people like Christian, Zakk, Jeremy, Rick, Dale, etc. have always been here to lend a hand when needed. It's great to have such a large support system in place, they got my back!Thanks everyone I love you all!!!! Raise your glasses to Chrome Gardens and another 16 Years!!

Here It Comes!

My lil ultra mini vacation in Rehoboth was fun, met some new people and connected with some old. HAHAHA sorry Sean, I couldn't resist. The weather was nice until Sunday hit and it was back into the 90's, and don't even get me started on yesterday. It seems to be more of the same this week as well, I am soooo grateful for air conditioning!!!

Working on Peg's Phoenix backpiece today, finishing it up is in the agenda. She certainly took the plunge...and we're discussing some further pieces for the future. I finished a sketch last week for a great client I've done a lot of work on, a lil fun thing, out of the norm for me, apparently a friend of hers got part of same concept but she wanted to push it just a lil further, which is always exciting for me. I've haven't done an Owl in oh so very long and I had been playing around with this concept for a while so when Amber contacted me it was like the gates opened and angels sang. LOL Well maybe more like voices in my head, but you get my meaning. I posted the sketch, I hope you enjoy.

Teaming up with Mandy again in a couple weeks to work some more on her mom Dales' Gypsy leg. Dale took her usual winter break but now that her skin is out and the weather has warmed up for that long drive from North Jersey it's time we got back to work. I promise to get some pics this time of our progress, we get so excited and Dale has so much energy after a session I forget. She's the only person I know who can get up after a 4 hr. long tattoo session and start clickin' her heals and stompin' her feet in a fit of musical frenzy. I am literally dazed after I get tattooed and just wanna crawl into the fetal position and sleep. I HATE the outline!!! but shading and color work never bother me the same, I really don't know too many Tattoo Artists that like getting tattooed, most of my friends in the industry I work on are babies like me. We hate it, it's a control thing I believe, just like Doctors make the worse patients.

Well it's 8:43 am and I have some work to do before I get into the studio, until next time my darlings!!! Peace, Love and MOTHERFUCKIN' TATOOS!!!!! \m/