Happy Birthday Capt Tightpants, featuring Browncoat Nailart

Hey y'all!

Today should have been a GOT Polish challenge mani, but... well, we all know that I only do that when I feel like it, and the yellow/peach theme was not nearly as enticing to me as celebrating the birthday of my #1 on the laminated list - Mr. Nathan Fillion.  I have <3ed him literally since he was Joey Buchanan, and as we all know, a man's Buchananity is what separates him from reptiles and lawn furniture.  I even forgive you for that horrible affair with Dorian, Joey.  History aside, however, Nathan is best known for two roles anymore - if you know him, it's either as Captain Malcolm Reynolds on "Firefly"/"Serenity", or as Rick Castle on "Castle".

In any event, to celebrate my future baby daddy's 43rd birthday, I did my nails!  So much shock!  So much surprise!

 

via Troll Meme Generator

'Ikat a cold on 'oliday... LNTC - Ikat

Hey y'all!

The Faffs recently returned from a 2-week trip to Texas so I could visit family and friends and of course shop for a mess of nail art goodies, coffee, and other sundries.  Unfortunately, both of us came down pretty miserably sick at the beginning of the visit, so our vacation was definitely not what it could have or should have been.  I missed out on spending as much time with my peeps as I would've wanted, and we definitely didn't feel up to doing everything we had planned to do.  However, it's still nice to get away and of course Mommy Faff and I were happy to spend time together.  The Chibi monster also seemed happy to see me and was grateful to have someone else to play with.  He's definitely showing signs of slowing down though, and he gets exhausted very easily so we had to play in very short bursts.  The plus side of all of this is that there will be a haul post coming up very soon (if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen a rather huge nailmail picture I shared, but that didn't include my retail purchases!).  The down side is that while I managed to get 2 weeks worth of nail art up and scheduled before we left, I came back to an empty buffer again, so today's post has literally been photographed and edited today.  Whee for working on the fly!

This week's theme for the Llama Nails Techniques Challenge is Ikat - which I know very little about except that it's pronounced ee-kaht rather than eye-cat.  I'm quite sure there's a joke about Apple's newest pet product out there, but I'm still a bit too full of sinus stuff to possibly attempt more than one pun today, and the title of this post wore me plum out.  Anyway...

She carried a watermelon through my tree... TPTC

*** Please forgive the titling of this post:  I have twisty issues in my brain.  Unless you completely understand why I did it, in which case, you've taken my heart but you don't know what you've done.  Also, RIP Patrick. ***

 Hey y'all!

Today finds us at the end of another set of colors for Tri-Polish Tuesday, and that makes me sad, because I love this set, but it's probably a little too easy to make these colors work.  I went back and forth on whether or not to post these, but ultimately they won out, and so here you have it.

Hey Swatch It! e.l.f. Sea Escape

Hey y'all!

Today I have a super dark pretty to show you.  Because it's so dark, I wanted to get it posted before we all turn our attention completely to fresh bright spring and summer colors.  However, just because it's dark doesn't mean it's not beautiful!  This is elf Sea Escape.

Why Americans call British food bland... #2014BloggerChallenge

Hey y'all!

Today I'd like to talk about food.  Not just any food, but mostly the foods that I miss terribly, because as much as I love England and its people, the food just ain't the same!  This week Gaby has challenged us with the topic of food, and I thought it was high time that I highlighted some of the things I wish I could get over here across the pond.

I will take what is mine with fire and blood - LNTC-3D

Hey y'all!

If you read my post on Monday for St. Patrick's Day, you know I teased today's post.  Can I just say how excited I am that this manicure is finally seeing the light of day?  Be forewarned, it's HUGELY pic-heavy, and for good reason!

When I read through the prompts for the Llama Nails Challenge and saw 3D, I had to have a good long think about what I would do, since I've used so many 3D elements in manis past.  Then I read that season 4 of Game of Thrones is coming in April, and this look started forming in my little head.  I wanted to pay tribute to Daenerys and her beautiful babies, so I have created a dragon egg manicure for you!  As a bonus, I've put together a little pictorial for how I created this look, so be sure to read through to the end if you want to see it.

Watercolor Butterfly stamping - TPTC

Hey y'all!

It's Tuesday, so you know what that means!  It's TriPolish day!  Woohoo!  I was playing around with some Revlon Chroma Chameleons that I picked up in Poundland recently, and thought they'd make a really pretty base for some butterfly nail art - so that's what you get!  I actually picked up 3 of these shades, oddly enough in Aquamarine-blue, Amethyst-purple, and Topaz-green (not intentionally acquired for this month's theme), but I opted not to use the green in this mani.

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow...

Hey y'all!

Happy St. Patrick's day - the day when everyone claims just a bit o' the Irish heritage, if only long enough to drink beer and dance a jig!  I plan on doing some arm-curls tonight, so I have to make sure I show you these gaelic nails before I do, lest I be taken by the Guinness and forget!

First, though, a blessing:

May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.
Read more at http://www.theholidayspot.com/patrick/irish_blessings_and_sayings.htm#6HXuVOsThkshOcuJ.99

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow,
and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.

And here's the nails!

Hey Swatch It! Tara's Talons #IHateMondays

Hey y'all!

I was recently the lucky winner of two Tara's Talons polishes, courtesy of a giveaway by Nail Art Novice.  Having never tried Tara's Talons before, you can imagine I was quite excited!  I received #IHateMondays and Feeling Festive.  Since I recently used #IHateMondays in my quilted nail look, I decided it would be a good idea to show you the polish in its own glory, and here we are.

St. Patrick's Day stamping look

Hey y'all!

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner!  Sucks that it falls on a Monday this year, but what better way to make a Monday a little more festive?  It's also one of the few holidays that everyone seems to celebrate, regardless of religious affiliation or Irish heritage.  Today I've got an easy stamped look that brings the craic to your fingertips!

Purple negative space stamping - GOTPC

Hey y'all!

There's been a few rumblings through the internetz lately about negative-space manis making a rise in 2014.  Last month One Nail To Rule Them All did an awesome tutorial for her soft pink Valentine's heart mani which used negative space very effectively, and I've been pondering how I can play with the concept.  Today's challenge provided me with a perfect opportunity.  It's Golden Oldie Thursday, and this week's theme is my favorite and most common color in my stash - Purples!

I'm not sad, I'm just Distressed - LNTC

Hey y'all!

Today's Llama Nails technique is Distressed, which is possibly one of the easiest nail art looks to pull off, since it doesn't require ANY tools and absolutely NO precision!  I did a distressed look back at Halloween for another Llama Nails challenge, so I was quite happy to have another go at this simple technique.  Chalkboard Nails has a great tutorial if you're interested in seeing a bit more description, but seriously, this is so easy it hardly requires instruction!

The aliens will see you now - TPTC

Hey y'all!

Today I've got a lovely soft blue/green/purple look for TriPolish Tuesday using the fan brush sweeping technique, and featuring another gorgeous glitter from Pocket Money Polishes.

Hey Swatch It! Models Own HyperGel Collex, pt 2: Brights

Hey y'all!

As promised, I'm back today with the second "half" of my haul of Models Own HyperGels; three vibrant polishes with great color intensity.  If you loved last week's pastels and neutrals, hold on to your heinie, because the brights are gonna blow you outta your seat!

Left to right: Turquoise Gloss, Blue Glint, Coral Glaze

Holy holo quilted northern, Matban! LNTC Quilted

Hey y'all!

Forgive me for the silly title, but there is SO MUCH going on in today's nail art that I didn't even know where to begin!  I've got holographic, I've got leather-look matte, I've got microbead studding, and it's all centered around today's Llama Nails Technique Challenge theme: Quilted Nails.

Mardi Gras French Tips and Beads - TPTC

Hey y'all!

I'm SO EXCITED for it to be the first Tuesday of March.  Why?  Because the Tri-Polish Challenge colors have turned to purple, blue, and green!  This makes me happy in my heart and my brain because those are absolutely the most prominent colors in my stash, and I LURVE playing matchmaker with them!

The timing also couldn't be better for starting today, because it's Mardi Gras, whose traditional colors feature two of this month's TPTC colors, purple and green!  Today I've got a festive beaded look for you that is a fun and elegant way to celebrate Fat Tuesday in style!

My Lucky Summer Dragonflies! #2014BloggerChallenge-Nails

Hey y'all!

Topic 5 for the #2014BloggerChallenge seemed almost too easy when Gaby sent out the announcement, but then I remembered that only a few of us participating are actually nail bloggers.  The theme is always open for interpretation, but since I'm already in the nail blogging niche, I thought I would share a very special NOTD with you - my Lucky Summer Dragonflies!

Happy Texas Independence Day!

Hey y'all!

Today in 1836, Texas officially adopted the Texas Declaration of Independence, and broke from Mexico to create the Republic of Texas.

Hey Swatch It! Models Own HyperGel Collex, pt 1 - Pastels and Neutrals

Hey y'all!

At the beginning of February, Models Own reached a massive 250,000 likes on Facebook just before the launch of the HyperGel line, and celebrated by having a 50% off sale on their website.  Like so many others, I couldn't resist and ended up ordering 7 of the 10 HyperGels (I passed on Pink Veneer and Cerise Shine because "meh, pink", and Red Lustre, because it was already sold out), along with some other goodies (including the Midori set because ohmydot I wanted watermelon scented green polish... ahem).  Today I'll be showing you my pastels and neutrals of that HyperGel haul, and will post the other three ("brights") next Saturday.  The hype around these polishes is that they give a gel-like finish and shine without topcoat or UV curing.