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

ATTENTION SYDNEY FOLK!

I will officially be attending the up coming Sydney tattoo & Body Art Expo! In a very uncharacteristic bout of spontaneity I have decided to work at the Sydney Expo. I didn't think I was going to be able to make it this year, but HAZZAR I will indeed be going after all, I worked the show last year and had a blast, I can't wait to do it all over again.

The convention is from Friday the 9th of March to Sunday the 11th of March. So if any of you Sydney dwellers fancy getting tattooed during my brief visit please email me at kittydearest@hotmail.com with "SYDNEY TATTOO EXPO" in the subject bar.
Kitty xx

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD.

Ive always found that the more things I get done, the more I'm able do get done. So I'm trying to get myself on roll early in the year with art projects as well as things around the house.
My drawing and tattooing is always developing & improving as I grow as an artist and as a person. Right now feels like a good time for a fresh start and Im really keen to put together a new portfolio of where I'm at right now with both my tattoos and other artwork. I'm hoping to do some really fun custom tattoos next month and already have a few lined up, so keep your eyes out.
Heres a few fun things that I've been working on as of late.

My last piece of 2011.

A few fun tattoos for the start of the year.

Animal tattoos are always super fun for me.

You can check out more on my website kittydearest.com
Kitty xx

PMA. ALL DAY. EVERY DAY.

Whenever something bad happens I always try to take a step back and look at the things in my life that are wonderful.
One of the reasons that I started this blog was to help myself look for the small every day things that make me smile and write about them. I was hoping that by cumulating these happy moments I might be able to keep out of the dark recesses of my mind that I so often find myself in. It's not that I'm a "half empty"kind of person, I just seem to have the unfortunate habit of letting my thoughts become clouded over by the negative things and forget to appreciate the countless parts of my life that are amazing.
So in honour of staying out of my head, here are a few things that have brought me joy over the past 24 hours.

• My ever delightful boyfriend taking me out for a Japanese dinner and the Kitty Daisy and Lewis side show last night, and they were AWESOME! 
• Buying the new Kitty Daisy and Lewis double heavyweight edition record.
• Staying out late and coming home with ringing ears. For those of you who know me I'm actually a nanna hermit who spends most of her time at home hiding from world, so this was a very nice change.
• Managing to get both myself & Mick out of bed early this morning to hit the Camberwell vintage markets.
• Scoring an awesome cable knit sweater for $5 and finding a mint record by The Jam, an old British punk band that my papa used to listen to.
• Coming home and making lemon iced tea because its at lease 100 degrees in our house with it's abysmal evaporative cooling.
• Actually making the time to blog.

Here's hoping that I can hold onto a positive attitude this week and get back into making regular blog updates.

Fingers crossed.

Kitty xx

IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES.

Things lately have been not so wonderful to say the least. Yesterday was easily one of the worst days of my life. Our beautiful baby Winston had to be put to sleep. Our poor little man had been fighting a loosing battle with spinal deformities and had lost most of the function in his back legs. He also had severe hip displacia, and was loosing ability to control his bladder & his bowels. Having such aggressive problems at such a young age he was never going to have the healthy and happy life he deserved and sadly this was the best option for him. I miss him with my whole heart and have never felt such hurt or shed so many tears but we know this was the right thing to do.

To my dearest Winston,
No one could ever have asked for a better dog. You were perfect in every way and I will miss you forever. I never knew I could love something so much as I loved you and I am eternally sorry that I could not stop your hurt.
Although you were only with us for a short time you have impacted my life so greatly and will cherish and protect your memory until the end of my days. I can only hope that you no longer feel any pain and are at peace.
Sleep well my sweet boy.
I love you so so much.

Kitty xx

2012. GO.

I've never really understood the new year phenomenon, that the start of the calendar year holds the magic of a fresh start, a clean slate, the promise of a better year. I find it amusing how we need to compartmentalise our lives into periods of time. Why is it that we put things off only to set news years resolutions that, lets face it, are seldom kept in the later half of the year. Why do we believe that setting goals on January 1st will prove more fruitful than those we make at any other point. Time is time. Lets get on with it.

That being said I am most definitely looking forward to this particular period of time, this year is already setting out to be possibly the most exciting, stressful and rewarding year to date. But I'm not going to share any of these plans, you'll just have to wait and see!

I will however leave you with a recipe for one of my favourite sweet treats. Apple and Rhubarb crumble. Rhubarb is one of my favourite food that is extremely under rated, it you haven't yet tried it, please do, its super scrummy. 

APPLE & RHUBARB CRUMBLE

ingredients

300g rhubarb (cut into roughly 1inch pieces)

2-3 granny smith apples (peeled & roughly cut into 1inch pieces)

1/2cup caster sugar

1/2cup plain flour

1/4cup rolled oats

1/8cup brown sugar

1/8cup desiccated coconut

30g unsalted butter

1.cook rhubarb & caster sugar on low heat for 15mins

2.add apples & cook for another 10mins

3.spoon mixture into a dish

4.mix remaining dry ingredients with butter for crumble.

5.place crumble mixture on top & bake for 25-35 mins at 180degrees.

christmas cheer.

There will be no holiday blogs, time just got away from me, so here's a picture of Winston and I in our Santa hats. 

Kitty xx