Knoxville Tattoo Convention 2016

At the end of August the Charmed Life crew headed to the Knoxville Tattoo Convention, along with our friends at Quality Custom Tattoos. Knoxville treated us so well: great food, great people, great tattoos. We have to thank our awesome hosts at Saint Tattoo for showing us some Knoxville gems! Thankfully, we'll be seeing one of them very soon...but more on that later. If you find yourself in this cool little city, be sure to stop by their shop and get yourself a Sunsphere tattoo. 

Here's a little peek at the debauchery that was had during our trip: 

This convention was Wes' first and he made the Charmed Life crew proud! This beautiful watercolor butterfly tattoo is just one many tattoos he knocked out. 

Ryan Dills spent the weekend with us, and we were so impressed with the tattoos walking out of his booth. Take a peek of his work on Instagram.

Finding Pete's Coffee Shop was a real treat for us. This quintessential diner, owned and operated by Pete and family (pictured right), is unlike anything we have here in Lexington.  (Are we wrong? Let us know in the comments below! We'd love to find something similar.) We had our food in 5 minutes, tops. The food was great, the coffee was average; just how a diner should be!  

Rose & Mom tattoo by Robert during the Convention. 

Skulls & Skin Cheese by Robert- A convention dream! 

We spotted a lil' piece of Kentucky by the Sunsphere. Do you know about Wink's Bar?

Sunday morning we were taken to Knox Mason for brunch by the Saint Tattoo guys. Can't go wrong with Benton's bacon, Eggs Monroe, Mississippi Catfish w/ grits, and humongous pitchers of Mimosas. Just what we needed after a long night of partying. 

Robert did this gorgeous peony on Sunday. He has a lot of Japanese-style tattoos in the works the next few weeks, stay tuned! 

Doc Cooper and friends brought us to Emilia's at Market Square on Sunday night. They had delicious Italian cuisine with an impressive bourbon selection. We drank through the majority of it before the end of the night. 

After Emilia's, we squeezed into a few cars and headed over to the Saint Tattoo shop for a late night walkthrough. Guys, this place was awesome! Flash from floor to ceiling, a crazy book collection, filled with awesome people. Are you following them on Instagram? Do it now: Doc Cooper, Nick Shipley, &  Justin Norton. We were joined by Buck LeWallen , another talented tattooer at Jolly Roger Tattoo in Georgia. 

How did the night end up? Wes summed it up pretty well: 

We can't wait for our next convention! We had so much fun making new friends, eating good food, and creating fun tattoos for people. Where should we go next? 

Behind The Scenes- June 2016

Things are finally feeling back to normal at the shop after the break-in in May. To get you guys up to speed: they caught one of the guys with a portion of our stuff. Our computer and the majority of our machines are still floating around, but the outpouring of support has dulled the pain of lost photos and possessions. 

The thank you list for everyone who reached out to show us love and support is about a mile long, but we'll try to keep it short. A HUGE THANKS to: Al's Bar, who hosted our benefit event; Rhinegeist and Arcadium who teamed up to donate a portion of their sales; Rachel Bryant, who set up a donation page; Third Street Stuff & Coffee and Wild Fig Books & Coffee who fed us the day of the break-in; Minton's who fed us that day, as well as catered our benefit event; Limestone Blue who donated a portion of their sales; to all the bands that played at our benefit free of charge; to Mikey T who helped Erin orchestrate the music end of our benefit; Lance Heilman and Jerielle Hanlon who donated their skills and artwork for auction; all of our friends who showed up to the benefit or donated to the shop; everyone who sent us messages of tattoo gear for sale; and lastly, to the countless tattooers and shops that offered us machines, supplies, and support while we were still reeling. I'm sure we're leaving some people out, but every bit of love received has been appreciated beyond words.

A month later, the shop doesn't feel as hectic and scrambled. We finally got a new SD card for our camera too, so here are some shots from the week:

Scott working on Tre's back piece. 

Some new decorations at Charmed Life.

Austin Fields tattooing Mollie.

Joe King working his magic!

Tattoo by Scott Updike on Rob

Rob Nutt showing of his new tattoo.

The Best Friends Day Center Charity Event

This Mother's Day weekend, Scott Updike and the rest of the guys at Charmed Life Tattoo had a charity event for the Best Friends Day Center in memory of Scott's mother.

The Best Friends Day Center is an adult day care program for people who have irreversible memory disorders. Their program provides the person with memory loss with a safe, creative environment rich with therapeutic activities. In addition, they provide respite and peace of mind for the caregiver who is often on call 24 hours a day.

Scott knows first hand the positive impact this program has on families who struggle with Alzheimer's, dementia, and other memory related disorders. As a show of gratitude, Scott orchestrated a day of "Mom" tattoos last Saturday and all proceeds were donated to the center. 

THANKS TO THE OVERWHELMING SUPPORT, WE MANAGED TO RAISE OVER $2000!

We were packed beginning to end, and we were touched that so many people came to donate to a good cause, all while showing love to their mama. A big thank you to everyone who came in and waited to be tattooed. We hope to see you at our next flash event: FRIDAY THE 13TH!

 

Here are some photos of the lovely people who came to get tattooed Saturday:  

Behind the Scenes: Stella's Kentucky Deli Tattoo Event

This month has been hectic! Our days have been filled with lots of tax return tattoos, a paint night, guest artists, and preparation for the Louisville Tattoo Convention. 

One of the best moments this month was when the staff of Stella's Kentucky Deli came in for a group tattoo. As commemoration to the close knit atmosphere and friendship that has been cultivated at Stella's, a group of employees decided to get matching tattoos. The image chosen was a spoon that has been in circulation at the deli since its open, and we were more than happy to give them a permanent memento of the place they love.

The group (not all pictured) showing off their spoons. 

A big thanks to everyone who trusted us to tattoo them, and if you haven't been to Stella's you're missing out on some of the best food in Lexington! Check them out here (and drool over their food): 

We had a great time doing these tattoos! If you've been thinking of doing something similar with your friends/coworkers/bridesmaids/etc, we would love create a special day for you.

For inquiries on large group tattoos email us here: 

And here are our favorite shots of the week!

Robert putting a spoon on our friend Wendy. 

Rachel with her new tattoo from Nate Corder. 

Reunited!

John Henry came to town...

...and Elwood too!

March Paint Night & Lots of News!

     On the first Wednesday of every month we have a paint night. When 8 pm approaches everyone finishes up tattooing and gathers around the back table to discuss what's being painted that night. It's usually some mash up of our favorite things: grim reapers, wizards, dragons, and this month, birds & snakes. Although we see each other 6 days a week, those days are spent in our booths with walls separating each other. It's refreshing to sit around to talk, joke, unwind, and paint. We're looking forward to the next one, hopefully it'll be warm enough to host outdoors! 

Shop News: 

Five guest artists will be at the shop throughout the month! Here are the names & dates: 

Mar 8-21 Austin Fields , traveling artist currently based in Lexington, KY. 

Mar 15-16 Nate Corder , from Quality Custom Tattoos in Somerset, KY

Mar 20-21 John Henry Gloyne , from Hot Stuff Tattoo in Asheville, NC

Mar 25-28 Jason Barresi from Prophecy Ink in Louisville, KY

Mar 29-31 James Travis Madden , from Chicago Tattoo Company in Chicago, IL

Clicking on their names lead you to their Instagram page, so if you're not familiar with how awesome they are go check them out. To book your appointment, you can either personally contact them or fill out our Appointment Request Form.

      We are excited to announce that we will be attending the Louisville Tattoo Convention this year on April 1-3rd. 

We are sharing a booth with Rob Gilkey (of Big Fish Tattoo in Richmond, KY) where we'll be tattooing and selling our wares. Come see us and hang out! 

Lastly, here are some shots from this month's paint night: