Paisley proof of life...

I'm alive!   It's been a while since I've posted anything - a lot has changed in my life.  We moved to the country, and got pregnant!  I'm actually about 16 weeks along now, and finally felt up to doing some half decent nail art.  Are you as excited as I am?

This is the final result (left hand pictured) of my hard work.  Not perfection, but whimsical and fun and therapeutic.  I'm pretty stoked about the thumb and pointer on this hand, and I'll definitely be doing this again.  (Sorry about the crappy cuticles and formatting here)

I'll even share the right hand with you...feeling special yet?

(Right Thumb)


OK, one more look at the "good" hand.  TTFN!

Grab your towel, the seas are shimmering!

I layered OPI DS Sapphire over yesterday's manicure, and the results are stunning!  I think you'll have to agree.   Really stunning, especially in the sun!

I also picked up some flocking powder, so here is my first flocked manicure.  Kinda like a beach towel, don't you think?

♫The seaweed is always greener, in somebody else's lake♪

A little bit of underwater enchantment for you...

A pain to remove, but so easy to do - if you're looking for your own mermaid inspired manicure, lay down a deeply pigmented polish - I used Sally Hansen's "Teal-y Fast", a gorgeous shimmery teal shade that shines through all the glitter.  
All you do after that is dot and sponge different hued chunky glitters (Sinful Colors makes some perfect for this) until you're pleased with the effect.   Don't forget to smooth it out with a good, thick coat of seche vite!

Springtime Blues

Hey there!   My dearest husband and I recently got our tax return, and so I did some playing, of course - and picked up some ADORABLE converse.  I was over at my friend Mommy Does Her Nails' place, putting on my snazzy new kicks, and she (being the queen of greens and teals) had the perfect shade to match my nails to these Converse.   Don'tcha just LOVE them?  So perfect for spring.

This is Julep Amy, and the accent nail is done with Zoya "Christinna" (White), Sally Hansen "Sun Kissed" (Orange) and "Mellow Yellow", Loreal "Cockatoo's Mystery" (Grey) and Sinful Colors "Secret Admirer" (Black).

One more close up of the accent nail on my right hand:

How about it, folks?  Are you dreaming of blue skies and spring blossoms?  Skirts, linens, and less hail? (Yes, it was JUST hailing here a few minutes ago.)

Off to the Emerald City

Dreaming of summer, longing for color, and also headed to WA again for the weekend - these poppies on my pinterest were just speaking to me.

I love the colors, the whimsy, and I wish I had the tools to capture the look better.   The nails:

 

 the inspiration:

So, if you blur your eyes real good or get smashing drunk, I'm sure it looks SO GOOD!  LOL, I am honestly pretty happy with it considering I have no nail art brushes, but I will probably redo it when I have the proper tools someday.

Christmas Inspiration: Holiday Sweater Mani

Hello there!  
I know, I know, you thought they'd sent me to the padded room, but in all actuality I've just been procrastinating, failing to photograph my manicures, and chasing the 4 very mobile children around.  
But, I knew when I saw Through the Wormhole's "Christmas Sweater Mani" I had to do something inspired by it.   PLEASE check hers out, because her freehand skills are beyond belief and mine don't compare for the time being.

That said, I'm pretty happy with how they turned out - and thanks Candice for letting me borrow your brushes!

 (Dominant Hand - I spy:  a reindeer, a christmas star, a snowflake)

(Non-Dominant Hand - I spy: a reindeer, a christmas tree, and a big mess)

For those curious on colors used:  the base is Julep "Diane", the red is Zoya "Isla", blue is Zoya "Breezi", gold is Sally Hansen "Time to Shine", the olive-green is Zoya "Dree" and the white is a Sally Hansen insta dry of Candice's that I borrowed xD

Backlog post: Welcome, fall!

Hey friends!   This is my first freehand mani since I began blogging, forgive me for using an old one (I did it a couple of weeks ago), but I really wanted to share it with you.  And I am sick with the zombie virus, so this may be the last chance to see my nails before I start eating brains, and who knows what that will do to my nail quality.

 I did some sponging on the bottom layer, with greens and oranges (details to follow), and then freehanded Loreal "Owl's Night" over the top. 

Sally Hansen "Ivy League", Sinful Colors "Rich in Heart", Loreal "Owl's Night", Julep "Zoe",  and Zoya "Shawn"

Now, off to make lunch.  Braiiiiiinssss.....

Marble Mania and a Mermaid

Hello there!  Firstly, let me apologize for the lull in postings, as I've been crazy with family stuff.  But here are enough photos to last a few days!  I've been on a bit of a marbling kick.  :)  

This first series is Sinful Colors "I Miss You" with Zoya "Keiko" marbled over it.  I'm kind of in love with this Sinful chunky glitter, it's a nice mauve even without anything layered beneath it.

 (my favorite was this thumb!)

Next, my sister was over, and we turned her into a mermaid.  Don't you just adore her hair?  Oh, we marbled her nails.

I re-marbled mine the same evening, but chose awful colors together.  Don't know what I was thinking, I like how the marbling itself came out, but the colors...eiiieeew.

Coming soon:  Sexy "Peek a boo" nails, Essie "Aruba Blue" dupe alert, and more marbling!

Ocean Mani and a baby

If you've been paying much attention, you know by now that I have several children.  Four, to be exact - one little princess and a few little froggies, too.  Her bokeh face has appeared in my minicure posts on occasion, and here's a little peek at the youngest.

These little people make my world wonderful, crazy, and a bit maddening at times.  The nails you spy are Sally Hansen "Mint Sorbet", Zoya "Breezi", Northern Lights "Silver Hologram", and OPI "Last Friday night".

Now, please excuse me...I have to go chase this little crawler before he finds my nail polish stash!

Minicure Monday: Shatter my world

So, the shatter/crackle trend has officially taken over.  All it took was this:  the color purple.  See, my little princess has a certain obsession with purple (followed only by her obsession with pink, and topped only by her sweet tooth.)

We were over at Mommy Does Her Nails' house, so we stole a few of her colors for this one.  On the bottom is Zoya "Apple", a blue LA Color Glaze glitter polish, and then China Glaze Fault Line crackle. 

 So, for mommy's matching manicure, I pulled out my China Glaze "Cracked Medallion" and slapped it on over Sally Hansen "Crushed".  It's wild, and a totally perfect look for summertime.  Hope you enjoy!

Patriotic Minis, Manis, and Pedis!

Well, we're off camping for the weekend...don't worry, loves, I've set up a couple of manis to post automatically while I'm gone!  But in preparation for the weekend, we did our nails today!  As a bonus, you get a video of my hobbit toes!  Yay, you!

Here's my darling daughter's festive mani/pedi combo!  Normally, she's not allowed to wear bright red or too bold of colors, so she is SUPER excited, lol.

 We used a shimmery Sally Hansen red, and Sally Hansen "Distressed Denim" over OPI "Last Friday Night" for the toes.

My mani was nice in theory, but took FOREVER to get the striping done.  I just wasn't patient enough between layers for a scotch tape mani, and had to redo it about a dozen times.  Oy.  But it turned out nice!  I used Zoya "Ibiza" and "Sooki" for the blue and red.

Now, for my hobbit toes video debut...I had to use a video for this one, because you can only get the full "fireworks" effect with movement.  Sorry for all the bg noise, you should mute it - I live in apts, and the neighbors were being kinda loud!

 That's it for now, kids!  Now go light off some fireworks and remember that freedom comes at a price, and we are lucky to have it!   Happy 4th of July!

Friendly Friday: Mani's and Pedi's and Crackle...oh my!

Sorry for the hiatus, bloggers,but I had an anniversary that entailed a much needed vacation that went all kinds of comedic wrong.  Ask me, and I'll tell you all about it later. 

But for now,  to make up for my naughty blog sin of a week of no posts, I bring to you without further ado:  Friendly Friday!  Onto the nails:

 

This is the mani I had when I headed over for Friendly Fridays at my friend Mommy Does Her Nails' place.

I used Zoya Shawn,and once it was fully dry, took some old scrapbooking stickers I had and used them to create the squiggly border,then painted Sally Hansen's Crackle in Distressed Denim.  I'm not usually one for the shatter/crackle thing, but my she has a ton of them so I decided to do it for fun.  It didn't last long, due to my nail change withdrawls, but I did like it.  If I purchase a crackle for myself,  this is probably how I'll usually rock it.

Moving on,  I decided to try another crackle mani this morning for Friendly Friday:

But,since I don't tend to feel the shatter thing,  I took it off before moving to my final manicure of the day.  I'll reveal that one at the end of this post.

This is my dear Melissa's art today, featuring OPI's "Not Like the Movies".  I fid it to be very similar to Zoya "Ki",but a bit less deep, and with a really pretty shimmer.

Even though my mother lovingly tells me I have hobbit feet,  I'm sharing my pedi with you, because I really liked how it came out.  I used Zoya "Breezi",China Glaze "Seduce Me",and Sally Hansen "Crushed"

"Mommy Does Her Nails" does not have Hobbit feet,  they're actually rather cute.  See her fabulous Shatter Pedi?

 

Mary Mary quite gorgeous did this awesome blue over purple design:

And that brings us to my current manicure, which I kind of love.  Check it out,  do you love it too?

It's Zoya "Jancyn" and Sinful "Dream On" stamped with Sally Hansen "Crushed". 

Be watching for something exciting over at  Mommy Does Her Nails,  it's pretty cool!