Newlyweds Fabiana and Cody Philpott share their love of hand-drawn art with their business.

The pair opened Lake Country鈥檚 only tattoo shop, NSI Tattoo, located off of Highway 97 off near the Dairy Queen.

They focus on a traditional style of tattoos, with bold lines and bright colours, 鈥渢hings that will last forever,鈥� Fabiana said.

The space between the lines is usually a bit bigger in the traditional style. As the tattoo ages, the ink expands in the skin, so if tattoo lines are drawn closely together, over time, lines will expand and run into each other, Cody said. 鈥淚n tattooing, there鈥檚 an expression that bold will hold.鈥�

Coming from the small community of Vanderhoof, Cody enjoys the quaintness of Lake Country with the accessibility of 琉璃神社.

鈥淚 like the small community feel that this place has,鈥� he said.

Fabiana is from Brazil. She started her artistic career in fashion and textiles before moving into tattoos. She took classes in Japanese style paintings which evolved into a tattoo career.

鈥淚 actually met Fabiana through Instagram while I was in Japan. She got tattooed by the same guy who did all my tattoos in Japan,鈥� Cody said.

After two years of admiring each other鈥檚 work online, they met in Mexico. After getting married in Brazil the pair moved to Canada.

鈥淪he鈥檚 my teacher,鈥� Cody said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 Japanese art that brought us together.鈥�

Cody鈥檚 tattooing passion started with the Japanese artist who designed his tattoos, which stretch across his back and side.

鈥淭he guy changed my life,鈥� he said. 鈥淛apanese tattoos are often big, I let him do it and I鈥檓 glad I did. I spent more time with him and I got to learn about tattooing. He showed me you can earn a living and making art by hand, which you can鈥檛 do in a lot of art professions anymore.鈥�

Graphic design and other forms of art can now be done online, but there鈥檚 something about having to do the art by hand which draws Cody to the art form.

鈥淲ith tattooing, it doesn鈥檛 matter about equipment as much, it鈥檚 still art by hand. There鈥檚 no robot yet that鈥檚 taken over this field,鈥� he said.

There鈥檚 a history to the art form, with rules that have to be followed, Fabiana said.

NSI Tattoo is holding a Christmas flash sale, Dec. 2 and 3 and is accepting walk-ins. Store hours are from Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The shop also offers tattoo ideas, for those who are unsure of what they want to get, Cody said.

Cody said it鈥檚 easier to get a tattoo in the winter because it gives the tattoo time to heal.