Tattoos mean different things to different people, but there seems to be a consensus that they're personal and permanent. Some are private, some public. Like a scrapbook on skin, they're something look at and talk about.

Bailey resident Heather King has several tattoos. Some she doesn't mind showing off, others are private. She likes the horse tattoo on her left upper arm and pointed out that it's not in color, a trademark of so many inked emblems.

"I got it a year ago, because I really like horses and my significant other was willing to pay for it," she said.

The tattoo on her right arm is a rose with feathers for stems. She said she got it to cover up a bad memory and another tattoo. "It was also a gift from a friend, and it covers up a bad memory."

She has another black tattoo on her back in memory of her dad, which she and her sister and boyfriend got all at the same time.

"My dad was a Vietnam veteran and amputee. I got this done up in Steamboat Springs with my sisters in memory of dad. He worked for the fire department in Castle Rock and Parker and did administrative work there."

King said she loves her tattoos. "I would tell anybody to get lots of them. They signify some memory in your life that can't be taken away. If they're tastefully done, they look really good."

She said the rose and feather cost about $200 and the horse $120.

Dellynn Combs, 23, works at Evergreen Dental Group as a dental assistant. The Westminster resident wasn't shy about showing off her floral decoration on her lower back. She had a story to tell about what her tattoo meant.

"I got this done about two years ago. It was from a drawing a high school friend did. Another friend and I always said we were going to have it made into a tattoo and we did. It is in memory of our friend Kenny, the artist. He was killed in a car accident."

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