Happy New Year!

This is the post where I apologize profusely about the state of my cuticles and skin in general.  Every winter I quite literally shed my skin a few times and I am in the midst of one of those times.  So I'm very aware that they look horrid (and this is an improvement on what it has been),  and yes, I probably should wait until my shed is over before posting pictures but who knows when that will be.  So be gentle with me.
I'm actually thinking of taking a bit of a break until after the new year so don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a few days.  I'll be back with bells on and details on my 200 follower giveaway.  

 This is three fairly thick coats of China Glaze's Fireside Glow.  This is an amazing mixture of fine copper and holographic glitter. 

 The weather here has been so overcast I couldn't get the sun to coordinate with the times when I had my camera, these are all taken under a "natural" lamp which does so not do this polish justice.

 The application on this was really great, while it didn't exactly flow onto the nail, the coverage was very even and built up really well.

 I love how it's a more subtle glitter effect with an almost neutral look where most of the glitters that have come out this season have had a lot more contrast.

Above is the closest I could get to a money shot to show off the beautiful glow this polish has.  So that's it for this one folks, I hope you have a wonderful New Year.  Be safe and I'll see you in 2012!

Merry Christmas

I want to wish each of you, my wonderful readers a wonderful holiday, whichever one you choose to celebrate.
Thank you all for taking the time out of your day to read and comment on my posts.  I hope that I can continue to educate and/or entertain into this coming year.

Until next time, safety, health and peace to you all.

Snowy the Snowman

Can you believe it,  Christmas Eve!  It seems just days ago it was only Thanksgiving.  
So, what happens when you mix some hand painting with your nail stickers?  Pretty darn adorable nails if I do say so myself.

I found these super cute nail stickers at my salon supply store.  They were the most popular of three different styles, how do I know?  This was the last one left while there were scads of the others.

I started with my base coat of Cold Metal from the Color Club Foiled Collection, then I painted all but my ring finger with two coats of Color Club Jingle Jangle, a clear based glitter that shifts tones depending on the light.  In some light it's pinkish lavender and greenish blue, in others the blue is darker and icy while the lavender deepens to purple.  And can I just say that for a glitter, application was a breeze and the finish was surprisingly smooth.

I took some acrylic paints and painted the background for Snowy by hand to create some depth and dimension.  He needed some snow drifts, and of course a snow storm.  I let that dry completely then applied one coat of a regular top coat because I have found that nail stickers doesn't like to stick to acrylic paint very well and will lift.

I finished up by sticking Snowy on the nail, he looked so happy in his new home!  Every nail then got two thick coats of Seche Vite to smooth things out and give lots of shine.  I love how this turned out.  I'm going to try more paint/sticker combinations.  

An Award for Moi?

Erp, sorry everyone, I'm getting a bit behind in following up on my comments and responses, not to mention getting to visit blogs of my new followers.  I'm getting there though so be patient with me. 
I want to give a huge thanks to Nail Designs xox for awarding me with the Versatile Blogger Award. 

So I'm first supposed to tell you 7 things about myself.  This is always so much harder than it seems it should be .  I'm going to try and make this stuff that you don't know about me and since you are already fully aware of my nail polish obsession we'll move right along.

1. In addition to my main hobby of nails I'm also a crafty person, I enjoy quilting, knitting, spinning (making my own yarn, not the kind you do at the gym), beading and scrap booking to name a few.  I seem to rotate through my other hobbies depending on the time of year, but nails are year round.

2. I have a weakness for things that smell good.  I have a huge collection of scented candles and the scent packs for my Sentsy warmers (four of them throughout the house) as well as several shelves worth of body washes, body sprays as well as lotions, which is crazy because half the time I forget to even put on the spray or lotions.  I even use linen spray to scent my towels and sheets after I pull them from the dryer.  I do coordinate household scents though so it doesn't smell like a cheap bordello or anything. 

3.  I love animals, I have cats, dogs, chickens and a parrot.  I used to have ferrets too until they passed on.  Most of my pets are rescued animals.  I am a firm believer that you should only get a pet if you are prepared to give it a forever home and not just as long as it's convenient.











4. I have a wonderful supportive family consisting of my beautiful daughter who just turned seventeen this month and my handsome fiance whom I've been best friends with for over four years now.  They put up with my moods and my clutter and tell me how wonderful I am.

5. I've been in the Air Force since 2000.  I served three years on active duty and the rest have been as a traditional reservist.  I'm very proud of being able to serve my country as well as serving as a positive and strong role model to my daughter.

6. I met my best friend umpteenhundred years ago when my (now ex)husband decided to tell me that he was in love with her (the feeling wasn't mutual).  I had decided to use the philosophy of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer and we've been like sisters ever since. 

7.  Whew, finally number 7! While I have lots of "stuff"  the only thing I really collect other than nail polishes are tea cups with matching saucers and dessert plates.  If I were just collecting the cups and saucers it would be easier, it's actually kind of hard to find the full sets of three.  I love all things tea and coffee related and have a kitchen cupboard...and a half that is designated exclusively to all these things from the actual tea and coffee to the accessories like strainers, sugar and creamer containers and what not.

So, that covers my 7 random facts about me, now the hard part.  I can't ever pick who to pass these awards onto, so I award this to all of my fellow bloggers.  If you are reading this, you're an awesome and Versatile Blogger in my book, so consider yourself awarded!

Spring Can't Come Soon Enough

I've never made it any secret that cold weather and I don't mix, and as of late it's been really, super cold.  So my idea is, been there, done that, bring on Spring!  Yeah, I know that won't happen.  Anyway, since my fingers are constantly freezing I thought I'd paint them a lovely shade of blue so it looks like they're supposed to be that color. 

 Color Club Cold Metal seemed to fit bill.  It's a gorgeous deep, icy blue which to me personally seems to be more shimmery than foil-y. 

 The application on this was amazing, I've got two coats on here and there was no streaking or dragging like I encountered with Perfect Mol-ten. It wasn't terribly shiny on it's own so I added a coat of Seche Vite and not only did it make it drool worthy in terms of shine, but it seemed to make the color even richer. 

pardon my thumbnail, I over did my gel trying to keep a break from happening.

When the Foiled collection came out it didn't seem that outstanding and I got a couple of them more to say I did then anything, but I'm really happy that I picked up this polish, it's really pretty and perfect for a winter mani.  And I've got some artistic plans for it coming up, so stay tuned.  Thanks for stopping by and reading, until next time, take care!

Copycat - Let it Snow

I loved the YouTube Let it Snow Collaboration of nail designs.   There were some amazing designs, several of which I want to try myself.  The one that stuck out to me the most was Let it Snow by JaeMarie2008.  

 Maybe it was because I had red glitter nails like she started out with.  For whatever reason I decided to try out her look.  I didn't want to cover up all my glitter though so I just did a couple of accent nails.

 I'm wishing now that I hadn't tried to add the red spots, they fade into the background too much and the resulting snowflakes have nothing to frame them so they look rather out of place.  I used too thick of a brush as well, oh well, live and learn right?

 Using JaeMarie2008's tutorial made creating these nails super easy but they look really detailed.  People have noticed them and think that they took hours to paint.  Little do they know.  

So did you follow the YouTube Let It Snow collaboration?

Just Add Sizzle

It seems that no sooner to I get one on than I'm looking at which one to put on next.  This time I had my eye on Ring in the Red, a sizzling hot red glitter from China Glaze's Let It Snow collection. 

 This polish is amazing!  I keep having to look at my nails because they're just so hot!  It's been a while since I came across a polish that was this...dare I say, sexy.

 I layered two coats of this over my OPI Wocka Wocka but if you're willing to go for several layers you could get this effect on it's own.  I love that it's dense enough to build up while still being thin enough for layering. 

 While red glitter polishes are easy to come by I think I may be in love with this one.  The finish is really quite smooth for a glitter and those flashes of red and fiery orange just get to me.  This seems to have two sizes of glitter which adds to the depth.

It looks fabulous in direct sunlight and in low indoor lighting too.  It's a real eye catcher, I've had several people catch a glimpse and their comments are all pretty much "OOooo, pretty polish!"  Yeah, I love it.

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading and commenting.  Until next time, have a great one!