Boom Buck - A - Laht!!! .... dot com

I feel like this blog is like my diary when I was a teenager. Every entry began with "well it's been a long time since I've written and sooooo much has happened!!" But instead of telling you about all the boys I have crushes on (I got mine!), I'm telling you about the walls torn down in my shop and the new people working here. So let's start with the construction. I've already told you about it so let me show you a little:

Here's a little before and during of the awesome job Adam (and his crew Barry and Nate) did for us - as usual! Would you like a close up??

You're going to have to come in to see the finished version. We had to do a little finagling to get 2 people to fit into the new area that I like to call "The Playpen." Cecelia and I switched spots so Iggy and I are in the new area and Cecelia and Erik share the other wall. Yee. Haw.

Hey! Remember this guy?

His name is Bryce. And he's our new receptionist. Along with this guy:

Cris was super bummed because Isaac's union suit "was sagging in weird places when we went to the coffee shop together and there was a super hot chic and Isaac stole all my thunder."

I just love it when Isaac wears his slippers to work.

Hey?! Remember when that bus hit the fire hydrant on the corner and flooded the new Indian restaurant? I guess it flood the sidewalk across the street too. We're so lucky we're on this side...

Wanna see some cool tattoos?

J.Don

J.Don

J.Don

J.Don

J.Don (nice coverup!!!)

H.Ellis

H.Ellis

H.Ellis

H.Ellis

H.Ellis

H.Ellis

H.Ellis

E.Jacobsen

E.Jacobsen

C.Cleen

C.Cleen

Austin? It was fun. These are the only pictures I took while I was there (except the other ones that I'm not going to share with you):

I started this one on my little sister. It was so great to get to hang out with her and her family!

I did this on her baby daddy. It's St. Michael. His name is Michael, too. Weird coincidence.

My friend Janet flew down from Wisconsin to have some good 'ole fun and get some work done on the tattoo/coverup I started on her in San Francisco a few months ago.

We really miss Bart at the shop so it was a special treat for him to come to Austin and share a booth with us. Even if he sports a creepy ponytail/bun these days...Also, I just realized Sammy Hagar is getting tattooed behind Bart in this photo...

Jason was really wasted while he did this tattoo. Just kidding. If you look at the previous blog you'll see a picture of an owl tattoo he did in Austin. That's the tattoo he's working on now. I feel like I'm travelling in time somehow.

It's so weeeeeird how my camera just automatically goes to black and white when I take pictures of Cris. I mean really. Weird.

I'm surprised this photo didn't completely break my camera!

Adam Hatch is a kung fu master! (Don't even think about it ladies, he's taken.)

E.Mulvane.

Don't let that pretty smile fool you, she too is a kung fu master.

Mr. Iggy's been busy procreating (hail the progenitor!!). It was so cool to have him come in and work tonight. He's been here while I'm putting this blog together and I had the opportunity to film him and take a picture of the finished product.

Wow. I didn't realize it was over 200MB. I'm gonna have to get back with you on that video...until then please enjoy the tattoo...

I.Vans

Dang. I love my people. (p.s. Iggy's not the only one who made a shop baby! I'm not tellin you who else but we are so excited to see this family grow!!)

x to the oh!!!

Dammit Jim! I'm not a blogger!

I can't seem to get the hang of blogging. I also have a twitter account for Idle Hand that I haven't really told anyone about because I forget to ever write anything on there, too. I'm just about as on top of blogging as I am about getting the photos off my camera. So, anyway, I guess you'll have to wait to see the Austin pictures and any other tattoo I've done lately, too.  I do have one picture from the Christmas party, though, that I'd like to share and I hope it makes up a little for my delay in posts:

 

The Wonderful Mr Hatch and his crew came by last week to tear down more walls and junk in the shop (Thank You!!). I have a photo from one of those days that is much like the X-MAS photo above that I will post as soon as possible. (I think I see a coffee table book full of butt cracks in my future.)

The shop looks great and is one step closer to being complete. You really should stop in and check it out. There are several other projects in the works as well that I'm pretty excited about. I love seeing the look on our regular clients' faces when they come in after we've made changes to the shop. It's really nice and all, but I'm seriously sick of painting trim and varathaning wood. I don't feel like the day will ever come when I don't see something that needs to get painted or torn down and rebuilt in that place. 

All of that stuff is so that we can have a nice place to work and so all the people who we tattoo will feel comfortable while they're there. Because the most important thing at the shop is the tattoo. While we are all friends and like to have a good time, those good times wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the tattoo. And don't you ever forget that.

Okay, so here are the pictures. Cris and Jason are on top of their shit! 

 

Jason did this lovely owl tattoo in Austin at the convention

 

The start of a coverup by Jason

 

Jason

  

Jason

 

Jason (I love this tattoo. Don't forget you can click on the pictures to see a larger version!)

 

A girl head by Cris

 

Another girl head by Cris

 

Oh, and another girl head by Cris

 

Oh, yeah, and don't forget this other girl head by Cris

 

Orange you glad I didn't say banana? by Cris

 

Don't miss out on this limited run of hankies designed by Cris Cleen! Contact him or the shop for info on how to snag yourself up one of these swell handkerchiefs.

Love & Kisses

H.E.

Mr. Cleen, If You Please

So we're all back from a successful trip to Austin. We all got to do some cool, fun tattoos and I'll post those later this week. Our next phase of construction in the shop was started today.  Mr. Adam Hatch was in the house all day with his crew tearing down a wall, extending a window. For some reason I'm super excited about the window. I reeeeally like it. A lot. Sometimes I wonder who the hell I've become when something like a hole in a wall really makes me happy.

Anyway I've got no photos for you today but what I do have is a link to a sweet interview of Cris Cleen over at Rambling Forever. So put on your fancy shoes and hat, head on over there and read it.

Tell your friends.

Happy New Year people!
So I spent the holidays in New York, been busy since I got back tattooing, and getting ready for Austin (see you this weekend!!), drawing, makin' t-shirts, business cards, making a new portfolio (my current portfolio is held together with ducktape and has no back so I guess it's time), unpacking, repacking...yeehaw! We had an awesome shop party for X-MAS and I really want to share some photos with everyone but that'll have to wait until I have more time for editing, etc.

Everyone else at the shop has been busy with tattooing and life so this is going to be a short post with a few pictures but I just wanted to let everyone know this blog is still in action and look forward to some good pictures from Austin in the next post ( see the October 27 post for pictures from last year's Austin convention).

Oh! And? The shop is going to be closed on Jan. 24, 25th because we're doing more construction. Yes. More. Construction. But this time I didn't let Adam talk me into starting it 5 days before I leave for a trip (he tried again, believe me). 

So, J. Don, Cris, and I will all be in Austin tattooing our little asses off. Tell your friends.

holly

jason

jason

 jason

jason (on jerry!)

cris

cris

cris

cris

cris

xoxo