BLOGGING: Confessions of a blogger

I'm finally getting the hang of this blogging and networking malarky, and have a new little network of geeky gals which includes the lovely NerdyGirlie.

She posted a challenge to write our five blogger confessions. I love a good challenge. So here we go:

1. Finding Balance

I am a workaholic. Completely. I have a full time job, I freelance in graphic design and write my own magazine on behalf of Contagious, I blog, I study Marketing and sometimes I have a social life.
But finding the balance isn't always easy. I'll admit that blogging is usually the first thing to take a back-burner, along with my social life.

2. I Don't Usually Plan

In my full-time work life, I plan, I organise and I am good at my job. I've planned other peoples schedules. I pride myself in being super organised at all times. But when it comes to blogging, I'm a little bad at planning. I want to be better. I want to be a couple of weeks ahead with my blog so I have consistent content but it's not always possible due to point one!

3. I'm a Night Owl

I work at night. It's when I work best. Usually from 9:30pm I get a burst of creativity and can really roll out the posts, edit photos and get inspired. During the day at weekends I just seem to distract myself, so I save all my focused work for after dark. The only downside, I loose a lot of sleep, especially with my 5:30am starts during the week.

4. Small Fish in a Big World

I sometimes feel like my niche holds me back from a lot of opportunities. I'm no fashion or beauty blogger. I'm unlikely to ever be invited to London Fashion Week, or get a press pass to Clothes Show. And I'm definitely not going to please everyone as a pro-tattoo 20 year old. But in some respects I'm very happy with this situation. I'm fairly unique, which I hope means my loyal readers actually really like what I write. And I love the debates and shared opinions on some of my posts.

5. Big Aspirations

I really want to be a big fish, but not necessarily in the blogging industry. I want to make a name for myself within the tattoo industry. I'm never going to be a tattooist or artist, I just don't have the skill, hence my blog slogan, but I can write and I am truly passionate about learning and teaching about tattoos and their culture. To be amongst the well-known names of Matt Lodder, Alice Snape or Marisa Kakoulas would be a dream come true. And I would love to write for or be featured in Things and Ink magazine - it's just too beautiful.


So what are your blogger confessions?

TATTOOS: Instagram as a Tattoo Resource

A couple of weeks back I started this mini series of tattoo resource posts, starting with this one on Pinterest. Unfortunately due to intense work overload Illustrated Teacup took a little bit of a back-burner! But I'm back with lots of content ready! So here's Instagram as a tattoo resource.

I love Instagram, like really love it. It is just filled with beautiful images, so what's not to love?

And I have to say it's really widened my range in terms of tattoos.

The majority of tattooists use Instagram to promote themselves and their work, meaning there is a whole host of tattoo imagery available, and from the original source too.
Unfortunately there is the downside of copied tattoos and individuals claiming others images as their own. Just look at Rachel Baldwin's famous Red Riding Hood tattoo, a totally stunning custom piece, which has been copied, line for line, more than a dozen times.

*original from Rachel Baldwin on the left, a mix of copies on the right - all from Instagram

However, I personally have had great luck with Instagram as I have found some of my favourite artists through the platform, including Dani Green, who I have since had two tattoos from and had the pleasure of interviewing.But it the copying of images and theft of images is a troubling problem that many tattooists and fans have to rise above. I would be pretty upset to see one of my tattoos copied, but at the same time and proud to share it on my Instagram, and that of the tattooist who created it.

Images on Instagram can be hashtagged and with no word limit for the captions, you can make images really searchable. Of course there is such a thing as too many hashtags!

Plus if you love searching for inspiration, there are numerous accounts designed to promote tattooists and tattoo work.

So what are your thoughts on Instagram as a tattoo resource?
Have you had a tattoo inspired from Instagram?

Also follow me on Instagram here!

LIFESTYLE: My Memento Photoshoot

Last week I had the pleasure of another competition won photo-shoot for myself and a friend courtesy of Memento.

After a postponed shoot we finally made it to shoot day in the Southampton studios on the High Street.

After a little wait we filled in some paperwork and went to meet our make-up artists. We discussed what effect we wanted and we started with facials and hand massages, followed by make-up and hair. Turns out I am ever so slightly sensitive to mac eyelash glue so we had some slight issues keeping my lashes in place but after some perseverance they stayed put.

Then we went to meet our photographer.  Usually two models mean two photographers but as we wanted mostly joint photos we worked with only one. After co-coordinating outfits we started our hour long shoot. Our photographer was lovely,  easy to work with and a good laugh.

During viewing we had to wittle down to our favourites. As is normally true for photo-shoots it was hard. Between us both we got down to 6 favourite images which we bought. Of course, they are the normal pricing which seems slightly overpriced minus some negotiating.

Overall, I love the photos we picked.  They're with my best friend so I couldn't leave without at least a couple. I love filling my house with images of my favourite people and having reminders of my life so far. However I wouldn't pay for the experience. Although the make-up and hair was good (my face stayed for two days un-smudged, including the lashes) I wouldn't say it was worth the normal £75 fee. Maybe the £10 for recommended friends, but with the price of the photos, anything extra is a little absurd.

*My Outfits:

Black Collared Blouse from Primark

Black Wet Look Leggings from Boohoo

Black Chunky Sandals from Primark

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Tale as old as time Scoop Neck Dress from Black Milk Clothing

*Aimees Outfits

Black Backless Peplum Top from AX Paris

Blue/Purple Hi-Shine Disco Pants from River Island

Stiletto Heel Sandals from Steve Madden

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Blue Shirt Dress from Primark

Gold Necklace from Primark

So my question to you, have you or would you take part in a photo shoot? 

What are your thoughts?

TATTOOS: Pinterest as a Tattoo Resource

There are so many places on to get tattoo inspiration, and with technology advancing so fast, it only stands to reason that people are turning to the internet for inspiration.
So I thought I would analyse some of the biggest tattoo inspiration resources, for their pros and their cons.

Today I'm looking at Pinterest.
It's the tools that mums, brides-to-be and bored teenagers adore!
I used it extensively while planning my wedding, it is a photo junkies dream come true. Can can find recipes, how-to guides, infographics and more within these pages.

Pinterest even has its top sections which include Weddings, Kids, Health & Fitness and of course Tattoos. A whole host of images come under these sections, and clicking the 'pin' takes you to the host page from the image. I link lots of my blog posts to my Pinterest boards.

The fun of Pinterest as a tattoo resource is that you can save any images you love and are inspired by onto your own board. You can see mine here.
Save artwork, sketches, actual tattoos and more all in one place - plus you can pin images that you've found elsewhere to your board too so you never loose them. Remember all those times you had to save stuff from Google Images to your computer, well now you can just pin them to your tattoo board for safe keeping, and save some space on your hard-drive.

A word of warning however - unfortunately Pinterest doesn't always link back to the correct source, so finding the original artists/tattooists can be difficult. Pinterest should really only be used to inspire designs that you take to a tattooist to create a new piece especially for you.


Do you use Pinterest - if you do - leave me your links below?!
And do you use Pinterest for your tattoo inspiration, and if not where do you go?