Making myself even more unemployable...

Its all over, no longer can I get a job at Pizza Hut or KFC.... for I am now one of those social outcasts who has a HAND TATTOO! This Tattoo was done by my favorite artist, Mr Judd Ripley of Copenhagen. Thanks again JR, until the next time. :)

So here I am again at 'The Sailors Grave' of Copenhagen.

It's fast becoming my home away from home!

There she be!

This tattoo is for Mrs Grove and the 13 amazing years we have had so far. 

XXXXX

 Step by step.

Sick kids, Yummy food and Tattoos...

Last week was rater exciting as our friends Sven and Lizzy were about to have baby number two and we were all on stand by! While at work I got a call from Sven saying they needed to get to the Hospital and could I come over and watch Amelie who was at home sick. I said no problem! :)

 Amelie had a touch of flu and was not her normal energetic self... but we had fun none the less, just look at how happy she is.

We must have watch 'Tangled' about 8 time before I attempted to put her down for a nap..... and I was all cried out from the movie so I could have done with a break myself.

She was not feeling that photogenic that day.... cute none the less.

No baby came that night, just like most girls she arrived late and was born the next day. So now Sven and Lizzy have two cute little girls...... god help Sven!

Fee had to pop over to Copenhagen for a few days as it was Fashion week so we decided to make a weekend of it. We had a great weekend but it was SO COLD!!! Our faces and fingers were frozen while we were walking around so I only really have pictures of the food we ate. Haha

Just look how 'Fashion' and pretty she is.  :)

On our first night we met up with Ines & Gustav for a yummy meal. For some reason there was only a picture of me and Gustav and not the girls.... I guess the camera just loves us.

Apple AND Orange juice!? What will they think of next.

Tasty, sticky and sweet chicken. 

Mmmmmmm.

Super crispy squid, these was sooooo good I could eat it all day long!

We had a rather nice selection of fish and meat at the Sticks and Sushi. Looking at it now makes me want to eat it again. 

While in Copenhagen I couldn't  resist popping in to see my two favorite tattooists Marija and Judd at 'The Sailors Grave'. Their new(ish) studio is looking great and its always nice to catch up with them.

Oh, and i'm getting tattooed on the 20th March so watch this space.

Another one from Judd...

Been a long time coming but I finally got Fee to take a few photos for me as its rather tricky to get a good shot of the back of your own arm.

The idea was to take the classic 'dagger through the rose' but combine it with a classic Japanese spin. Kind of a tattoo styles mix up. :)

I still need to go back as we need to do some shading work up in the handle and on the rope, the area got rather swollen on the day so we stopped and moved on to the fingers.

But here it is!

We had a lot of fun with the colour's on this piece. :)

I have never seen these colour combos before.

I'll promise to be a little faster in getting pictures of this piece up once it if finished. not sure when that will be, we needed it to heal up fully before we arrange a new date.... but as always i'll keep you posted. :)

Back from Blighty!

Hello people! Did you miss me?

Well we are back from London and we had a GREAT time. Shopping, eating, drinking and best of all hanging out with family & friends. We were so busy having fun that we did not really take any pics.... sorry.

However I will make it up to you as on the next post i'll finally get up some pics of the new Tattoo Judd did for me a few weeks ago. :)

So to keep you going until then, here is a little look at some of the bits we picked up during our shopping spree in London town.

Ran out of good tea bags a few weeks ago, so i'm all stocked up for a little while.

An Englishman needs his tea!

Oh yes.... individual sized Cheese cakes will be happening some time soon.

Fee is off to Tibet soon, so we picked up a more 'manageable' and smaller lens for traveling.

My Dad brought be a brand new Guitar....Sweet!

It's just a 7 inc replica :P

"ORDO AB CHAO"

What a weekend!

We had a great but draining few days in Copenhagen and Sweden and there are lots of great pics to show and stories to tell but I'm far too drained to blog fully tonight. Not been home very long, I'm sore and tired but I wanted to show you this...

-Order-

-From-

-Chaos-

It's Latin and it translates to Order from Chaos or Order out of Chaos. Hitting 30 this year felt like a real turning point in my life. I have a great job*, an amazing wife an amazing family and I'm blessed to have great friends. It all felt very... grow up. I've always loved tattoos and felt I needed to mark this 'event' in some way.

Being a designer who's work tools are his hands I felt this phrase carried a lot of wait for me. In my work I take a big messy and chaotic pile of bricks or ideas and turn them into something with order and logic. For me building LEGO sets and designing is all about problem solving, taking something that does not work or make sense and creating something better that people can use and understand. So having this on my hands seemed to make so much sense, and if I was going to take this big a step I really wanted it to MEAN something special to me.

Judd Ripley did an awesome job of keeping the lines solid and not 'blowing' any of the line out. Fingers are VERY tricky which is why Judd was the only guy I trusted to pull this off.

As well as the hands I did have a large piece done on the back of my right arm, however it's rather swollen and bruised..... plus its hard to get a shot of the back of your own arm! So I'll leave you with this little teaser until it heals up a bit.

Hmmmmm what could it be?

*Ok kids, I am very lucky to have a career where having tattoos like this does not get me fired. I studied and worked hard to get myself into a line of work that I love and that affords me the freedom to live doing the things I love. Granted, the art & design industry is a little more 'free' than most lines of work but please think hard before doing something like this as not all employers will be as open. Thanks.

Hurry up and get here Saturday 14th!

12 day until they get a make over.

More ink on the way...

It all goes down on the 14th May.

I wont get getting that government job now...

So i'm getting pretty excited for May.... why? Because that's when I will be paying Judd Ripley a visit to get some more ink! Yes, the man who did my neck and sleeve will again be working his magic on me.

"So what are you getting done Nik?"

I'm keeping it a little under my hat for now as details are not worked out but I will be getting a couple of pieces done. One will be filling a space I have on the back of my right arm and the the other will be ON MY KNUCKLES! I guess it wasn't going to take me long to get my hands done after getting my neck inked.

I'll keep you posted as and when things develop on the tattoo front... watch this space. :)

Taken at our last session for the Kabuki sleeve.

"Whatever you do.... don't move!"

LEGO Christmas gifts Pt.1

These are two little LEGO Christmas gifts I made for Judd & Marija Ripley over at the Sailors Grave Tattoo Studio. I kind of played up their hobbies and made them a little more fun.

Marija the Zombie slayer & Judd the Shark surfer.

Marija is very much into Horse riding and likes Horror, I turned her into a Zombie slayer chopping up the undead to save the human race.

I even made a little compartment where you can put some sweets.

Judd loves his Surfing & Fishing so I mixed the two up into a new and crazy hobby.

The Rock'n'Roll corner just got better!!!

Edit:

Forgot to add this pic...... and if your wondering, the answer is yes I do!