HOME GROUND ADVANTAGE.

So two weekends ago was the second annual Rites of Passage Tattoo Convention and the first ever tattoo convention that the boyfriend and I have worked in the same booth.

It felt strange not having to pack our gear and board a plan to get to the convention and even stranger to be going home every evening and not to a hotel. Home ground advantage did however allow us t bring extra odds and sods for our booth. So we packed up our taxidermy friends from the living room and some extra heavy fabric and got to decorate our booth a little more extravagantly than our usual weight restrictions would allow us.It was such a fun weekend and I was lucky enough to tattoo three fun tattoos on beautiful ladies over the three days.

Top of arm.

Side of thigh.

Our friends Jeff and Kim stayed with us for the week surrounding the convention which only made the even more delightful. We all enjoyed some post convention animal adventures at the safari park and the wildlife sanctuary.

I love the way that conventions bring artists together, its so amazing to have that huge reminder that you really are a part of something great.

Kitty xx

WHITE TEA BLUES.

I have contempt for life. 

Most of the time I fucking hate life.

Most of the time life is a fucking flatline existential nightmare for me and I fucking hate it and want to check out all the time.

There you go, now you know the truth, but the thing that keeps me here is knowing that life would say "haha, you wimped out, you couldn't handle me" and so what I seek to do i make life run for its life.

I want to be a pain in lifes arse.

I want life to celebrate the day I die.

I want life to get a breather once I'm dead.

-Henry Rollins

I scribbled this quote down all over my sketch pad the first time I heard it and it's stuck with me ever since. I still have the piece of paper.

I can't wait to see him in Perth in May.

Kitty xx

SHAKE, RATTLE AND STROLL.

As many of you may have already guessed, I am quite the homebody. Other than tattooing, I am generally my happiest pottering about the house with my charming boyfriend and our dog and if Im out and about I'm usually hunting for treasures to adorn our home. 

One of the most exciting things about moving house for me has been moving to a new suburb. Since we've moved in I have been using every spare second of time to unpack and have yet to explore our new neighbourhood. Each car trip has left me looking longingly out the window daydreaming of all the treasures and trinkets each new store potentially holds. Ive been ever so eager to check out all the cafes on our local strip and possibly find a new corner to read away the afternoon with a delicious treat and pot of tea.

The Penny Farthing, High St Thornbury.

So with a few hours of my own on Monday I set out to explore, with my friend Kane Berry. We put our walking shoes on (doc martins count) and hit a few local places of interest. To start our day we hit King Kahuna on Nicholson to find the perfect bean bags. Yes folks, bean bags! I've been wanting one for a while as a can't imagine a more perfect place to sit and listen to records. Our hunt took us to the factory outlet back near my old house where we both made a delightful purchase that was rather tricky to fit into the bcd of the old ford. After fits of giggle we headed to High Street and window shopped until our hungry little bellies led us to The Penny Farthing, a truly lovely cafe with some truly lovely tofu scramble.

All in all a great sunny Monday, I almost even forgive Thornbury Records for not being open. Almost.

Kitty xx

HOME SWEET CARDBOARD JUNGLE.

Goodness gracious me! What a crazy past week its been.

Mick and I have been hard out on the house hunt for the past few months with very little popping up in our price range that suits our needs. Having only found 2 houses, that clearly didn't work out, we weren't feeling too "glass half full" about the matter. So even with our friend Randy from Germany staying with us after Sydney, we had to keep looking, and against all odds we found a super nifty converted shop online that ticked almost all our boxes. Begrudgingly & without getting our hopes up we got up much too early for tattooists and battled the traffic across town to inspect our potential dream home. To our surprise and delight the house was even more lovely than its photos online, which is so rarely the case. We promptly handed our application forms and dwindling hopes to the real-estate agent and left for work to begin the waiting game. Two days later we got the phone call we had been waiting for and surprise upon surprise, we had been approved and the little converted shop was ours for the taking!

Photos from instagram...

Because I don't know the location of my camera.

This past 4 days we have packed our little victorian cottage, loaded our lives into a removal van, driven across town more than enough times, unloaded our lives into a new house, cleaned our old home to the brink of sterile and watched potential tenants walk through the house where we started our journey as a little family. 

So much has happened in our little house on Roseberry street. Two beautiful fur family members have come into our lives and one has left, we've bickered and we've snuggled, we've become a tight little team under that rickety roof and I may have shed a tiny little tear as we drove away for the last time. But we've outgrown our little 2x1 and we're moving up in the suburban world. 

Bye bye little house! Thanks for everything!

I can't wait to see what adventures our new home will hold. After we clear the cardboard jungle that is.

Kitty xx

WEARY TRAVELING.

I just seem to be getting further and further behind in my blogging. Life just seems to be getting busier by the day, there is just so much going on in my little world. I wouldn't even know how to blog about everything thats been happening lately, but I will share a little about my recent trip to Sydney.

So this year was the 4th annual Sydney tattoo & Body Art Expo. I think I mentioned in an earlier blog that I originally wasn't going to be able to make it but thanks to my superhero boyfriend that situation soon changed around and we were both on a plane to Sydney before we knew it.

Done at the convention.

I always feel that no matter how much preparation I put into an event something will always find a way to come undone. So when orders for business cards went awry although I wasn't completely surprised I did completely loose my cool and turn into a blithering mess of a girl. Thank goodness for this damsel in distress my boyfriend is an aforementioned superhero and saved the day yet again.

Done at the convention.

The rest of the week and the convention itself went swimmingly and I had such an amazing time catching up with old friends and making new ones and got to do some fun tattoos on some fun people to boot. Hands down my best convention experience to far and I can't wait until the Rites of Passage convention in April to do it all over again, but with a home ground advantage, which will be so lovely.

If you would like to get tattooed at the Rites of Passage Convention or any other time you can email me at info@kittydearest.com.

Hope you all having a splendid week so far and are enjoying the start to your Autumn,

Kitty xx

TO INFINITY & BEYOND.

ATTENTION EVERYONE! I AM MOVING TATTOO STUDIOS!

As of the 1st of March I will be packing up my little tattoo corner at my current studio and moving to a shop in Westmeadows. Not quite infinity perhaps, but still. The time has come to say goodbye to the tattoo family that took me in when I first moved to Melbourne. I have nothing but kind words to say about all of you and I will miss our little team so much. I part here with nothing but gratitude & happy memories.

I will be moving to join the trouble makers at Addictive Tattoos in Westmeadows. I'm really looking forward to the change, there is something so invigorating about a fresh start. I'm especially looking forward to decorating a new tattoo area. I hope the team are is ok with my slightly overzealous approach to decorating. 

And because I had no pictures to go with this a threw in a couple of fun tattoos I've done of late.

To fresh starts,

Kittyxx

BUILD ME UP PEANUT BUTTERCUP.

So as most of you know, not long ago Mick and I lost our beautiful British Bulldog pup Winston, and I've had a particularly hard time dealing with it.
Although I know all too well that nothing & no-one can ever replace Winston, the opportunity for a darling female French Bulldog came up and we just couldn't say no.
I've been through a roller coaster of emotions with the decision to get another puppy, and ultimately wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, but he she is, and here we are, back at square one with a brand new puppy.
I will always hold Winston on a pedestal in my heart but I know that there is plenty of room in there for a new fury friend. So with no further ado, please welcome Peanut to our family. Weighing in at mere 2.5kgs, her favourite activities include eating, sleeping, making guinea pig like noises & running around in circles.
Please be kind to her, she has some very large shoes to fill.

I grow more confident each day that she and I are going to be the best of friends.
Kitty xx