Pardon my lack of Modesty

I hope you don't mind if I brag, I'm just so darn pleased with myself at the moment.
I don't consider myself to be terribly artistic, crafty yes, artistic...eh, not so much. So when a plan comes together I'm usually pretty blown away myself.
Last night while I was waiting for my sleeping pills to kick in (let's hear it for the insomniacs!) I wandered out to my table where all my polish is strewn and pitifully stared at my implements wishing a moment of inspiration would hit me. Well it wasn't exactly a ton of bricks, but since I don't need bricks for anything that's ok. I actually remembered Asami's guest tutorial about the half moon manicure.
I actually tried the french guide method when the tutorial first came out, uh yeah, fail on an epic scale. I could get it to work on a fake nail but not so much on my own. I was totally bummed because I love love the look.

Without Daddy's Girl to glitterfy

Ok you're saying, get to the point. Well, last night I decided to try her free hand method and...OMG I loooooove how they turned out!!! I'm practically giddy with delight. Thank god both polishes dry pretty fast but I was praying like nothing else that they'd stay pretty through the night so I could get pictures.
I wanted a dramatic look and I got it. I used Sinful Colors 'Dream On' for the half moon color and Maybelline's 'Charming Cobalt' as the full nail color. But wait, I didn't stop there! (Like my Billy Mays impersonation?) I wanted something to tie the two together to add a little more punch. So I grabbed my Sinful Colors 'Daddy's Girl' and went over the main nail color, I really think the subtle pinkish purple glitter is the perfect finishing touch.

Shade

Now I know it's not perfect, This is my first time doing it after all, but I think it's pretty darn good and I'm pleased as punch with how it came out, there will be more half moon manicures in my future!
So for those of you willing, I offer my back for patting and thank you very much for humoring me. Mwhaaaas!

Gilding the Diva

I gushed enough about OPI's Diva of Geneva in my last post and even though I've been extremely hard on my mani these last couple of days I wasn't quite ready to take it off. So instead I decided to do some gilding...almost literally.

I took Finger Paints Key to my Art which is a lovely gold and with an exfoliating facial sponge dabbed it on. It came out a lot courser than when I use the makeup sponge but I really like the way it turned out.

Diva for a Day...or two

My pretty blue mani made it through the weekend, but with my happy haul calling my name it couldn't come off fast enough. I used my favorite new method of polish removal that I picked up from Colette over at My Simple Little Pleasures. I love it because it takes a single cotton ball (I unwind it since I don't have the cotton strips like she does) to remove the polish off one hand where it used to take three full cotton balls. Someone on her post make the comment that it reminded her of the fluffy fingers of The Grinch. A very apt description don't you think?

So after removal and base coat application (OPI Ridge Filler) I had to decide which color was going to go on my fingers first. I picked up some great colors so it was kinda hard to choose but I finally settled on OPI's Diva of Geneva. This is a Beautiful with a capital 'B' faintly fuchsia purple with a lovely soft shimmer.
I was in love at first brush stroke because it went on smooth as silk, almost like my nails were painting themselves and all I needed was two coats.

Check out the glow on this, isn't it beautiful? It's almost like it's lit from within.

I think this has a warm tone to it, if you look really close at the bottle you can see just the teeniest hint of gold shimmer in there.













Even in shade it's just lovely.


I think Diva of Geneva is just lovely and elegant, it seems silly but I would classify it as a "grown-up color", something your glamorous favorite aunt from Beverly Hills would wear and I just love it. I hope you've enjoyed it too.

My little happy haul

So I had mentioned that I had taken part in a little retail therapy the other day. Thing is, I found a new nail supply store where the guy was awesome and let me buy my items at the pro rate. I paid 4.50 for regular OPI! If I'd had more money on my I would have gotten myself in serious trouble. I got the OPI DS and the Calla nail stickers at another location and paid entirely way to much for them but oh well.
I now have the four OPI Swiss collection colors that I wanted so the whole thing was a happy happy.

Here we are. The polishes are from left to right.
Jade 'Invisible Attachment', Color Club 'With Abandon', OPI 'Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous', OPI DS 'Extravagance', OPI 'Yodel me on my Cell', OPI 'Romeo and Joliet', OPI 'Diva of Geneva, Color Club 'Naughtycal Navy'

From Left to right
Color Club 'Midnight Blue', CM 'True Violet', CM 'Water Blue', CM 'Baby Blue

Top row: Joby nail stickers
Bottom row: Cala nail stickers

So, this week I'll try and swatch out as many of these colors as I can and show you all the shiny, prettiness.

Oh, and just so you know, I also picked up an extra Color Club 'With Abandon' and the new OPI 'My Private Jet' to go into my 50 Fabulous Followers give away.

Am I blue? My nails are, very blue indeed

A little retail therapy is just what the Dr. ordered for my funky-dunk. Well that and my sweety has been around since he took Thursday and Friday off for a four day weekend. We're building a chicken coop for the girls, Lucy and Ethel but I managed to sneak out for a little polish purchasing. In addition to some fun new colors for me (more on that later) I picked up two new colors for my 50 followers give away! I'm getting pretty excited about it, by the time it is all put together it will have several polishes (6 and counting), some 2 way nail pens, some ubber cute nail art stickers and makeup. Just let it be said that I don't believe in doing anything half arsed. Just 8 more followers and the fun will begin!

Now on with my current polish.
How pretty is this? From OPI's Designer Series I have Magic. A faaabulous blue that is really...well, magical.
Here we've got three coats over my OPI Ridge Filler and honestly, I probably could have used two more. This polish goes on seriously sheer. The pictures are too kind in that they don't show the visible nail line. Of course for the most part a person is going to be too caught up in the oooo, shiny goodness to care about a VNL, but for those of us that notice those kinds of things... Yeah.
Unfortunately no matter how many pictures I took the lovely pinkish purple shimmer that is most obvious in low light didn't show up either. I think it's a big part of Magic though, like a magic trick it's quite obvious in the bottle but much more illusive on the nail.
After the first coat which was a little streaky, application was a breeze. Honestly I am really loving this blue and will probably keep it on for longer than my usual two days...maybe pull it out over the weekend.
I think this would be a gorgeous base for some konading, maybe I'll give it a whirl and see how I do.

Spiced Chai nails

Gah! I have been in a serious funk this last week and even my nails haven't been making me happy. I have really been wanting to showcase some nail art but I can't ever get my fingers to match what's in my mind and it's just so frustrating. S0 what do I do of all things...I put on a boring-shmoring military worthy mani...which is really quite lovely if you ask me.
This is a combination of Milani Thai Tea and Golden Rose #111 (pity they don't have real names) which is as you can see a honey of a holo. Both of them individually and together really reminds me of chai tea, one of my most favorite beverages that is a mixture of tea and spices. I like mine sweetened with honey with a splash of vanilla creamer and served either hot or on the rocks. I brew my own with Stash tea or mix Oregon brand with milk and call myself a happy camper.
The Milani is pretty sheer so it's three coats over my OPI Ridge Filler base. The first coat went on pretty streaky but it evened out with the other two and got sealed up with China Glaze Fast Forward top coat. Initially all five fingers were Milani but I had just gotten my order from Golden Rose and it seemed like...well, serendipity that #111 combined so well with it. So two coats of that went on top of everything else on my ring finger and thumb,and another coat of Flash Forward finished it up. Aaaand looking at it now I'm realizing that I did a pretty crap job at clean up and taking care of my cuticals so pardon my mess. Why don't I notice this as I'm taking the pictures rather than later??
I need to get out of this funk, I think a nice bright color is next, maybe that will be the kick I need to pull myself together. What do you do to cheer yourself up when you're down?

You say Fall I say "It's too @#$! cold!

40 Followers YippEE!!!! I'm hatching an idea for a 50 follower give away. I already have some lovely polishes (a couple of holos), eye shadows and other goodies set aside so spread the word!

Ok so I'm kinda getting into the swing of the cooler weather...maybe. I must admit that I love love the colors for this time of year. Our mountains are turning all different shades of yellow, rust, reds and oranges. Thankfully down here in the valley it's not that apparent.
This is China Glaze's Cross Iron and if I remember correctly, I got this gorgeous polish for a whopping $1.99 on clearance and I count my lucky stars that I did. It's beautiful and it's perfect for this time of year. It has a richness about it that reminds me of pumpkin pie right as it's coming out of the oven and the top is slightly caramelized and flecked with all sorts of spicy goodness.
This is the usual two coats over OPI Ridge Filler as a base coat...except on my ring finger which I managed to ding up and was to lazy to strip and re-do so I just put another coat over. I think it actually repaired it's self quite well and if you weren't staring right at it you probably wouldn't notice.
I think that this could be a beautiful base for a Halloween-y mani yes I do, the wheels are a turnin'! If it happens, you'll be the first to know.

Happy 101

The Happy 101 Award

Rules:

1. Post who gave you this award Thank you ChaosButterfly over at the Phalanges Files
2. State 10 things you like
3. Give this award to 10 other bloggers and notify them with a comment

Ten things that make me happy:

1. Nail polish and all that's involved...like blogging about it and getting to know like minded people!

2. Crafting-Sewing, knitting, jewelry making, spinning etc.

3. Animals, especially mine.

4. My family, the most wonderful boyfriend and daughter a girl could wish for.

5. Foot and leg tickles/rubs from my boyfriend

6. Fruit Smoothies, home made or Jamba Juice = happy tummy

7. Cooking

8. Sun, summer, heat, long days...Well I think they count as one.

9. Sexy Shoes

10. Butterscotch Dum Dums

Ok, now for the 10 people to share this with.

1. Danielle over at Confessions of a Nail Polish Addict
2. Liana at Homemade Nails
3. Jennifer at Nail Polish Addiction Anonymous
4. Lisa at Nailed It
5. Lois at NailYorkCity
6. Danielle at Polish Obsessed
7. Lauren at DizzyNails
8. ABOP at Another Bottle of Polish?!
9. Smita at My Nails
10. amusedPolish at amusedPolish

I Envy Atlantis

I really liked the way my Foxy Lady mani turned out and decided to give it another whirl. Here I've taken and applied 2 coats of Ulta's Envy over my OPI Ridge Filler. From there I took China Glaze Atlantis and done a diagonal french. Lastly, with my Stripe Rite gold (not the glitter) I drew a thin dividing line between the two.
I'm really liking this look and the fact that it's sooo simple. I don't need guides to get a proper curve like a regular french and it's impossible to mess up. Can't get better than that right?

Teal Toes for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Challenge...Pass it on!

I am stealing this almost word for word from my friend Ria over at Serious stuff about lif...oooh shiny!! basically because I can't think of a way of putting it better myself. Thanks Ria!

September is Ovarian cancer awareness month!

Teal Toes is an organization that spreads the word about Ovarian cancer, so that women get tested.

Ribbons is one way to go.

But there's a funnier way!

Teal toes!

All you have to do is paint your toe nails in teal!

No need of specific polish!Just teal!

It's a really special color for a special cause!

Many people will ask why teal, so there's a reason for you to spread the word.

Why raise awareness?

• Too many women with ovarian cancer do not get diagnosed until their cancer has spread. Their survival rate is 45%.
• The survival rate improves greatly - to 93 percent - if the cancer is diagnosed at an early stage before it has spread. Only 19 percent of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed at this local stage.
• Approximately 75 percent of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage after the cancer has spread beyond the ovary.

This information is from the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.

This type of cancer is a sneaky one. The symptoms are not obvious, and they include:

• Bloating
• Pelvic or abdominal pain
• Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
• Urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency)

Stuff you can blow off as other not so serious things right?

So your mission for today, should you chose to accept it...
Is to teal up your toes! And since it's not that cold out there yet, wear sandals to show you know and want to fight this silent enemy off!
My toes are teal and other ladies on fb show their toes.Take some exapmles and spread the word!

You can find a list of polish examples here

The facebook page is here so you can add your photos to the list!

And the official page is here

So tell me...

What color will be next on your toes?

Do you accept the challenge?

My toes are done over OPI Ridge Filler base with two coats of OPI Cuckoo for this Color and a very thin coat of Orly Halley's Comet topper.

Charmed I'm Sure

I am completely charmed with this blue. Like I could sit and stare at it for hours, write odes to it, the whole nine yards charmed.
This went on like a charm as well, what you see is two coats over OPI Ridge Filler. You could almost get away with one coat if you were in a hurry but I'd stick with two. It's opaque enough that I'd be interested to see how it works for konading.

I am totally loving that deep glowing shimmer. This may very well be my new favorite blue.

China Glaze TMI

To much information, I think not. Here is another lovely holo PINK! A little bolder and brighter than TTYL which is probably why I like this quite a bit more. I'm kinda sad that the holo didn't want to come out and play for pictures, but you can see a bit of the glow.
Here I've gone with my usual two coats over OPI Ridge Filler as my base. Again, this is another runny formula but with that taken into consideration it applied like a dream.

Sorry for the short entry today, I'm really not feeling up to much. I've been dealing with this horrid tooth problem for way to long now and it finally culminated this morning on the tooth having to be pulled. At the moment I've got a numb mouth and thanks to some pain meds a numb brain. Hopefully I'll be up to full speed again in the next couple of days. Fingers crossed!

Sunshine Award

A huge thank you to Lois over at NailYorkCity for my first ever Sunshine Award! I've been feeling pretty crappy as of late with complications on my tooth issue so this really brightened my day. Hopefully I can pass that bit of brightness on. :)

Rules:
1. Save the image above and post it on your blog.
2. Pass the award on to any fellow bloggers needing a bit of sunshine in their day.
3. Link the nominees.
4. Let the nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person you received this award from!

Passing on the award!
Layniefingers (check out her lace nails, OMG!)
Peaches & Blush
Serious stuff about lif...oooh shiny!!
Lunatikitty
Running with Polish
polish of the day. ish.
Mythology20
Pinkz80

Orly's Halley's Comet

I picked up the rest of Orly's Cosmic FX Collection last week and you know what? Space Cadet is not even in the top three favorites. Perhaps that's because it seems to be a much bling-ier version of OPI's Amethyst Abyss that I'm not as impressed by the multi chrome purple/green/gold.

With It's not Rocket Science in first place on my chart Halley's Comet takes a close second. I think that if mermaids used nail polish they'd give a few scales for this beauty!

This is two coats over OPI Ridge Filler and application was a breeze, cleanup...not so much. This seems to be hyper pigmented and it actually caused some staining on my skin.

Even in the shade it's beautiful.

China Glaze FYI

For your information this is a wonderfully pale, neutral tan holo. Given my love affair with the bolder, brighter colors I can't quite get used to this one on my fingers.
This is two coats over OPI Ridge Filler, no top coat. This color is super super runny and it dries slowly, I didn't even get around to the clean up for the pictures because I'd already managed to ding my thumb nail while waiting for it to dry. I figured if I waited any longer they'd be too much of a mess for pictures.
It's my military weekend this weekend so I think this is pretty perfect. The holo is pretty subtle even in sunlight so it will be like my little secret. :)