Tuesday, March 27, 2012

My Picture difference after 25 lbs lost.

I took a picture of my face today, and I pulled up a picture from December - and I didn't know if I could see the difference in person - but as soon as I saw these pictures side by side I have to admit, I am so happy!!


I cannot wait to do this again in 25 lbs!

Thanks for sharing my excitement with me!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Fancy Silver French Tips

With my haul this weekend I fell in love with this blue polish from Prisma and paired it with Silver Sweep.

Prisma Blue Color - Opaque in one coat this is showing 2 coats for even coverage.

 French tips made with Sally Hansen Silver Sweep and This is the Cheeky Plate J that was used to stamp the tips with the Prisma Blue. (enlarged to show detail)


Thanks for reading!!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

My New Storage Unit

I have been living with a small makeup case and a rubbermaid tote holding all my polishes.  So yesterday I went to Target and picked up a sterilite container to hold all my materials.  I don't have enough polishes for needing anything sturdier - that may be just a few months away though. 

Here is a picture of the new storage unit.  (please disregard my dogs devil eyes in the background)

Here is what is in drawers #1 - #3
Drawer #1
 Drawer #2
 Drawer #3
Drawer #4 holds all my supplies I need to do the nails, including the little kit that is sitting on the top of the storage unit.  (Cotton balls, acetone, paper towels, brushes, stamper, scraper, brushes and cosmetic wedges).

I think I am approaching 100 polishes!  Please don't tell my hubby!

Thanks for Reading.

Stamping on Sundays - March 25th

This week it was a black and White challenge.  I think there is nothing more elegant than a clean black and white design. But there is a negative to black and white, if the lines are not clean and crisp it looks messy.  And of course the black stamping polish makes quite a mess when doing the actual work.

So this week I used another design from my Cheeky Plates that I received for my birthday, this design is from Cheeky Plate D.

On eight of my fingers I used Sally Hansen Black Out as the base and the other two nails I used my new LA Colors white.  Then using Konad white and black special polishes I stamped a design on the corner of all my nails.  This design reminded me of coral, it would look beautiful in a bright color over a blue background - like under the sea.


Thanks for reading!

My Haul for the Week

I had heard from other nail enthusiasts and bloggers that you can find good deals at Ross for nail polish, specifically Color Club.  Unfortunately my Ross didn't have any good Color Club sets, but they did have some beautiful LA Colors sets for only $5.99 for 7 bottles!  So I picked up two packages of polish.  I wish they had actual names on the colors, so I just had to make up ones of my own.  I will swatch them at a later date. 



I also got my first Julep package!  It included two nail polishes one was Sophia (light blue glitter - very similar to Pure Ice - Once again) and the second polish was Penelope.

Thanks for reading!!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Cool Birthday Present!

My friend at work surprised me today with a birthday present.  She created a bouquet of flowers using nail polish as the centers of the flowers!  I got 4 new Sinful Colors, and I didn't have any of the colors yet - even better bonus.  I took a couple of pictures of the bouquet to share.



I also received 3 new Cheeky plates from my in laws and....best gift.....

New Kindle Fire!!!

My Birthday Manicure

Today I turned 36!  I have been thinking of what to do for my nails for my birthday.  So,  I asked a few ladies over at Adventures in Stamping on facebook, and they suggested cupcakes.  So I did it.

I started with a base of Klean Color Neon Pink.  This color is opaque in one coat - but I gave it two coats for even top coat.  Then covered it with Seche Vite before I stamped on top.


Then using Shany Plate (Will get number later) and Konad white, I striped the cupcake papers on the base of my finger nails.  I then used Revlon Popular to tone down the Konad white and add a but of a sparkle to the cupcake papers design.

Then using white acrylic paint I painted on the frosting and added a dab of fine pink glitter.  Then using top coat I attached pink rhinestones and covered it all with Seche Vite.  I didn't do a cupcake on my left thumb, I painted my age!  I giant 36, I am proud to be 36 and I don't feel it!  I am so happy with the results I am not removing it just yet.  I am going to enjoy it another day!

My Apologies for the Lack of Posts!

Its been a crazy week at my house!  It is my birthday week, so I think it's a good excuse.  So here are some manicures I did this week.

Wedding White

Argyle Pattern from Cheeky A Plate

Comet Red by Maybelline with Silver Sweep Tip using Shany plate.

Wet n Wild Wet Cement

Cheeky Plate - Birthday Present from my In-laws.  :)  Stamped with Klean Color Sapphire - reminded me of a peacock feather.


I will get more detailed later!

Thanks for reading.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Starting her out Early!

My daughter has her own little stash of nail polish, so she asked if she could swatch her colors like I did with all my polishes.  I had 2 wheels left over when I finished swatching my polishes so I gave her one.  She was so excited to paint them I had to take a picture of her doing it.

You can see her stash in the lower left hand corner of the picture.   This little table is what we use to do our nails on - it is an old TV tray covered in plastic table covers for children.  Makes clean up easy.

Thanks for reading!

First Black and White Manicure

I don't think there is nothing more stunning than a crisp black and white manicure.  So I attempted today to do that manicure on myself, since I wasn't too happy with my sunday challenge manicure.

I started with Confetti - Wedding White
This is a nice Opaque white - I used two coats to get even coverage


Then using my large Cheeky "A" plate (I love all the designs)  and Konad Special Black I stamped the Argyle pattern on my nails.




The pictures don't do the manicure justice.  I cannot stop staring at my nails, the design is so clean.  I am so in love with this Cheeky plate!

Thanks for reading!!

Large Flowers - Adventures in Stamping - We stamp on Sundays

This weeks challenge on Adventures in Stamping on Facebook was a manicure with Large Flowers.  Unfortunately with my limited selection of nail plates (Buying slowly) I only had two to choose from and I wasn't really happy with either one. 

For basecoat I used Klean Color Americano
Then I stamped a trellis like design using Klean Color Espresso with my Cheeky A plate
Then stamped a Konad red flower using Shany SH11.






Thanks for Reading!

My Nail Polishes

I finally got a chance to swatch all my polishes and create a list.   I bought the package of 10 nail wheels from Sally's on Thursday when I went in to pick up some more Seche Vite.  And I sat down while watching the Thursday shows and organized my polishes by color/brand and began painting.  After swatching all colors - it turns out I have 86 bottles of polish not including my top coats, base coats or nourishing treatments.

Here is a picture of almost all the nail wheels.



 as you can see I left room on most of the wheels for future polishes so they can fit in with the theme of the wheels.  :)

St. Patricks Day Mani

I'm a day late in posting, but after yesterday at Busch Gardens and cleaning today I am a bit behind.  So here is what I wore for St. Patrick's day.


Base is Sinful Colors - HD Nails - Nice medium tone green
Then I did a tape mani on 4 fingers using Klean Colors - Golden Nightmare (Black with gold glitter - beautiful)
The ring fingers were designed to resemble a pot of gold, they are painted with the Kleancolor Golden Nightmare.  Then I used my dotting tool with SH Xtreme Wear Golden I to make the gold coins.

And topped it all off with Seche Vite.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

First Glitter Manicure

I am doing alot of first this week.  My first matte, first cheeky, and now my first glitter (non-halo)

Glitter has always been difficult for me, I guess because I always try to goop it on.  So I decided tonight I was going to take it slow.  And do layers of the polish, so I can get the coats to dry and eventually the top coat to seal it all.

So I went with a dark color base coat, I just wish I would have done a little bit lighter of a color - it may be too dark for this glitter.

The base coat is NYC - In a New York Minute - Downtown
This is a nice color, I have had this color awhile - the bottle is almost half gone but I shook it up to get a full bottle look.  ;)

This is Klean Color Aurora - it is a pink glitter with fine glitter, small hex and stars.
This is a picture with one coat of glitter
Here is the final product with two coats of glitter and one top coat of Seche Vite.

As I said before I just wish the base color was a bit lighter.  But I like it.

Thanks for Reading!

First manicure with new Cheeky A plate

Base coat is NYC - Skin Tight Denim - a deep beautiful blue that alone is an unbelievable color.  It is opaque in one coat but I did two just to ensure good coverage.  (It also is a great stamping polish!)
Then I used the plate and Klean Color Metallic Sapphire to stamp a tube like design on my nails.

Topped it all off with a coat of Seche Vite.

But I had a little bit of a mishap working on homework with my 5 year old.  It was time to make her Leprechan trap for St. Patricks day.  So we painted a shoebox green, gold and white.  (I wish I had a picture of it)  But while working on cutting the box, I caught my pinkie nail and it ripped off.  So I have a little nubbin on my left hand. :(  It was my longest finger nail.)

Please disregard the dirty skin around the nails, I hadn't finished my clean up yet. 

Thanks for Reading!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Yeah new Cheeky Plate!

My husband needed a new charger for his lap top and told me to find him one.  Well I found one on Amazon that I would have had to pay $8 for shipping.  But it was one of those free shipping if your order is >$25.  So he said don't waste it, find something you want and buy it.  So Amazon had the large Cheeky plates on sale for $11.99 - so I couldn't resist could I?

Here is the beautiful plate! 


Here are the test nails I did with the plate, I used my daughters best friends hands as my guinea pig.

Base coat is Sally Hansen's Golden I stamped with Konad Special Black. 

Thanks for reading!

The manicure design that started it all

A couple months ago while browsing various blogs around the net I came across http://chloesnails.blogspot.com/  She did an amazing manicure with matte black tips.  I thought it was so amazing I started the search around town for the Matte top coat.  I am trying to stay on a light budget when it comes to my nails, with my husband being in school and me working full time, I don't have alot of extra money.  So I wasn't going to be paying >$5 for a matte top coat.  And I wanted a top coat, so I could make any of the polishes I have at home matte.   So I stopped at K-mart on my way home from work yesterday, I had heard they had some good deals on polish. Well low and behold NYC has a matte top coat for only $1.99!!  It was the only one left, so I grabbed it.  I was so thrilled I couldn't wait to get home and try to recreate Chloe's nails.

I started with Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear Cherry Red as the base coat

Then using Konad Special Black and the Shany tip plate SH06 I covered the tips
Gave the manicure a top coat of Seche Vite - for the high gloss shine.

I then carefully brushed the matte top coat just on the tips of the nails.
I was so happy with how it turned out, it would be the perfect accompaniment to a little black dress.  And you could even dress it up with a silver stripe between the colors or a rhinestone or two.

Thanks for reading!!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Sunday Stamping Challenge - March 11th - Circles

For this weeks challenge I didn't have much choice when it came to a circle stamp.  My plate selection is still fairly small, my birthday is in two weeks so I hope I will have more! So I had to do with what I had.

Yesterday afternoon I attempted my first gradient on my nails, I wanted a pink and purple gradient as a base for my sunday challenge.  Well it was a miserable failure!
I started with a base of Savvy Ice Pink, beautiful light satin pink.

Then using Wet and Wild - On a trip along the tips and attempted to pull it down to create the gradient - complete failure!
So I ended up blending the purple all the way down and creating a marble looking nail - not too bad and not bad enough to try again.  :)

I struggled to find a deep enough color to show up on the base so I went with a simple silver to stamp the circles.  I then added rhinestones to accentuate the circles.
All Nails with Rhinestones



Close up view of three fingers

Thanks for reading!!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Nothing too complicated - or inventive tonight!

I had a rough commute home tonight.  It took me 2 hours to get home when it normally only takes me 15 minutes!  They closed two of the three lanes of a major bridge on Interstate 95 in Richmond.  What a headache!!  So when I got home I was exhausted, but my nails suffered something awful today at work - and I broke off the corners of three nails too!  What a crappy day.  So here is what I did tonight, not too happy with the result - I'm sure I will be doing them again tomorrow.

The base coat is Sinful Colors Cinderella, it took 3 coats to be semi-opaque.  If I was patient I would have put on 4 for the most even coverage.
 Then I continued my love for holo by using Klean Color Holo Pink over the cinderella - to enhance the pink already in the polish.

Then used Shany plate SH18 for a simple flower in Konad White.  And a single top coat of Seche Vite for the mirror like shine.  :)

All my pics are taken with my cell phone,  so they are not the greatest quality and never show the true beauty of holographic polishes.