Blog posts of '2015' 'February'

There are many stories about the origin of the Claddagh ring but the popular one tells of a prince who fell in love with a common maid. The maid's father was leery of the princeand to convince the man of his honorable intentions, the prince designed the ring and presented to the girl. Once the prince explained the meaning behind the ring, the father gave the couple his blessing. 

Claddagh rings or just the design shows up as an element of many Celtic or Irish tattoos. It symbolizes romantic love, as well as friendship. It also represents a love that conquers all or one that is bigger than confines of time or distance.

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Armband tattoo designs are inarguably one of the most popular tattoo designs around. You see them wherever you look – in urban realms and rural hideouts, on CEO’s and bikers, on young women and old men. You find the intricate Celtic knots and patterns, Hawaiian and tribal themed geometrical art, vines and ivies, the very masculine barbwire, and rings of thorns. These armbands can have Native American influences, Hindu inspiration, or primitive Polynesian charm. Sometimes art that is designed to be an armband gets modified and becomes a wrist cuff or maybe an ankle band.

Why are armband tattoos so popular?

For a lot of people, armbands make a great first tattoo. Even though its a common choice, the wide variety of available designs ensures that you can make yours very unique and personal. No matter what you picture for your armband tattoo, you will find all kinds of tattoo designs including intricate Celtic knots, Organic tribal patters, Hawaiian theme bands and feather motifs. Some people choose a feminine band of vines with flowers while others prefer the masculine barbwire, thorns or flames. Dragons and snakes are also great designs for an armband tattoo as they can encircle the entire arm. No matter what you choose for your own arm, an armband is a bold choice for your personal tattoo gallery.

How to choose the armband tattoo design for you?

Armbands are a favorite first for tattoo virgins, but whoever you are, and whatever you like there is an armband tattoo design out there just perfect for you. Its simply a matter of finding it. And by asking yourself the simple questions below, youll just be that much closer to making up your mind.

Is there a tattoo design style that youre particularly infatuated with? There are those who will only sport tattoos of one style or type, tribal or Celtic, for example. Others have turned themselves into a virtual gallery, with different styles & themes and colors & symbols. If asked, each would have rich stories explaining their meaning and significance. The point is, despite what history, myth and legend say regarding authentic meanings, tattoo is a very personal art, and each piece has it own special importance to its bearer. There are no wrong answers. 
Are you willing to mix things up? Do you feel free to create your own armband tattoo design? If so, you can even mix different styles together to create your own unique tattoo design. An armband with intricate, angularCeltic knotting highlighting a tribal horse as the centerpiece. Or, an incredibly feminine Celestial fingernail-moon surrounded by a soft and sexy twist on the super masculine barbwire. In all reality, the possibilities are endless. 
Are you looking for a feminine, masculine or gender neutral armband design? Even if youre absolutely certain that youll be getting a feminine design (or vice versa), dont completely ignore some of the more masculine armband designs. Often, you can find your own, unique design by looking at pictures, styles and symbols outside of your comfort zone. Feel free to explore your options. 
Do you have a special kinship with any particular animal? Whether the animal is real or fantastical, a bug or a horse, magical or mundane, the fact remains that since time began, mankinds special regard and relationship withcreatures and beasts has never been temporary. Some did, and indeed still do, believe that each person has their own special totem animal guardian, and sometimes even more than one. Are you obsessed with frogs, fascinated by dragons, captivated by tigers, or bemused by butterflies. If so, you may wish to incorporate this animal into your armband design.
Show me more Arm Band Tattoo Designs.

Show me more Armband Tattoo Designs

Audrina Patridge has one tattoo, located on the Back of her neck. The full colored tattoo is quite large for a neck tattoo and expands into the nape of her neck. Although accounts vary, it is supposedly a red Heart tattoo drawn with a stem and Leaves like an apple. There is also a Snake coiled around the apple. The inspiration for it comes from the Biblical story of Adam, Eve, the apple and the Serpent. There are other reports about Audrina having a tattoo of six Asian characters on the inside of her left forearm. However that tattoo was a temporary one done for a stunt on the short lived Ashton Kutcher "punk the paparazzi" reality show "Pop Fiction". 

Audrina Cathleen Patridge (born May 9, 1985) is an American reality TV personality best known for being a cast member of the MTV reality show "The Hills". She got on the show because producers saw her Sunbathing and thought she would make a great addition. Although Audrina's official job is a gopher for Epic Records, she is also an aspiring actressand singer. She has been briefly linked to Musician Shannon Leto and reality TV villain Spencer Pratt.

In recent years, many tattoo and piercing businesses have come under new regulations involving the sterilization of equipment used in their daily operations.  These regulations generally outline requirements for routine spore testing of the autoclaves, record keeping, and cleaning and packaging of sterilized items.  This article focuses primarily on the theory of proper autoclave sterilization and common spore testing issues.

The Center for Disease Control has recognized the risk associated with the re-use of tattoo and piercing equipment, primarily the potential transmission of tuberculosis, hepatitis-B, and HIV virus through the use of non-sterile needles and equipment. Legislation has been passed in many states already, and we can expect the remaining states to fall under some type of regulation over the next few years. Some business owners may feel these regulations requiring routine autoclave spore testing is another unnecessary and costly governmental burden.  In reality, it should be recognized as a valuable tool to help legitimize the safety of tattooing and piercing, and in the long run help the publics perception of thetattoo and piercing artists businesses.

Most new and existing studios look to the internet to find an autoclave. There is constant trading on Ebay of used autoclaves, and several new businesses have arisen dealing with nothing but the purchase, repair, and re-sale of used autoclaves.  The problem with this is the deteriorating condition of the autoclave.  These units are used in one studio for awhile, sold and shipped to another, and so on. Over time, the temperature gauges, pressure gauges, seals, timers, switching valves, and heating elements deteriorate and lose accuracy. So how do you know your autoclave is really sterilizing?

Spore strip testing is currently the method of choice to determine if you are achieving complete sterilization.  A spore strip test is a biological challenge to the sterilization cycle and unit.  A spore strip is a small piece of filter paper that is impregnated with thousands of bacterial spores typically of the genus Bacillus or Geobacillus.  The most common in use today are Bacillus atrophaeus for dry heat sterilization, and Geobacillus stearothermophilus for autoclave steam sterilization.  Think of a spore as a bacterium encapsulated in a resistant shell.  Steam must first penetrate this shell before it can come in contact with and destroy the bacterium.  Spores are harder to destroy by steam sterilization than the disease causing organisms listed above.  If you destroy all the spores in a sterilizer run, you can be assured you also destroyed any blood-related pathogens that may have been on the sterilized instruments.

Typically, a set of spore strips are purchased from an independent testing laboratory through a mail-in program.  Each week or month, a spore strip is placed in the sterilizer with a typical load and ran through the sterilization cycle.  When the cycle is complete, the spore strip is mailed back to the testing laboratory for further analyses.  Some spore test kits include a control strip.  This is the same as the spore strip that was placed in the sterilizer, but this one is not sterilized.  It is left out on the counter.  The control strip is part of a quality control system that validates that the spores were viable prior to being placed in the sterilizer.  If you consider that spore strips are mailed throughout the United States and subjected to different temperature, pressures, and environmental conditions, there is a possibility that the spores could have been damaged in shipment.  The control strip should always test positive for growth and verifies that the spores were viable prior to sterilization.  Many businesses opt to not use a control strip to save on cost.  It currently is not a requirement in most states to use a control strip.  But that may change someday.  If a control strip isnt used, most testing laboratories maintain a stock of spore strips of the same lot number they have mailed out and use them for positive controls with each days testing.  This doesnt quite simulate the degree of quality assurance you get when a control strip is used at the business site, but helps.  It also validates that the test media used by the testing laboratory supports growth and is satisfactory for use in testing.

So how do you ensure that you pass a spore test?  Make sure your sterilizer is achieving a minimum 121°C (250°F) for a minimum of 30 minutes.  If youre using a vertical pressure cooker type sterilizer, try and vent out the cold air as the unit is warming up by opening the valve on top.  When it approaches operating temperature, close the valve and start your timer when 121°C is achieved.  The temperature must remain at 121°C or higher for the full 30 minutes, so always start your timer once you have reached sterilizing temperature and pressure.  Most horizontal type autoclaves, like the Tuttnauer, Pelton & Crane, and Napco units include automated chamber venting in their cycle, so manual venting usually isnt necessary with these types.  Also make sure you dont overload the sterilizer and your items are labeled and packaged correctly.  Make sure you dont have any obvious steam leaks.

What do you do if you fail a spore test?  The first thing is quarantine and re-sterilize any items that were ran through the run that failed.  This is easy to do if you keep records of your sterilizer runs and have properly packaged and labeled the items sterilized.  Perform any routine preventative maintenance on the unit.  Check the seals and run a few runs and observe the cycle for proper temperature, pressure, and time.  One check highly recommended for any used autoclave or for recurring spore test failures is to compare the autoclave temperature gauge against a maximum recording NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) thermometer.  This will ensure you are achieving the temperature indicated on the gauge.  Weve found temperature gauges on used autoclaves to vary by as much as 20 percent.  NIST thermometers are sometimes hard to find and expensive to purchase.  They can be rented fairly inexpensively athttp://www.shop.sporestriptesting.com .  Once you have verified that your unit is working properly and have done an inspection and preventative maintenance, perform another spore test and send it to the lab.  Wait on a passing spore test report before you use the sterilizer again for daily operations.

The author of this article, Tymn Combest, has over thirty years experience in microbiology and sterilization science and is the owner of Enviro-Tech Laboratories, Inc. in San Angelo, Texas.  For questions related to this article or for spore strip testing services, the laboratory can be contacted at http://www.sporestriptesting.com,  or toll free at 1.800.944.1302.