Llama Nails: O is for... Owl

       All I can say is brrr!  Now, I am not one to complain about the weather, whether I like it or not, but it is downright freezing today!  I had to leave out heater on all day so my polish wouldn't get too cold.  ;-)  All right, now on to business.  Today's post is another installment in the ABCs of nail art challenge that is being hosted by the Facebook group, Llama Nails.  Each week we post a manicure that has to do with the letter for that week.  "O" was actually last week, and this mani was done on time, but I took a little blogging hiatus when we were supposed to post these.  Better late than never, right?

Base: Pro FX Fiberized Ridge Filler

Accent base:  Audrey from Zoya - 3 coats

Base: Pink Friday from OPI - 2 coats

Owl: Body - Fly from OPI

         Belly - Olympia from Sinful Colors 

         Eyes - Morning Breath from Sinful Colors mixed with French White Tip from NYC and Black Creme from Wet N'                  

                    Wild

         Nose - Clementine from Sinful Colors

Top coat: Seche Vite

Whoops, I almost forgot the most important part of this post!  I was inspired by this post on Let Them Have Polish.  I have been wanting to do this since she first posted the adorable mani.

How is the weather in your neck of the woods?  Hopefully a little warmer than 11 degrees F.

Here are some other "O" manis, please, check them out!

N is for ... Navy, Russian Navy

       Why hello there fellow nail art enthusiasts.  I have been MIA for a few weeks, but have no fear, I am here!  I didn't stop doing my nails, I just needed some time away from the blog-o-sphere.  I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed with the amount of feedback I received on my last blog post.  I worked so hard on that Minnie, and it didn't seem to spark much interest!  After sulking for a while, I decided it was time to jump back in to what I love to do and not care about the comments and such.  Of course that means that my "N" challenge for the Facebook group, Llama Nails is a little late, but what's that saying ... better late than never?!

     I have worn this color so many times and never been able to capture its beauty until today.  I was so excited when the sun was shining after work today that I ran into the house and started to do this mani, again, so that I could show you the beauty that is Russian Navy.  This was on my wish list for so long, and it does not disappoint, well, unless there is no sun! :-)

Base coat: Pro-Fx Fiberized Ridge Filler

Base color: Russian Navy from OPI - 2 coats

Accent nail: White on the Spot from Milani -2 coats

Top coat: Seche Vite

Stamping color: Sapphire from Kleancolor

Stamping image: Unmarked plate from Essence

All pictures were taken in direct sunlight

I wish it wasn't so hard to show the beauty of Russian Navy, but oh well, it's worh it.  How was your Christmas?  Did anyone get any polish in their stockings?

Llama Nails: M is for... Minnie Mouse

       Happy Monday!  Today I have for you my weekly installment for the ABCs of nail art challenge in the Facebook group, Llama Nails.  Each week we have to do nail art related to a specific letter and this week's letter is M.  I decided to do Minnie Mouse.  I couldn't be happier with the way this turned out.  I tried a new base coat with this mani and it lasted two days!  My manicures never last this long.  I picked up the Fiberized Ridge Filler from the Pro FX line.  I got it at WalMart and a 2.5 fluid oz. bottle cost me right around five dollars.  I am so glad that I picked this up because I used it on this mani and the one I did yesterday, and my mani's have never stayed on my nails better!

Base coat: Fiberized Ridge Filler from Pro FX

Base color: Red Red from Wet N Wild - 1 coat.  UMM CAN YOU BELIEVE ONE COAT?!?!  YEAH, ME NEITHER.  OK, done freaking out about that.

White on the Spot from Milani -2 coats

White dots: Superstar from Pure Ice

Minnie Mouse: All acrylic paint is from Artist's Loft that I bought at Michaels

Black-Lamp Black

Face-Titanium White, Burnt Sienna, and Yellow Ochre

Bow-Crimson Red and Titanium White for the dots

Tongue-Crimson Red mixed with Titanium White

Top coat: Seche Vite

I used a dotting tool to apply all the polka dots that are not on my accent nail.  I used my smallest brush for all of Minnie except for the eyelashes; I used my striping brush for that.

You can check out these other "M" challenge's using the codes below.  I hope you enjoyed my Minnie Mouse mani.

Saran Wrap Nails Using Pure Ice Outrageous and OPI Black Cherry Chutney

       Happy Saturday everyone.  I hope that you all enjoyed your Saturday.  I am just now relaxing after ten and a half hours of work, dinner making, and some laundry.  Ahh.  I wish I could say it is relaxing, but I am actually really irritated.  Tomorrow is my only day off and I am helping a dear friend move.  I hate helping people move, but no one else was willing to help.  I can also hear my neighbors music through my walls, and my husband is screaming at the X Box.  I want to leave, but have no strength or motivation too.  I may just put some ear plugs in here pretty soon.

     I picked up Outrageous when I was ignoring my crazy mother-in-law at WalMart, (talked about in the second paragraph of this post) a while ago.  I picked up this color mainly for stamping purposes, which I completely managed to let it slip from my mind.  I almost got mad after I swatched this because this polish is not very forgiving.  It shows EVERYTHING thanks to its metallic-y finish.  After I put this on my nails, I almost removed it, but then remembered my beloved saran wrap mani's and decided to fix my problem with that.  I am so glad I tried this because I love the finished product.

Base coat: Sally Hansen Triple Strong Advanced Nail Gel Fortifier

Base color: Outrageous from Pure Ice - 2 coats

Top color: Black Cherry Chutney from OPI

Top coat: Seche Vite

Taken inside with flash

Taken inside without flash

Please let me know what you guys think in the comments!

Reverse Gradient With Sinful Colors Ice Dream

       Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a great Tuesday.  I only had to work a half day today because the weather was so crappy!  But I got a lot done today.  I went to Ace, bought some pegboard, spray paint, hooks, and organized my kitchen.  It looks so good!  I'm glad I didn't just sit on my butt all afternoon, like I usually do!

     Today I have one of the winter polishes that Sinful Colors released last month.  This color is called Ice Dream.  I researched Ice Dream a little bit before I wrote this post and I found out that it is a dupe for China Glaze Lorelei's Tiara, and Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Showgirl Chic.  I don't own either of these polishes so I can't show you, but you can click on the links to see the comparisons.  I didn't want to just wear Ice Dream by itself, so I decided to wear it over black.  Then I remembered this mani for a reverse gradient from A Polish Addict.  I love how this turned out!

Base coat: Sally Hansen Triple Strong Advanced Nail Gel Fortifier

Base coat: Black Creme from Wet N' Wild - 1 coat

Accent nail: Ice Dream from Sinful Colors - 2 coats

The gradient was done with one coat of Ice Dream

Top coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

This was taken outside without the flash

This was taken inside without the flash

This was taken inside without the flash, just in different lighting

And here is a picture of my kitchen!

I hope you like my nails and my kitchen!!

ABC's of Nail Art Challenge: L is for... Laughter - Sinful Colors Unicorn and Stamping With Mash 31

       Today's post is for the Facebook group, Llama Nails.  Each week we do a manicure that coincides with each letter of the alphabet.  A is for apple, B is for baby, C is for cat, and so on, and so on.  This week we are on the letter L.  I was going to do love, but the mani that I did, didn't turn out at all like I wanted to.  I was going to redo the mani, but we went to a comedy show on Thursday night and it dawned on me, L is for laughter.  I wasn't quite sure how I was going to use the Mash 31 plate, and this became the perfect opportunity.

     Unicorn is a really pretty light yellow that requires three coats.  It is a pretty streaky formula which required the third coat to be a little thicker.  The outdoor pictures show Unicorn a little lighter than it is, and the indoor picture shows it darker than it is.  The accurate color is in between these.

Base coat: Diamond Strength Hardener

Base color: Unicorn from Sinful Colors - 3 coats

Top coat: Seche Vite (I applied this over Unicorn to dry it quickly so I could stamp over it).

Stamping images: Mash plate 31

Stamping color: Stamp Me! Black from Essence

Top coat: Sally Hansen Insa-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

Outdoor without flash

Indoor without flash

What do you guys think?  I hope you like it.

You can check out these other L related mani's using the links below.

Sinful Colors Athens and Olympia and Stamping With Mash 45

       Happy Tuesday evening everyone.  Or if you are over on the East Coast I'm sure it is much later.  I won't rub in the fact that I am enjoying a nice cup of coffee at the moment.  Mmmmm.  Coffee.  I.  Love.  Coffee.  OK, now onto the more important things in life, my nails!  When I first saw this image on the Mash 45 plate, I was not to keen on it, but after seeing a few people use it, I wanted to try it out.  I will say that I really enjoy how this turned out.  It is a little splotchy in spots, but that is because I wasn't using "real" stamping polishes, but I think these turned out pretty good considering the fact.

Base coat: Sally Hansen Triple Strong Advanced Nail Gel Fortifier

Base colors: Accent nail: Athens from Sinful Colors - 2 coats.

                     Olympia from Sinful Colors - 2 coats

Stamping plate: Mash 45

Stamping colors: Same as the base colors

Top coat: Seche Vite

These were taken inside without the flash.

Have you guys tried this stamp before?  If so, did you like it?  If you haven't tried it yet, would you?  I look forward to hearing from you!  I'm off to enjoy the rest of my coffee and start a new mani!  Have a great night.

Stamping With Mash 42 Over Sinful Colors Gradient

       Happy Sunday everyone!  I am typing this with one hand because I have a baby on my lap!  But it is OK, because he is the cutest baby on the face of the earth, and my best friends baby.  Although, I'm sure mine will be cuter. ;-)  Today's post is for the Facebook group, Adventures In Stamping.  Each week we vote on a challenge, and this week the challenge is for us to stamp over a blue base.  I decided I wanted to do a blue gradient and it turned out beautifully.

     I also thought today would be a great way to use some of my whites that I haven't tried stamping with, to see how they worked.  We get a lot of questions referring to cheaper polishes to stamp within the group, and I figured my left hand would be a great way to kill two birds with one stone.  As you will see, my cleanup is terrible with my non dominant hand, and I'm also hiding a brutal hangnail.  It is so brutal, I couldn't even apply acetone to it to clean it up.  :-(  Winter is so harsh on my hands!

Base coat: Sally Hansen Triple Strong Advanced Gel Nail Fortifier

Base color: Cinderella from Sinful Colors - 2 coats

Gradient colors: Cinderella, Why Not, and Hot Spot from Sinful Colors

Topcoats: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat and Essence Gel Like Top Coat

Stamping colors: Stamp Me! White from Essence, White On The Spot from Milani, and Superstar! from Pure Ice

Stamping image: Mash 42

This picture was taken outside.  All stamping is done with Stamp Me! White from Essence

This picture was taken inside without flash.  All stamping was done with Stamp Me! White from Essence.

This picture was taken inside without flash.  Stamping was done with White On The Spot from Milani on the pointer and ring finger, and Superstar! from Pure Ice on the middle and pinky finger.

This picture was taken outside and stamping is done as described above the previous picture.

As you can see, the difference is pretty dramatic between the three whites I stamped with.  I will keep using the stamping polish from Essence, unless I can find something better.  I know the last two pictures look fuzzy, but it is actually the stamping that is making them look fuzzy. :-(  Crazy, huh.

ABC Nail Art Challenge: K is for...Keyboard

       Happy Friday everyone.  I hope that everyone that celebrates Thanksgiving had a great day.  My husband and I went over to my aunt's house, enjoyed some yummy food, and then went over to our friend's house to lie on their couch and relax.  :-)

     Today's blog post is another installment in the ABC nail art challenge that is being hosted by the Facebook group, Llama Nails.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do for the letter K, but I remembered seeing someone using a stamping plate that I owned that had a keyboard on it.  I'm so glad I saw someone use this image because ever since I received this set of plates, I have been wondering what the hell this image was.  I was pretty impatient when I did this mani, and you can see it in quality of this one.  Not one of my best ones.  :-(  Now I know for next time.

Base coat: Sally Hansen Triple Strong Advanced Gel Nail Fortifier

Base color's: Black Creme from Wet N' Wild - 1 coat, Superstar! from Pure Ice - 3 coats

Stamping plate: Mash 44

Stamping color's: Stamp Me! White and Stamp Me! Black from Essence

Top coat: Seche Vite

What do you guys think?

Pure Ice Femme Fatale With Treasure Hunt Accent Nail

       Happy Monday!  Today started out crappy, but towards the end of my workday things started looking up.  My husband finally got a job!  He starts tomorrow and I am so freaking excited.  I have been having far too many meltdowns lately, and having a $40.00 food budget for the month is way too hard.  With all the damn rice I have been eating, you would think I would have lost some freaking weight!  Ugh.  Oh well.  One thing at a time.

     Today I have two of the new Pure Ice polishes to show you.  Pure Ice is sold exclusively at WalMart, (as far as I know) and they retail for less than $2.00.  I have been using this brand for years and years and still really like it.  About a month ago I was at WalMart and my mother-in-law walked up to my husband and me.  In an effort to avoid talking to her I started looking at all the pretty nail polish that just happened to be right in front of me.  I grabbed a handful of them and then went to the normal place where the Pure Ice is, logged onto Facebook to see which ones I needed for a stamping project, and lo and behold, I found out that the display I was just looking at was brand new.  They had just released 55 new shades and they were right there in front of me in all of their glory.  If I had $110.00 you bet your ass I would have bought them all, but I had like $20.00 so I got five of them.

     Femme Fatale is from their Velour line of this release.  In my opinion, they are just like the suede polishes that OPI and Avon have come out with.  This is a beautiful dark forest green polish that also has lighter green matte flecks throughout.  I did use a matte top coat over these because I could not tell a difference in the finish with or without it.  I painted half of my nail with the top coat and the other half without and it looked exactly the same.

     Treasure Hunt is part of their Diamond Couture line in this release.  Treasure Hunt is a light green glitter suspended in a clear base with green and purple diamond glitter sprinkled throughout.  This is so much fun, but it reminds me more of spring than anything.

Base coat: Sally Hansen Triple Strong Advanced Gel Nail Fortifier

Base color: Femme Fatale from Pure Ice - 2 coats

Accent nail: Treasure Hunt from Pure Ice - 2 coat

Top coat: ***Not on accent nail*** Essence Nail Art Special Effect! Topper

               On accent nail - Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

This next picture is in a different light.  I really want you to see the lighter green flecks in Femme Fatale.

Have you been able to try any of these new polishes from Pure Ice?  If yes, what are your thoughts on them?

 

Llama Nails Presents the ABC's of Nail Art: J is for... Jelly Sandwich

       Happy Wednesday everyone!  How has your week been?  I am feeling so much better after my bout of strep.  This week's letter for the ABC challenge in the Facebook group, Llama Nails, is J.  I decided that I would do a jelly sandwich mani today.  If you aren't sure as to what a jelly sandwich mani is, don't fret.  It is pretty much what it sounds like.  Glitter sandwiched between a jelly finish polish.  A jelly finish polish is a very sheer polish that looks like jelly, for lack of a better term.  This is not to be confused with a sheer finished polish.  If my lame description confuses you and you want a far better one you can check out this blog.

     I have done three or four of these manicures and this is the first one that I have really liked.  The hardest part of this mani was photographing it.  I took almost 200 pictures and think I got some good ones.  I am hoping to be able to purchase a new camera with my Christmas bonus, but I do have to pay my bills first.  Here's hoping they feel sorry for me this year and give me a little extra! :-)

Base coat: Sally Hansen Triple Strong Advanced Gel Nail Fortifier

Base color: Daddy's Girl from Sinful Colors

Glitter: Let Me See Your Peacock from Claire's

Top coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

I did two coats of Daddy's Girl, a layer of the glitter, and one more layer of Daddy's Girl on top of that.

Have you tried a jelly sandwich mani?  Do you like doing them?  What kind of camera do you think I should get?

Stamping With Mash Plate 49 Over Avon Strawberry Polish, and Black Shatter from OPI

       Happy Monday everyone.  Let me just be honest and say that I am so glad it is a new week.  Last week sucked ass!  I had PMS all week and on top of that came down with Strep Throat!  I am sure that my PMS was on high from the Strep, too.  We spent all of our grocery money on the doctors visit, but oh well.  What can you do.  Looks like we will be on a steady diet of what ever is in our pantry, which isn't much!  Won't be the first time we've had to do this, and I'm sure it won't be the last.  

     Today was the first day I have had energy since Thursday.  I went to bed at 4 on Thurdsday and slep until I went to work at 5, worked a half day on Saturday, went home sick, noticed my throat was white, went to the doctor and then slept. I was so mad that I had to miss the Monster Truck show.  My parents pre bought my husband and me tickets since we couldn't afford them, and it was the first year in five years that I didn't have to work this particular event.  Imagine my anger.  Good thing I was too tired to do anything about it.

     Enough about my crap weekend.  On to the more important things in life, my nails!  I saw this mani that Valiantly Varnished did I was so excited to use it.  As I was looking through my polishes the other day I almost threw out my crackle because let's face it, no one uses them anymore.  But her mani did and i fell in love with it.  I am going to play around with this idea until I finish off my bottle of crackle, so weather or not you like this mani, be prepared to see some more like this. :-)  I hadn't used my crackle in so long that I actually had to use thinner in it!  And yes, it works just fine.

Base coat: Sally Hansen Triple Strong Advanced Gel Nail Fortifier

Base color: Strawberry from Avon - 1 coat

Crackle: Black Shatter from OPI

Stamping color: Stamp Me! White from Essence

Stamping plate: Mash 49

Top coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

What do you guys think?  Still hate crackle or could you wear something like this?

Llama Nails Presents the ABC's of Nails : I (And Stamping With Mash 30 Plate)

     Happy Thursday everyone!  How has everyone's week been so far?  Mine has been a little all over the map, hence not posting since Sunday!  What the heck man!  Well I missed the post for last week, which was H, but don't worry, I did it.  I will most likely be posting it tomorrow.  "I" was a tricky letter for me, (aren't they all) but as I was in the shower saying igloo, irritated, irate, intimate, and then icicle I stumbled upon Ireland!  Now that was something I could do on my nails.

     I finally picked up some more Seche Vite Top Coat the other day and I can't believe the difference it makes in dry time on my manicures.  When I have wanted to stamp before I usually have to wait 30 minutes to an hour before I can stamp it. With one coat of Seche on I can stamp after ten minutes, tops.  I don't think I will ever go without.

Base coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Gel Nail Fortifier

Base colors: Pinky, thumb, and ring finger - Superstar from Pure Ice - 2 coats

                     Middle finger: Pretty Edgy from Essie - 2 coats

                     Forefinger: Clementine from Sinful Colors - 2 coats

Stamping colors: Pinky - Heat Flash from Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

                            Middle - Stamp Me White from Essence and Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam from Nicole by OPI

                            Forefinger - Stamp Me White from Essence

Flage colors: Clementine from Sinful Colors and Pretty Edgy from Essie applied with a striping brust

Image plate: Mash 30

Top coat: Seche Vite

These were taken outside in indirect light

Here are some other "I" inspired manicures!

AIS: Stamping With Mash Plate 41

       Happy Sunday all.  I hope that you are all enjoying your extra hour of sleep.  I haven't participated in one of Sunday's Stamping Challenges in the Facebook group Adventures In Stamping in a few weeks now.  Today's challenge was for us to stamp over glitter.  When I was playing with some of my new polishes last night I came up with this color combination and was very excited to try it out.  It turned out a lot better in my head, but I still really like it.  I hope you do as well.

Base coat: PVA Glue - If you're not sure what I am referring to, you can check out my blog post about it here.

Base color: Skull and Glossbones from OPI - 2 coats

Accent color: Luxe Lavender from Avon - 2 coats

Glitter: Cheatin from Pure Ice - 1 coat

Top coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

Stamping plate: Mash 41

Stamping color: Stamp Me! White and Stamp Me! Black from Essence

This photo was taken inside with the flash

This was taken outside without the flash

Skull and Glossbones is slowly becoming one of my favorite polishes!  I really like the white over the purple.  I think next time I will use all white instead of the black over the glitter and Skull and Glossbones.

SassyNails Nail-Aween Nail Art Challenge: Day 10 - Any Halloween Inspired Mani

       HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!  So, I am not going out with my friends' to take their children trick-or-treating, but we are going over there for dinner.  I tried to take a nap before doing this, but couldn't fall asleep and I wanted to make sure this got posted today.  I would hate to have worked all month long on this challenge and be removed from the list of participants for not finishing in time. :-)  Today's mani is inspired from the lovely Sarah over at Chalkboard Nails.  This is one of my favorite blogs and if you have no idea why, just go, go check her out, you will not be disappointed.  We are not allowed to dress up for work so I knew this would be perfect for the challenge and my "costume."  I really need to get better at doing straight lines.  :-(

Base coat:  Sally Hansen Triple Strong Advanced Gel Nail Fortifier

Base color: Superstar from Pure Ice - 2 coats

                   Ruby Slipper from Avon - 2 coats

Top coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

Stripes: Cobalt Blue from Artist's Loft acrylic paint

Dots: Ultramarine Blue from Artist's Loft acrylic paint

All photos were taken inside without flash

Here is a list of  all the manicures that we did for the challenge.

Check out all of the NailAween Nail Art Artists!

datyorkLOVES

Erica's Nails and More

DreamyMM Nails & Make Up

 Tes Did It Nails
Sassy Paints 
Nicole gets Nailed 
Wicked Tips 
Fancy Schmancy Nails
Delight In Nails
Polish Groupie 
My Nail Journey 
Get Polished Up! 
Just A Girl and Her Polish
Spellbound Nails
Le nail's corner d'Alex
Hello.Lacquer
Color the world with polish
Cutie Cuticles (nail art by Laraib) 
Wacky Laki 
Nail-Aween Nail Art Challenge October 1-31st, 2012 
GLAMOROUS NAILS 
Over The Topcoat 
Polish Gone Crazy 
tragedystipsandtreats
Susy In Color
Countess Nails 
(List includes blogs and FB pages)

SassyNails Nail-Aween Nail Art Challenge: Day 9- Pumpkins

       It is almost Halloween and for some of you it may even be Halloween.  Do you have any big plans?  I am going to go Trick-Or-Treating with my friends and their kids.  I love seeing how excited kids get around this time of the year!  Today's challenge in the self paced nail art challenge being put on by SassyNails is pumpkins.  I suffered the same dilemma as I did with the last challenge in that I had already done this pumpkin mani for the Crumpet's Nail Tarts Halloween Challenge and my creativity was as a standstill.  Can you guess where I looked for inspiration?  If you guessed Robin Moses, you would be correct.  I know I say this every time, but I love that she teaches us how to do what looks impossible!  If you are looking to learn how to work with acrylic paints on your nails, I recommend no other than her.  Here is the link to her video that I used for this mani.

     I mixed all of my own colors for this mani with Artist's Loft acrylic paints.  For the darkest orange, almost a brown, I mixed Crimson Red, Lemon Yellow and a dab of Lamp Black.  For the pumpkin color I used the same mixture as the dark orange, minus the black.  For the yellowish highlights I used the same orange base plus a little bit of Titanium White to lighten it up a little.  For the dark green that is on the stem and leaves I used Lemon Yellow and Ultramarine Blue and for the lighter green I just used some of the Titanium White to lighten it a little.  For the grass that I did on the bottom I would dab my brush in black on one side and then the dark green on the other to give it that mixed texture look.  I am super happy with how these turned out.

Base coat: Sally Hansen Triple Strong Advanced Gel Nail Fortifier

Base color: Skulls and Glossbones from OPI - 2 coats

Top coat: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top coat

All were taken inside without the flash

I added this one because you can see the highlighting towards the top of each pumpkin.

I just really like how the grass and the curly-q turned out on my thumb so I thought I would add it.

I hope you guys like this!  Who do you go to when you are running short on ideas and need some inspiration?