My Small Tattoos: Janae Roberts
We asked our friend and Instagram personality Janae about her tiny tattoos. With 8 and counting, Janae sports some of the cutest inkings, each of them full of meaning. Don't believe it? Check ahead for her entire collection.
"I was about 19 or 20 when I got my first tattoo. Being my first tattoo I was so picky on the placement and exactly what I was going to get (as you should be with every tattoo you get). I knew I wanted my tattoo to be small, I wanted to be able to hide it when I needed to but also if I decided I wanted to show it off then I could. My mom also HATED tattoos so the only way she would let me get one was if it was small.
After about a week of brainstorming I finally decided on what my first tattoo was going to be. I wanted the earth element symbol. This symbol relates to my horoscope of being a Taurus and overall is a sign of being grounded, physical sensation, growth, and manifestation of matter. Me being very into horoscopes and believing in the truth behind them, it was perfect for me.
The crazy part behind the story of my first tattoo is that I dragged my two best friends along with me so that I wouldn't be alone and they both ended up getting their first tattoos as well, so we all got them together which was very memorable. We have actually made it a tradition now that we get any new tattoo we want together.
After my first tattoo, I said to myself “Okay, I don’t think I want any more. I just want one and done.” But, trust me when I say getting tattoos is addicting. I started to find myself wanting more so what did I do? I got more.
My second, third, and fourth tattoo I got together at the same time. I got a half moon on my left elbow because my dad has one tattoo that is a half moon on his hand, so I got it for him.
The third one was three dots under my left boob which to me signifies the three siblings that I have.
The fourth one is a "J" on my right wrist because my best friend also has a j on her wrist so we got them as best friend tattoos in a way but both our names also start with J’s.
Fifth tattoo, is a butterfly on my right ankle. Butterflies represent our souls and in the christian religion it is a symbol of resurrection, endurance, hope, and life. Butterflies are also one of my favorite animals so getting this tattoo was an easy choice to make.
After the fifth tattoo I took a break from getting them because I got all four in a short span of time. Then I started thinking how I didn’t have a tattoo for my mom. I tried to think of things that reminded me of her. Her birthday is November 11 and I thought getting “11.11” on my right arm would be perfect. 11.11 are lucky numbers too so it all just came together.
At this same time, I also got a red ink tattoo on the side of my left wrist that says “here now”. I got this saying because to me it means being present in the moment. At that time in my life I found myself always thinking about the future or the past or being on my phone more than I should have been. I wanted to start to live more in the moment.
Getting all these tattoos, my friends and I grew close to our tattoo artist and we would get random tattoos in places where we knew they would fade. Places such as the bottom of our foot or finger. I got a heart on the bottom of my hand that faded in a week and then a smiley face on my foot that honest was gone in a couple days.
Behind each of these tattoos, I have a great memory and a story to tell which to me is so important when getting something so permanent. When deciding on a tattoo make sure you feel some type of emotion behind it that way it never loses value or importance to you. Make sure when you look at it you remember its memory it comes with and hopefully it is a good one."
Originally published on Small Tattoos. Click here to follow Janae's Instagram account.