A Christmas Cat Tattoo, and the First Client of Our New Home

Tattoo of a chubby orange and white cat in a red sweater and Santa hat, surrounded by pale blue snowflakes

The last post of this series carries two stories at once. The first is the chubby cat in a red sweater and Santa hat you see here. The second matters enormously to us, and we will save it for the end. 🎄

This piece began life as one of our flash designs, a cat in a Christmas hat. But the client arrived with the loveliest request: I adore the whole outfit, could you just swap the cat for mine?

From our flash to the client's own cat

Of course. We kept the red sweater, the Santa hat and the blue snow exactly as designed, and drew a new cat into the costume from photos of the client's own: orange and white patches, a round face, and that signature loaf-shaped sit.

The client's real orange and white cat sitting wide-eyed by a window

And here is the actual model: an orange and white cat with big honey-coloured eyes, keeping watch at a window in precisely the same pose as the tattoo. Put the two pictures side by side and you can see everything we tried to keep: those cheeks, that white chest, all of that magnificent roundness.

How far can a flash be adapted

People often ask whether flash designs can be adjusted. The answer is yes, and this is the best possible example. Swap the character for your own pet, shift the colours, nudge the details; it is always worth a conversation. The adapted version then belongs to you alone, under the shop's tattooed-once rule. The full story of how our flash system works is in what is a flash tattoo.

A phone photographing the freshly finished Christmas cat tattoo on an upper arm

Freshly finished work demands its little photo ceremony. This piece is soft colour with no hard outlines, the warm red of the sweater set against pale blue snowflakes, a design that somehow feels like stepping into air conditioning in the middle of Bangkok.

A Christmas tattoo in the middle of the year, why not

Someone teased us about tattooing a Christmas design in the middle of the year. We think it is even better this way. A seasonal tattoo does not need to be done in season, because what people actually want to carry is the feeling of that time: warmth, year's end, loved ones, presents. That travels all twelve months. And having snow on your arm in Bangkok weather is its own extra layer of charm.

The artist concentrating on the tattoo in the studio

The first client of the new home

Now for the second story. This client is the very first client of our studio in its new home, from when we had just moved to Phahonyothin 32/1. The first person up the stairs, the first on the brand-new bed, the first design ever made in this room. Every tattoo studio remembers its first client forever, and ours arrived carrying a cat in a Santa hat. Could a home ask for a better opening blessing?

Your cat deserves a sweater too

If your cat at home (or dog, or any four-legged someone) deserves an outfit in one of our designs, DM @naive.flora.tattoo and bring plenty of photos. For an appetiser, read how we draw cats from their real habits.

The studio is on Phahonyothin 32/1 in Sena Nikhom, Chatuchak, open daily 10:00 to 20:00, from ฿1,500. Thank you for being the first to trust this house. Your tattoo is the first pin in its history. 🎄