After two days of never-ending commotion, it’s so satisfying to sit down, look through photos, enjoy simmering emotions and write this post. Everything went so perfect and mellow! Okay, maybe the ingested mountains of sugar were the only thing that crossed every possible boundary.
It will soon be a whole year since Janely and Kerli came to me and started their apprenticeship, and as fall approaches, their work is starting to resemble the real deal. A developing understanding of technique is clearly visible and lines move on the skin like they’re supposed to. Time to challenge them! Up to that point the apprentices had taken part in two flash-days where they helped prepare and organise everything and got to follow the process. Now it was their turn. We agreed on a non-profit Halloween project, where all earnings would go to Tallinn Children’s Home. It fit the thematic because our designs were all cartoon-themed. We spread the appointments over two days so as not to get too hectic and to take in as many clients as possible.
Although I initially wasn’t going to bother with the decorations myself (since I didn’t have any on me and I didn’t want to spend money just to throw them away later), Janely and Kerli suprised me with awesome bats, candles, balloons and of course costumes! Proper decorations just create the right atmosphere. The table was overflowing with all kinds of Halloween-themed sweets and pastries as well as my own home-made pumpkin pie.
On the first day, it was me who took on clients: altogether, 5 fantastic images got done and Janely and Kerli were of help with every possible thing so the event would go as smooth and fun for everyone as possible. I was so glad to see both old and new faces that were super open to all kinds of tattoo placements! I loove this sort of fun creative freedom. Studio Ghibli characters really excited clients: everyone had fun emotions and memories to share.
On the second day, it was Janely and Kerli’s turn: each of them had 2 appointments booked, so there was wiggle room in case more time was needed. The atmosphere was calmer and both got to properly concentrate on their first flash-tattoos. Kerli had drawn designs inspired by Estonian and Russian cartoons, Janely by old-school characters. Although most of them didn’t get tattooed on Halloween, I hope that they will find their owners soon enough.
After two days of tattooing, dancing around and shoving our faces with candy, we were pretty exhausted and it was a blast to see that we’d earned a total of €900! All of it went to Tallinn Children’s Home for the financing of support people, so they could afford an array of educational and interesting activities for the children. If interested, more information can be found on their webpage.
Which flash-tattoo day would you like to see next?