✧ frequently asked questions ✧
Where are you located?
I own a private studio space in North Wales, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. My exact location/address is only available to my clients. I am currently appointment only and am not available for walk-ins.
how do i book an appointment with you?
I have a comprehensive booking form which you can fill out in order to request an appointment with me. I book in blocks, scheduling out several months at a time; if my books are closed and you are curious as to when they will be open again, please follow along on my instagram for announcements. I will be putting together a mailing list/newsletter soon as well so you can subscribe for updates and booking dates.
If my books are closed, it means I am not presently taking new appointment requests.
Please note that submitting a request form does not guarantee an appointment.
What information should i include about my idea when booking an appointment?
If you want a pre-drawn piece from my personal flash - great! Most of the hard work has already been done - you won’t need to tell me much besides the placement you’re hoping for and which design you are interested in.
If you’re hoping to get a custom piece, the first thing to think about is - am I the right artist for your idea? It is just as important for you to find the right artist as it is for me to choose the projects I feel I can execute well so that your tattoo can turn out the way you want it to. If you aren’t sure whether or not I’m the person for your idea, ask yourself: is your idea in line with my work stylistically/in subject matter? Do you like my work enough to trust me with your design and allow for the process to be a collaboration? It is important we both feel that we are on a similar creative wavelength.
Next, do you have a specific idea, or are you hoping to allow for more creative freedom? For example, if you want a fox with flowers, but really you want a full-body fox jumping through floating peonies and orange blossoms, say so! Don’t just say “fox with flowers” because I might draw a fox head with tulips, which would not be a good use of your time or mine.
If your idea is more general, if you aren’t as particular about how your idea is executed, or if you genuinely want to let me run wild, less specificity is needed.
Either way, please be descriptive and as clear as possible! Major changes to your design idea may result in changes in cost.
when will i hear back from you?
I am a one-man show - I’m doing things as efficiently as possible, but it takes a lot of time and work to reply to inquiries. Sending extra emails or reaching out to me repeatedly is not necessary! Whether or not your booking request is accepted, I will answer you as soon as I can manage to - I promise I’m not ignoring you, and you won’t be left hanging. You WILL get a reply from me regardless of whether or not I can fit you into my bookings.
What are your rates?
Pricing varies and is dependent on each particular tattoo. For pre-drawn flash, the price is generally fixed. Custom work is priced per piece, dependent on sizing, style, placement, and complexity, and is generally more expensive than flash due to the extra prep and design work required. On rare occasions, I may charge a discussed hourly fee, usually for special projects or larger-scale pieces.
I require a non-refundable deposit of $100 regardless of the design. Deposits are used to hold your appointment date/time and also go towards the drawing, research, and prep work that goes into your tattoo. If you need to cancel or reschedule, you will be required to give a new deposit upon rescheduling (unless otherwise discussed). If you do not show up to your appointment and don’t give noticed (no call/no show), you will need to restart the booking process from step one.
The entire deposit ($100) will count towards the final cost of your tattoo.
How do I pay?
Deposits will be made at the time that you choose your appointment date (via a link I send in an email) and can be paid online with debit/credit card or PayPal through my booking system, all in one convenient place through one site. If your appointment request is accepted for that round of booking, you’ll be sent a link to a booking site where you will choose your own appointment date and time and will be prompted to pay a deposit. On the day of your appointment, cash is heavily preferred, but you can pay also the remaining balance with Venmo.
I have an appointment lined up - When can I expect to see a preview of my design?
For custom designs, I will usually show you a rough (but detailed) sketch of your design one day before your appointment to allow enough time for any minor tweaks or adjustments (if necessary).
In most cases, you will not see a fully rendered/cleanly inked rendition of your design at any point beforehand. The tattoo itself is the finished piece.
I need to cancel my appointment - what do I do?
In the event that you need to cancel your appointment or postpone indefinitely, please reach out to me. Unless discussed otherwise, your deposit will be forfeited.
What if I need to reschedule?
If you need to reschedule, understand that unless discussed otherwise, your deposit will be forfeited. This is due to reschedules often being last-minute, which means I am losing the income I’d been expecting for that day, and a deposit acts as a small sort of ‘safety net’ to help me still have a portion of income that day.
Please understand that rescheduling may set your appointment back several months, as you will most likely need to wait until the next booking period to choose a new appointment slot.
What happens if I’m late to my appointment?
If you are running late on the day of your appointment, you are guaranteed your appointment slot for up to an hour. That is all I can account for in my schedule. If you are running into a problem on the day of and think you might be more than sixty minutes late, please notify me about your situation ASAP.
If you show up to your appointment more than an hour late, there is no guarantee that I will still have the time to tattoo you that day. If you’re so late that I cannot tattoo you, you will have to reschedule your appointment and therefore risk losing your deposit.
If you don’t show up to your appointment and don’t notify me (no call/no show), you WILL lose your full deposit and will need to restart the booking process from step one if you hope to reschedule or book again.
In special circumstances or emergencies, we might be able to discuss alternatives - please just communicate with me! I know life happens and sometimes situations arise that are beyond our control; I’m not trying to be mean or overly strict, I am just trying to encourage less last-minute rescheduling and optimize my time spent working.
I don’t live near you but i want your art - will you design me something to take to a different tattoo artist?
I do not make designs to be taken to another tattoo artist.
I recommend finding an artist in your area whose style you enjoy so that you can trust them to create an original piece of art for you that you love. It is always best to go to an artist for their own art, and tattooers who will readily tattoo someone else’s art probably will not execute it the way you’re hoping. If you can entrust an artist with reproducing my art or someone else’s, you should be able to trust them with creating something new and original for you.
Additionally, please do not bring photos of existing tattoos or copies of my personal art/pre-drawn flash to another tattoo artist. Imagine if someone else ripped off of one of your tattoos, or copied something you worked hard on - it would not feel very good! I create each design with love and care and want my work to remain special and one-of-a-kind for my clients. My pieces are scraps of my soul and I do not take it lightly.
Do you do cover-ups or reworks of old tattoos?
At this time, I am not looking to take on large coverup projects or tattoo revamps. There may be occasional exceptions, so I am open to hearing about it if you think I might be a good fit for your idea, but it is not my area of desire or expertise.
What kind of supplies, inks and ointments do you use?
I use several brands of ink - Waverly Color Co, Eternal, and Solid Ink, For my stencil application and procedural ointments, I use products from the Sorry Mom brand. The soap I use to clean my tattoos during/at the end of a session is a dilution of Dr. Bronner’s pure castille soap concentrate (unscented). I use Recovery Derm Shield (which is latex free) or regular plastic wrap to cover tattoos at the end of the session, and the gloves I wear are nitrile.
Everything I use is vegan friendly and cruelty-free.
Do you ever Travel or do guest spots? Will you ever be in my area?
I would love to travel all over the world and tattoo people from lots of different places! To stay up to date on my travel plans and guest spot announcements, please follow me on instagram @needlef0x !
I am currently researching different shops around the country/world to host me; if you are a shop owner or have a space for guest artists, feel free to reach out!
are there any types of projects you’ve been hoping to try or do more of?
Yes! There are certain concepts and techniques I have been wanting to explore and placements I’m hoping to play with, which include (but aren’t limited to) the following:
Animal and/or people-centric designs
Pieces that start on one body part and end on a different one
Spooky/dark subject matter
Pieces that flow and sprawl with anatomy (shoulder onto back, shin/calf onto knee/thigh, wrapping around a limb, etc.)
Larger scale work (9” and up)
High contrast / larger areas of blackfill
Work that wraps / flows along multiple places on the body
Sternum, joint (knee/elbow), or top-of-hand placements
Matching / pair placements (both calves, both shins, both forearms, both thighs, etc.)
Of course, this is not an all-inclusive list, nor is it the only work I want to make, so don’t be discouraged if your idea doesn’t meet any bullet points.
Have a question that wasn’t answered here, or inquiries otherwise? Please fill out this form and I will answer you as soon as I can.
Please note: This form is NOT to be used to request an appointment or tell me about your tattoo idea. It is for other inquiries unrelated to making an appointment. To request an appointment, please use my booking form. If my books are not presently open, please be patient and follow my instagram for booking updates - I ask that you be respectful and do not request to book with me or pitch your tattoo ideas using this form. Thank you!