Tattoo Tuesday V.99

Name and blog name: Jayme (aka Baby J) http://snowxpea.blogspot.com/ (I admittedly do not update as often as i should) also http://babyxj.tumblr.com/

Age: 31

Occupation: Makeup Artist

Age of first tattoo: 18

Favorite tattoo: This is a hard one! At the moment my favorites are my knee and my American Nightmare tattoo. Both done my Mr. Lindsey Carmichael

Featured tattoo/location: "We are the fortunate ones" script on my thigh

Artist/shop/location of feature tattoo: Mr. Lindsey Carmichael at Gold Rush Tattoo in Costa Mesa, CA




1) Tell us about your featured tattoo- is there a background story about why you chose it, or maybe a special meaning? 

I was going through a hard time recently and someone I've adored for years made me a sweet little mix to get me through it. The first song that played was a cover of American Nightmare's song Farewell. The lyrics struck a chord like never before. I called Lindsey and scheduled the appointment almost immediately. I didn't tell my friend that i was getting the words tattooed on me. It filled my heart to carry the words with me everyday. My friend was really surprised and loved it!

2) Do you have any other tattoos? If so, what do you have and where? 

I have so many! Adorable on my knuckles, don't cry with a little tear drop on my lower knuckles. Inside my fingers I have the lyrics "hold on to my hand and go, this time it lasts forever" on my left hand I have a heart locket with a rope tying a key to it. On my right hand I have a blue and gold rose with an eye shooting bolts from the center of the rose. On my left arm I have: a rose and candle with my grandmothers name in a banner, portraits of Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Damien from the Omen and Karen Cooper the little girl character from the Night of the Living Dead. I also have a TCB bolt on my left wrist. And "Kissyface" in script on my shoulder with my friends birthdate under it. I got it when he passed away. On my right arm i have: a love letter that reads "Kick Rocks," a sinking ship, a rose and dagger that has a banner that reads "Bless the Dead," Misfits lyrics in my ditch "Some kinda love". I have a decapitated girls head that says "Pretty girls make graves". On the back of my right arm I have a Bad Brains PMA tattoo. Just above it I recently got a matching tattoo with a close friend that says "Bigger than the sky" as in I love him that much. I have an old nautical star with a MOM banner and an anchor just below that. Can't forget a tattoo for my friend Jayce. His name in a banner over a cowboy hat inside my right arm. I also have my best girls name tattooed on the top of my right shoulder.

On my chest I have a shitty cover up haha. A butterfly of sorts covering some old stars. I have skull roses on the front of both shoulders. And "Pray For Me" script across my collarbone. On my neck I have two roses, an X on my throat and on OM on the back of my neck. I also have bats behind both ears.

On my lower stomach I have a large Danzig skull. On my left rib area i have script that reads "When we are together, we are untouchable". On my left leg I have the Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures album cover, a portrait of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and a scythe that says "reap what you sow". On my right leg I have quite a bit more! A bright green panther, a gold tooth, two hearts that are locked together, a nurse with a red cross and blue roses, a gurty special (if you know, you know) a suitcase with hearts that says 'Meet me at the Flo!" (my favorite floridian diner) a beautiful Tudor rose on my knee, "We are the fortunate ones" script on my thigh, bright orange pumpkins on my thigh with a haunted house on my thigh, a tea pot that reads "elevenses" on it. (LOTR nerds know). Under the kettle I also have an Alkaline Trio heart and skull. On my feet I have a pig and a rooster. as well as some cherry blossoms.

And two baby anchors on the sides of my face :)



3) Do you plan on getting more? 

ABSOLUTELY. Why stop now??

4) How do your family and friends feel about your tattoo(s)? Have you run into any adversity or negativity because of them? Do you have a significant other? Does he/she have tattoos? 

My mom always says she will love me as long as I don't tattoo my face.. WELL.. I did that too and she still loves me. My brother loves me no matter what and honestly as long as I have those two, thats what matters most.

I run into negativity about my tattoos almost daily. 99% of the time its from people I've never met. I find that people seem to think that since I'm heavily tattooed that they can talk to me as harshly or as rudely as they want. So there is never a shortage of shit comments coming my way. Often times I just make the situation into a joke about them or I laugh with my friends about how ignorant they were. I'm overly nice so the situation occasionally lasts way longer than it would ever last for someone else.

I recently moved across country and while I do not have a current significant other, I do have someone that brightens my days. He has tattoos of course.

5) What's the most interesting experience you've ever had in regards to your tattoos? This can be something someone said to you, a weird tattooing experience, whatever.

I have had all sorts of things said to me but there are two that stand out..

When I lived in Florida, a woman who worked at Publix (a grocery store in Florida) was giving me a really hard time while i was buying a money order. She went on and on about how she couldn't believe anyone would hire me and that she herself would never consider hiring me based on my appearance alone. The funny part about this very rude altercation was that the woman herself had her hands tattooed!

My first day at my new job a young man and his friends approached me while I was stuffing my face on a bench outside my work. He complimented my "Obama" tattoo several times.. I just kept saying "what Obama tattoo?" Then his friends started laughing and pointed to it and said, "that's not OBAMA! thats a monster!!" It was Frankenstein.

6) Any advice for those interested in getting tattooed but haven't gotten one yet? 

Definitely do your research. From experience I can say that I could have gotten some way better tattoos earlier on if I had paid more attention and sought out better artists. Right now social media is making it SO easy to search out great artists and they are ALL over!! A lot of them are doing guest spots and traveling the globe! It makes it way easier to get work from artists you may not have been able to get in with otherwise. Also, as much as you might want to let your friends practice on you, in the long run you will likely regret it. I have a lot of work from artists who were just starting out. And it shows.

PS. don't go to your homie's cousin's friend that tattoos in his bedroom. PLEASE...

Giveaway: Funk Off! Handmade Vegan Products (CLOSED)

*WINNERS*

Thanks to all who entered! The winners are:

soap: Amy (ameskross@gmail.com)
lotion: Ardee (starbull@gmail.com)
spray: Amy (amysumner4@gmail.com)

(lucky day for As and Amys! :))

If you could each email me to claim your prize asap that would be great!

"Team Funk Off!" Aren't they cute? ;)

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great Sunday. Tonight I'm excited to host a fun giveaway from Funk Off!- a vegan, handmade bath and body product line right out of Arizona!  My friends Chad and Michelle make everything for the line, and recently I worked with them on a project they were putting together with bloggers, and being that we live in the same town, I got the be the first to participate- so neat! I had a ton of fun making my own scent, and from there they turned it into a trio of products- a spray, a lotion and a soap...and that's what you have the chance to win today! I may be biased but I really LOVE what it smells like and I think you will too.

Here's a little bit more about the project from Funk Off themselves:

Funk Off! has teamed up with some of our most favorite bloggers on an awesome project to fill 2012 with some super special limited edition scents. Now, not everyone is privy to the blogging world, some people don’t get it and some people don’t even know what it is…but here in the world of independent online business, we find a deep sense of community in blogging. And we know that a lot of you out there in your own little parts of the world get that feeling too…which is why we’re working with some top notch personalities to bring a fresh vibe to Funk Off!...and a personal touch from some people you love. Of course we know that our sniffers work extraordinarily well, but by bringing on the help of some different noses we are able to put out combinations that we, “the crew," might not have put together on our own. We ask each individual what sorts of smells they like and come up with a scentsational (oh my, that was terrible) final scent that we all love…and we bring it to you, the universe, to love too! And that’s not even the best part…we will be donating $1 from the sale of each signature item (soap, lotion, or spray) to a charity/organization of that blogger’s choice!! We will run each scent for 2 months, at the end of which we will tally up the items sold and donate the appropriated funds, in one lump sum, to the given organization.

So if you love blogging, love these bloggers, love to support a great cause, or just love to smell fan-freaking-tastic…you’re gonna love this!

We met with Danielle of Sometimes Sweet to create her signature scent and we had a lot of fun coming up with the perfect blend for her personality and personal preferences. Her “Sometimes Sweet” scent is fully feminine and timeless, for sure. It’s a bit citrusy, a little floraly, and ever so slightly sweet…oh but, totally down to earth and mellow at the same time. It’s a perfect match!

We would recommend this scent for anyone girly, anyone who loves to smell feminine and fresh and pulled together. The notes of citrus and bursts of exotic flower petals give “Sometimes Sweet” an uplifting quality while the background hints of earthy woods and sweet musky moss leave you feeling grounded and relaxed. It’s honestly an awesome blend for any occasion and works for women of any age. And it’s so different from any of the scents we’ve made so far…we dig it!


























Danielle had asked if we could donate the funds to her pal Kristin, who is an American nurse, working in India. Kristin works for an NGO that repairs cleft lips and palates free of cost, but that’s not the only awesome thing she’s doing…during her time in India, she discovered an area of the city she is staying in, near the train tracks, where so many people live without much by way of food. Kristin takes time out of her week and money out of her pocket to buy and prepare food to be delivered by her and friends (and volunteers that become friends) to the families living in these slums. She is changing one life at a time, every single day. We think this is pretty amazing which is why we, along with Danielle, are more than happy to support this project Kristin calls “Asha Guwahati."

$1 from the purchase of each Sometimes Sweet product will go to Asha Guwahati in an effort to help feed the children of India.

For more information on Kristin and her project:
www.kristinechaos.blogspot.com 

So here's how to enter to win either a Funk Off! Sometimes Sweet soap, a spray, or a lotion:

For one entry, simply leave a comment below with your name and email address.

For an addtional entry, you can tweet (see below) or blog about the giveaway, too. Just be sure to leave another comment with the tweet or post, and your name and email once again.

Giveaway time! Win one of the vegan "Sometimes Sweet" Funk Off! body products via @freshnotfunky and @danihampton!  http://tinyurl.com/cdkaeoj

On Wednesday I'll choose three winners and post their names here, so be sure to check back.

Good luck to all who enter!

Snow Day

Henry, unsure about this "snow" stuff!

Today was one of those days that reminded me of a being a kid, growing up in the woods on the East Coast. Sometimes, if my sister and I were lucky, we'd go to sleep with snow lightly falling outside, and wake up to a winter wonderland, everything white and so very quiet. I think the particular quiet that happens the morning after a big snow storm is the most beautiful quiet of all, and I still remember how magical that felt, waking up and seeing everything blanketed in white and sparkling. On those mornings we'd wait and listen to the radio for school cancellations, and when we heard ours named off we'd hoot and holler, jump and shout, so excited to be able to stay in our pajamas. My Mom would make us hot chocolate on the stove top, and then we'd excitedly suit up for a day of playing outside. Snowsuits, boots, mittens, hats and scarves...the entire world was out there waiting for us to explore.

Now that I'm a Mom it's amazing to see everything through Henry's eyes. At one, he's just starting to take it all in, and I can already see how exciting the world is to him. Last night we went to sleep with snow falling, and this morning we woke up to even more of it. It kept up all day, and by tonight we were just about snowed it.  This afternoon we spent some time outside, and Henry wasn't quite sure what to make of all of it. He went from confused to curious, happy to downright excited when he realized the snowflakes were sticking to him. The smile on his face as he looked up at the snow was priceless, and this afternoon is something I'll never forget.

I think one of the best parts about being a parent is being able to see everyday things as special again, through the eyes of your child. When I was younger I loved snow, but more recently as an adult I've found it to be a hassle, causing me to be late to work, unable to drive, or just plain cold. But now with Henry I'm relearning how to be a kid again; how to look at things in a new way, how to find extraordinary in the ordinary. And for that, I am so grateful.

xo

Weekend links

This week has been...painful. Henry decided to wean himself a couple of days ago and although I'm doing better now, I was pretty much dying for a day or two. I'll save the rest of that for a post on the topic sometime soon that I'm sure only a handful will want to read about...but guess what, handful? It'll be all for you!

I'm looking forward to this weekend though- we have a bunch of fun holiday-type things planned, including our town's big tree lighting. It's such a cute event full of festivities and I can't wait to take Henry!

Here are some links to get your weekend started:

First of all, the first issue of Gadchick, the fabulous creation of my friend Diana, is out today! I contributed to this issue, so take a peek- I think you'll love it! I already can't wait for the next one. 

Yesterday I shared our newest photo session with our friend Christina, and some of you may also remember the giveaway she did last spring where do offered up a photo session! The winner, Hayley had her session a couple of weeks ago, and you can check out the photos here and here. I also happen to really, really enjoy Hayley's blog so be sure to stop by and say hello!

I love my friend Adie, and I love whenever she blogs. I bet you'll love her too!

How great is this green bow? It would be so darling clipped onto a white blouse.

Here's one of my most favorite bloggers, Valentine, and a retrospective post I've had bookmarked since last year.  Gorgeous outfits and photos.

How great is Rachel's wreath DIY?

This gingerbread house is too pretty. Recipe included!

I really enjoy finding new vintage Etsy shops to check out, and Desert Gypsy has some fun items. Some of my favorites: one and two.

I love this idea for the 12 Dates Christmas! We may have to take Naomi's lead. 

And sticking with the number theme, I was happy to stumble upon this post about 10 Christmas gift in a jar.

Best Friends. How great is this cute little set?

Hello, December! What are some of your goals?

Speaking of December, take a look at the second half of Jess' holiday family photos. That cutie Rowan kills me!

Some of you asked about my scarf from this post. It's from H&M, but you can find a similar one here.

Wrapping paper snowflakes. Such a cute twist on a classic.

How awesome would this money clip be engraved for your Dad or Grandpa's Christmas gift?

Okay, this kind of does make me want to punch holes through a wall. I don't like Kristen Stewart as an actress one bit and think this fabulous lady would have been such a better choice!

The Art of Doing Nothing. I think we can all work on this!

To all my warm-weather friends, check out this list of the snowiest cities in the US!

A new(ish) blog to check out! She's a sweetie, so go say hello.

Have you guys ever tried making a cinemagraph? I really want to try it, especially when I see how neat Justine's are.

The best books of 2011 via Barnes and Noble.

Doesn't Liz's blog look so pretty? Loving the re-design.

Some items from my wishlist...one, two, and three.

And finally, a couple blogs I'm loving right now! Here and here. The second blog hasn't been updated in so long, but I thought maaaaybe if she saw this she would! ;) It's one of my most favorites and I miss Rachel's posts!

Happy weekend!

9 to 5: Hallie, Web/Graphic Design Firm Strategy Director & Owner

[photo credit]

Hello, my name is Hallie. I am the Strategy Director/Owner of Pixel Point Creative. Pixel Point Creative is a full service web and graphic design firm located in Erie, PA that specializes in a content management system called Joomla. We create custom websites and graphic design elements for a variety of clients in many different fields. We also create Joomla templates and extensions for the masses.

I am a wife, a sister; an aunt (to four lovely little girls), a music lover, a photography enthusiast, a traveler, and an avid golfer….oh, the list could go on. I enjoy life to the fullest with my best friend, husband and business partner, Daniel. We created Pixel Point Creative out of a dream and made it our reality over the past three years. During those three years we worked hard at our day jobs and by night we worked passionately building our business. We made the leap as full time business owners at the beginning of 2011. Here is a little peak into what Pixel Point Creative is and what it means to me. Enjoy!

Describe a typical day at work.

My day begins at 8:00 am with coffee and breakfast. Then Daniel and I have a meeting to make sure we are on point with our daily/weekly tasks and goals.

We both wear many hats to assure all aspects of our business’ needs are met effectively. I handle everything from accounting, collaboration in design, marketing, client relations to creating and implementing Pixel Point’s quarterly and fiscal business policy and strategy. So with that, my daily tasks entail accounting, marketing strategy planning, template development, research and development, quoting projects, client relations, and creating contracts. My tasks differ so much from day to day. This is just ONE of the things I LOVE about my job!


Did you always want to own a graphic and web design business? How did you get into this field? What kind of schooling or background did it entail?

I didn’t know that I wanted to own a web design and graphic business. But I’ve always known that I wanted to own my own business. I knew I wanted to lead and to do so in a creative environment is a huge bonus! As much as the business world interests me I was also always a creative at heart. My family is full of creative people. My sister is an artist of many kinds; she is a painter, illustrator and graphic designer. My mom is a quilter, a fabric artisan, and a brilliant decorator. My dad is a music man and always nurtured both my sister and my talents growing up and he has quite the hand of an artist himself. So being around creative’s throughout my childhood meant it was in my blood, quite literally. But to find my spot within a creative business was what I needed to explore and has been my challenge for the past three years.

My creative outlets have primarily been music and photography. From playing guitar, going to punk, hardcore and indie rock shows, to sitting at the piano to write a song; music inspires me and is a huge part of my life. I love taking landscape photos and capturing life’s moments through the lens of a camera. The journey to find where I would fit in at Pixel Point Creative happened naturally. I became a human sponge; sucking up the knowledge my husband passed on to me. This has been a large part of this journey. Due to this hard work, a large part of my job now includes back- end design and strategy development for each of the templates we create.

I earned my BA in Business Management while Daniel earned his BA in Communications. My degree and experience serves our business significantly. I have a broad understanding of business operations and what it takes to maintain the health and stability of Pixel Point Creative. Daniel has grown his knowledge in the web and graphic design field through training, classes in graphic design and his freelance work over the past 15 years. Technology changes very quickly and it has been imperative that he continue to grow and learn to stay ahead of the curve. He also gained vast knowledge in his past position as the Multimedia Director at our previous employer in regard to web, print and publication design.

Is this what you hope to do for the rest of your life? If so, how do you see yourself growing in this career? If not, what else do you dream of doing? Where do you see yourself in 10 years, career-wise?

This is absolutely what I hope to be doing for the rest of my life. Our long term goals are to grow Pixel Point Creative into a leading Joomla Template provider as well as, continue to grow our client base for custom design. I see myself staying at the helm so to speak, with the future ability to bring professionals and creative’s alike to join our team. I look forward to the opportunity to impart our knowledge and philosophy to a team that exudes brilliance and enthusiasm and to bring Pixel Point Creative to a higher level while developing a fun, professional, creative, and caring organizational culture within our company. Our short and long term goal for Pixel Point Creative is to continue to promote growth with intention and balance.

We both firmly believe that the arts are essential in education and have created a series of templates to support art programs in schools around the nations. The series is called The Legacy Template Series. Each year a portion of the sales from this series will be donated to a school in need to support their art program. This library of templates will grow with time as will the gift this series will provide. Giving back to the arts through education is an extremely important goal of ours as we move into the future.

If you could tell your 17-year old self anything about your life today, what would you tell her? Is there anything you wish you would have known back then? Was there anything you would have done differently as far as your career, setting yourself up for success, etc?

I would tell my 17-year old self to slow down and live in the moment. I was always in such a hurry to see how the next chapter of my life would unfold that I didn’t savor each moment the way I should have. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely took the time to have fun, enjoy friends and college life but I look back and I always seemed to be rushing through my life. I was constantly looking ahead and at times, I would miss some pretty amazing moments. In my 30s I’ve learned to live more mindfully. As you get older you quickly realize that we are only here on this earth one time. So I learned how important it is to enjoy as many of life’s little and big moments while at the same time being able to plan for the future. So my life slogan is: living well and with intention will create balance and fulfillment.

I wish that I knew that in every moment in life we are exactly where we are meant to be. With this piece of wisdom, I learned that every stage in my life has been an essential stepping stone leading to where I am today. Every step in this journey builds the path for the next chapter in life which enables life to unfold correctly. To sum this up, my impatience got in the way of my success at times. BUT looking back, I wouldn’t do anything differently. My college degree choice, all of my life experiences and each career choice I made provided the practice and understanding I have today. All of which has enabled us to build Pixel Point Creative carefully, thoughtfully and with conviction.

Family photos with Christina Heaston, take two!

You all might remember our first round of family photos that our friend Christina Heaston shot for us. I absolutely loved them, but I was just a handful of months post-baby and not yet feeling like myself. She still somehow managed to capture so many great photographs though, and we have them hanging all around our house. This session though I was feeling much more like me, and I'm even happier with them, if that's even possible! Now if only we could photoshop one of Henry's goofy grins onto all the photos! haha. But really, he was a trooper, hanging out for over three hours while we explored Sedona, AZ with Christina and her boyfriend Bobby.

If you're looking for a photographer for any occasion, I highly recommend Christina. She is extremely talented, so professional, and a great friend of ours. Thank you again Christina for capturing such a great time in my family's life- we will cherish them forever and we can't wait until next time.

Sam Means & Christmas All Over Again

Hello and happy Thursday everyone! Today is a great day for a couple of reasons- one, it's almost the weekend. And two, I have something really awesome to share with all of you today.  One of my friends/favorite people in the world Anita has a super-talented husband named Sam. Sam Means is a musician that you all might know from his old band, The Format, but nowadays you can find him working on a lot of other, very awesome projects, including the song I'm sharing with you today. And even cooler? Sam has generously decided to donate all proceeds from this project to two charities, one of them being Kristin and her work feeding the children in India, that I posted about last week.

Give the song a listen below, and then if you like it (I know you will!), purchase it for just 99 cents. Your donation will go straight to the two charities Sam's selected, and you'll get to download a fantastic song to get you into the holiday spirit. And if you read the post I linked above, you know it costs about 25 cents to feed one meal to a child. So when you buy the song you're essentially providing the resources for two meals.




"Christmas All Over Again" was originally written and performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was featured on the second "A Very Special Christmas" CD to benefit Special Olympics, and Petty generously donated the royalties to the song to the organization. Since its release in 1992, the song has raised more than $200,000 to benefit athletes with intellectual disabilities.

To purchase Sam's cover of "Christmas All Over Again," click the player above or go to:
  http://means.bandcamp.com/track/christmas-all-over-again-cover

All donations from this version will be donated to the Animal Welfare League & Asha Guwahati.

Feel free to share this post with others, and thank you again for making a difference! xo