Vegas Baby!

She’s cute. She’s memorable. She should be permanently inked on your body. It is her birthday after all, and we couldn’t think of a more fitting tribute.

Hello Kitty is turning 35 on October 21, and in honor of the occasion, Last Chance Tattoo is celebrating with $35 Hello Kitty tattoos. “Everyone does different things for different holidays,” says Last Chance Tattoo artist Rachael Snyder, aka Rachael Scumbag. “People do Shark Week tattoos and $13 tattoos on Friday the 13th,” she says.

A Las Vegas native, Snyder has been tattooing for two-and-a-half years. She did her apprenticeship at Last Chance and has been there since. Her area of expertise lies in more traditional style tattoo work as well as color.

So what’s the deal with the Hello Kitty phenomenon anyway? Besides being friggin’ adorable to some and obnoxious to others, the cartoon cat’s impact on pop culture is undeniable. From her beginnings in Japan on a plastic change purse, merchandise with Hello Kitty and her friends has grown to a billion-dollar industry. There are Hello Kitty lunchboxes, dolls, school supplies, clothes, bedding, toasters and Hello Kitty contact lenses. There’s even a Hello Kitty Fender guitar, diamond jewelry, a Hello Kitty jet plane and a theme

Hello Kitty Tattoo Day

Soon, there’ll be a few more Las Vegans branded with the famous cartoon, too.

From noon to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, anyone looking to immortalize the Kitty can head on down to Last Chance Tattoo. All of Last Chance’s artists will be available for tattooing, though it’s only specifically Hello Kitty designs that will be done for the $35 special (sorry Keroppi fans). Though the shop will have five sheets of Hello Kitty images to choose from, Snyder says clients can bring their own image for inking as long as it’s not too elaborate (that means no $35 full-sleeve of Hello Kitty goodness).

So does Snyder herself have a soft spot for Hello Kitty? “I’m an Asian female, so it’s from birth,” jokes Snyder. And yes, she bears the mark of the cat; Snyder has three Hello Kitty tattoos.

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