What not to write

Winter is on us like a big, heavy, grey blanket and it seems to be suffocating my need to blog.

But we're good, don't worry! The shop is doing great, and since it's not nearly as cold as last year, we're not even freezing our asses off inside like we usually do.

I believe our often partially dressed clients appreciate that too!

Allan is busy working on his art show and his book, Nick is tattooing almost every day as well as working on his new web comic, and Eckel... where is Eckel anyway? I believe he's in Hamburg today, actually. And also tattooing a lot, when he is around. And next weekend he'll be moping around Brighton, mumbling about some vegan burger joint that no longer exists.

So yeah, all is well at the Conspiracy, gloominess aside!

Me and Allan's trip to Japan is moving closer and closer, and just to emphasize how much we friggin miss that place, we've already bought tickets to go back in April, which should be good news for all the people Allan won't have time to tattoo on this coming trip.

Speaking of clients and booking, i do have a bit of practical info, possibly in rant form, that i could squeeze into this post!

You see, i have started to book from the Uncle Allan waiting list, and all in all it's going ok.

Except for a couple of things...

1. Some people still don't seem to understand that you shouldn't write a bunch of questions to the waiting list. I will not email you back, and you will not be added to the list.

If you have any questions, ask them before submitting your ideas to the waiting list, and ask them via our regular mail.

2. You will also not be added to the list if you don't include tattoo ideas and placement.

Also, it's up to you to think of something interesting for Allan to do. Try to make it fun. 

If i'm going through the waiting list and the choice is between someone with an awesome, well thought out tattoo idea, pictures of placement and reference, all wrapped up in a polite email, and a dude who's whole email goes something like this; "hey, i wanna get tattooed, i don't know what i want, so just do whatever, i don't care", well... it's not a super hard choice, is it?

3. Lots of people apparently only read the part of this page that has the email address in it, and so again, those people, who don't read the whole thing (yes, i know it's long) and leave important stuff out, they won't be added to the list.

4. If you get impatient and decide to go get tattooed somewhere else, at least have the courtesy to send us an email, so we can take your name off the list. If you sign up for a service of any kind, anywhere, and decide to back out for whatever reason, you let people know, right? 

This especially goes out to the people who couldn't wait for Allan and decided to get tattooed by Eckel instead. It's fine if you don't have the patience to wait, but for christs sake, let us know so i don't waste time writing emails offering you dates to get tattooed!

5. You don't get to chose the date you get tattooed, another thing that's explained on this page, so if you write an email saying "i'd like to get tattooed in June 2012", that's probably not gonna happen. Once we book you, we'll do whatever we can to find a date that works for everyone, but until then, you shouldn't assume you can get tattooed whenever you feel like it.

Whoa, with the angry teacher-type ranting, sorry about that, but seriously, a good third of the mails i get for the waiting list are either missing information or missing the point.

But the rest of them, those who get it right, we're so grateful that they take the time to read all the rules, come up with fun projects and wait patiently for Allan to have time to tattoo them!

If you read Allan's blog, you already know that he has claimed the month of March for his book project, but as soon as that's done, it's back to regular booking!

Ok, if you've read this far, you deserve some friggin tattoo pictures.

And even if you've only skimmed this... whatever, you still came by to read the blog, so you deserve some pretty pictures too!

Here's a couple of newer Eckel tattoos, one from 2011 and one from 2012. Enjoy!

Tattoo by Eckel

Tattoo by Eckel

 

Tattoo by Eckel

 

 Ps. Sorry for the obvious iPhone pictures... ahem...

Just the right amount of cute

I don't actually have time for a real, proper post right now (although i do believe i owe you one), but i had to post this tattoo that Eckel did on Rasmus today, cause it's pretty much the sweetest thing ever.
Don't you agree?

*Insert sound of me sneezing*

It's Tuesday, and we're back to work after a long and surprisingly unproductive break.

I'm not super bummed about being back to work, but that's not saying that today couldn't have been just a little easier. 

For the first time in what seems like a very long time the weather is cold and wet, i have a vicious cold that makes me sneeze every 5-10 seconds, and there's a mysterious draft coming from somewhere in my office (most likely the very old window, although i can't feel anything when i'm standing over there?) which is not helping with the whole sneezing situation.

But it could be worse. At least we have a work-from-home day tomorrow already.

Yeah, we're easing back into it for sure.

But although we've had time off, Allan did tattoo for a couple of days last week.

Max came from Russia to get his lower arm done, and to give us some sweet Russian souvenirs, and Martin came down from Norway to finish his frontpiece (something he wasn't quite prepared for) and to start a new piece on his lower leg.

A couple of brutal days, for us and the troopers.

Russian souvenirs!

Martins frontpiece of doom

 I was taking a picture of this fancy gentleman werewolf Eckel did on Brian, and i somehow managed to fit everyone in the picture!

Allan tattooing Martin, day two

Oh, and in case you missed it, we have a guest artist coming in the end of the month, and you should all get tattooed by him  (well, not all, but some of you should)!

Bird tattoos (and a tiny little rant)

Man, it feels so weird to be in Copenhagen and not at work 24-7.
And by weird i mean fantastic!

Eckel is still in Thailand and Allan doesn't have to tattoo until next week, so we only go to the shop once in a while to hang out and ship out prints.
More about them later, since there may be a deadline coming up.
Anyway, i had some pictures uploaded from weeks ago that i just forgot to publish.
So here, surprise, tattoo pictures!

Here's Martin, a shop regular, who on this day forgot his comfy pants and had to wear, uhm, alternative leg-wear!

Fancy gentleman by Eckel

Me taking a picture of Eckel taking a picture of the fancy gentleman!

A good old Danish "skarv" by Eckel (that's a cover-up, by the way)

Peacock by Uncle Allan, started years ago and finished in March

As you can see, i've started watermarking our pictures again.

I'm getting so sick of seeing the guys' work floating around the internet, on various tumblr's in particular, uncredited.

There are too many people reblogging this shit to begin with, and mindless reposting of other peoples work is annoying in itself, but when they start to remove links and credit, well, that's when i get mad.

If you see any examples of this, please feel free to snitch and let me know so i can have them removed.

And if you, or someone you know, wishes to use our pictures, all you have to do is ask and make sure the image links back to this blog.

Easy as that.