So, the tattoo. After about 10 hours of tattooing and needles stabbing me and every muscle in my body being tense, I survived and it is complete. I am in love with it. Completely and totally in love with it. Here are the three steps of the tattoo.
I have also been crafting up a storm, both in my apartment and with actual art. I bought a new sketch book and pencils and I started up drawing again. I will say straight up that my drawing skills have diminished greatly over the years of not using them. I need a lot of practice to get back to where I was in college, and even then, I didn't have any super talent. I am also going to buy some paints and take up painting a little again. I am really loving how I feel when I am doing art and I forgot how much I loved it. It helps me feel so much more relaxed and calm. Browsing facebook the other day, I found a guy who was selling some cameras for decent prices. I ended up buying three of them. This may seem crazy, but the cost of all three equaled the cost of buying one of them new, so I think it was money well spent. They take film and are cute and little and I love them. They will be super fun this summer on my trips and just exploring the city I live in. Two of them are Lomographic cameras, and while I haven't tried this type of camera before, I think they will provide an interesting and different way to record my time here. And the third camera is a giant polaroid camera, also great for preserving memories.
My inner artsy person is coming to the surface in more then pure art forms. I am also getting very crafty in my apartment with the decorations and other things I need but can't afford at the moment. My apartment had lots of white wall space and blank walls and buying art here is not easy. I needed to find something I could hang on the walls without putting any holes in them. I was at my favorite resale shop the other day and I was digging through the box of scarves they have in a corner. In this wonderful box I pulled out a plethora of fancy scarves with different uses and designs. I found three with a large single picture on them and they look great up on the wall. I repurposed some old wine, beer, and salad dressing bottles to use as candle holders. The wine bottles I left the way they were and I am hoping that the wax will drip down them and create cool looks. I covered the dressing bottle in decorative craft tape. I couldn't get the label off of it and I really only liked the octagonal shape of the bottle anyway. The varied sizes, shapes, and colors combined with different candle sizes really make for interesting decorations. I also finished up my photo wall and prettied it up by covering the hooks in fake flowers. 
Can't wait for next weekend and all the crazy hiking I am going to do. I am just hoping that I can make it through all the hiking without dying. Tomorrow I have to get up early and buy some hiking boots and a new backpack for hiking so I can bring my camera without being afraid that it will break of slip. It is going to be a bit expensive, but it is something I need and that I will use a lot in the future this summer. I will put up pictures and a story of the hike once I get back. I think I should go run around the apartment building a few times so I can prep for the hike. not that four days is really much time to do a lot of difference. I just keep repeating, "I can do this I can do this I can do this...." and when the big hike comes, I will do it. Cheers for now!
