Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Today in the states we celebrate all we are thankful for getting together with friends and family to celebrate the many joys in life we often do not take the time to think of and be thankful for. I was just thinking last night about how in the early stages of grief you are so caught up in it, you often forget about the things that made you laugh. When both my sister and my father first died all you can do is grieve and cry and rage but as time passes you do remember the joy and the laughter you often shared with them.
Thanksgiving holds many happy memories for me today of times with my beautiful sister Lisa, and my dad. My dad would carve the turkey and I would be at his side with the platter helping get the carved turkey onto it. He knew how much I loved the crispy skin---I LOVE THE SKIN!!! It's my favorite part of the whole turkey--he would make sure to cut a few pieces and get some nice skin tossed my way LOL! At the end of our meal when we would be busy picking up dishes and putting all the leftovers away, Lisa would be hunched over the turkey carcass picking pieces of meat off of it. She just could not stop eating the turkey LOL. I would have to tease her and yell at her saying, Lisa! Step away from the bird! Those were such great times and great memories and today I am SO thankful to be able to see through the grief of losing my sister and my dad and be able to celebrate the joyous, happy times we had together.
I am thankful for the friends and family I have. I am SO thankful that something as small and trivial as nail polish has given me so much joy in the way of this nail blog--has introduced me to people from all over the world--has given me some of the best friends I've ever had. Who knew something dark and vampy, or shiny and glittery in a bottle could open up such a wonderful world of imagination and creativity?
I am thankful to have a job I love going to and working somewhere I not only know I am appreciated but feel it daily and am told daily how much I am appreciated. I am thankful to know and experience the joy of being a pet owner. Being with my cats and chinchillas puts a smile in my heart every single day.
I am super thankful for the Discovery ID channel period. God Bless Lt Joe Kenda The Homicide Hunter!! OMG I LOVE THAT SHOW! I love, love, love, LOVE that show!
I could go on and on but I have to stop because I do actually have a really cool mani to show you today for Thanksgiving! It's bit out of the norm and doesn't have cute turkeys on it but I created it solely for the purpose of Thanksgiving.
I started with a "zombie" gradient. And then of course stamped over it. The zombie gradient is a phrase coined by my dear friend Stephanie. She did a dark gradient she thought was a fail and I was like OMG that is so cool. So when you think you have some colors that are too dark and muddy to look good together, still try it! You never know when a zombie gradient will turn into a star!
Zombie gradient of Zoya Flynn, Hunter and Channing
All these colors just scream FALL to me and are perfect for a Thanksgiving mani!
I like the balance of cremes and a shimmer at the edges of this gradient
What do you think? Is a zombie gradient up your alley or too dark for you?
It's definitely up my alley! I pulled out one of my new MoYou Mother Nature plates--this one is the Mother Nature 03 plate--and gave my mani some Fall stamping
Look at that adorable squirrel!!!!
But wait! There's more!! Check out thumbie!!!
As this fox is too cute!
I love the stamping over my gradient. Alot of people have said to me who can you stamp over your gradients, but to me I almost always think stamping over a gradient adds to the beauty of it. In this case I absolutely love the stamping over it instead of just the plain gradient.
I hope everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving today has a wonderful day. And to all my dear readers--I am SO thankful for having you follow along with me on my nail polish journey!
Hi Everyone!!!! Happy Tuesday! It snowed again yesterday and this time some of it stuck. It's official, it is winter in Wisconsin! This is my last week of a normal work week. Next Monday starts my month of mail order craziness at the bakery. I'll be doing 70 hours a week between both of my jobs. A lot of my friends and family tell me I'm crazy but I love it. I love helping people keep their family Holiday traditions going!
Today I am featuring some WAY COOL polishes from Paint Box Polish. Pam is super fan of Harry Potter and she created some beautiful polishes with the Harry Potter theme and concept in mind. They quite lovely!
First up is one you've already seen. I just didn't call it by name LOL! It is an incredible polish with a turquoise base and teal/ turquoise blue glitters. It's sheer so I did what you should always do with a sheer polish--black undies! Here is Glittery Heels!
Glittery Heels is inspired by the turquoise heels worn by the owner of The Three Broomsticks, Madame Rosemerta. This is a stunning polish you can wear alone--building up the layers for full opacity, or layer over black like I did here
When you saw this earlier I had done some stamping with it
Look at all that BA-LING!
I loved this mani SO much! I love my long nails even more LOL! Hopefully they'll look like this again in no time!
Next up is a really unusual cream. It's a pretty nude with gold flakies! I have never seen anything like it and I'm afraid having to pics inside under the lamp (because it was cold as all get out) just did do it justice! This His Chosen One
I did some stamping with it but didn't want to cover up the flakies--not a huge fan of my stamping LOL!
His Chosen One is inspired by Ginny Wesley, who Pam thinks spent the majority of the series being quiet and in the background but she had her special moments.
Last by not least is my favorite of the three I got from Pam. It's a GORGEOUS golden brown with TONS of sparkle! This is Mama Lion
Look at her! She is STUNNING!!!
Seriously how do you not love a polish this gorgeous? Mama Lion is inspired by Molly Weasley who was a great source of comfort throughout the series. Seemingly docile and low key until she shows her fangs--just ask Bellatrix Lestrange how fierce she can be!
I loved Mama Lion so much I decided to pair her with Elevation Toubkal for a lovely gradient
Of course I didn't stop there and I stamped with my new MoYou Landscape 03 plate. It's part of the Mother Nature collection. I love how this turned out!
Paint Box Polish is available on Etsy. You can find it HERE Pam will have these polishes and few others from her Harry Potter Collection available on Black Friday!!! And guess what?!!!! My readers get a discount! YEP you can use DRESSEDUP20 for 20% off of polishes purchased from release date until the end of the year! How cool is that?!
Thanks for stopping!!! I hope you all have a fantastic day!
Hi Everyone! Even though I'm crazy busy I am not too busy or tired to catch the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special tonight! I didn't even start watching the show until this year and I fell in love with it! I had to stop giving my friends such a hard time when I too started crying at some episodes! It really is a fantastic show that takes you on some heart wrenching and fantastic adventures! I can't wait to see what the 12th Doctor has in store for us.
Until then here's my contribution mani for the big day!!
I wish all my fellow Whovians a Happy 50th Anniversary! Allons-y!!!
Hi Everyone! I've got a super pretty mani I did before the dreaded break! I think we all know I am in love with textured polish--yes IN LOVE with textured polish. And unlike a man so far I have not had one that's let me down! Awhile back I got a few textureds from Forever 21 and the Purple/Gold one is so freaking gorgeous! At first site it almost looks like a dupe of OPI Alcatraz Rocks but NOPE they are different so you need both of them!
Look at all that dark purple sparkle! Oooooh Ahhhhhhh!
I stamped using China Glaze Passion (my favorite gold on the planet, probably the universe) with SA02
I can't wait for my nails to grow to this length again either dang it!
Here's a shot without any overhead lighting--still gorgeous!
I just cannot believe how much I love these textureds! At first I thought I would hate them--I'm so glad I opened my eyes!
How about you??? Are you a lover or a hater??
Hi Everyone! Sorry I went MIA for a few days there! I just got SO busy and didn't really have a chance to sit down and get anything put out to you. Talk about a Bad Blogger! UG! This is just a crazy busy time of the year for me. One of the big things that's happening right now is we got a new ticketing system at work. And let me tell you--they did not train us enough. They were positive everything would go smooth and get off without a hitch and well ah no that's not what happened LOL!
I use to be able to complete 8 incidents an hour and bang em out left and right and today I think I got a total of 16 done! 16 all freaking day and I worked 9 hours today! UG!
I did a mani for the MoYou contest that is just perfect for today's events (as I'm sure will be the case for the entire week). No matter how crazy it gets--keep calm and carry on!
I simply did some color stamping over white with this one. I dabbed on some pink, yellow, blue and green and then scraped top to bottom and again from side to side to blend using MoYou Pro 10
It's pretty funky!!! And not wintery at all BUT it says it all!!
It reminds me of those candy dots you would eat off of paper when you were a kid!
I hope you all are having a less stressful week than I am! If you're not---keep calm and carry on!
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you all have a fantastic day!
Hi Everyone!!! Happy late Friday! Oh my goodness I was running SO late this morning I didn't get a chance to get my post up! It was a food day at work today and I was requested to make my spinach dip. I forgot to leave the frozen spinach out over night to thaw so I was really scrambling this morning to get everything ready and not be late for work!
I added a splash of color to my black and white today just because I wanted to!!!!
"Imagine there is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension that is vast as space and timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow,
between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge.
This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone."
OOOOOH YES I queued Rod Serling!!! For my Twilight Zone mani I stamped using DRK-A. My accent nails are a combination of two cool Red Dog Designs--Pop Art Mickey and Dead Man's Party sans the mickey glitter and the skullz. I love the two of these combined!
I had a fun time with this theme all week! What did you think? Do you enjoy seeing a multitude of black and white mani's? Did you give you any ideas? Which mani was your favorite out of all of them?
Make sure you check out everyone's last day!!!
Hi Everyone!!! I cannot believe I am not sick of black or white yet! I have been having a lot of fun with this week. I hope you have been enjoying all of the great mani's as much as I have! How about both of those awesome plaids yesterday from Shelley and Jolene?!!!!! And that beaded mani of Missy's ooooh I wish I had thought of that! I would have been rubbing my fingers all day yesterday!
Today I stuck with good old black and white again and hauled out one of my favorite glitter tops as well--good old Sticks n Stones from Cover Band
It might be a little hard to tell but I stamped with BM319 before adding the Stick n Stones to my swear and ring finger
I hauled out one of my fave images from the 3rd Bundle Monster set for the index and pinkie too--BM301
I really love the stark contrast in a black and white mani!
Let's see what creative juices everyone came up with for today!
Hi Everyone!!! Happy Hump Day! Here we are half way through this week's black and white mani theme. I have to say while I love black nail polish I am not so much a fan of white nail polish. I honestly do not know when is the last time I willing wore white polish LOL. That's what makes this challenges so good--you think outside the box and do something you might not normally do like wear white nail polish LOL!
Today I just went for something simple and used one of my favorite stamping plates ever, BM314.
First up a lovely white to black ombre mani
Index to Pinkie--Sinful Snow Me White, Zoya Dove, my franken Shibari MASTER, and Sinful Black On Black
You can see here my thumb is also white. I stamped using BM314 and Sally Hansen Silver Sweep and Sinful Black on Black
I love this image! I've worn it a zillion times and love it every time I see it!
Simple but sort of elegant.
So today I pretty much stayed within the black and white spectrum--did everyone else?
Hi Everyone!!! Happy Tuesday! We had some snow here yesterday! It actually snowed for a very long time but none of it stuck to the ground. It was a pain scraping off the crusty car that sat in the parking lot at work all day though! So our first snow--and that can mean only one thing--more to come!
When we first discussed this challenge one of the things we discussed was the actual black and white theme. Should it only be black and white? Can you do shades of black or white--can you survive on an entire week of just black and white? The consensus--as always--is just be your own person, do your own thing--what is black and white to you.
So today I'm a rebel! I decided to brighten up that snowy day with a little black and white!
Now this is a mani you wear to greet a snowy day!!
I really love the contrast of the pretty flowers to the black and white
And when it comes to nail art you can't get much easier than this!
I wonder if I'm the only rebel? Or did someone else dare to be bold?!
Hi Everyone Happy Monday! Today kicks off the Digit-al Dozen's Black & White Week. And man is it needed--black for mourning the death of that Packer game yesterday! OH MY LORD! Who expected to see that happen?! Yikes definitely not me! I watched every single painful moment BUT while I was doing so I had the chance to do a Monkey See, Monkey Do Monday mani!!! Woot!!! I haven't done one is a long time. There are a lot of great black and white mani's done but some really talented people too BUT I have always, ALWAYS loved the one I recreated for you today.
I chose to do the black and white gradient zebra Diana from D.I.A.N.A did. This was an entry to fashion inspired contest Anna over at the Wacky Laki had. I've have been inspired by both of these ladies for over two years now. I'm lucky enough to be in a couple of Facebook groups with them and I've learned alot from the both of them as well!
So kicking off the black and white week I give you--gradient zebra!
Isn't this one WILD!!!!!!
With Diana being Dutch I couldn't use any of the same polishes she did so I had to improvise. I used Sinful Colors Black On Black and Snow Me White and for the grey I used my franken Shibari MASTER
This is the dress that inspired Diana to do the mani
It's pretty gorgeous!
Here's a side by side of my mani and the dress
I honestly think a black, grey and white gradient is one of the most striking you can do. Check out how great thumbie looks!
I stamped using M57--which is the only thing of Diana's original mani I did have!
Here's a collage with pics of both Diana's and my mani--I really loved doing this one!
I think this week is going to be amazing for the Digital Dozen! I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!!
