LA Ink

Late last week, LA Ink star Kat Von D successfully set a Guinness World Record for the most tattoos done in 24 hours.  This is an amazing feat for the 25-year-old tattoo artist, especially since the process was not without some rough patches.  Apparently, she wasn't able to accommodate all of the people who came down to her tattoo shop on the special day, and on Sunday, she posted an apology on her MySpace blog, explaining that she did not expect such a large crowd to show up.

“When we first started getting the idea of setting this record, it was very important for me to try my hardest to include everyone in on this experience, especially my fans,” she said in her blog post.  “When I posted the bulletin/blog about the record i was gonna attempt, I felt like it would be so cool to have people come down that ive either already met at one point or another, as well as some that I've never met.  BUT, I definitely did not plan on having as many people show up.”

Kat Von D also pointed the finger at the fire marshalls who were present at the event, saying that most of the problems that fans have been complaining about were because of them.

“I showed up to the shop at 9 am [on Friday, December 14] to make sure I had enough time to get everything prepped and ready to go by noon.  There was a total of 321 people lined up down the street counted!..  I was definitely taken aback!” the LA Ink star recounted.  “Once I got inside the shop, right off the back, the fire marshall was trying to do whatever it took to shut down the whole thing.”

The marshall pointed out that the crowd that had formed outside of the shop was not only taking up too much space on the sidewalks, but was also “carelessly throwing” litter on the street.  The number of people inside the shop also posed a problem, and by the time Kat Von D began the grueling 24-hour-long journey to a world record, only ten people at a time were allowed inside the shop.

At one point, there were approximately 1,000 people waiting in line, and police were compelled to tell the crowd to leave.

Aside from dealing with onslaught of people and city officials, Kat Von D was also trying her best to tattoo as many people as she could.  She was so determined to reach her goal that she kept her liquid consumption to a minimum, “put on nicotine patches” to curb the urge to take cigarette breaks, and took only three 3-minute breaks throughout the entire process.

Despite the day's unfortunate incidents, Kat Von D expressed her thanks to her family, friends, fans and the many others who came to help her set the world record.  However, what she is most happy about is the substantial amount of money she raised by charging $20 for each tattoo.  One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to Vitamin Angels, a nonprofit organization that caters to the nutritional needs of developing countries.

“I cannot begin to thank each and everyone who was a part of helping me set [the] world record for doing the most tattoos in a 24 hour period,” she said.  “For those 24 hours, everyone from my friends, to my family, to my fans, and complete strangers really devoted their time and energy and came together for a good cause.”

The record-setting event will be featured in an episode of LA Ink's second season.


-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Kat Von D Official MySpace
(Image Courtesy of www.lossip.com)