Embroidery Tattoos: The Art of Ink ‘Sewn’ into Skin by CJ Ugarte at Electric Street Tattoo

Patch work Tattoo Lisa Simpson

In the vibrant heart of sunny South Florida there’s a unique art form blossoming on the skin of tattoo enthusiasts, and it’s all thanks to the brilliant work of CJ Ugarte at Electric Street Tattoo. Specializing in Patch Work, or the intricate ‘Embroidery Tattoos’, CJ has been turning heads and adorning bodies with designs that defy expectations.

Mans Best Friend Patch Work Tattoo

Embroidery Tattoos: A Modern Twist on an Ancient Craft

Embroidery tattoos are a relatively new phenomenon in the tattoo world, but they’ve quickly gained popularity for their unique aesthetic that mimics the look of actual embroidered patches on the skin. This style is a testament to the versatility and creativity of modern tattoo artists, who continue to push the boundaries of their craft.

Magic Kingdom Disney Tattoo (Mickey and Minnie Mouse)

CJ Ugarte: A Maestro of the Embroidered Illusion

CJ Ugarte has been perfecting his craft since 2008, becoming well-rounded and versatile in many styles. However, it’s his focus on composition and designs made to last that sets him apart. His dedication to perfection is evident in every piece he creates, ensuring that each tattoo is not just a work of art but a lasting tribute to the individuality of his clients.

Florida Marlins Tattoo

GO MARLINS!

The Electric Street Tattoo Experience

Located in the heart of Fort Lauderdale, Electric Street Tattoo is a hub of creativity and excellence. The shop boasts a team of award-winning artists and has established itself as a premier destination for those seeking high-quality tattoos2. It’s a place where free consultations meet a safe, creative space, welcoming tattoo collectors and first-timers alike.

Embroidered Military Patch Tattoo

Why Choose Embroidery Tattoos?

Embroidery tattoos stand out for their textured, three-dimensional appearance that looks as if threads have been sewn directly onto the skin. It’s a style that combines the ancient art of embroidery with the modern art of tattooing, creating a fusion that’s both classic and contemporary3.

Scout trooper Patch Tattoo

The Process: Crafting an Embroidery Tattoo

The key to a successful embroidery tattoo lies in the artist’s understanding of light and shadow, as well as their ability to layer colors to create the desired three-dimensional effect. CJ Ugarte excels in this, using small strokes in various colors to achieve the look of embroidered patches, while keeping the design itself elegantly simple3.

Miami Hurricanes Embroidered Patch Tattoo

Conclusion: A Tapestry of Talent

CJ Ugarte’s embroidery tattoos are more than just a trend; they’re a celebration of artistry and tradition, woven together on the canvas of the skin. At Electric Street Tattoo, you’ll find a welcoming atmosphere, a commitment to excellence, and the chance to wear a masterpiece crafted by a true specialist in the field.

Whether you’re a seasoned tattoo collector or considering your first piece, CJ Ugarte and Electric Street Tattoo invite you to experience the beauty of embroidery tattoos, where every stitch tells a story.

Guest Tattoo Artist Amanda Zylstra!

Our good friend and extended tattoo family member @ritualoffering is in town for a short guest spot folks!

Check out her Instagram page and book asap first come first served 🤠

As always if you’re a traveling tattoo artist looking for a place to call home while in Florida go ahead and fill out our request form.

Now Hiring Tattoo Artists

The time has come once again where we open the books and bring in some fresh blood.

We need a dedicated and self motivated individual to join our team.

Experienced tattoo artist with solid portfolio and references wanted.

Electric Street is a laid back traditional tattoo parlor. Everything must always be on the up and up so please, no drugs, drama etc.

This is the most chill tattoo shop you’ll ever work at. Be your own boss and operate like a true professional.

Positive vibes are always welcome!

Cat Tattoos

Cats get lots of love here at Electric Street Tattoo to say the least.
Panthers, tigers, cheetahs, lions and leopards…
WE LOVE THEM ALL
We believe that inside every cat is a fierce hunter.
Even your more domesticated house cat is a warrior and hunter at its core.

The big cats have a long standing relationship with tattoos. Since ancient times they have been seen as protectors from evil and even thought to be guides into the afterlife! Pretty cool right?
And so it only makes sense that the world of tattooing adopted them long ago and never looked back.

Sure enough dogs are mans best friend and we do get requests for dog tattoos as well, mostly portrait style tattoos from dog owners who want to immortalize their four legged companions. Nothing like feline tattoos though.

Tigers, in particular, are sexy.
Ferocious, sensual and breathtaking.
Or take the lion for example. We aspire to mimic its stoic nature. It’s no wonder the popularity of our furry friends continues to surge year after year.

These god like creatures have mesmerized humans since way back when we lived in caves. A deep growl in the night was cause for panic.
In modern day the closest we get to a big cat would be at the city zoo, from behind plenty of thick glass or a cushy moat. Or, if you’re like us, at the tattoo shop where you can see your favorite tattoo artist breath life into one of these beautiful felines with needle and ink.

The Egyptians thought of felines as royalty. To the extreme that mummified cats have been found alongside their human counterparts.

Cats, both big and small, are wild and sensual, They are uninhibited and sexually powerful.

They exhibit leadership qualities which make them very attractive to tattoo collectors who are self defined as leaders who are not prone to ‘following the leader’.

If any of the above resonates with you then a big cat tattoo might be what you’re looking for.
Regardless of race, religion and cultural background, the feline transcends and captures the essence and feeling of raw power and energy.
Ultimately, they make for badass tattoos.

•tattoos in this post made with love by Miss Alex Joelle @alexjoelletattooer.
Alex can be found at Electric Street Tattoo on most days.

Tattoo numbing for small tattoos?

I’ve had several clients asking me lately if painless tattoo creams work. I’ve wrote a post about this in the past and my short answer is still the same, yes.
What concerns me though is that I’m noticing more and more that the ppl asking are only getting very small tattoos. Absolutely nothing wrong with small tattoos I’m a fan. They don’t even need to be cool little traditional tattoos they can be the simpler Pinterest type minimalist tattoos that are very popular these days. We don’t judge, it’s your tattoo and we’re happy to help. We might weigh in if we feel something won’t work well but outside of that we try and give you what you want. The problem I’m having is when a tattoo the size of a dime that will take no more than three minutes from beginning to end and i’m having the conversation about numbing the pain away. Again, without judgment, I get we all have different levels of pain tolerance but what gives?
The act of getting tattooed is inherently painful, almost the whole point. Being willing to knuckle down and tolerate the pain I’d what separated the tattooed from the non tattooed. In certain cultures it’s even a rite of passage. If you were to completely erase the pain from the ritual what is left? It’s an honest question, what’s left?
Is it safe to assume that if death gives value to life, then pain gives value to tattoos?
Ok so all that aside, when is it a good time to use numbing cream on a tattoo?

After six hours of being tattooed numbing gel was used to numb out around the armpit area

After several hours of being tattooed is a good time I would say. If the amount of time needed to finish a larger tattoo project is less than the amount of time already put in. That seems sensible to me.
Sure we can numb you out for your little semi colon tattoo on your wrist, but wouldn’t that be a shame ? I would say especially for politically motivated or socially conscious tattoos, it’s worth a little pain.
Wouldn’t that be the very least we can do? Wouldn’t the strength of our convictions depend on it?

This head tattoo was applied numbing cream after three hours to help our friend Brian cross the finish line

Point being, not all tattoos require numbing. Just cause we have it Durant always mean we need it. Although it is certainly true, It’s good to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

Common knowledge the sternum is one of the most painful places to get tattooed
Numbing cream applied after the outlines and before shading

So this is just one guys opinion but if you’re looking to get tattooed expect to feel some level of pain and discomfort. If tattoo numbing cream can help take the edge off, all the better. 👍🏽

Tattoo Shop Near Me

As the owner of a tattoo shop it’s important for me to know where our clients are coming from. I’ll admit this has been an area of weakness for me in the past. I’ve only recently started to realize that as a business owner I have an obligation to wear many different hats. What does this mean exactly? Well, for me, it means that sometimes I get to be a tattoo artist and other times I get to be whatever the shop needs me to be. And this can be damn near anything lol.
Something I read a long time ago,
”Some ppl work ON their business, some ppl work in it”. It’s a fine line but one that should not be ignored. I’d like to think that I can do both depending on circumstance.

Twenty years ago our clients found us mostly through word of mouth. Word of mouth and referrals kept us busy and fed. This was also before ‘Smart phones’. We were all carrying flip phones back then and life was simpler. It’s safe to assume that most of our tattoo clients were local to our area and either heard about us through a friend, family member, or simply by driving past our shop on their way somewhere.
The world has changed.
So how are folks finding goods and services these days? Well, a large portion of our foot traffic, in particular, can be attributed to the one and only GOOGLE. That’s right folks, the worlds largest search engine is at least partially responsible for how people are getting tattooed these days. Dollar for dollar definitely the undisputed champ!

A close second would be Yelp. More of an online web directory, Yelps platform is used by both businesses and consumers alike.
It doesn’t surprise me anymore when our clients mention they found Electric Street Tattoo on Yelp. People shop different these days and tattoos are no exception. On Yelp you can browse tattoo shop listings and compare locally. More importantly, you can browse through reviews and see what experiences other ppl have had with these tattoo shops.
Keep in mind folks, reviews aren’t an exact science. Like with most things there will be your fair share of bad apples who may abuse these review platforms so take it all in with a grain of salt. It’s my feeling that if a tattoo shop has been around long enough and been able to sustain a 4.8 star rating or above, you’ll probably be in good hands. Yelps terms of use and review guidelines might even be a little more strict than googles but they are both very clear on the do’s and dont’s. And while a lot of your Yelp reviews will be featured for the public to see many of them will be redirected towards the ‘unrecommended’ section never to be seen or heard from again, regardless of their authenticity.

So what is the most popular keyword search for ppl looking to get tattooed??? It’s very simply, ‘Tattoo shops near me’
Yep, that’s it lol.
Folks just want to go somewhere close. They don’t want to drive and they don’t seem to necessarily care about referrals either. They want convenience. So it seems to me that the word of mouth and tattoo referrals we used to depend on twenty years ago are now in the form of Google, Yelp, Bing, Yahoo etc. I would even say that social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and the like make up for a very small amount of gross revenue. It’s been said tongue in cheek, Facebook is for business, Instagram is for fame.
I disagree.
Google is for business, who needs fame 😉

Fall trend-Butterfly Tattoos

Does it seem like everyone is getting butterfly tattoos this year? If your social media feed is swamped with beautiful butterflies tattoos and you’re asking yourself ‘What gives?’
There are a few reasons that may explain the recent trend and resurgence in the ever popular Butterfly Tattoo.

Classic Butterfly Tattoo

Butterflies have been a popular tattoo motif for many many years. Butterfly tattoos are symbolic of spiritual rebirth, transformation, hope and change. And that is only scratching the surface.
They are beautiful and versatile. They can also be very feminine making them a classic choice with females in particular. Why the sudden boost though?

Due to the pandemic, and for the reasons listed above, I feel that the perfect storm was created for the butterfly tattoo to take flight!
This is just my opinion, but we’ve all been through a whole lot of crazy. The lockdowns, mask mandates and the like.
We’ve all suffered through a real trauma. COVID-19 rocked our world. It’s been mentally and emotionally exhaustive, making lots of folks looking for a way to express what they’d like to be feeling. Hope in particular.

Traditional Butterfly Tattoo

Different cultures associate butterflies with different things. The Christian religion views the butterfly as a symbol of resurrection. It’s my view that the world as a whole is currently staging a resurrection, wouldn’t you agree?

And so this Fall, in particular, we saw the butterfly tattoo explode! 🦋 🦋🦋
And I’m not surprised in the least. It’s human nature, we are expressive beings. We express what we feel, think and live in a variety of ways. Tattoos have always been a vehicle for this kind of expression. It is also in our nature to document. We log and keep account of events, good and bad. Tattoos have always served well in this respect as well.

Floral Butterfly Tattoo

Needless to say that whatever the reasons for the sudden spike in butterfly tattoos we’re certainly not complaining. The butterfly is a classic in any tattoo shop and, in my opinion, will always continue to be.

The scoop on Matching Tattoos

Matching Rose Tattoos

Matching tattoos have probably been around about as long as tattooing itself. I picture a small group of cavemen, or cavewomen, walking up to a tatt cave and getting matching arrows or bones or some other cave persony thing tattooed on them lol! Seriously though do any of you ever think about stuff like that?
Think about it.
‘Oh you’re going to the tattoo shop gonna get a cool tattie? Maybe I’ll come with you? Maybe I’ll get tattooed also? Hey what are you getting done maybe I’ll just get the same thing? They can be matching, it’ll be the coolest!!!’ And with that the matching tattoo was born .
Sometimes though it’s not just about having fun. Couples in relationships make up a big portion of the ‘matching tattoo’ demographic. They are a symbolic gesture. Tattoos do last a life time after all and what better step to take with the person you plan on spending the rest of your life with than to get a matching tattoo you can both share. It is a bonding experience. It is permanent, irreversible. Like we would all wish love itself to be.
Let’s look at the other side of the coin now. While tattoos are mostly permanent, love is not. Not trying to be Mr. Doom n Gloom here, just realistic. Just like the ‘name tattoo’, it’s ‘matching’ cousin is also frowned upon by many tattoo artists. There is a superstition that’s grown around it. Many tattooers refer to these kinds of ‘novelty tattoos’ more as a ‘kiss of death’ to a romantic relationship. Again, the permanence of a tattoo will almost always outlast the warm glow of a new romance. So why do people do it???
There may be more of a psychological factor than we think.
According to clinical and behavioral psychologist, Dr. Joshua Klapow he explains,”Context is everything”, “Matching tattoos and the act of getting them says as much about each individual as they do about the couple together.”
he goes on to explain,”If it’s not an impulsive decision, partners getting matching tattoos is a sign that they care deeply enough about one another to literally alter the way they look.”
Research reflects that a couple that has been together numerous years is less likely to regret getting their tattoos and possibly end up having to get them covered up.

Matching Hand Tattoos

Personally, I believe there may even be an evolutionary factor that hasn’t really been addressed. Like possibly from our hunter-gatherer past? Humans hunted and gathered in groups. Is it possible that this group behavior is still tucked away somewhere deep in our “Lizard Brain”? I’m no expert but I would say most definitely yes. The evidence is all around us in the ways we behave. We pick and choose our groups, our alliances. Add to that our ritualistic nature and it’s no surprise that our culture has embraced some of these behaviors.
Am I reading to much into it? To that I would also very confidently say YES lol. Sometimes it’s ok to try and brake these things down in order to give our clients what they need from us. I know many tattoo artists that cringe when they get a group of matching tattoos. “They’re not ‘real’ tattoos”.
I’m of the opinion that not only are they real, but that they may be more ‘real’ than most other tattoos one might collect.
Getting a matching tattoo with the person you love, if both partners are into it and no one is being pressured to do so, can be a beautiful experience that can elevate your bond to a whole new level.

BFF Matching Tattoos

Do Tattoo Numbing Creams Really Work?

The short is: Yes, they do work. But they aren’t some magical thing that makes the tattoo experience completely painless. There are various creams, ointments, and gels all designed with the tattoo process in mind. They also vary in levels of potency although they all mostly hover round the 4-7% (lidocaine) range

All of the ingredients work to prevent inflammation, swelling, and pain during the tattooing process which sounds like a tall order but from personal experience I can honestly say I would vouch for some of these products.
I’ve always felt it very important to know what our clients go through. Have you ever seen tattoo artists with no visible tattoos anywhere in sight?

I have, do you know what that tells me? It tells me this guy, girl , person has no idea what they’re about to put me through lol

So we try these different tattoo pain numbing products on ourselves in order to pick the ones we feel are best, safest and most effective and these are the ones we use on you guys.
I might run down a short list of the ones I feel are best in a future post for what it’s worth.

For now let me just say this:
Not every tattoo requires numbing. It doesn’t make much sense to me to spend an hour numbing out skin for a small tattoo that would take ten minutes to complete. I totally understand that everyone is different and pain tolerance varies but in all my time tattooing I’ve had very few clients not able to sit through the inherent pain of a tattoo.
On the other hand, if you got it why not use it right?

I want to be a Tattoo Artist, now what?

Firstly I just want to say that anything I write here is almost 100% based on my own personal experience with over twenty years in the tattoo industry. Take what I say here with a grain of salt, always do your own research especially when making life changing decisions. You might notice that many will try and talk you out of pursuing your dream of being a professional tattoo artist, mostly by already established tattoo artists.This is not uncommon I’ve seen it over and over again throughout the years. My suspicion is that a lot of this comes from a place of insecurity.

And no I’m not saying tattoo artists are inherently insecure, that would be a ridiculous generalization to make. What I am saying is that the tattoo industry right now as a whole is nothing like what it was twenty, fifteen, or even ten years ago. It’s become almost impossible to imagine the world before the internet, before smart phones and certainly before social media.

Long ago most tattoo shops operated locally and most of the walk-in traffic was generated through word of mouth and simply by being in a certain location. The world wasn’t yet connected to the extreme that it is now. It was a localized market place, not a global one. We knew what tattoo artists we were competing against and I always felt it was a healthy competition. Healthy competition is good. Not only is it good, it’s almost mandatory if an industry is going to drive growth.

I should also mention here that most of my experience is based in South Florida. Needless to say that every industry will vary geographically and what is true in one place may not be the case in another.
So why would already established tattoo artists try to dissuade you from your dream of becoming a tattoo artist yourself? I think a lot of it is from a perceived scarcity mentality within the industry. Scarcity in any form is like a plague. It is debilitating. It may be that a new tattoo apprentice now can be seen as a perceived future threat.

Regardless, the question remains,, ‘Why do you think you want to be a tattoo artist?’ It’s important to be honest with yourself it is often the case that peoples reasons for wanting to become a tattoo artist don’t actually align with the realities. The notion of life as a tattoo artist, the novelty, isn’t always what we would want it to be.
This is obviously a broad topic.

Let’s dig a little deeper in my next post…

Tattoo gift cards

If you’re like me you enjoy gift giving but you struggle with shopping. Crowded malls , long lines and this year we have added COVID related stressors and mask mandates etc

If you start now you can try and do your holiday shopping online but with bottle neck supply shortages your gift purchases may still not arrive in time for the holidays

👉🏽ELECTRIC STREET TATTOO GIFT CARDS👈🏽

personalized tattoo gift cards

Wildest Halloween tattoo ideas

What is the craziest Halloween themed tattoo you’ve ever seen? Seems like the bloodier the better but IMO the fun tattoo designs are the best Yes, we all like a little blood and gore in our ink, or a lot of blood and gore lol but really though if it doesn’t make me laugh it’s all for not.
So this Halloween we’ll be doing tattoo specials all day long! All Halloween themed tattoo designs 131$
Bring us your tattoo ideas and come grab some of that delicious Halloween candy 🎃

Let’s have some fun with it 👻

horror movie tattoos

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

The Bald Eagle Tattoo

Definitely high up on our list here at Electric Street of favorite things to tattoo

Freehanded by @joel_josselyn

The bald eagle has been the national emblem of the United States since 1782 and live around 20 years in the wild

Chest eagle by @alexjoelletattooer

They are considered opportunistic predators that will hunt for live prey but also steal from other animals

eagle/snake combo by @frankie.ftw

The bald eagle is said to be connected to the gods and has been said to represent

masculine strength,virility and raw power

Beautiful black and grey interpretation by @marco.arte

Most commonly recognized as our national bird and is a symbol of bravery, courage and freedom

For the tattoo collector it represents empowerment,bravery and loyalty…

Traditional Chest Eagle by @alexjoelletattooer