You've booked an appointment.

Now What?

So, you’ve sent in a request and got a reply offering you an appointment. You replied saying you do want that appointment and posted your deposit.

What are the next steps?

Nothing, actually!

I know it may seem like there should be some more steps of preparation or confirmation here but really I just write your name down in my book and  we wait for the day! (I also use a fair bit of mental space over the weeks leading to it to create it but that’s a hard thing to share or show or measure)

“I have follow up questions”

You can send me your questions! Please check our FAQs and this information here first to see if that will answer it but if not you may send me an email with your questions of course.

Please do not be discouraged if I do not reply in a timely manner, I do messages in bulk. I set aside time to get to as many as I can in one sitting. Usually 1-3 weeks apart.

I don’t have the availability everyday or as they come in. I’d be on my phone just constantly and I am never on my phone while tattooing or sleeping so there goes 18hrs - 20hrs a day already.

Please do not take it personally and please do not let it create doubts for your appointment!

I will occasionally have people say because I didn’t answer their most recent question, they thought they no longer had an appointment with me.

Not the case! Just too busy for emails at that time.

I will never cancel your appointment without contacting you and being sure you received that communication. I know it would feel just awful to arrive for your appointment and have me not even be there, or me tattooing someone else. I will not do that!

Same thing goes for confirming, I try to be available to confirm with but if I don’t respond to a confirmation message please don’t be discouraged!

Which leads me to… Confirmations!

You can send me a confirmation email or text at my personal business number, (the shop phone is purely ornamental at this point) And I will usually respond but if I don’t, do not worry and know that I am sorry. I really hate when I bum people out from a lack of communication, I’m just doing what I can.

And I generally am not the one to send out a confirmation unless I need it for some reason. But I do like to when I can!

“Should I just not talk to you then?”

No! You can talk to me, I don’t mind at all, I just want you to know I am not intentionally ignoring you if you don’t hear back from me quickly.

I’m writing this info to make you feel more comfortable not to keep you from communicating

“I just want a quote, surely that’s reasonable.”

All of it is reasonable, you can ask me about your appointment, getting a tattoo is kind of a big deal! And you can ask for a quote of course!

My response will be something along the lines of “It’s hard to say” (not helpful, I know).

It will depend on the size, amount of detail, skin reception, and how you ’sit’, etc. I draw your design the week of your appointment and it can be hard to say before the design is complete. It’s an hourly charge so the ball park will be a bit of a wide range as a tattoo can take an hour shorter or longer than expected rather easily. Though it’s usually the latter. Sometimes we even end up adding on another session.

I charge $120 hr. And I usually book in 4hr sessions or full days (7-8hrs).

I don’t accept most small requests so it’s unlikely your appointment will be less than 3hrs. But usually I book appointments for 4hrs.

You can still ask me for a quote based on your tattoo but since I sometimes don’t get to messages but every few weeks, I’m hoping that bit of info will help you prepare before I get back to you.

“Can I use numbing cream?”

Yes and No.

I am not against the use of numbing cream, we even sell some at the shop.

However, certain types, certain brands and even how you apply it can create issues.

Numbing cream for tattoos isn’t new, per se, but it’s gaining lots of popularity in the tattoo industry lately. And many brands are “jumping on the bandwagon”. As more people try more creams and techniques, more artists are discovering the effects.

Some theories:

— Since lidocaine reduces blood flow, you don’t bleed the proper amount to heal well. [ I’m not 100% on board with this one, I see the logic but I haven’t witnessed that affect ]

— Applying a large quantity an hour or more before with a saran wrap covering (which is often as directed for effectiveness) makes the skin too “soft” and “spongey” could be easier to scar, and often heals much less saturated than it would normally. [ I have experienced a similar result to this one. Tattoos healing a bit light, and certainly the skin being more difficult to work with. I request you do not do this method ]

The people making numbing cream are only concerned with how well it numbs, they are not concerned with the affect it has on your skin in regards to tattooing. Even most tattoo brand creams.

To be honest you probably don’t need to numb unless it’s a particularly bad spot. (Armpit, back of knee, elbow, elbow ditch, inner bicep)

Average spots on arms and legs aren’t bad.

But if you want to use it I recommend using the kind we have the shop, “Painless Tattoo” which you can order several places online or come purchase in store ahead of time or during your appointment.

Apply just 20 - 30 minutes before we start tattooing (yes, it will be numb). If it’s the first session (or only session) of your project you could put it on at the shop.

Let us know as soon as you come in and we’ll get it on you. Set up, stenciling, paperwork can easily take 20-30 minutes.

HOWEVER

My most preferred method would be to wait until after we’ve done the lines, then we can put it on for like 10 minutes and it works very fast on open skin, and it doesn’t sit long and saturate but is still very effective.

If you are looking to use numbing cream because it’s a long session then I definitely don’t recommend using it beforehand. Wait until we’ve been in the tattoo for a while or you need the relief to finish, this will have the better effect on healing and your experience.

If it’s your first tattoo and you want to numb because you’ve heard it hurts.

It does hurt, but it’s not really painful, it’s more of an annoying “pain”. It’s very tolerable.

The rest of the world isn’t any tougher than you are, you can do it!

And it is part of the experience, not to mention most people end up enjoying it to a certain extent.

Getting tattooed is a special thing, you should try it before numbing. Try to take comfort in knowing that I care about your experience, if you try it and can’t take it, we can numb for the rest.

I will draw your design the week of or maybe even the day before and regardless of when it is ready I don’t send it to you or have you come in to see it.

I know that sounds like it would soothe your nerves or increase your excitement if I would send it to you, but it does more harm than good. And I’ve never had an issue with anyone seeing it the day of, at the appointment. And this is pretty standard industry wide.

When you arrive for your appointment, we are going to go over the design and discuss it and I will hear any notes you have! But I usually have to make adjustments for it to fit your body and make it perfect. I sometimes even need to draw parts of it on freehand to get it all just perfect. And these will be things only I notice.

So you having the design early without any guidance from me about it, could just send your decision making in the wrong direction. And communicating in person will be much more effective. I unfortunately do not have the time available for consulting about this. I would need as many consult appointments as I have tattoo appointments and I already work a good 60hrs a week.

But, I am not going to tattoo you until we are both confident with the design at your appointment, I know you’ve heard horror stories about clients not getting what they want and their artist steam rolling the whole thing and not listening, not considering the clients wants and needs, and forcing something else on them. — This will never happen to you with me, this will never happen at my shop!

There is also of course the theft aspect, some artist don’t send out their designs simply to protect their intellectual property, to prevent people from stealing it. Which is a valid reason but not my primary concern.

“Can I make a change to my design?”

Yes! Slight changes or additions are usually doable.

Sometimes that change might not work but you can still ask and I will try to make it work and I will discuss the pros and cons so you can be a part of figuring it out.

Complete changes like a different subject matter altogether, might be a firm “no” though.

I don’t accept all requests I get. So If you change it to something I don’t “do” then you can either keep to the original idea, change it to something I will accept or cancel your appointment.

But you can of course ask. I prefer you discuss changes you’re thinking about ahead of time rather than at your appointment.

If you want to change it to something I don’t do and it’s a ways before your appointment I can rebook it, but if you do it at your appointment it will create a time deficit for me, which is unfortunate. Because it’s how I make a living, sure, but also there are a lot of people who want to get in and are respecting all of these guidelines and are waiting patiently. So it’s a shame to waste an appointment. But I will turn away a *significant* design change I do not agree to.

“Can I make a change to my appointment?”

E.g. “I’m booked for 4hrs but now I just want to do 2hrs today instead”

Nope. I can try to accommodate you but there’s probably not a good half way point in which we can leave your tattoo. In which case we can do the 4hrs or we can cancel. I will never trade convenience or money over the quality of the tattoo.

“Can I prepay?”

Nope, I don’t offer pre-payment and I do not offer gift certificates.

“What happens if I need to reschedule?”

If you need to reschedule once I will often be able to accommodate that but I don’t guarantee it. And if you reschedule too much I will stop booking you.

“Do you even like me?”

Yes, I love you! We make each others dreams come true!!

I am very excited to meet you and create your tattoo. I am so happy you booked with me, and I am looking forward to your appointment! Tattooing consumes my entire life and being and I love it.