Rib tats HURT

flash back to 2016, I’m a 19 year old hair school graduate, from Slave Lake, Alberta, Canada. Ready to take on the beauty industry. I hade been planning my first tattoo for a couple years now and thought, what better occasion then graduating trade school? since I was 15 I had wanted a sun tattooed on my shoulder, similar to my mothers but with a few personal touches of course. But I had since come up with another idea that prospered. I ended up getting two roses over my ribs, down to my hip bone. One rose larger and one smaller, the larger rose symbolizes, the closing chapter of my high school and hair school/ learning period of my life. And the top rose, the smaller rose symbolizes the parts of my life to come. And so I enquired about a consultation with an artist at a near by, Edmonton tattoo parler And booked an appointment, over email and text and an inperson consultation the artist and I came up with a design. Fast forward to my Appointment. The artist spends two and a half hours on about 4 inch long stem and a rough outline of one of the roses. Not knowing much about the process, I was exited and exhausted from the adrenaline of sitting in pain for almost three hours. I show a few of my friends and they start to arise some suspicion. And I start to think to myself, this is permanent, is this really what I want on my body. Still deciding to trust the process I book a second appointment. fast forward to appointment day, I show up and the guy who had started my tattoo had got into a fight with the boss and quit. And so... the search to find him lasted all of three days before I finally caught wind that he was a drunk, Perfect! I then Sought out someone els from that shop to try and finishe the work he started. They even decided to give me two and a half hours free for my troubles. And so my new artist re designed my roses, and we planned to do a cover up. So I booked in again to have the cover up done. A few monthes go by and it’s time for my appointment. This time I’m living at home, in slave lake, I make the 2 and a half hour commute to have the tattoo done and all goes well! We discuss a second appointment for shading and what not. And I decide to wait to book again. About 8 monthes go by and I finally can’t stand having this unfinished tattoo on my body so I phone the shop to book and what do you know the artist has moved shops and I cannot find her. Feeling discouraged and screwed over, I forget the idea of finishing my tattoo all together. And decided to carry on my life with two different designed, one over top of the other, unfinished, confusion on my side body forever. I went a year fighting the thought of never getting a tattoo again, finally a friend of my mother’s got a really nice piece done on her leg, I hummed and hawed and finally gave in and asked, who she had do it. I inquired to the shop in witch my mother’s friend had visited and started a consultation over email. Sending photos of what I had and what I wanted. this consultation was the most thorough I had experience yet, this made my much more relaxed and re ignited my excitement. I booked in and To see a new artist at a new shop and was not disappoint, he did he’s best to make something out of the mess of line work I had going on. and with the finished product, pictured above I was so suprised and so relieved, the old line work is barely noticeable and I do not have a single complaint! And I am so greatful!