My Birthday Tattoo

Posted by Amanda on November 29th, 2007 . Filed under: Personal .

nervously-waiting.jpgI actually did it – I got a tattoo! I love it! On the way to the tattoo place (Kustom Skin in Fort Lupton, CO) I was fine. I wasn’t nervous or anything. As soon as I got out of the car to go in, I started getting a little bit nervous.  But it wasn’t scary at all – not at all like I expected. Ready to see it?

This is me anxiously waiting for the needle….

 nervously-waiting.jpg

Getting ready…

almost-time.jpg

Applying the stencil….

applying-the-stencil.jpg

The stencil:

the-stencil.jpg

Getting started:

getting-started.jpg

I feel surprisingly little pain:

doesnt-hurt.jpg

Halfway done…

halfway.jpg

Almost finished…

almost-done.jpg

Cleaning up…

finished.jpg

And here’s the finished tattoo!

the-tattoo.jpg

So before everyone asks, let me explain the significance of “five by five.”

I first heard the phrase years ago when Faith used it on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She used it to mean that everything was good or okay. This past summer, I remembered it when I was trying to decide what kind of tattoo I wanted. I knew I wanted the tattoo to mean something. I decided I wanted it to represent the major change that was going on in my life – my crisis of faith. Even when my life was up in the air and I felt constant turmoil, I still had this overwhelming sense that everything was going to be okay. No matter what I chose – faith or no faith – it was going to be okay. That’s when I remembered the phrase “five by five.” I knew I would encorporate it into my tattoo somehow. At first, I tried to go for a larger more elaborate design, but in the end I chose simplicity.

And I love it.

20 Responses to My Birthday Tattoo

  1. Donny Pauling

    It’s definitely unique, and if you’re going to have a tattoo, simple is always better in my opinion. :) Cool. :)

  2. Tasha

    You didn’t post even one pic of you grimicing in pain. So NOT cool! You think your all tough but your really not LOL! I’m glad you love it :) And Happy Birthday!

  3. AG

    Beautiful tattoo! Can’t wait to see it in person.

    And Tasha’s right… how much grimacing was there?

  4. Lifewish

    I think it looks great. Simple and elegant is definitely the way forward – complex tats are usually too hard to make out.

    I’ve been vaguely thinking about getting a tat myself, I’m just not sure what theme it should have.

    Belated happy birthday! Hope you had a great day.

  5. Bah « UDreamOfJanie

    [...] birthday was November 29th, and she got a tattoo.  Happy belated birthday, Mandi. This entry was written by JanieBelle and posted on December [...]

  6. Gina

    That is gorgeous. What font is it?
    - Gina

  7. Hawk

    The font’s called Lamar Pen™

  8. recreational raccoon

    I am going to get my first tattoo tomorrow, and I am so glad I’ve waited until I was well into my twenties to do it! It will really be meaningful & reaffirming this way; marking my skin the same way life has marked me. I love your ink, it’s just right. I feel the same way – simplicity says so much more. (so why the f*ck is my comment so long?!)

  9. vicky

    sweet tattoo! i loved when Faith said that in buffy…omg

  10. chuck

    male or female? cool tattoo though

  11. dag

    love the tattoo

  12. michele

    How cool! I’ve been recently thinking of getting Kindness tattooed in that exact same spot and everyone told me it would KILL! Glad to see you smiling through the experience.

  13. Saville

    “Five by five” (occasionally written “‘5 by 5″, “five-by-five” or “5-by-5″) by extension has come to mean “I understand you perfectly” in situations other than radio communication, the way Loud and Clear entered slang, post-World War II. A further shortened form is “five by”.

  14. Shannon

    Hello

    Cool tattoo…did it hurt? I am getting one on my right wrist pretty soon and i’m a bit nervous. The font is beautiful….love it!

  15. sarah

    hey mandi! just wondering if you could tell me the font you used for your tattoo? i abolsutely love it! or if you have a template of the tattoo saved anywhere i would really appreciate if you would email it to me. thanks !

  16. lauren

    what font did you use for this?did you just write it yourself?

  17. iyana.mone't

    whats this font?

  18. Amanda

    Jane Austen from dafont.com

  19. jd webb

    I came across this surfing Google

  20. Brenna Cervino

    I love your tattoo! I too have “five by five” on my left wrist. I get asked what it means all of the time. lol.

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