It started with a call by Inked Magazine for women to compete in a contest to be on the front cover of a magazine in 2020.
All they would have to do is go through several rounds of voting with thousands of other women, get their friends and family to vote, and in the process, they would raise money for charity based on their support.
Not only would the winner get to be on the front cover of Inked, but the woman would win $25,000.
Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that the contest drew a local entrant. But there were five. And they did really well.
Lacie Paige Carleton has the best showing; she made it to the wildcard round, where she finished second; had she won, she would have advanced to the quarter-finals, which would have been a one-on-one competition after several rounds of group votes. But she still marvelled at the support she received.
“It was actually incredible how many people were messaging me personally,” said Carleton.
A lot of people she talked to were impressed because there weren’t a lot of mothers entered, and Carleton made it known in her submission that she is a mother, and she is a supporter of the Estevan Family Resource Centre.
According to her bio, her first tattoo was a daisy on the inside of her forearm with 10 petals for each one of her brothers and sisters. But her favourite tattoo is one she had done in honour of her children by Shanda Tegart of Inkspire in Estevan.
“It was just a really meaningful piece towards my children. She really, really outdid herself on it. She incorporated their birth flowers. She did some carnations for a mother’s undying love, and then there’s a nice little portrait of a mom holding a baby and then there’s a nice little one of a baby grabbing a mom’s finger. It’s super beautiful,” said Carleton.
Carleton said she loves tattoos because she’s a photographer and enjoys capturing different types of emotions. Tattoos have also helped her self-esteem.
She found out about the Inked Magazine contest through a friend.
Stephanie Sealy reached the top 10 of the competition, and finished ninth, coming up just short of the wildcard round. She didn’t realize she was in the top 20 until a friend messaged her. Sealy thought that with so many women entered, there was no chance she could go so far.
“I didn’t know I had made it to the top 20 until my best friend messaged me. I wasn’t aware of it, because I was thinking there were too many women, and there’s no way I’m going to make it to the top 20. And then I made it to the top 10.”
She decided to enter the contest because of her fondness for Inked Magazine. She started collecting editions when she was a teenager.
“I always had a dream of being in Inked Magazine,” she said.
Her mom has tattoos, and Sealy believes that’s where her passion for tattoos began. Inked and other magazines gave her ideas for tattoos as well.
The first tattoo was her dog’s name Chaya on the back of her shoulder.
“All my tattoos are meaningful, but I think my most meaningful one and my favourite is Chaya’s portrait on my back. It’s perfect. It looks just like her and everything. It tells me that she’s always going to have my back.”
Sealy didn’t realize at first that there would be other local women entered, and was surprised and excited to see the success of the others.
Julyn Halirewich advanced to the competition’s final stages, finishing sixth in her group, but still winding up in the top 30 overall. She would have had to finish first or second in her group to reach the wildcard or quarter-final round.
“When you start the contest, you go through elimination every Thursday. They started with 25 in each group,” said Halirewich.
When Halirewich entered, it was a “shot in the dark.” Her friends wanted her to do the contest and she agreed. The number of other local contestants came as a surprise.
“I knew some of them. I didn’t know about any of them (participating) until I had posted on my Facebook that I was in it, and then a bunch of other girls said ‘I’m in it, too.”
She also knew women from other areas who were entered.
Halirewich has nine tattoos, and the total is growing. There isn’t one that has great significance, but her favourite is the one that covers her entire back. It’s also her largest.
“I’m not done. I’m getting more. I have one that’s being worked on right now, and more than I’m designing.”
People are born a blank canvas, she said, so it makes sense to her to get a tattoo.
Ivory Herman placed sixth in her group in the third round, but was still pleased with the showing and the number of people who supported her.
She learned of the competition through Instagram. She follows a lot of social media feeds for tattoo publications and artists, and found the contest for Inked.
“I have a lot of tattoos, and I thought it would be something fun to try out for, and something different,” said Herman.
Herman shared the sentiment that she is an empty canvas, and that she likes to get tattoo to add colour to her skin. The tattoo that means the most to her is of a pet cat
She knows there were thousands of women entered, looking to make it to on the front cover of Inked Magazine, so she was happy to make it as far as she did.
Danita Macalalad wound up 16th in the second round, which she said was a really good result considering she didn’t promote herself.
“I initially just applied for it on a whim, and then I didn’t put too much thought into it. And then I made it to the second round.”
She would have had to finish in the top 15 to make it to the third round.
Macalalad has a lot of tattoos, and never thought she would never have an opportunity to do something on this scale.
“I’ve always loved tattoos and always been interested and always loved the magazines before social media became huge.”
Her first tattoo was a shooting nautical star on her wrist. An eagle tattoo is one of her favourites. Macalalad is half-Filipino, and she has a personal fondness for a Filipino prayer tattoo.
“It’s for protection and guidance,” she said.
Each of them said they would be part of the competition again, and they hope to have the community’s support if they do.
