Wait, Wha....?!
So... 'ol Boris has abruptly woked me from my cosy winter slumber saying I can go back to work from the 12th April.
Eh?! Uh?!
You know that feeling you get when your alarm goes off at silly o'clock, and you're ripped away from lalaland, like velcro, cracking open the very fabric of reality and yanking your weary conciousness into being ....yeah.... that's me right about now. It's definitely going to take all these 6 weeks to get my head in gear and back into the work groove. *sighs*
Right then, let's make a start right here, right now shall we'z.....
Boris has said that re-opening for the 12th April is on a provisional basis, so here's my following action plan:
I will start contacting all existing clients on the 12th April to arrange new appointment dates. These are clients that were already booked in and already paid deposits.
No sooner! I won't contact anyone prior to this as I want the confirmed return-to-work-date chiseled into a stone slab before I re-open my dusty diary.
Just like our re-emergence from the last long lockdown, my skills are are going to be rusty-as-fook!!!!! No joke, I wont have tattoo'ed for nearly four months, so....
I will first book in only SIMPLE, EASY, SMALL tattoos to start.
I will be advertising these smaller, simpler designs and they will be available to book at an awesome price from the 12th April.
There will be a lot of faffing while I get used to working again and build up my attention span to full throttle, so tattoo's will take a little longer than normal. It was insanely noticeable last year how tired I got so quick when returning to work, so I can't ignorantly skip through this step.
There are also several updates and different things in place for this year...... it's been a long while since I last posted - and with good reason, so listen up my little cherubs of delights.....
New Clients: Please please please understand that I will NOT be taking on any Custom Tattoo work for 2021, and I will review this Decision for 2022 at the end of December this year.
If you wish to book in with me, I am only doing designs that are pre-drawn and available on my Available Designs page. No exceptions.
This is for some very legit reasons... you ready:
Last year I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia - not fun to say the least! This is certainly not a sympathy post, but, after a long while deliberating and agonising over the relevance in sharing this, I finally decided that, as this severely affects my work, this isn't just a 'private' thing and will hopefully shed some light as to why I am now super strict with who and what gets my time, attention and energy. After years of working crazy long hours and battling the ridiculous amounts of anxiety I get every.single.minute.I.tattoo, the stress finally caught up with me, and literally (like, literally!) knocked me out. And, although I spent last year kicking out all the things that trigger this illness, any slight spike in stress and I still suffer with not-so-nice bouts of Depersonnalisation/Disassociation. It's a bit scary when it happens, I'm ok... it's as though my reality gets the 'blue screen of death' and my internal CPU can't process any more information - I proper shut down. To put it succinctly.... I'm a sensitive and delicate little Bunny!!
So.... yeah, this does mean I now have shorter working weeks, shorter working hours, with more breaks and more time off! (I hear some of y'all cheering 'I told you so' lol) ...And no need to panic, I wont go all weird on you whilst in the trenches of tattooing, as long as I manage my time well, I'm all good to go and my body will thankfully, give me reliable warning signs well in advance before it starts to shut me down.
And that, my friends, is why I have currently stopped all Custom Tattoo work. Custom work dramatically spikes my anxiety/stress levels.... I don't know why... I honestly thought that after nailing a few years of tattooing confidence under my belt, the crippling anxiety would subside and eventually go away... it didn't! So, instead of quitting the tattooing totally, I now offer pre-drawn tattoo designs as that seems to alleviate most of the pre-performance stress and will see how it goes from there! (And yes, I have seen Psychiatrists/Psychotherapists/Hypnotherapists/Counselors and read all the books in the world for yeeeeeeears to try and figure this out, but to no avail... it seems this is something I just gotta accept and work with instead of against). Ho-hum.
Ahhh. Now that little bit is outta the way.... the other stuff:
I've Moved!!! I haven't really made an official announcement about this but I now currently work with the lovely Taz, at her beautiful studio - Ruby Lou's Tattoo - based in Wichelstowe, Swindon. Whilst all this Covid stuff plays out I decided it would be the perfect time for to take a back seat with my business and get some much needed rest time booked in.
Social Media: I'm still on Instagram.... just! I really don't like Social Media.... like, I really, really, reaaaaalllly don't like it! However, I do know it is a valuable resource, so it's something I have to get over and get on with - just like the other parts of my business I dislike doing, like accounting and filing and domain hosting stuff and ...shaving hair! I will be back on there posting again at some point - dunno when - not putting that pressure on me - but I will be updating my website regularly, so come see me here instead. Oh, and just a reminder folks, I don't answer DM's on my Insta!!!
Lastly... I'm now painting!!! Yay xx This is the thing that has recently made me the most happiest in a very long time, especially as it is super calming and nourishing for my soul. I'm very much in the honeymoon phase of this love affair, so I wont be posting much about it (yet!) as I want it all to myself to enjoy whilst I rest and without the involvement of sales and money, thus turning it into a production line job! I will share all in due course...
And that's is all for now my ducklings xx
Hope y'all keeping safe and sane and will see all your beautiful faces again soon.
Love ya Bye xx
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