The Temporary Tattoo Project

YOU'RE INVITED: Charity Auction, Mad Men Style

Sun, 13 May 2012 13:16:23 -0400

So guess what. I’m climbing Kilimanjaro this summer. I’m doing it as a part of Flying Kite’s Adventure Challenge program, a ridiculously cool initiative that takes you to the far corners of the world to trek, run, bike and fly your way to the most epic Facebook profile picture. The goal of the trip is the raise a mere $4K for Flying Kites in exchange for a life changer of an adventure—so of course my response to that was IN IT TO WIN IT.

As most of you know, I’m an ad girl. And unlike other industries where they actually have marketable skills outside of their job, I decided my best bet was to set up lunches and otherwise with the coolest people I knew to be raffled off all for donations to all of our favorite charity. The event is in a week and a half and should be epically fun.

Here’s the spiel, hope you can make it:

Charity Auction, Mad Men Style

Where: Naked Communications, 96 Greene Street between Prince and Spring, 2nd Floor (N, R to Prince Street or 6 to Spring Street)

When: Wednesday, March 23rd 7pm-10pm

Price: Free!

Website: http://lunchingforgood

Naked Communications is hosting a charity action, raffling off lunches and opportunities with top advertising executives and social/cultural/creative influencers. We have high up ad-y folk like the CMO of a global ad agency, cool tech stars like the developer of the first Star Wars game for the iPhone and influencers like one of the editors of Fast Company. We also have BOMB prizes up for auction like a $150 lunch at the Soho House and a tag-along with one of the most renowned photographers around.

Drinks sponsored by Bomb Lager, photobooth sponsored by The Booth and more!

All of the proceeds will be benefitting Flying Kites, a Brooklyn based non-profit that owns and operates an orphanage and education center in Kenya.

doomo arigato, mr roboto

Tue, 01 May 2012 23:06:47 -0400

So our tipping point was 50 and I’m not sure if you’ve been following my obsessive fb posts, but we almost tripled that number. Our final count (give or take a few pendings) is 135!

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to redeem by following the link on your purchased GROUPON and picking a tattoo for us to send you. Sad news, my Ronald Regan stamps are all gone, but I just bought the limited edition Civil War set. (Yes, I waited in the long line and made the post man find the most epic set of stamps for me.) I would be the next person to redeem/buy tattoo on our website if I were you…

Seriously, thank you all so much. For your support, your kind words, your energy to keep this going. This has been a wild ride indeed. More to come xx

TTTP Live! (+8 away!!)

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:36:32 -0400

This Sunday 4/29, 10am-6pm Dekalb Market (138 Willoughby x Flatbush)

COME VISIT ME!!!! For your viewing pleasure, I’m going to post a photo montage of yours truly at these things. Alone, wearing 3 different shirts that look exactly the same every time. Point of my story, I’m flying solo at this market and would love to see your face. I’ll even give you every possible form of transportation to get to me: B Q R to Dekalb Avenue, A C G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn, 2 3 to Hoyt Street. See YOU there.

Next Saturday 5/5, 9pm Greenpointers Cinco De Mayo Launch Party (Greenpoint Heights 278 Nassau Avenue)

Greenscreen photobooth and tacos (and tattoos of the temporary assortment). I’m going to leave it at that.

Groupon-stravaganza

We are EIGHT away from reaching $1K for Flying Kites! Help a brother out.

We tipped on GROUPON Gives!!

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:11:36 -0400

F*&% yes!!!

Thank you. Thank you. Thank YOU.

We’ve reached our tipping point, which means over 50 of you contributed to our project within the first day of it being out there—we are in awe and so deeply grateful. You guys are rockstars. Sincerest thank yous, really. Your money could not be going towards a better cause.

And for those of you who aren’t my mom and bought enough tattoos to create a temporary tattoo sleeve on Groupon, GOOD NEWS you can still get in on this action. We’ve tipped! That means that now, everyone who donates is guaranteed to get a tattoo in the mail. And who doesn’t want that. (Notice there was a period there, not a question mark.)

xxx to all of you, l+r

We're going to be on GROUPON Gives!!! (And we're hooking it up...)

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:39:01 -0400

I’m going to let you guys in on a little secret…

TTTP is the featured charity on Groupon Gives for the New York area this coming week. 12:00am Monday (TONIGHT!!) to 11:59pm Sunday to be exact. We need to get at least 50 people to donate $10 each to reach our tipping point of $500 for Flying Kites. Sooo, what does that mean? We reach $490, our charity gets zilch. We reach anywhere from $500 to ONE MILLION DOLLARS and it all goes to everyone’s favorite charity.

So that wasn’t really the secret. Are you ready for this jelly?

Everyone who donates $10 will receive a complimentary tattoo as a thank you for being such an effing STAR. What does that mean? Numero uno, FREE SHIPPING! And numero dos, we are offering up ANY of our tattoos to be shipped to you (and 2 of our kites if you’re feeling social). I don’t know how savvy you are on our price list, but that means a big DISCOUNT on two of our more expensive tattoos. We won’t name names, but I might just take a look at our website and seek them out: http://www.thetemporarytattooproject.org/shop.html

Where, you might ask, will you be able to get in on this action??? Right. Here. But not until 12:00am tonight. So put it in your little iCals and Blackberries, I will be reminding you about it, oh about every hour on the hour this week.

http://www.groupon.com/deals/grs-the-temporary-tattoo-project-supporting-flying-kites

Dekalb Market Spring Weekender + Etsy Shop

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:04:04 -0400

We will be at Dekalb Market’s Spring Weekender to celebrate the inaugural market in 2012! There will be a market wide Easter egg hunt…there will also be booze. Booze+tattoos+Easter eggs. Done and done.

138 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

10am-6pm

TTTP is now on etsy!

Aaaaaaand. It’s Spring people! *ahem, temporary tattoo season. I’ll leave you with the immortal words of Shania to remember us by:

Oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy-forget I’m a lady
Men’s shirts-short skirts
Oh, oh, oh, really go wild-yeah, doin’ it in style
Oh, oh, oh, get in the action-feel the attraction
Color my hair-do what I dare
Oh, oh, oh, I wanna be free-yeah, to feel the way I feel, way i feel
Man! I feel like a woman!

Calling all volunteers!!!

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 23:23:50 -0400

We need volunteers to come help us sell our kick ass tattoos at a hipster flea in Brooklyn on Saturday April 7th and Sunday April 8th from 10am-6pm. Interested??

Can you say best volunteering gig EVER. Email us at: thetemporarytattooproject@gmail.com

The rough cut of Stephanie’s interview for the TTTP video

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:00:05 -0500

The rough cut of Stephanie’s interview for the TTTP video

The rough cut of Virginia’s interview for the TTTP video

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:00:05 -0500

The rough cut of Virginia’s interview for the TTTP video

Meet the Artists: Stephanie Tamez and Virginia Elwood

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:33:58 -0500

Way, way overdue. We wanted to do a special Valentine’s Day edition for the cutest couple we’ve ever met, but alas we overshoot on Valentine’s Day expectations once again.

So I was in California on a business trip this past week with Emily McCombs, managing editor of xoJane, not to mention one of the coolest ladies around. She’s pouring her orange juice, we haven’t officially met, I’m staring down the blank space where I’ve been told the breakfast sandwiches are going to be placed and I find myself fixated on her calf. On it was the very same vintage teal typewriter tattoo that I pulled from Virginia’s portfolio to create her bio page for the website. Can you say kismet? “VIRGINIA ELWOOD!!!!!” I basically scream at her at 9 in the morning. (Yeah, and that is why Lauren does the PR and I do not…) Point being, it jump-started my geriatric memory, reminding me that I had a post to write.

On that note: Stephanie and Virginia invited us into their home in the cutest nook of Brooklyn on a Tuesday in July. They have one of those perfectly curated, impossibly cool apartments of the creative-type that awakens your latent Freudian insecurities, reminding you that your apartment still looks like a dorm room and the only art you have on your wall is that stick figure sketch your friend drew of your imaginary boyfriend while trashed. A-nyway… Rita, Stephanie and Virginia’s pint size dog hams it up for the camera as we film Stephanie for our video. Virginia is next in front of the bookcase. Cooing words of adoration and congratulations bounce back and forth between the two of them—I never want to leave this bubble of happiness. They catch us eyeing the backroom and give us a tour of their studio. Nautical scenes explode out from sketches on the table; paints upon paints upon every art supply you could ever wish for line the room. Two huge amounts of raw talent just percolating under one, exquisitely designed roof. I will not rehash the new Freudian insecurities that begin to percolate.

Stephanie’s humble demeanor and warm energy are not things you would expect from such a coveted artist as herself. The adjective ‘versatile’ could not even do her workjustice, I spent hours just pouring through her portfolio trying to select the best representation of her style—every last piece is so seamless and flawless, I just couldn’t choose. Stephanie was paired with Martha, a quiet, endearing little girl with so much heart. Coincidentally enough, Stephanie’s first tattoo was of a horse that she was so glad to revisit for Martha—as Martha’s super power would be to have a secret magic horse to ride on.

Working for several years as a graphic designer before embarking on her tattoo career, Tamez’s approach to tattooing is highly influenced by meticulous precision and an awareness of every piece in context of the larger picture. Tamez’s breadth of work covers everything from traditional Japanese to black and gray to detailed etching inspired tattoos. She has been living and tattooing in New York since 2001 and currently works out of Williamsburg’s very own, Saved Tattoo.

Virginia’s bold designs reflect the work of an artist that has such a keen sense of playful lightness. I find myself mesmerized by her images, I see her so clearly though every tattoo that she does. And when she created our kite, our 3”x3” knock-it-out-of-the-park tattoo, we along with every person who has ever come into contact with the project were head over heels for it. There is such a strength in her simplicity and vision that we are ever so grateful she lent her talents to us for this project.

Beginning her tattoo career in 2001, Elwood has based her craft largely on American folk art influences with some black and gray realism thrown in. Shifting focus from finer line tattooing to much bolder, traditionally inspired pieces, Elwood constantly endeavors to evolve her technique and her art. Elwood was recently featured on The Gypsy Gentlemen, a traveling documentary series profiling the world’s greatest tattooers. Elwood tattoos at New York Adorned in Manhattan’s East Village.

Big, big thanks to the two of them. We are eternally grateful.

The sweetest thank you we’ve ever received! Can’t...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:45:22 -0500

The sweetest thank you we’ve ever received! Can’t thank our artists enough for making this happen for the munchkins at Flying Kites.

The rough cut of Adam’s interview for the TTTP video

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:32:14 -0500

The rough cut of Adam’s interview for the TTTP video

Meet the Artists: Adam Suerte

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:31:30 -0500

On the adorable, locally cultivated, uniquely too-cute-to-be-Manhattan street between Mystic Essence, an organic perfumer and “The New” St. Clair Restaurant, sits Brooklyn Tattoo, a warm and welcoming (not at all intimidating for someone who has accidentally dressed like a bad rip-off of ‘Working Girl’ that day—client meeting, don’t ask) store front. Enter the glass doors and you’ll find yourself in a massive wood covered space that splits itself between the actual tattoo shop and an adjoining Urban Folk Art Gallery.

A co-owner of Brooklyn Tattoo and owner and co-curator of the gallery, you can tell Adam Suerte is a man that has made it his life’s work to pursue what he loves and share that pursuit with others around him. Adam is involved with art in almost all of its forms, most notably taking his love and history with graffiti and urban culture and translating it into his realistic yet uniquely stylized work.

A man of few words who has an easy kindness that juxtaposes such a burly exterior (*note: we recently see from Facebook that Adam has a new haircut, can we say hottie??), we adore Adam and are so thankful for his help, support and participation in the project. His portrait of Benson, a driven little man full of strength, is a crowd pleaser at the fleas and tugs at the heartstrings of almost everyone who sees it.

Born and bred in South Brooklyn, the streets served as Suerte’s canvas long before he was putting the streets on his canvas. Drawing inspiration from his own graffiti career and his deep Brooklyn roots, his paintings often depict the area he grew up in as the wave of gentrification covers the finer details of the neighborhood he remembers and loves. Suerte is the founder and co-owner of Brooklyn Tattoo in Cobble Hill, where he tattoos as well as continues to paint, print make, illustrate comics, create murals, and teach art to children.

The rough cut of Robert’s interview for the TTTP video

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:02:44 -0500

The rough cut of Robert’s interview for the TTTP video

Meet the Artists: Robert Bonhomme

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:00:31 -0500

If you need to know one thing about me, it’s that I’m a stalker. Haha you think I’m joking? Just wait until I’m spamming your inbox and Facebook friending you until you have no choice to respond back to me. Robert Bonhomme, sick oil painter turned tattoo artist found that out the hard way.

Through a loop of random connections of coworkers, friends and friends of friends, I was able to connect with Robert one summer afternoon at Ground Support, a coffee shop in Soho. True to form, I overwhelmed him immediately with my crazy-eyed enthusiasm for this project, but like a champ, this guy sat there and kindly heard me out before graciously agreeing to be a part of it.

On our way back from Ground Support, Robert humbly shared his experience going back to Haiti with his dad to do community work when he was a little kid. His dad would bring supplies and go door to door teaching villagers how to filter and heat water and cook with solar energy. And as he grew up, Robert continued to go with his father, and on his own brought more and more supplies and his brother and sister’s clothes to give away. Giving back was in his blood and he shared his excitement to be able to get involved again.

Oh you thought my stalker-like tendencies ended there? Oh no, no. I fully stalked Robert’s entire portfolio, and he just blew me away with his obvious artistic talent and his ability to truly take on a multitude of forms and styles. The realism in his recreations of paintings and objects is staggering. I paired Robert with Miriam, a soft-spoken, sweet little girl constantly thinking of others before herself. She had a quiet power about her that reminded me of Robert, and his great Koi and Bloom tattoos were truly incredible expressions of her character and beauty.

Starting his tattoo career in 2003, Bonhomme’s deep artistic roots shine through in his stunningly realistic portraits, black and gray work, and Japanese/Asian-themed tattoos. Bonhomme’s work, while impressive in its own right, is truly staggering in terms of its depth and his chameleon-like ability to take on a multitude of styles and forms. Bonhomme splits his time between Brooklyn Tattoo in Cobble Hill and Invisible NYC in the Lower East Side.

TTTP at 3rd Ward's Saturday Handmade Holiday Craft Fair

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:34:28 -0500

Last year I went with my sister, bought a glasses chain, a tassel necklace and a soap with a lighter in it. Needless to say, girl knows how to work a craft fair…

This year TTTP joins the ranks of the kick ass stocking stuffers (or day 2 of Hanukkah presents) at 3rd Ward’s 5th Annual Handmade Holiday Craft Fair. Come find us at 3rd Ward this Saturday noon to 6, where we will be serving up temporary tattoos just in time for I’m-going-home-for-Christmas-next -Friday-and-still-haven’t-gotten-you-anything shopper.

Saturday, December 10th
Noon to 6 pm
195 Morgan Ave, Brooklyn, NY
FREE admission

Invites to Fab.com for our sale at 11am!!

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:44:00 -0500

Invites to Fab.com for our sale at 11am!!:

Get on it. Or send us an email asking for an invite and we’ll gladly extend one to you.*

thetemporarytattooproject@gmail.com

*With purchase of a tattoo. Kidding. (Not kidding.)

Fab.com, Brooklyn Night Bazaar and Weddings

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 01:44:37 -0500

Hey tattooees. It’s been a while. We’ve missed you. And in true high school reunion style, we’re going to skip right over the obligatory ‘how have YOU been’ part and use this as an opportunity to brag about our children.

Quick and dirty 30 second update on our project. We’ve had a pretty kick ass year. Global warming has smiled kindly on us, bestowing temperate summer weather far into fall, allowing us to do some hustlin’ at both the Brooklyn Flea and Brooklyn Night Bazaar.

Upcoming news? Get out your day planners—this Monday the 5^th (aka tomorrow!) our tattoos will be featured on Fab.com, an awesome site featuring daily design inspirations that make it impossible not to want to get in on whatever magical journey they’re featuring next. The sales runs from Monday to Thursday, so make sure you don’t miss out. Also, not this Friday but the next, there are serious rumors that The Temporary Tattoo Project will return to the Brooklyn Night Bazaar in Williamsburg.

OH and. We were humbled last month when we were asked the honor of being the favors of choice at a very special wedding. Best wedding reception pictures ever? You can bet your life.

Posts about our other super sweet artists, Stephanie Tamez, Virgina Elwood, Adam Suerte and Robert Bonhomme to come!

Let the ONLINE SALES begin!

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:24:00 -0400

Let the ONLINE SALES begin!:

Officially, officially. We have a legit e-commerce site (and website!) up and running. If your excuse for holding off was: “Oh, I’m sketched out about purchasing out of Lauren’s purse in this dark corner” or “Purchasing off of this make-shift email order system, while magically efficient and breathtakingly organized, is too DIY for me,” well kid-o, today is your lucky day.

Check out the GALLERY of people rocking our tattoos as well as the SURVEYS the kids gave to the artists to help tell them a little more about themselves. Most importantly, the SHOP where you can now buy your tattoos in a civilized manner. Go forth, shop on!

Meet the Artists: Daniel Trocchio

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:55:00 -0400

The first time I met Dan I told him I might throw up on him. The conversation went something like this:

“So…has anyone ever thrown up on you before?”

“No, I can’t say that they have. Uh, is there a reason you’re asking that?”

“Oh yeah, I might throw up on you. I’m just letting you know.”

And the sweetheart that he is (sorry Dan, if I’m ruining your street cred by calling you a sweetheart), he responded like this: “Ah, well. You would be the first. And then I could tell people someone threw up on me. So I guess it’s not that bad?”

Let me caveat this conversation with the fact that I was getting my first tattoo and Dan was giving it to me. About two thirds of the way in, I calmly informed Dan that I was going to die and then politely requested that he tell me a story. Or you know, the exact opposite, but who’s keeping track. Then Dan proceeds to tells me a “story” on a theory of gravity he had just been reading about. Very little recollection of what he actually said, but from that point on, I knew we were going to be friends—right after I threw up on him. Joking! I didn’t do that, that time…

Fast-forward a year later. I’m sitting in Enid’s with Dan trying to sell him on the idea of temporary tattoos. “I love temporary tattoos, you can’t see why people would get them?”

“I mean. I guess I could get them, but then I would be covering up other tattoos?”

Ah yes, wrong crowd. But regardless of the fact that he was a tattoo artist for close to 18 years and wasn’t quite sold on the idea of a tattoo that you could scrub off with your thumb before your mom had the chance to cast the knowing stare of disconent, once I told him about the cause, he was onboard in a second.

The other night after taking many liberties in creating his bio, I told him I had Google-stalked him all day and haphazardly pieced together an “about me” that very liberally peppered in oh, small things like my assumptions on what his tattooing style might be like and his fake interests. It came out something like this:

Dan has been referenced as a “prolific artist, whether his art is on canvas or on skin.” Starting his tattoo career in ’93 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Dan has since traveled the world tattooing with stints in Scandinavia, parts of Europe and across the United States. Originally drawn to tattooing through the allure of supporting himself as an artist and working with the fresh cultish medium, Dan’s bold neo-traditional style reflects ornate detail woven into inventive, artist pieces. Dan works out of Three Kings Tattoo in Greenpoint.

(*This may be mostly true after I removed the part about his love for cats and his passion for tattooing single Asian characters wrought with meaning.)

I paired Dan with Isaac. Isaac is a tenacious little boy with determination to one day become a pilot. At the ripe age of 9, Isaac is already a lady-killer. When he arrived at Flying Kite’s program back in 2008 he had already arranged for himself an “inside girlfriend” (inside Flying Kite’s program) as well as an “outside girlfriend.” Dan’s rendering of the lion, Isaac’s absolute favorite animal, on a plane, Isaac’s dream vessel, could not have been better executed.

I already said it once and I’ll say it again, Dan is a sweetheart and possesses such insane artistic ability that you can’t bring up his name without having a magazine that he was covered in or his huge reputation precede him. At the fleas I would turn around to show people my bomb (fake) back piece and I’ll get ‘em every time. So thank you a million times over, Dan, for a badass piece of amazing art and also for my sunset tramp stamp which is a real beacon of truth and light in my life.