If you like tattoos, you will love tattoo conventions – simple as that. One of the biggest tattoo events in the country is Tattoo Jam. This year the bash is held at Doncaster Race Course between the 6th and 8th August. If you are in the area make sure you check it out; it promises to be a great weekend!

Don’t fret if you can’t make Tattoo Jam as there are loads of other tattoo events all across the country and Europe. This compressive list on the Total Tattoo Magazine website covers the best ones; so get the dates in your diary!

After months and months of build up, the World Cup is just one week away from the eagerly awaited final, So far we’ve been deafened by the Vuvuzela’s, shocked at how rubbish the ball is and uncontrollably disappointed that England failed to progess past the last 16.

Even while we’ve been watching football in the office, we’re constantly on the look out for tattoos, and as our regular readers and tattoo enthusiasts across the land already know, football and dodgy tattoos go hand in hand!

As there’s been so many tattoo’s on display already, we thought that some of our favourites deserved a special mention. So, here are our top five tattoos from South Africa 2010 so far:

1. Kevin Prince Boateng
Boateng plays his international football for Ghana, despite making 41 appearances for the German national side at youth level. His brother Jerome is also in South Africa, playing for Germany, which, if you ask us, is a little weird!

Boateng has caught the eye of many tattoo fans with his collection of colourful ink work. To mark his name, the player has a crown tattooed on the side of his neck, as well as having both arms covered in some pretty impressive tribal designs.

2. Diego Maradona
The Argentina manager has kept most of his tattoos covered up, with the help knock-off designer suits, so far this world cup. However, had the Argies gone on to win the competition, Maradona had promised to run through the streets of Buenos Aires butt naked to celebrate!

Sadly Messi and co won’t be lifting the trophy in July, but some of the residents of Buenos Aires might not be so disappointed, as now, they won’t be exposed to Maradona’s ink work (and everything else), including his famous Che Guevara and Fidel Castro tattoos.

3. Wayne Rooney
Proud Englishman Rooney has a couple of tattoos, including the famous Stereophonic’s album title ‘Just enough education to perform’ scribbled down his lower right arm. Wayne wears his heart on his sleeve when he plays football, and to prove he’s such a proud Englishman, the Man United ace has had the flag of St. George inked on his left bicep. Shame he wasn’t as patriotic on the field this time round…

4. Jermain Defoe
Defoe is famous for falling out of night clubs with page three girls, scoring goals for Spurs and having some pretty impressive sleeve tattoos. Despite Defoe’s late night antics in the West End, he is actually a keen family man. To mark his paternal commitments, he’s had the names of his mum, gran and late brother, Jade, incorporated into his tattoos.

5. Tim Cahill
Australian football has never really had too much shout about. However, due to his great performances for Everton, stunning goals and great tattoos, Tim Cahill has become a quite the hero for the Socceroos.

Image credit.

Cahill has an impressive Maori inspired design running half way down his right arm, and to show his commitment to the Merseyside blues, Cahill actually has ‘E.F.C’ embedded in the design.

If you’re getting ready to play football or simply watching the World Cup on the telly, why not check out our cool football temporary tattoos to help you get psyched up for the next big game!

When most people decide they want to get a tattoo, they usually spend quite a lot of time researching different designs and tattoo artists before committing. We need to stress at this point that you should always try and choose an artist that has created similar designs and has a lot of experience to prove they know what they are doing.

With this in mind, you can imagine how surprised we were when we came across Ruby Dickinson, who at 3 years old is aiming to become the world’s youngest tattoo artist!

The Welsh toddler has been inspired by her dad, Blane, who runs a tattoo parlour in Penmaenmawr, Conwy. Her dad said he wants his daughter to tattoo him for his 40th birthday in four years time when Ruby will be seven. Since normal tattoo equipment is too heavy for the 3 year-old, Mr Dickinson plans to import specialist light weight apparatus from America to make it easier for his daughter when the big day arrives.

Who knows, one day this might be normal?

Image credit.

When she grows up, Ruby claims she wants to be a tattoo artist just like her dad. To help her practice for her future career she has enrolled in tattoo lessons with a toy kit in her dad’s shop every day after nursery.

The record for the youngest tattoo artist is currently held by Canadian Emilie Darrigade, who at the tender age of five helped to tattoo a bumble bee design on her dads forearm. Her dad Dave was so impressed with her skills that he is already helping her to plan new pieces of work. Ruby’s dad said he would love it if his daughter could beat Emilie’s record.

Fortunately we don’t know any toddlers that we’d be happy let loose with a tattoo gun! If you’re in the same boat as us, and let’s face it if you’re not Ruby or Emile’s dads then you probably should be, you might want to check out our temporary designs. The designs aren’t permanent, so you could even let your little ones have a go at putting them on. But don’t say we didn’t warn you if they start demanding real tattoo equipment for their next birthday present!

You can read the full, original article on Ruby and her tattoo aspirations here.

When we were growing up as tattoo obsessed children, our parents used to tell us the odd tall story about how tattoos would one day be illegal, and anyone with them would have to go to prison. Luckily for us their threats turned out to be lies and obviously we never believed them anyway – yeah right!

However, in California (which we thought was supposed to be the land of the free living?) one tattoo artist is having some serious legal problems. Johnny Anderson, owner of ‘Yer Cheat’n Heart Tattoo Parlour’, wanted to move his shop from Gardena to Hermosa Beach because his current location is a little…. on the shabby side, apparently.

When Anderson applied for a new permit in the more up market neighbourhood of Hermosa Beach, the local authorities turned down his application because local laws state that tattoo parlours are illegal in the area. An understandably shocked Mr. Anderson then proceeded to take local legislators to court on the grounds that creating tattoos was a form of “communication and art” and therefore should be “protected by free speech laws”.

Unluckily for Anderson the judge ruled against him, so he decided to take the case to a federal court, but sadly they ruled in the cities favour too. Still undeterred, Anderson is planning to appeal against the federal court’s ruling. Legal experts in the US believe he’s got a good chance of getting the decision overturned as they say tattooing should be considered a form of art rather than a simply a business service.

Here at Tattoo Fashion we will all be crossing our fingers for Anderson. Hopefully he’ll be able to open his brand new shop in new and nicer surroundings as soon as possible and get what he deserves!

If you live in Hermosa Beach, or anywhere else where tattoos are deemed to be illegal (even if by illegal you just mean not allowed by your mum) then have a look at our temporary tattoos.

Here at Tattoo Fashion we’ve seen a lot of, how shall we put this, distinctive tattoos! We’ve discovered these ‘distinctive’ tattoos on hands, feet and even a few faces! So it’s safe to say that it takes a lot to shock us; however when we stumbled across Wim Delvoye’s tattooed pigs, even we were a little taken a back!

Image from Flickr by We Make Money Not Art.

Back in 2005, the Belgian artist opened his ‘Art Farm’ just outside of Beijing, China. On this farm he literally ‘produces’ his art by caring for the pigs and letting them stay there once they’ve finished having their tattoos – how cute! Before the animals go under the needle they are given pain killers to help them get through the session, although it’s a shame they don’t get to choose their own designs!

Photo from Flickr by We Make Money Not Art.

The animals are able to live out the rest their natural lives, as well as lasting a lot longer than pigs who are raised for slaughter; who usually only manage to get to six months! Once the animals pass on, their skins are sold to ‘collectors’. Not sure we fancy hanging illustrative pig skin on our wall….

The designs vary from traditional roses and skulls, to Louis Vuitton logos. Who’s up for betting Victoria Beckham’s a fan? If, unlike Posh, you are a fan of animal tattoos, rather than tattooing animals, check out our animal tattoo designs.

The summer is finally here! At Tattoo fashion HQ this can only mean one thing: music festivals are around the corner! (And perhaps everything else that happens on the few sunny days between May and September!).

To celebrate the colourful festival season, we’ve decided to take a look at some of the more iconic and interesting rock star tattoos of our time.

A thorn in the side or a pruned legend?

Image from Wikimedia by Bubamara.

Rock wild man Axel Rose is famous for many things; including starting riots and spending 14 years and $13 million on making one album! He also has some of the most famous tattoos in music.

The new face (arms, legs, neck, hands, etc) of British rock tattoos?

One young man who almost certainly took inspiration from Mr Rose is Gallows front man, Frank Carter. The twenty-something rock rebel is also a qualified tattoo artist, with most of his body covered in different colourful and striking designs.

The Scottish Standard Bearers

Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro have certainly broken in to the main stream through gigs at major festivals over the last couple of summers. The group are famous for their wide range of eccentric tattoos, as highlighted by front man Simon Neil:

Photo taken from Wikimedia by user Astrojunta.

The One (and probably only) constant in this young lady’s life…

Amy Winehouse may have publicly fallen off the wagon on several occasions in the last couple of years, however, one thing that she can rely on sticking with her though the hard times are her famous collection of classic tattoos. A come back album is supposed to be on the cards for 2010, so keep an eye out for the Beehive, drunken antics and of course tats to make an appearance at some point this summer:

Photo taken from Flickr by user Viernest.

If these have got you in the mood for drinking warm cider in a field somewhere this summer, why not check out our realistic temporary band tattoo designs to get in the festival spirit nice and early!

Here at Tattoo Fashion our Maori tattoos are extremely popular; especially with rugby teams and stag trip organisers. The strong and striking designs are often synonymous with strength and masculinity – images that are fervently conveyed up by the New Zealand rugby team. The majority of the All Blacks proudly display Maori designs as a nod to their cultural significance back home, and although they’re a little intimidating in full flow, we love all of their tats!

We also love stitching up our mates up on stag do’s, and more often than not, Maori tattoos help us look the part during the big weekend! But our boisterous pranks aside, traditional Maori tattoos play a huge part in New Zealand’s proud and longstanding heritage.

To celebrate this strong and fascinating culture, we thought we’d take a closer look at Maori Tattoos to see how and why they’re so popular over here (particularly with slightly dubious stag do enthusiasts, like ourselves) as they are in NZ, where by contrast they are seen as a cornerstone of society rather than just amusing displays of bravado.

Originally a person’s first tattoo in a tribe, carried out at an adolescent age, a Maori tattoo was administered as part of a series of ceremonies and rituals to mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. A person without any tattoos in Maori culture was commonly seen as having little status or significance.

Tattoos were often used to mark important events throughout life and were regularly carried out as part of a big occasion with music, chanting and even fasting.

Traditionally men are tattooed on the face, buttocks and legs, whereas women usually have Maori designs on the lips, neck and back. Since the 1990s, Maori tattoos have seen a huge surge in popularity across the globe. Today there are many professional tattoo artists who use traditional Maori tattoo equipment such as small chisels with needles, rather than modern electric tattoo guns.

There are a whole host of celebrities that sport Maori style tats, including Robbie Williams and Mike Tyson. So if you think you’re as tough Robbie or Mike (probably more the latter) check out our temporary Maori tattoo designs and get practicing that Haka!

Last week we had a look at some of the less tasteful football tattoos that we’ve come across on our tattoo inspired travels. Just to even things up a little bit we thought that this week we would show you some of the more thoughtful and inspiring football related tattoos that we’ve seen.

1) Fernando Torres
El Nino, as he is affectionately known by Liverpool and Spain fans, has quite a few tattoos, but the major one that stands out to us is the number ‘9’ on his lower right arm. Torres has successfully worn the number nine shirt for his country, as well as for both Liverpool and Athletico Madrid. So it’s safe to assume that this design isn’t going to grow out of favour with the superstar Spaniard when he gets old!

2) Marco Materazzi
After famously being head butted in the 2006 World Cup final by Zinedine Zidane, Marco Materazzi and Italy eventually went on to win the game on penalties to become World Cup champions. To mark his achievement (of winning the World Cup and not winding up Zizou) Materazzi acquired a World Cup trophy design along with the date of the final on his left thigh.

3) Daniel Agger
Although Daniel Agger’s tattoos are not as distinctive or football related as the others in this list, he gets an honourable mention for being the only footballer we can think of that is also a qualified tattoo artist. Rumour has it that at the end of last season, when Liverpool were chasing Manchester United for the tile, the young Dane promised his fellow team mates special tattoos to mark their achievement if they managed to win the title. Unfortunately for Agger and his fellow red scousers they finished second, just behind United. It looks like it’s going to be a while till Stevie G and his chums get the chance to get inked by the hard man defender.

4) Diego Maradona
The Argentinean football legend has regularly praised his fellow country man Che Guevara as being one of the biggest inspirations in his life, even going as far as saying that along with god he was the main reason he is alive today. To mark his admiration, the pint sized football hero has Che’s iconic face imprinted on his right bicep.

5) Craig Bellamy
Proud Welshman Craig Bellamy is known throughout football for his short temper and aggressive playing style. Just in case anyone who wasn’t sure of his love for all things related to his homeland, the Man City forward decided to get a tattoo showing one of his many Welsh hero’s, medieval nationalist Owain Glyndwr, midway though a battle, on his right arm.

If you’re starting to get the World Cup fever already, why not have a look at our football temporary tattoos to get yourself psyched up for the big tournament in June!

Unless you live under a rock, you will probably know that this summer in South Africa there is a rather large football competition known as the World Cup.

Tattoos and football have gone hand in hand for years, with many of the top players in the world, such as Wayne Rooney, David Beckham and Fernando Torres, all sporting famous tats. There are also plenty of fans around the world who have marked their loyalty to their teams with tattoos; usually not in the most tasteful manner.

Here at Tattoo Fashion we thought we would take a look at some of the more dubious football related tattoos; ranging from footballer to fan; so we hope you enjoy these pics as much as we do!

1) John Westwood

Image from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donshappysnaps/4167925081/

2) Scott Lee

Sunderland fan Scott Lee was so impressed with Roy Keane’s work as manager at his beloved club, that he decided to get his face tattooed on his back. Unfortunately for Scott, just over a year later the Irishman walked out on the north-east club! We wonder if Scott is now an Ipswich fan…?

3) Stephen Ireland

Image from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shunk/4313919246/

It’s not just football fan’s that have an insatiable taste for dodgy looking tattoos – case in point Manchester City’s Stephen Ireland and his interesting angel wings. Enough said.

4) Leeds and England Fan

Image from TheOffside.com: http://www.theoffside.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/leeds-and-england-tattoo-2.jpg

This Leeds and England fan is surely not bothered by the looks he must get every time he walks past a school, nursing home, hospital or in fact anywhere he goes! However, we have to take our hat off to this man’s…er, commitment to his club and country.

5) Chris Atkinson

Manchester City fans were extremely excited and intrigued when their club was taken over by wealthy owners back in 2008; however, it’s unlikely that any of them got more excited than Chris Atkinson (above).

After reading rumours in the press that City were going to mount a £100 million bid to sign Kaka from AC Milan, Chris decided he would get the Brazilian’s name tattooed on his chest. Unfortunately Kaka signed for Real Madrid, but undeterred by his disappointment, Chris then decided to get Robinho’s name tattooed next to Kaka’s! However, Chris was to experience further disappointement when Robinho went on loan to Brazilian club Santos in January this year. Atkinson wasn’t too upset though, telling the BBC “I’ll just wait until I have kids and call them Robinho and Kaka”. Bless him.

In case you’re not sure if your football loyalties run as deep as some of this lot, or (hopefully) you have a few more brain cells, you should check out our world cup flag tattoos which are temporary and mean you won’t have to worry about naming your Mancunian children after Brazilian superstars…

Tattoo Fashion’s top five (worse) tattoos

We just love discovering really bad tattoos here at Tattoo Fashion. In fact, we would go as far to say that seeing an ugly or comical body design makes our day!

However, we also appreciate the fact that tattoos, like art, is completely subjective; with their individual beauty being exclusively in the eye of the beholder – or who’s sporting it of course. Here are our top five worse tattoos:

1)

Alright, don’t get snappy. You decided to have it!

2)

Not only a bad film, but an even worse tattoo

3)

We’re hoping the owner of this foot isn’t an Ol’ Dirty B*****d too!

4)

Ah, Chewy! You’re a star, but this tattoo make you look in the wars…

5)

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If these pics have slightly put you off from getting a permanent tattoo, why not check out our wide range of temporary tattoo designs. At least they wash off, you don’t have to shave any skin and they most definitely prevent long-term, public humiliation!

All images are from www.abcnews.go.com/Entertainment