Hey guys! I hope you're doing well on this fine Wednesday. I know that I sure am! I've been practicing yoga, meditating, reading, writing, and spending lots of time with my loved ones. Honestly, I can't remember a time in my life when I've ever been this happy. My heart is so full, that it feels as though it could burst. So much love.

Don't get me wrong, things are not perfect (not even close), but one by one, I'm crushing my fears. And it feels so damn good.

Speaking of crushing my fears, we need to talk about my forearm tattoo...

My first week of university, I marked my skin with the words, "Viva Hate". It's actually a Morrissey tattoo, and "Viva Hate" was my favourite album. But the words ran deeper than that. I was a sad teenager, and had turned into a very angry young adult.

Well, it's eight years later... And I'm not so angry anymore. I still love Morrissey, but I don't love those words. I don't regret my decision per say, but these faded marks don't make me happy when I look at them (ugh... that script looks so bad now).

I've spent a lot of time thinking about whether or not to cover this tattoo, and I've finally decided that I am going to turn it into something really beautiful. I've held off for a long time, for multiple reasons. But if not now, when? I want to love every part of my body and soul, and so, now is the time.

I made a mood board, because, well I'm a nerd. The two "Now My Heart is Full" tatts belong to my BFF's. The heart + sunflowers is Brie, and was done by Aaron Hill (years ago) at Good Point Tattoos (he's now at Speakeasy in Toronto). The rose is my bud Nat, and the tattoo is by Glennie W. (also a few years ago) at Pearl Harbor. All of the other tattoos pictured are by Alex Strangler (except the triple flowers, but I found that without a name on Pinterest). Hopefully one day I will get under Alex's needle. But for now, I'm hoping some local talent can work with what I've got.

I'm going to add a geo flower (or two) and a banner saying, "Now My Heart is Full", (which is actually another Morrissey song). I just want something really bright + beautiful.

Yeassss!!! Let's do this. I'm probably way too excited.

Peace and love,

Alex

Hey friends! Just wanted to share a little DIY I did over the weekend.

It was my friend Alana's birthday, so I decided to make her a little something. She dressed up as a skeleton for Halloween, and if my memory served correctly - had plenty of skull regalia decorating her home. But who doesn't need a little MORE skull decorations in their life? So I set out to make her some sugar skull wall art.

I found an inexpensive wooden plaque (that already had a chain for hanging attached), and got to work painting/inking. I then sealed the paint with some matte gel medium. Super easy, super fun, and she loved it!

Check out the results, pretty fun, right? This isn't my first foray into skull-themed wall art. I have a shower curtain with sugar skulls all over it that Pedro insisted we pick up when we were in NYC. I made a cross-stitched skeleton canvas awhile back! I'm going to see if I can dig up some photos.