Autism Awareness

Steel and Ink Tattoo Studio is proud to be raising autism awareness in St Louis by running a special for Autism Awareness Month all April: all autism related tattoos will be 25% off.

The Autism Spectrum Disorder is a range of neurological disorders characterized by impaired social and communication skills. There is no single cause or trigger to autism, and the symptoms of those with an autism spectrum disorder can vary greatly. 1 in 68 American Children will be diagnosed with autism, and the rate at which autism is diagnosed is steadily increasing.

Anyone interested in donating to a charitable organization that benefits the many people living with autism can find an opportunity to do so here.

Kansas City Tattoo Convention

Kansas City Tattoo Arts Convention

Steel and Ink Studio will be attending the first annual Kansas City Tattoo Arts Convention May 1st- 3rd at the Sheraton at Crown Center in Kansas City Missouri. Steel and Ink will be open for business Friday May 1st, but will be closed Saturday the 2nd for the convention.

Tattoo conventions are events that are looked forward to by both tattoo artists and convention visitors. Its hard to describe the environment at a tattoo convention. If you've never been to one, you need to because you are missing out on a great time.  Just imagine it. You pay your admission, and enter the convention. There are rows of booths occupied by tattoo artists and piercers. Most if not all of the artists have their portfolios on display, and many have prints and original artwork for sale too. The amount of great art can be a bit overwhelming, some of the artists have even brought clients they've already tattooed to enter them in the convention's tattoo contests. Somewhere in the middle of it all you find the artist with the perfect style for that piece you've been wanting. After a brief conversation you set up an appointment, so you decide to check out the live entertainment for a while. There is usually a variety of live entertainment at tattoo conventions; carnival style sideshows, live music, suspensions, and the daily tattoo contests are all common acts at tattoo conventions. Right before your appointment, you catch yourself thinking "Its almost a shame I'm about to be tattooed, I could watch these sideshows all day." Before you know it, your tattoo is finished and the convention is winding down, and you can't even remember the last time you had so much fun.

This is the experience you can expect from a good tattoo convention, If you are interested in having a great time, come join us in Kansas City.

March at Steel and Ink Studio

March is a busy month at Steel and Ink. With spring break leaving everybody wondering what to do with the extra time, why not get the tattoo or piercing you've been wanting to have?  This March we're going to be running specials to make it and even better time to visit Steel and Ink Tattoo Studio. For the entire month of March our entire stock of body jewelry is buy one get one free, our beanies are half off (discounted price: $5), and Nose and Navel piercings will be $10 off. This means that for $35, you can get your nose or navel pierced, with your jewelry and aftercare included in that price. With the money you saved on your piercing, you can get a beanie or a few pieces of jewelry
and still have cash left over.  So come on in the studio and get tattooed or pierced this March, you'll save some money and be healed in time to show it off this summer!

Tattoos for Friday the 13th

Many tattoo shops hold sales for Friday the 13th.  Customers pick through a series pre-drawn images, referred to as "flash," to be tattooed onto their body. Typically, the flash for these Friday the 13th events are smaller tattoos, drawn in the american traditional style, often with subject matter relating to good or bad luck, and often feature prominent numeral 13s.

Flash sheet courtesy of David Groth

But why did this tradition start? Urban legend says that one would get a 13 tattoo to protect themselves from bad luck. The idea was that bad luck would see the tattoo and assume that its owner has enough bad luck already. This began the tradition tattooing good luck charms. Today, the Friday  the Thirteenth tradition has expanded beyond symbols of good and bad luck to appeal to more clients.

Rather than reuse the same sets of flash from one Friday the Thirteenth to the next, Steel and Ink artists create a new set of flash for each event. The flash sheet pictured above will be available for customers of Steel and Ink Studio on February 13th 2015, but the full set will only be shown in the studio on Friday the Thirteenth.