Let Freedom Ring!

Happy 4th of July!  Today I'm spending my freedom by doing nothing other than watching some Discovery ID and reading.  I'm trying to not overdo it today exercise wise.  This is supposed to be my "off" today with no exercise but I might be addicted as it feels like cheating to not do anything.  So instead of aiming for 10k steps today I'm trying for only 5k.
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I did get a 4th of July mani done though.  I love how it turned out.  I always try to do something a little different and I think this one worked perfectly

My base colors are Dior Blue Label and Massai two of my favorite blue and reds I own

I stamped with Mundo white with FUN and UC plates

Simple but perfect!

I hope you all have a happy but safe 4th of July!

Birds of a feather

Hi Everyone!  Happy Monday!  I sort of lost some steam last week and didn't get to do my haunted house mani for Halloween but that's okay there's always next year lol!  I can't believe all the awesome mani's I saw for Halloween this year.  I should have bought more plates.  Next year someone remind me to snag all the Halloween plates in the summer

It was a gorgeous sunny day here in Wisconsin.  72 degrees and bright and sunny and all the trees with the mustard browns and yellows and oranges and reds is just amazing.  I love being here in the Fall and wouldn't have it any other way.

One of my FB followers, Lesley, recommended I do a Fall gradient so I'm working on that tonight but in the meantime let me show you what I did yesterday for a flash challenge in the Advanced Nail Stamping Group.  Our theme this week is feathers.  I grabbed on of my Uber Chic plates and did some decals with Mundo white, black and aqua over Girly Bits Dash Away All.  I think it turned out great!

Look at how long my nails are getting!  This weekend is inventory so I better get these suckers filed down before then

Still typing 80 words per minute though!

I really like this Girly Bits Dash Away All it's not really a grey it's not a black, it's not a brown it's sort of a greigey color

I'm hoping to do at least one more feather mani this week to but we'll hve to see how this week goes LOL.  I was in bed at 8 every night last week!

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

Ready for Fall!

Hi Everyone!  Happy Monday!  It is definitely starting to look like and feel like Fall around here and I am elated!  I hauled out a bunch of my "ready for Fall and Winter" polishes which means the Darling Diva Witchee Collection is front and center.  In my humble opinion this is the best collection she's had and I am so glad I have all of them!

I decided to start out my week with the gorgeous The Witching Hour which is a gorgeous dark teal.  I also hauled out my Uber Chic Wild West 01 plate--the one I bought 2 months ago and still had the freaking blue film on it and my Mundo Aqua to come out with this beauty!

This is one of those really easy and simple stamped mani's that just look stunning

Tone on tone stamping is always going to be my favorite I think

I know alot of you just live for summer neons but man oh man oh man these dark colors are my fave and I'm so glad I have a few months to play with these babies!

I've got some nice Fall/Autumn ideas churning in my head right now and would really like to do something with a dark brown.  Hopefully we'll see something cool with brown in the next few days!

The leaves are starting to turn here so definitely signs Winter is on its way--but hopefully it won't rush!

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

Extend a Mani!

Hi Everyone!  i was trying to get out of doing my nails since A they looked pretty cool and B I had a good book to read so I decided to try to triple stamp these babies.  Double and Triple stamping is a really awesome look but to be honest it's not as easy as it seems.  You like to still be able to pick up the designs you have below each a layer.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and other times it doesn't even really matter.  For my triple stamping I hauled out one of my Uber Chic plates and stamped over my matchy double stamping from the other day

What do you think?

So it looks cool but maybe a bit busy

Still matches my shirt except I can't really wear the shirt days in a row LOL!

Still got the tip wear on my pointer--I'm too lazy to fix it!

I think tomorrow I am going to cover over ALL of this and show you the really beautiful base I started with

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

We're gonna need a bigger boat!

Hi Everyone!! Happy Hump Day!  Whew half way through the week!  I'm sort of glad.  I kind of feel like I just want a relaxing weekend BUT I have a lot of housework that needs to be done.  Here's to hoping it's nice super nice outside so I actually do it instead of doing stuff outside!

I have a  friend Sue, who used to be a coworker.  I loved working with her.  She and I used to do work 3rd shift together many moons ago and she would prey upon my fear of sharks.  Oh yes she would!  Every so often she would send me an email and this is when we worked IT together so every email had to be looked at in case it was something serious going on.  So she would covertly send me pictures of sharks!  I would have no idea that's what would be in these things until I opened the email to look at it and there she blows a huge great white would be on my screen.   Naturally she would fall off her chair laughing at me when I would let out a little scream.  It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt or gets their arm bitten off!  Ahhhhh I miss those days working with her.

Well she and I are still friends and do some chatting on Facebook these days and she still sends me pictures of sharks for flip sake!  She just sent me something the other day letting me know when shark week was.  As if I'm going to watch it for crying out loud!

I decided to do this mani today as a nod to Sue one of the funnest coworkers I've ever had!

Seriously I do not know how people can do a single thing in the ocean

Not one single thing!!!

I saw Jaws in the 7th grade and have not been in the ocean since!

The shark and birds are from Uber Chic UC 2-03. The water and boat are from a Pueen plate Dani had and I can't remember the number of it for the life of me!  This is what happens when you get together with the girls over the weekend.

What do you guys think of this scenery mani???? A far cry from my dancers isn't it??!

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

Palm Trees In Paradise

Hi Everyone!  Hope you all had a great weekend.  I really didn't do much and that's just what I needed.  I spent the day in my pajamas on Saturday.  Yup all day long!  It was glorious!  I made a huge batch of Italian Wedding Soup and I snuggled up with the cats and a wayward chinchilla from time to time and read all day.  I finished 3 books!  It was just so nice.  I didn't have to go anywhere and this is truly how I love to spend my time--wrapped up in a good book OR a few good books.

A short while ago Kelly from Set In Lacquer made the announcement she had a lot of personal stuff going on and was just going to be too busy to keep up with her blogging.  I'm sure she'll be back from time to time to post an occasional awesome mani or two but for now she really needs to focus on some other things and that means blogging is out.  A few of us decided to get together and recreate a mani of Kelly's.  She is pretty amazing and she's a truly super nice person.  I feel honored to call her my friend.  

She has freehand skillz and we all know I do not.  So today I chose to recreate one of her cool mani's with a flair of  my own.  Kelly--while the blogging world will say goodbye to you I'm so thankful you and I are friends outside of the nail polish world.   I'm ever so grateful for that!

Here's the cool mani Kelly did with some of the Elevation Polish Hawaiian Punch Collection

Here's the tribute mani I did 

I had to use stamping because I got no freehand skillz!  Thanks Uber thanks Uber Chic 2-03 for saving the day!

Wouldn't it be great if one day Kelly and I could hang out in our own palm tree paradise??

Yeah I do think that would be great!

Many blessings to you my friend-- thanks for the many great mani's you've done you will be missed!

But mom all the cool kids are doing it!

Hi Everyone!  Hope you are all having a great day.  Nice and sunny out here today and we are officially in the mid  60's! Woot! So a really lovely Spring day out here today.

We had another quick flash challenge in the Advanced Nail Stamping Group and this time it was either double stamping or double processed stamping.  Double Processed stamping is one of those weird things where I'm just not sure why we are actually trying such a thing.  It's basically getting an image within an image.  There are a few videos on it out there on Youtube.  I actually checked out the videos by both Nailstamp4fun and Opal Hazlett.  Both of them of have some great videos on the process.  I didn't find it hard to do at all but I used Mundo de Unas polishes and because they dry a little slower they might really be the key in getting this look to work.

So I wasn't too original in my design I basically did polka dots within roses. Yes I could have just as easily dotted after stamping my roses but I didn't have to with this technique.  I decided to pair these double processed accent nails I did with my new 6 Harts Polish Swim Through The Deep Skies.  While it isn't anything super great to write home about, this is a really cute mani!

6 Harts Swim Through The Deep Skies is a really lovely blue

Don't you just love that logo??!!!

Really a lovely color for both Spring and Summer

My accent nails are  China Glaze Secret Periwinkle stamped with Mundo de Unas Navy.  To get my double processed look I chose Uber Chic 1-03 for my polka dots and MoYou Pro 07 plate.

It's definitely cute.  It was definitely easier than stamping little tiny dots inside of the roses but I'm still not sure what the real purpose of this process is

What I did find is that it seems best to use a larger blank type image with something really small.  I did want to try to do neon leopard print inside of roses but I haven't tried it yet.  When I do you'll be the first to know!

What do you think of this look?  Have you tried double processed stamping?  Do you think it's awesome or just ho hum?

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

Purple Day for Epilepsy Awareness

Hi Everyone.  I have a wonderful friend who I've never met in real life.  I've known her for almost 8 years.  Even though I've never met her she has  been with me through the death of my sister and father and my beloved cats.  She and I have a few things in common.  We both LOVE animals, we are chinchilla owners, we are definitely afraid of spiders and have a fear of heights.  She is one of the sweetest people I know.

For a few years now she has been trying to get the awareness out there about epilepsy.  Her life was changed when her oldest son, still in high school was diagnosed.  it was not an easy diagnosis and for a very long time no one was really sure what was happening.  I have seen her do EVERYTHING she could to help him.  She did special diets for him, she worked her butt off to help him in school and make his teachers aware that while he looks fine he is in fact having a seizure.  Many times, especially in the beginning, he suffered several seizures a day.

He is on so many medications to help him that he is often tired.  His memory and cognition are poor.  Because of this school is really hard for him.   He is socially shy.  He can no longer play sports.  And he cannot drive.  All teenagers want to drive and because of his epilepsy he can't drive a car.

And while her son has this--epilepsy--he is still a really great kid!  Despite the hardships of school for him, he is an excellent student, he is a loving son and a great big brother.  He enjoys watching sports and engaging in outdoor activities and will probably be a ping pong champion one day soon.  Despite his daily struggle he is a wonderful young man.

Today is Epilepsy Awareness and I wear purple to support my friend Jenn who goes through this struggle with her son Brandon.  Through Jenn I have learned some disturbing facts about epilepsy:

1 in 26 people will develop epilepsy.  
It can occur in anyone at any time.  
There is no cure.

Up to 50,000 deaths occur annually in the U.S. from seizure related causes.
This is more than deaths from breast cancer.

The mortality rate for people with epilepsy is is two to three times higher than the general population and the risk of sudden death is twenty-four times greater.

Research for epilepsy is severely under-funded.
Federal dollars  spent on research for epilepsy pale in comparison to those spent on other diseases, many of which affect fewer people than those with epilepsy.

My purple mani today is for Jenn and Brandon and the many people who are affected by this disease we know so little about and hear so little regarding.

I chose the beautiful Pahlish The Human Superpower for my purple.  Those struggling with epilepsy and those caring for them have to enlist their superpowers just to survive.

Even though there is such a daily struggle with epilepsy for those who suffer with the disease as well as those who love them and support them I chose the butterfly image for my mani.  Butterflies are resilient and despite their fragile appearance are strong.

Butterflies are true beauties much like my beautiful, strong, courageous and resilient friend, Jenn

Today's stamping is with Mundo de Unas Velvet and Uber Chic plates 1-02 and 1-03

In your day everyday try to remember there might be someone who's suffering you cannot see.  Just because their outside shows no sign of struggle understand the struggle is real.  Our best defense is always education.  The more we know the more we can do.  As with cancer, I hope someday soon to see a cure for epilepsy.

Spring in my step

Hi Everyone!  I am happy to report I am hardly coughing the past two days!  OMG this cold from hell is finally on the run!  Man this sucker was brutal.  I still have the occasional coughing fit that I can't really stop once it's starts but I know it's just my body's way of getting rid of the residual crap in my lungs.  My voice is still a little janked and my throat is strained but still I am finally feeling good.  

And thank goodness too, this Saturday I have the epic meal of corned beef to make and spend quality time with the family.  I would also really love to spend time with my friend Emily on Sunday doing nails and listening to her play the piano and talking (okay arguing) about who's hotter Ben Affleck or Jason Momoa.  I mean come on Emily we all know it's Jason Momoa!

Since I am feeling better I decided to do just a nice little Spring mani to  cheer me up even more.  We had a 60 degree day here last week but now we are back down to the 40's.  No worries, it's been nice a sunny out and almost all of our snow has melted!

My base is actually a failed franken dupe of mine.  I thought I could dupe Illamasqua's Raindrops with SH Glass Slipper and ChG Pelican Spray but while it looks great in the bottle you really can't see any of the flakies in the polish.  It's still a pretty color though.  

I used one of my new Uber Chic plates--1-03 with some Mundo de Unas stamping in Iris.

Sometimes you don't need a fancy gradient or holos or glitters to make a really lovely manicure!

Just some nice tone on tone stamping will do nicely

Here's a close up pic where you can sort of see the flakies in the basecoat but again nothing like the original Raindrops so to me this one is called a fail 

I'm not really sure if we are actually moving into Spring or not.  It's been known to snow in both March and April here so only time will tell.  But I for one and am enjoying this weather we have right now!

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

Pretty In Pahlish

Hi Everyone!  Happy Saturday!  The weekend is here! Yay!  It's been pretty cold here in Wisconsin and apparently other places in the US but today it was a nice 20 degrees so naturally I saw someone in the grocery store in shorts.  UG I just do not know what it is about Wisconsin and idiot men this time of year.  I rolled my eyes at him as he walked past--I just couldn't help myself.

 I did this mani the other day for the Advanced Nail Stamping group--our flash challenge was over a blue holo base.  I snagged my untried bottle of Pahlish's Snow Over The Rhone and did some stamping with one of my new Uber Chic plates!

This is a pretty stunning polish!  A gorgeous deep sapphire blue with some silver flake glitter in it!

I didn't get a chance to go outside and get pics as I did this at 9pm and naturally today the sun isn't out 

How about this cool stamping though?  So freaking easy but I just love how this turned out!  I really love these plates from Uber Chic--for me they are the perfect size in length and width.

I did snap a couple pics with flash so you can see the holo pretty a bit better

ooooooohhhhhhh aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

I also snagged Pahlish's Dark Chocolate Cherries and I've been wanting to try some one stroke flowers so I see another Pretty In Pahlish mani in my future!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns On Patterns

Holy cow this is SO late!  First I had my birthday that put me behind then I got sick and didn't feel like doing a thing--ug.  I'm still sick but I really hated not finishing this theme!  I did a major fail in the beginning of the week and actually contemplated posting it but I just couldn't do it.  So I sort of redeemed myself today by doing some stamping over a foil.

Truth be told foils just flat out piss me off!  I have tried every single topcoat I can under the sun and every single one of them wrinkles the foil.  Every.Single.One.  It's annoying.  They look great until you topcoat them.  Without topcoat the fall apart in a matter or hours--glurg it is not a good situation.

So naturally today it hacked me off when after topcoating them before stamping they freaking wrinkled.   It wasn't much of a hardship to stamp over them LOL!

This is one of those from a distance it looks pretty cool mani's!

But up close and you see the imperfections

Oh my gosh sort of like the guy you are dating!!! LOL!  Hahaha that one cracked me up.

The foil I used is called Comet Trail and while it does not appear to be holographic at all once I topcoated it the silver wrinkled--the asshat!
I stamped using one of my new Uber  Chic plates.  I really love both of the Uber Chic sets that I got for my birthday!

So thankfully I finished the week only a couple days behind.  Man it can be brutal sometimes!  This week was hard for me.  I did a couple mani's I really liked--like the first two manis.  I loved my very first one but then I just felt like I fell flat on my face.

Hopefully next month I can come back victorious!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns On Patterns--Birthday mani!

Hi Everyone!  OIY I am way late in getting my Thursday post up!  So late it's not even Thursday anymore!  My excuse???? Yesterday was my birthday!  I went out with my family and was so tired and had such a full belly when I got home that I went to bed ASAP.  Well that and I was reading a really fantastic book.  So yes on my birthday I was in bed  before 9pm!  Talk about getting old!

I really wanted to wear my new Wine Time polish from Red Dog Designs for my birthday and tried to come up with something cool for it.  I ended up going with some double stamping and then a cute added cupcake because it was my birthday after all

I did was going for a chocolate strawberry type look but I"m afraid my brown isn't dark enough.  I guess I need a dark chocolate brown instead of just a milk chocolate LOL!

No matter how old you get you always love cupcakes! 

Here's what Wine Time looks like on it's own.  It's a gorgeous marsala holo glitter polish.  I LOVE IT.  I know I will wear this one a zillion times this year!

I didn't get a chance to see what everyone did yesterday either so I'm heading there now I think I've been sort of sucking with this challenge while everyone else is just blowing it out of the water!

An InLinkz Link-up