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Saturday, August 31, 2013

Havin' A Ball!

Hi Everyone!!! Happy Labor Day Weekend!!! Woot!!!  Today I'm driving down to Illinois to meet up with some nail polish friends!!  I'm pretty excited!  It's always great to be able to meet in person those people you are in a group with.  My friend Danielle was sweet enough to open her home up for the weekend and a few of us nail polish crazy gals are meeting up and hanging out!  It's not even a far drive for me so you can't go wrong with that!

I've got a super fun mani to show off today too!  Red Dog Designs launched this new polish recently and since I love Gina's stuff so much I knew I had to have it!  This is Red Dog Designs Ball Pit over Zoya Wednesday

Look at all dem BALLZ!!!!!!
How fun is this polish??!!!!
As you can see this polish is full of various sizes of ball glitter in different colors--some of them even holographic!
There's also some sweet micro holo glitter in there to give it that fairy dust like shine!
This would look great over any polish I think
Here's a couple pics with flash too
Probably a more Zoya Wednesday accurate coloring
This is just a super fun polish!
As with any large glitter polish you may have to work a smidge harder to get the bigger balls out of the bottle--no biggie--just use the scoop method with you brush.  I have very curved nails and didn't have a single issue with getting any of the large glitters to lay flat on my nails either!

I'm trying to talk Gina into an all square glitter polish just so she can name it It's Hip 2B Square!!! LOL!

I definitely plan on getting my nails did down in Illinois with my polish pals and I'll try to get some good pics too!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

September has a lot of way cool things happening in The Digit-al Dozen group so stay tuned for that as well!!!!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

It's complementary, Dear Watson

Hi Everyone!!! The weekend draws near!! Woot!  Looks like we're going to have some decent weather for it too.  It's been quite hot here in Wisconsin this week and the AC has been on for days!  Finally had a chance to turn it off yesterday.  I hate having it on all the time because there's no fresh air.  It's bad enough you have to endure it work but then to come home to it--ug!

I was on polish overload the other day as I received the Zoya's I ordered with their fabulous BOGO sale.  I asked the gals in one of the facebook groups I'm mean if I should do Zoya Neve & Amy or Giovanna & Suri and the first to respond was Becky Wynn with Zoya Neve & Amy.

I have to say with this one it was Becky Wynn with the WIN!
At first glance I thought Neve was sort of like a lot of blues I have until I put her on, she is STUNNING!  She's got a ton of buried pink shimmer in her!
I'm pretty sure Zoya Amy is my favorite orange too, definitely my favorite foily type finish orange for sure!
I stamped the accent nails with Mash 40 and BM322
I received many compliments on these nails but I must say as a Packer fan it's SO hard to wear anything blue and orange because those are Bears colors!!

What do you think of blue and orange as complimentary colors?  

Thanks for stopping by!! I hope you all have a fantastic day!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Which Way Is Up?

Hi Everyone!  I have been kind of feeling in funk lately when it comes to coming up with some great ideas for nail art.  While I love gradients I really want to be able to step outside that comfort zone and do some different things.  I look at the huge stash I've amassed and shake my head--I have SO many untrieds and SO many polishes I've only worn once.  Then I think to myself "Gurl what are you doing??!! Why do you have this much polish???!!"

Today I decided to shake things up a bit and go skittle!  I just don't skittle enough so I hope to rectify that by doing it more often!

This is just something that's a little different.  I'm always wearing two frankens I made--my thumb and my swear!  I haven't frankened in forever but I do really like all the ones I've made.  I need to haul them out more often!
Thumb is Pumpkin Spice Latte, Index is OPI A Roll In The Hague, Swear is Shibari MASTER, Ring is Zoya Wednesday and Pinkie is Zoya Dove

I also added some PUEEN stamping and a stud!
I really love OPI A Roll In The Hague which I've had a long time but haven't worn until today!

I also find the colors compliment each other so well--thanks to Design Seeds--I was able to find a skittle that doesn't suck!

It's always great to find resources to help your creative juices and get them flowing.

Thanks for stopping by!! I hope you all have a fantastic day!!

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Did someone say nude????!!!!!

Hi Everyone!!! Today's theme for the Adventures In Stamping Sunday Challenge is over a nude base.  Yikes!  Nude is like the kiss of death for me.  I'm definitely not a nude fan at all UNLESS it's in the form of a hot cowboy--then I'm all about the nude!

I try to do every Sunday challenge so I didn't want to let it beat me.  I grabbed my Zoya Farah which is a really very lovely beige creme and decided to try the nail decal method for the first time.  I chose a couple images from my DRK-A plate and then used China Glaze Astro Hot, Take A Trek and Infra-Red
The result is pretty.  It has some nice color but at the same time seems quite subtle
I learned about the nail decal technique via Messy Mansion, basically you stamp your image onto your stamper--they say it's best to use a squishy type stamper but I've also seen results on the Konad hard stamper.  You color you design in with polish and then apply a nice generous clear--don't use quick drying clear.  Wait a few minutes, I waited about 20 minutes and then you peel the design off and apply it to your nail.  My nails were dry.  I simply smoothed the image out and then applied my Seche Vite to it
The result is a lined in white design with multi colors--something you can't really do with straight on color stamping.  While it takes longer and is a bit more detailed than just stamping, it still wasn't hard to do at all

Here's the LINK if you'd like to check it our for yourself.

It's a super pretty day out today!  I'm thinking about taking a walk around the zoo!

Thanks for stopping by!! I hope you all have a fantastic day!

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Bright Lights!!!

Hi Everyone!!! Happy weekend!  Today I'm enjoying some time to myself.  I'm going through my stash to see what needs to be kept and what can go.  It's starting to look like a polish junk yard around here with little piles of polish laying on the floor OUTSIDE of the melmers for crying out loud!  I'm going to take some time to do that today as well as haul the chinchillas out for their dust baths and some playtime in the hall way and bathroom.

I'm also reading a new book today and lazing around in my pajamas!  Woot!

Yesterday I had a super cute mani on to match the new top my mom bought me.  We went shopping together on the one year anniversary of my dad's death a couple of weeks ago so I decided to pimp it up with a matching manicure.  It turned out fantastic if I do say so myself!

I started out with a base of neon yellow--any bright yellow will do actually.  then I applied Dandy Nails Chilled Down, which is a light grey with micro gold and blue flakes in it over my dried yellow and did the saran wrap mani technique.  The result was really cool, basically the grey got absorbed into the plastic wrap so it left gold and blue flakes on my yellow.  I needed to tone
 it down just a bit so I dabbed some white on very sparingly just using the bunched up saran wrap.  It turned out exactly as I had hoped!!!

Then I had to go on an adventure to find some swirl images and I found just what I was looking for with BM224!

Here's the mani!


I can not believe how perfect this turned out--exactly what I visioned in my head!


And here it is with my new top so you can see just how perfect they go together!!
I think I need to do this more often!

Thanks for taking time to stop in on your weekend!  I hope you all have a fantastic day!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Pretty, pretty peacock

Hi Everyone!  Almost Friday!!! Woot!!!  I don't have any plans at all for the weekend, nothing going on at all!  I'm hoping to spend some time with my mom and maybe work on some new fleece items for the chinchilla cages.  How about everyone else?

I don't seem to be reeling anymore from the loss of my longer nails.  In fact, and I know I say this every time, I'm really digging this length on them.  Maybe I'll keep them shorter like this--I say that every time too but keep growing them out LOL!

Today I'm featuring an all Kleancolor metallic gradient--Metallic Green, Aqua and Sapphire and I'm wearing a design from one of the new Messy Mansion plates--plate MM14.  I really love the Messy Mansion plates, Julia comes up with some great ideas and they always stamp great!

I sometimes forget to wear my Kleancolor metallics!  They are so lovely!
The full peacock feather image on MM14 is just perfect for this gradient!
If you haven't heard of Messy Mansion yet you NEED to check out her awesome plates!  You can find the shop HERE.  I'm getting a couple more within the next few weeks, she has a Dragon one coming out!!!! EEK!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope you all have a fantastic day!!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

ANOTHER great gradient!

Hi Everyone!! On the heels of my tragic break I'm just plugging along.  I decided to console myself with a gradient and what could be more beautiful than a Pixie Dust gradient???!!! Whoop!!! All Zoya All The Time! LOL!  This is the very love Zoya Miranda, Arabella and Carter--TO DIE FOR GORGEY TOWN!
Ooooohh Ahhhhhhhhhh!
I cannot believe how much I love the textured polishes!  Zoya Pixie Dusts are just incredible!
Of course I didn't leave well enough alone and I stamped over it!!!  Accent nails here I come!
Since my nails are shorter I'm able to use the PUEEN set I got.  I used plates PUEEN22 and PUEEN25 for my accent nails.
I love how you can stamp on textured's too!  ALOT easier than stamping over huge chunky glitters!
I think my new shorter nails are loving this design!
I'm definitely going to use my swear image for Christmas!!

Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope you all have a fantastic day!!

Monday, August 19, 2013

People Who Live In Glass Houses

Tragedy Strikes!!!! Yesterday at 11:17 am while doing nothing more than removing my Elvis mani BAM!  A nail break!  And this right on the heels of me telling the fabulous Debbie from The Crumpet that my nails are longer and stronger than ever before with Rejuvacote!  Debbie had the misfortune, really horrible misfortune, of a break down to the quick.  While I sat there empathizing with her but at the same time talking up Rejuvacote I thought nothing of it as I removed my polish

Can we have a moment of silence for this fallen soldier???!
Yeee  Ikes!  How sad is this???
What do you think??? Could you live with one shorter than the rest???
Look at the back view
HUGE difference in length!!! GLURG!
To preserve his memory and mourn his loss his fellow soldiers shaved their length to honor their fallen comrade
Much better but look how short they are now!
How will we go on????
How do you like the dramatic black and white effect????!  Well look how stained they are!
This is the life of the nail polish addict.  I buffed them all the end of May and actually they were the same length but they looked MUCH brighter!
I just feel whenever they get buffed they break but look how long they lasted without a break????  2 1/2 months!  That's pretty good.  We'll see if I feel like buffing them or not.

And check out this cute little kiss of blue one of the flower glitters from Aloha From Hawaii left me!
see it up there in the top right??


I did console myself with a pretty cool gradient I'll post pics of tomorrow.  I just wanted to show you today that SH!T happens!  Lots of people I know think my nails are indestructible, and while I do tout the growth and strength properties Rejuvacote gives me, it's pretty clear my nails aren't bionic LOL!

Has this ever happened to you?  Do you stare in horror for a few minutes before filing them down?  Do you scramble to save a broken nail or do you just chop them down and start again??


Friday, August 16, 2013

The Digit-al Dozen Does Fashion--the day MY music died

Hi Everyone!!  While it is, indeed, a happy Friday it is also the 36th anniversary of the death of Elvis.  I've loved him for 43 years and that's no joke.  First fell in love with him as a young girl of 7.  He died when I was 14 and being the young teenage girl that I was DRAMA ensued!  Yep it felt like my world ended.  Of course I've gone on to suffer even greater tragedy in my life, but to have him die when I was 14 was the first experience I had with losing someone I loved so deeply.

I asked my friend Gina, the genius behind Red Dog Designs if she could create a couple of polishes for me for this day in particular.  I told her what I thought would be cool and she created magic.  MAGIC!
First up is Aloha From Hawaii--It's full of multi colored flower shaped glitter and aqua hexes and micro shimmer.  
I layered it over a gradient of Sinful Colors Sugar Rush and Savage

I Gina if she could do something like the leis he gave out during his 1972 concert broadcast LIVE from Hawaii--what she made was spot on!

Next up is Elvis Has Left The Building--anyone who knows anything about Elvis knows this was said at the end of every concert!
It's an awesome white jelly full of red, blue and gold hexes in various sizes and teeny gold stars! OMG I DIE!!!
I simply said Gina I really want a polish named Elvis Has Left The Building--is there anyway you can do something like his famous white jumpsuit with the eagle on it?

Yep once again she NAILED it!

I got the Elvis nail decal from ebay!!  IT'S JUST LIKE MY TATTOO!

So today my fashion is Elvis jumpsuit--
And I couldn't have had such a great manicure for the last day of this fashion week if not for the fabulous Red Dog Designs!

I wonder if my dad and Lisa have told him how I'm his number one fan???!!!

Make sure you check out what my fabulous group has come up with for their last day as well!