seeking advice: drawing tattoo designs

My good friend recently asked me to design a tattoo for her; I would dearly love to. The only thing is I've never designed a tattoo; I'm unsure what kind of paper and tools to use for the best result. Obviously I'm no tattoo-ist (or whatever the person who does the actual putting of ink on flesh is called) matter of fact the thought of getting one myself is a terrifying prospect. I don't want to come up with something that looks great on paper but won't translate worth shit on skin. Some advice in that matter would be appreciated, as well as any other tips that you can think of.

Relax. Design whatever your friend wants to the best of your ability. Depending on the size of the tattoo, you might not want to be too detailed, meaning, if your friend only wants a little $70 or $80 job, dont throw a lot of detail into small spaces. Keep it somewhat basic. The second thing would be to use clear clean lines and make a copy of the drawing thats made up of just lines, no shade, no color. The tattooist will be able to make a stencil with this part. If your doing a face or something thats alive, be sure that if it is placed on one side of your friends body (shoulder, bicep, whatever) that it is facing the same direction that he/she is. Theres nothing worse than a backwards tattoo. A tattooist can reverse is but it'd be easier to do it that way from the start. Obviously, give the tattooist a clear readable drawing with all color and shade so that its done correctly and they understand where you're going with it. And if nothing else, go talk to a tattooist in your neck of the woods and see what they reccommend first hand. I'm sure it'll turn out great, Take care

hi i drew a tattoo design on a paper once and did it on my skin with the hair dye,,, so if ur friend's not sure about it let her do it with the hair dye or temporary tattoo and if she liked it she can do it with the tattoo that lasts.. good luck