Jess' Butterfly Tattoo

This one was submitted by Jess :


My tale of self mutila… I mean beautification started when I was 16


I became obsessed with getting a belly ring but somehow never worked up the nerve to get one, partly due to my fear of needles but more so the wrath of my parents.


Almost 5 years later, I finally got pierced, with much cheerleading from Booby. So it was only right then, that she became my cheerleader yet again 7 years later when I got my first tattoo.

At Ernesto's shop

Once again I became interested in tattoo’s a long while before I finally got inked.

I think it must have been around the time I got my piercing, I was surfing the net and came across a tattoo design which I fell in love with.


It’s hard to describe but it looked kinda like a heart-shaped wreath of flowers with a tiny cross at the end. It wasn’t too sweet looking – it was pretty but it had a bit of edge to it too and it was perfect.


I filed it away under the ‘Maybe’ list of all the things I have to do in life, again uncertain about sharp, pointy needles, the possibility of being disowned, even religious implications and I guess the finality of getting a permanent tattoo........I wasn’t sure if it was just a phase.

Placing the stencil

Finally on the 16th of September 2007, Booby initiated plans with Kogs, J and I for a holiday in Kuching, designed specifically for us to meet Ernesto Kalum, the master tattooist.


For me this was it!


After 7 years I still yearned for a tattoo and being on the brink of major changes in my life, I was finally ready to be inked!

The design.....my butterfly

My issue with pain was dealt with promises that the pain is addictive and that I didn’t actually need to see the needles – in fact I looked away the entire time Ernesto worked on me!

The master at work

As for my parents, I wasn’t sure about how they’d react (more about that later) but I was hopeful that after years of hearing me and my sister (a champion campaigner in opinion reversals) talk about it, they might become immune to the idea.



Might sound odd that I needed mummy and daddy’s approval but if you lived on my planet you would. As for my faith, a little reading, a lot of talking to different people and some soul searching - I was ready.

Ernesto Kalum

So the day soon arrived.

I had wanted to get ‘my’ tattoo design from 7 years before done but my fiancée asked me to get another one instead as he wanted to get a tattoo as well and wanted me to save ‘my’ design for later when we do ours together.


So I decided on wings, on my ankle to symbolise freedom and independence, even as I was getting ready to be married.



Cliché I know, but I wanted it anyway.

I had picked a few styles of wings that I liked but Ernesto, being the artist that he is told me that :


1. I had to choose between a fairy or butterfly as wings alone wouldn’t look nice so I picked a butterfly


2. He would design it himself with tribal strokes which I was delighted about


3. The size I wanted, a teeny tiny one wouldn’t cut it, it had to be much larger.



When he showed me his sketch it was a real shock to my system as I wasn’t ready for something so obvious!

Trying to avoid looking at the needle!

Had I had come to Kuching wanting my original design I might have been disappointed with a redrawn version of it. Instead I loved the butterfly Ernesto had designed for me and suddenly the size didn’t seem to matter.

In the words of Booby, your tattoo chooses you as much as you choose your tattoo.

The process itself wasn’t as painful as I had expected it to be.

Being near the ankle there were times when I dug my nails into J’s hands (Sorry J!) but for the most part I looked away and tried to hold a conversation with Ernesto and the girls.

Admiring my first tattoo!

The next few days I kept admiring it and lo and behold mum actually thought it was pretty.


Dad on the other hand took 2 weeks to ask, ‘What’s that scribbled on your leg?’

My butterfly!

Even now, every time I look at my tattoo or when someone mentions it I smile.


It’s not just that I think its pretty; it’s the entire process, the memory and the meaning of it that just comes flooding back to me.

Thanks for the submission babe :p