31DC-D29 - Blue Base

Hey y'all!

Well, I finally saw the dentist yesterday, and prognosis: root canal.  Fun!  All I can say is that I'm happy that I'm not in the overwhelming pain that I've suffered the past 5 days waiting for that appointment!  Now we can return to regular broadcasting... whatever that means around here.  Today's prompt for the 31DC is Blue Base, so I decided to play around with another abstract technique to create this look.

Pink and lace stamping

Hey y'all!

Friday brings 'round another entry for this week's Colour Me Crazy challenge, and this week the prompt is all pink.  Some of you will know, and I've mentioned here before, that I'm hugely NOT a fan of pink, whether it be nail polish or clothing or accessories.  It has always been too soft for my liking, and growing up tomboy I always kind of resented pink being the "color of girls".  I had to scratch around in my helmer for a bit to find a decent palette with which to work, and because it came off so soft, I decided to add some lace stamping over top.

Gilded Brocade nail art - FFTB Retro

*** This post contains items which were sent for review. ***

Hey y'all!

Have you ever watched a movie or a TV show and seen something in the background of the set that instantly sets off an alarm in your head, screaming "that would make cool nail art!"?  No?  Just me then.  *shrug*  My point here is that I had such an occurrence the other night and today's nail art is a result.  Truth be told, I can't even remember what I was watching, but what DID make an impression in my brain was a gorgeous gold silk duvet with a large, black brocade/jacquard pattern embroidered over it.  I literally had to stop and make a note to myself on my phone to try to replicate the print.  While browsing through my weekly challenge prompts and reviewing some new stamping plates from MoYou Nails, today's Retro theme is my translation of that duvet cover.

Lavender Quilted - inspired by my phone case

Hey y'all!

Another moment of synchronicity happened in the universe this week, because the FingerFood Theme Buffet prompt and the Sunday Stamping prompt from AIS collided for me to bring you this nail art look which is inspired by the fabric of my phone case!

Llama Nails Holiday Challenge week 2: Halloween

Hey y'all,

Quick post to put up my Halloween mani.  This week's theme was Halloween, and I struggled a bit before I finally decided on something that I liked but wasn't too cliche.

Last month I picked up a couple of W7 crackle polishes at Poundland or somewhere similar (Americans: think Dollar Store) and hadn't really had a chance to use them yet, but one of them is a lovely cranberry purple and I thought it would make a nice Halloweeny hue.

To start, I put down a base color of elf Cranberry on my pinky, middle, and index fingers, and Maybelline Onyx Black on my ring and thumb.  Then I splotched on dabs and smears of Collections Scorched over all the nails, making sure I left some base color exposed.  I used Rimmel Black Graffiti over the pinky, middle, and index, and the W7 Crimson Crackle on the ring and thumb.

The effect was sort of wood-grainy, but in a dark and kind of vampy way.  I finished off the look by adding eyeballs with Fright Night Glow-in-the-Dark Claw Polish and added pupils with the Black Onyx. 

Mani(c) Monday: Why I should swatch before I make "ze arts"

So I realize this says Mani Monday and it's being posted on Tuesday.  My intended schedule is to do new manis on Mondays, swatch/reviews on Saturdays, and a lifestyle/catching up post somewhere mid-week, moving forward.  I learned a valuable lesson yesterday - always swatch new stuff before starting a mani.  I also realize that should've been common sense, but my brain works... differently.

It has been a bit warmer than last week, but although it's not raining, the air is heavy and laden with lots of moisture.  Isis and I went to the dog park yesterday, first thing, because I wanted to wear her out a little bit before I went grocery shopping.  Last weekend we had an "incident" - hubby and I walked down to the Onion Fayre and after a bit of conversation about it, he convinced me that we shouldn't take her with us.  After we'd been home for about an hour we left again to go to the store.  When we returned, she had let us know exactly what she thought of us leaving her twice in one day by demolishing the vinyl flooring at the back door leading into the conservatory, and scratching up a bit of the door as well.  Since then, we've been a bit more diligent about taking her for long walks to work off some of that excess energy.  ANYWAY... so we walked through the arboretum and I noticed that my sneakers have worn out and my feet started getting wet because, as I said, the air is... moist.  Long story short, the dog didn't destroy anything while I was out, but I need to buy new tennies.