Inky's Studio grand opening raises $1,045 for charity

Heather Jenkins was surronded by family and friends Heather Jenkins' promised to tattoo suicide prevention semicolon tattoos one everyone who walked through her newly opened Inky's Studio and she kept her word...so much so that she had to come back on Sunday to get everyone their new ink.

"It was absolutely awesome," Heather told the PCN on Saturday night after a complete day of tattooing after giving a total of 23 people fresh ink during Inky's Studio's grand opening. Ahead of the event, Heather advertised that she would be tattooing one of three pre-designed semicolon tattoos for a flat $50 fee and all the money she raised would go to Joey's Place, a Missoula non-profit, community-based life maintenance and healing center that deals with suicide. After coming back on Sunday to finish what she started on Saturday, Heather raised a whopping $1, 045.

On Saturday morning, before the tattoo gun started whirring,

Shonda Jenkins, Heather's sister and assistant, counted off 21 names from a list of people who had made appointments to have semicolon tattoos done during the grand opening of Inky's Studio on Saturday afternoon.

"I am nervous," Shonda laughed. "And those are just the ones who are scheduled and not the walk-ins."

Inky's Studio - located in Jessica Oyler's (Heather's sister-in-law) 406 Spray Tan shop located at 124 South 1st Street East - was a family affair during the Inky's Studio as Heather's daughter Dawn (who received her semicolon tattoo the night before, allowing her mother to practice) and mother Tana Oyler helped set up and get things in order for the day. Of the 21 names Shonda read from the list, the first was Charley Brockie who made tattoo reservations for his siblings (his sister Dee got a semicolon tattoo on the day, but their other sister was ill and not able to make her appointment) and himself the minute he heard Inky's was set to open.

"It means a lot to me because my mother (Sharon) took her own life," Brockie said.

Brockie has a number of tattoos including his last name across his back, a tattoo which Heather did that took over two years during a half-dozen different sittings.

"This one won't take as long," Brockie joked of the much smaller semicolon.

The grand opening featured drinks and snacks, as well as door prizes and gift certificates. The grand door prize from the grand opening was a $70 gift certificate that was awarded to Cori Lamb and the "Guess how many tattoos Heather has" $50 gift certificate went to Barbie Grey (and the correct answer is 24.)