Ink Update (2021 to 2026)

Having picked up the metaphorical pen a bit more of late, along with looking back over my previous posts I came to the realisation that I’ve been a bit lax when it comes to the subject of tattoos. And specifically how my collection of ink has expanded over the last few years.

In fact, since May 2019 I have seven new pieces to share with you. So I suppose the best way to do this would be in chronological order!

We will start way back in April of 2020 when the world had gone slightly mad and consequently my planned ink had to be postponed. In fact it wasn't until  July 2021 when I was finally able to get back to my tattooist Saint Heywood at Acadia Tattoo in Macclesfield.

The tattoo itself was inspired by a dream that Simon had had that involved Peter Pan & Wendy flying together. I wanted the design to represent Peter Pan flying slightly ahead, encouraging and supporting Wendy to fly along with him. This very much represents Simon and I; Simon as the ever youthful Peter guiding, encouraging and supporting Wendy (aka me). Providing me with the confidence and self belief that I feel with Simon by my side, pulling me along to achieve what I may not always realise that I am capable of.

A few hours of lying down and keeping still and I was able to take this awesome creation home with me...

Moving forward to September 2022 and I headed once more to Macclesfield, and this time moved my attention to my left leg for some 'Good Fairy' magic.

Line work completed

The finished piece

I also used this visit to get a small star added to my arm in remembrance of my Dad who had passed away earlier in the year.

Star for my Dad

It wasn't long before I was back at Acadia in November 2022 to start work on a leg piece for my right calf. This piece would ultimately have additional pieces added in July 2023 and June 2024 and honors one of my all time favourite Disney attractions; It's A Small World. With the art style being that of Jerrod Maruyama.

And I'm sure I could add more to this piece...just need to decide on what!

Whilst I had a small addition (the little Dutch boy) to my leg in June 2024 the main reason for visiting Acadia Tattoo was to get this amazing piece of ink completed...

Maleficent and her dragon

A couple of months later in August 2024 we found ourselves visiting, what has become one of our favourite places, Amsterdam. We were there on a special mission as Simon had been asked to display some of his art in a store in the Zeedijk area of the city. So we decided to commemorate the visit and our love of the city with 'XXX' tattoos. The triple X is the symbol of Amsterdam and can be found all over the city from flags to lampposts and more. We booked ourselves in at Blue Blood Studios with the lovely Coral.

Blue Blood Studios, Amsterdam

With our tattooist the lovely Coral

Waiting in style!!

Nine months later, following our vacation to Walt Disney World, it was time for some more ink and this time I wanted to represent another of my all time favourite attractions; Haunted Mansion. But as this was going to be placed on my left leg close to my existing Three Good Fairies I wanted to incorporate something from Sleeping Beauty as well. We came up with the idea of replacing the Madame Leota character from the Haunted Mansion with Sleeping Beauty herself, Aurora.

Linework and some of the black aspects

How amazing is this finished result!!

Pretty chill, enjoying a coffee mid-inking!

So to this year and in May it was time to represent another Walt Disney World attraction that Simon and I had fallen in love with during our two vacations last year. Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway is a delightful, engaging and deceptively complex ride with a catchy signature tune which seems to reflect our current attitude to life...'Nothing Can Stop Us Now'. This tattoo is my first Disney tattoo to include Mickey & Minnie along with the ride's mascot Chuuby and surrounded by some Disney inspired flora!

Getting inked

All done!

'Nothing Can Stop Us Now!

Well it is now August 2026 and we are just a few weeks away from our next Disney vacation so I wonder what is going to inspire my next piece of Disney ink?!!

Day 850

Day 850...

A relaxed start to the day was followed by a rather sweaty 3.8 mile walk in 1 hour 16 minutes. A little slower than our normal pace but I think that may have been down to the cozy temperatures we are experiencing at the moment.

Although going by the reaction on main stream media you would think the apocalypse was happening. Yes it is rather warmer than what you would expect here in the UK, and yes we're really not set up for it as we don't have air conditioning like other countries do but the temperatures we are having are not completely unusual. We have had hot spells before, those of us of a certain age remember the summer of 1976 when we had weeks of hot weather with water shortages galore but we survived, and we will survive this blip. If we were on holiday in a foreign country we would be moaning if we didn't get these temperatures but with the scare mongering media as it is at the moment you would think we were heading into the pits of hell!!

Anyway...on with my day. After getting home rather sweaty we took a few minutes to cool down before making our first meal of the day, our brunch if you will.

We then decided to stay home for the rest of the day and keep as cool as we could. This involved several hours sat down with the telly...but for a very specific reason. Simon has been going through all our old home movies and converting them to a digital format that we can access easily. Once he has them edited and in the correct format it is then my job to watch them all to make sure there's no errors or glitches.

Well we haven't had chance to watch anything back for quite a while so this afternoon seemed like an ideal opportunity. I hadn't realised just how much we had to watch, there must have been close to three hours worth! We have vowed going forward to find the time to watch back once the video has been converted rather than let it all build up like today. The footage we were watching today was from 1999 and a big chunk of it was from our first visit to Disneyland Paris when Ethan was only 18 months old.

Having all this video footage is great as it reminds you of things that happened and experiences we have had as well as helping to keep the memories alive of people who are no longer with us. And watching the video today also highlighted just how much Ethan loved to ride It's A Small World back then, although I'm sure his opinion of it now may have changed somewhat! It will, however, always be one of my all time favourites as it encompasses so well what Walt Disney was all about; entertainment for the whole family to enjoy together, great innovation, storytelling and perhaps even a little education along the way.

With that I will see you tomorrow.

xx