TATTOOS: How I prepare for a tattoo session

So after many many tattoos in my seven year history of collecting, I've  learnt a few tricks of the trade when it comes to sitting through some of the longer, tougher sessions. 

I'm  pretty much a complete wuss when it comes to tattoos. My pain threshold is pretty minimal. I mean indigestion has me in tears... I am a huge cry baby. 

Anyway, in my time I have successfully sat for a number of tattoos lasting longer than three hours. In fact, I'm  currently writing this post whilst sitting through a three hour tattoo. My longest tattoo session was six hours. I'm  not going to lie to you.. it was f**king tough, and really hard work. I've  also cried during two tattoos (I did keep going) and have come close a number of times to just stopping midway through  a session (but I persevered through to the end!), so I do know what many of you will be thinking  and going through.

TATTOOS: Healing with Palmers Cocoa Butter

From my many years (OK seven) of getting tattooed I have been through the healing many, many times. From this post you can see I have a tried and tested process for healing my tattoos.
However, I'm  also quite happy  to try new techniques if advised by a knowledgeable person i.e. a tattooist. 

After my recent tattoo at Brighton Tattoo Convention, Jenna Kerr recommended using Palmer's Cocoa Butter (fragrance free) to heal colour tattoos. I decided to give it a try, and I'm really pleased I did.

Normally I  would go with the highly recommended Bepanthen and cling film combo, which does give the desired  outcome, but there were some big differences between Bepanthen and Palmers Cocoa Butter.

LIFESTYLE: Taxidermy and animals

It's almost a contradiction on the face of it. 

I'm an animal lover. I love David Attenborough documentaries, (is there anyone on the planet that wouldn't  want to listen to him talk all day, I think not) I have two pet cats whom I  love with all my heart, and just adore animals in almost all shapes and sizes.

But I also collect taxidermy. As you can see in this post, i have quite the collection growing, including stuffed birds, framed moths and butterflies and an assortment of bones and skulls.

Basically I love animals, dead or alive.

Many animal lovers don't agree with taxidermy because they feel animals shouldn't  be used for human display or entertainment. I can see their point of view, but I see taxidermy in a different way. I see it as a celebration of their life, and a way to teach others about animals. It almost seems a waste for the, to be put in the ground to rot away when they could be stuffed and their bones used for teaching. 

We intend to use our bones and skulls to teach our future children about animals and anatomy.
Our taxidermy birds and framed butterflies decorate our home and support independent businesses in the UK.

LIFESTYLE: Take Back What's Yours After Miscarriage.

A couple of weeks back I was nominated by Katy at The Lilac Scrapbook to take part in this little campaign. 

As the start of a new year everyone is about making personal change.
Now I realise we are almost a month in to 2015 but I was all scheduled up for January (check me out getting blog organised), but I still think this is pertinent. 

The 'Take Back What's Yours' campaign is about motivating people; you, me, bloggers, writers, everyone, to take back an aspect of their life that they've  lost. It can be happiness, confidence, positivity, anything that you've lost that you want back about yourself.

For me, I want to take back my drive for success and my love for life after my miscarriage in 2014.

LIFESTYLE: What to do in Paris for a weekend

As a birthday treat, hubby took me for a long weekend to Paris... i know, lucky girl.
So i thought I'd  share some of my hints and tips for a trip to Paris, and share some of my photos.