Happy Fall everyone!!!
I’m not gunna lie, I’m so happy it’s September. It’s my favourite month of the year. Don’t hate me for it, but I love the temperature coming down and those crisper mornings. Summers in Toronto are just too sweaty for me 😂. I actually spend way more time outdoors once it cools down, so I’m hoping to sneak in some park drawing sessions this fall.
Honestly though, I spent a lot of my August indoors. Between the heat and getting Zelda: Breath of the Wild (yes, obsessed 🙃) a lot of my downtime was spent on the couch. It feels a little strange to admit that at the top of a newsletter, but I don’t lie, so there it is. Still, I did have a busy month with tattoos, drawing, markets, and a few sweet gifts, so let’s dive in...
TATTOO TIME
I’ve been so lucky to work on such a variety of projects this month, from transformational cover-ups, to practice pieces, to the cheekiest raccoon. Honestly, I feel so fortunate and grateful to all my amazing clients for trusting me with their ideas.
(Side note: my Instagram engagement has been a bit low lately, so if you have time to click through and like some posts, I’d appreciate it so much! It helps my floral tattoos show up in your feed 🌿).
Jacqueline
When a tattoo no longer brings you happiness, maybe it's time for a change??? 🥰🌿. That's what Jax did at the beginning of the month.
Here's a challenge, can you tell what was there before?
If you need to check you can find the 'before' in this video on my IG. Also more reading inspired tattoos please!!!!! I love tattooing fellow readers 🥰.
I also got to see her arm tattoo healed. It wraps right around so you can see the full piece here. Plus it was done in two stages, one 3 years ago and one 18 months ago, so it's interesting to see how they've settled together.
Thomas
Those of you that have been following my newsletter for a while will have seen the three 'Practice Piece' tattoos that I wanted to do in August.
The first one I did was this green frog & pickerelweed tattoo for Thomas, and I got to see it 3 weeks settled in the other day! So I have a healed update for you below.
These 'Practice Pieces' allow me to try some different tattoo techniques, and with these three pieces I wanted to play with my use of grey wash. I used WAY more grey wash than I normally use in this piece. The only black is actually in the frog and the edge of the big leaf, the rest of the piece is two strengths of grey wash. I found that when it was freshly tattooed it didn't look much lighter than my usual work tbh, but now that it has settled in you can see the softness of the grey. I was worried that the wash would be too light, but I think this is perfect. I also think it looks softer IRL than it does in photos.
I'll get another update in a few months 🥰🌿. And I'll also be doing more 'Practice Pieces' in the future so keep an eye out!
Jessica
In August I got to spend another good chunk of time on Jessica's WIP sleeve. We are reworking and covering some work that she didn't love, and turning it into an INCREDIBLE piece. I really really love these roots (which were totally her idea btw). We have one more session to go this fall so you'll see the finished project in a couple of months!!! Can't wait 🥰!
Katherine
Katherine came back for her second tattoo from me. She wanted to symbolise her dog and cat with this kiwi and honeysuckle combo 🥰🐾. I love creating meaningful tattoos for my client's (especially if they're for furbabies).
I also got to see her other tattoo 6 months healed 🥰, check out the details up close in this post.
Bailey
Bailey's Grandma loved blue herons, and she lives on Lake Erie and sees them everyday.
Bailey had permission from @shannas.creations to use her beautiful heron painting as inspirations for this piece (check this IG post to see the artwork, and make sure to check out her work!).
I also got to see her forearm tattoos 2.5 years healed!
Elizabeth
How pretty is Liz's first tattoo? She trusted me to freehand this piece to fit her perfectly. She was probably the most relaxed first-timer I've ever had in my chair!
Check this post and swipe through to see the 'before' drawing.
Amanda
Being trusted with pet portraits is such an honour. Atticus was Amanda's best friend for 18 years, and is now with her permanently 🥹, swipe through this IG post to see what a handsome chap he was 🖤.
We included dahlia, primrose and for-get-me-nots which all mean enduring love 🥰.
Maria
Maria grabbed the second of my 'Practice Pieces' from my newsletter!!! This piece has a a lot more grey wash than I usually use in my work and I think it turned out beautifully. I can't wait to see how it settles in! Updates coming soon 🥰🌿.
Also Maria sat like an absolute champ for this ⭐️.
Jess
A northern shrike and almond blossom for Jess 🥰.
This very meaningful tattoo echos a piece we did 7 years ago on her other arm (click here to see), and is a symbol of her faith 🌿 inspired by the lyrics "This is the sound of dry bones rattling" 🖤.
Emily
This was Emily's first tattoo! And she sat like an absolute hero for it.
The lilac is for her Mum and the sweet pea is for her daughter, and yes we made them into one vine, because who needs to abide by the laws of botany 🥰🌿. We half-freehanded and half-stencilled this piece, I've included a 'before' photo in this IG post 🙂.
Talia
I got to add the cutest raccoon to Talia's whimsical patchwork sleeve this month!!! If you swipe through this IG post you'll see the photo it's inspired by, which she took years ago at her first apartment. I really love creating meaningful tattoos like these, it makes my heart happy.
We also added the lil' strawberry (which is the first plant that she grew, and then the raccoons ate 😂.
We did her Bisque the one-eyed cat tattoo in May 2022, then the bunny in June 2022, then the fox piece in Jan 2023. I am so happy with how they've settled in 🥰.
Melissa
Melissa has the most incredible blackwork tattoo collection, and I'm so happy she chose me to add to it (a little intimidated too, tbh).
We added this chipmunk and snowdrop piece, as well as a Rocky Mountain juniper branch on her arm, which you can see in this post. Nature tattoos make my heart happy.
Alyssa
Alyssa and I started this new big shark // peony project this week. I'm soooo happy with the cover up we did. I forgot to take any before we started freehanding, but luckily Alyssa had sent some, and you can see them in this post.
I can't wait to continue this!!!
A Quiet project
I spent two days tattooing a lovely client who would prefer that her tattoo wasn't shared. This is ALWAYS totally fine with me btw!!! I really love what we made, and so happy to tattoo her 🥰🌿.
Laura
This last of my ‘Practice Pieces’ was this false sunflower that Laura grabbed 🥰🌿. For this piece I used a lot more greywash than I usually do, and I can't wait to see how it settles in.
I'll post an update once I have one!
I'll post an update once I have one!
I'll also got photos of all the tattoos I've done of her healed (which is quite a few now!!) including this one 🥰…
Alana
Alana grabbed my last space in August as a cancellation through my newsletter. She grabbed my blackburnian warbler and Canadian anemone wanna-do, and it worked so well in this space on her arm 🥰🌿 the perfect addition.
In Other News
Gifts...
I've been gifted some lovely treats from clients in August:
- Special (super delicious) tea from Jess.
- Sponge candy chocolates from Bailey (that honestly might be the best chocolates I've ever eaten).
- Homemade pickeled beets and apple jam (award winning!) from Talia.
I've been drawing...
- Honestly my sketchbook has been a little neglected thanks to my Zelda obsession - it's not good, I get really sad when I don't draw regularly, so need to get back to it!
- I did a scrappy painting of some treats I got at Cafe Neo (more on those in my Matcha update).
- I tried to paint the way I want to feel.
- Some cute chipmunk studies and the initial sketch for Melissa's tattoo.
Malone…
- It was her third birthday!!!!! I can't believe she's so grown now! She was fully spoilt but I think her favourite gift was this super cute cat house we found at PP pets (Yonge and Wellesley). She even takes her toys in there to play 🥹.
- We made her a char-cat-urie board that she didn't eat 😂. She's not a treat cat -and really only likes them if she's being hand fed, such a princess.
- She did try to eat the flowers I picked up at the farmers market though, which makes total sense 🙃, don't worry I stopped her in time.
I've been doing...
- Playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I really just like running around and collecting mushrooms and lifting up rocks 😂.
- I've been really enjoying the Thursday Underpass Farmer's Market by the studio. I've made it to almost every one in August and it's become a lovely routine. It's not a huge market, but there's always great food, treats, tonnes of dogs and live music. I think it continues until October if you want to take it out!!!
- I baked zucchini chocolate muffins!!! This is more exciting than it seems becasue I hardly ever bake, and they actually turned out soooo good. I used this recipe after having a bunch of zucchini in my Odd Bunch box and needed a way to use them up.
I've been reading...
- The Spell Shop & The Enchanted Greenhouse // Sarah Beth Durst - These are my new favourite comfort reads. They are like a Studio Ghibli movie (a cute one) or a cozy video game in book form.
- A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping // Sangu Mandanna - Also a super cute comfort read, which also tackles immigration and life as a minority in the UK, with magic. Loved it.
- Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart // Jen Sookfong Lee - I feel like the title and cover of this book don't portray how touching and heartfelt it is. It's autobiographical and she relates pop culture moments into stories about her life as a Chinese-Canadian single mum.
- Lessons in Chemistry // Bonnie Garmus - I feel like everyone's read this already, but I really really enjoyed it.
- The Thursday Murder Club // Richard Osman - Another book I feel like everyone's already read, and I mostly wanted to read it before the Netflix series gets released. It was actually much sadder than I thought it would be.
I've been watching...
- Freakier Friday - It was everything I wanted 😂.
- Love Island S6 - Sooooo yeah, this happened 😂. Stacy and I were going to watch S7, but she's been super busy, so I watched S6 in the meantime. It's ridiculous and addictive. And 31(!!!!!) episodes long.
I've being drinking (matcha update):
- 10 Dean - turns out there one of their locations isn't too far from the studio (at Queen and Jarvis, but tucked away). It is a suuuuper cute cafe, it has speak-easy type vibes and the matcha was delicious. It was just sweet enough for me with vanilla added, but if you're a sweet tooth you might need some more.
- Machi Machi - Red bean Matcha Latte - So I didn't really like the texture of the red bean, and I couldn't customise it, but it does come with mochi, so I kind of love it 😂.
- Cafe Neo - theres also one of these not far from the studio (King and Frederick)! The strawberry matcha latte was great, and treated myself to the berry matcha cake, so good!
- Bake Code - I tried the white peach Matcha - but it was another one that didn't come with milk. It was nice, but I prefer my matcha with milk.
That’s all the news I have for now! Thank you so much for reading, for supporting, and for being here.
✨ Reminder: my books next open 1–2 November for winter tattoo bookings. Pop it in your calendar!
Happy Fall,
Lu 🌿