Are your knees up or down?!!!

Hi Readers!  I'm pretty sure many of you have heard me say the best red ever is OPI's Vampire State Building--and oh how I love my Vampire State Building BUT I have sinned against Vampire State Building and have lust in my heart for another red.  My friend Silver told me Butter London's Knees Up is the best read EVAH and I think I might have only half heartedly listened to her.  I may have even scoffed her but seriously Silver no more.  I decided to do the same mani I did for my bestie, Sandi this weekend and holy shizz this is one sexy mani!  I took some pics of this baby both outside and indoor at work.  Here's shots of indoors at work--this was at the crack of dawn and not all the lights are on in the building yet lol!  So there's a glare from my desk lamp

DAYUM this looks mahvelous!
Here's a pic of the ring I wore with it!

There's a matching bracelet too!

Did you see that pic of my husband??? A lot of people say he reminds them of someone famous!

LOL!

Oh lord Readers yes that IS a picture of Elvis in a frame on my desk lol!  I've had it for years.  Two nurses where I used to work gave it to me for my birthday in that very frame and I've taken it with me to each new job I've had since.  I have an Elvis mug and calendar in the cubicle too lol!

Here's some pics I took outside when I got home in the blistering 95 degree weather!

Yes we did get some rain FINALLY in Wisconsin so there is some green

I loved this mani! And Butter London's Knees Up really is a fabulous red!

This mani was super simple and super easy to do.  I did 2 coats of Knees Up and then stamped with Kleancolor Black using BM310.  One thing I noticed at work today is a lot of male coworkers were looking at my hands.  I have a theory that men are really attracted to red nail polish and today seemed to prove it lol!

Do any of you have this gorgeous Butter London???

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

This ain't yo momma's water marble

Hi Readers!  I think we know from the spatter mani I'm not all about the 'usual' type colors.  I'm not a pastel person and not really a bright colors gal.  I love the deep, dark vampy colors especially for my nails.  Today I have a watermarble featuring those deep dark colors!

I started with a base of the lovely Devil's Lure by Revlon--it's a nice super dark and vampy red with a bit of buried shimmer to it

To marble I used the Devil's Lure, a gold unnamed Pure Ice that came with a crackle duo and OPI Brisbane Bronze.

Even though this is dark and bold, it's a subtle water marble effect.

I have to say I really love a shimmery water marble!

What do you think of this one Readers?? Is this one up your alley or do you prefer the lighter or brighter type water marbles?


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

Sunday Challenge Hot! Hot! Hot!

Hi Readers!  The challenge in Adventures In Stamping this Sunday is Hot! Hot! Hot!  I'm featuring a mani with hot colors but also one with a special place in my heart.  Relay For Life has hit my town this weekend.  And this is the first year my family attended since the death of my beautiful sister Lisa.  She died from triple negative breast cancer just shy of her 45th birthday.  She was one of the best parts of my life and I miss her terribly.  I honestly did not want to attend this year but my mom wanted to go and asked if I would go with her.  My wonderful sister Lynelle and best brother in law in the world, Chris, said they would go too so I felt good knowing I would be surrounded by family.  Losing someone to cancer is hard.  It changes your life forever.  It's nchanged our family dynamic.  I have a lot of anger still and didn't really want to go because I was angry and bitter others have survived but not my sister.  After talking to some friends about this--wonderfully supportive friends, who didn't make me feel like crap for feeling this way--I realized that while my sister did not survive someone else's sister did.  And for that I should go and celebrate the event.  This is the mani I chose to wear for those women who's sisters did survive

I did a lovely gradient using 3 holos, Sally Hansen Mandarin Garnet, DS Ruby and or course my beloved Ozotic 621--I love 621 it's the best red holo EVAH!
I stamped with Milani White On using Mash-38 and RA110.

 Checked it out in the sun the day of the event!

Lisa loved red I think she would have liked this

I think it turned out pretty good!

Here's a small world Readers.  Every year we went to this Relay with my sister to support her and walk the survivor lap (as she did survive 8 years after her diagnosis) I would run into a guy I went to Junior High School with and who I also worked with at one of the many banks I worked at in my life.  His name is Bob and even though we had't seen each other for years he recognized me right away as I did him that first time.  Every year after that we would run into each other on the track and talk and catch up.  I saw both him and his wife again this year and he mentioned he hadn't seen me in awhile so I shared with him Lisa had succumbed to her cancer and died in 2009 which is why we hadn't come for awhile.  We talked about how hard it was but that it was good for me to be there and I noticed my mom was talking to his wife, who I knew was a nurse but I didn't know she had actually been one of Lisa's nurses for her chemotherapy care.  So what a very small world.


I truly hope cancer has not touched your life Readers--to those of it whom it has my heart goes out to you.  


I hope you all have a fantastic day!

Happy Birthday Beth!!

Hi Readers!  Today is my friend Debbie's daughter, Beth's, birthday!  A few of us are getting together and making a special mani just for her.  A few days ago I asked Debbie what Beth's favorite color was and she got this response, "blood red".  It was news to Debbie LOL!  Well I am all about the vampy reds so I was elated to hear this is a color she likes!  I decided to go a nice vampy red gradient but switched it up a bit!  I went with a lovely blood red jelly, a red linear holo and a red scattered holo!  

How delicious is this???

 I used La Femme Crepulsco, Hits Ares, and Ozotic 621 to create the gradient

I did manage to snag one pic outside in the sun

To make this more of a celebration mani for Beth I stamped on it!

I used the lovely China Glaze TTYL for stamping

I love the cute little design from BM20

Happy Birthday dear sweet Beth!!! I hope you have a fantastic birthday!

Stop Drop and Roll!

Hi Readers! Today I am ON FIRE! The Sunday Stamping Challenge over in my fb group Adventures in Stamping is Using 3 Colors.  Really the possibilities were endless with this one.  I had recently received my Zoya's from their Valentine's promo though so I decided I would use a couple of them.  My favorite color is yellow--it was the first color I learned to spell can you believe it?  I didn't start with red or blue nope I went for yellow.  My nephew AJ when he was little couldn't pronounce "y" to save his life lol!  He always said lellow for yellow.  I remembering him asking my dad to read him the book The Little Yellow Duck.  Of course he said Lellow Duck instead when asking.  So my dad says okay let's read the Lellow Duck book and AJ said "No grandma!  It's the lellow duck not the lellow duck!"  Holy cow we all busted out laughing!  He knew how it should be said he just couldn't do it lol!
Back to the nails and the challenge though!  I did a nice gradient using Zoya Pippa, Kleancolor Metallic Orange, and Zoya Sarah.  After receiving my Sarah I have decided I must have ALL the Zoya metallics!

Okay so there are my 3 colors!  BUT we have to stamp on this baby yet so I decided to burn down the house and stamped using the the same 3 colors but in reverse order on the gradient!

I think it turned out great!  I'm not sure this is an everyday mani but for a challenge mani it's dang good!
What I had to do to make the yellow really pop was go back over the mani stamping yellow a 2nd time on the tips. Here's a nice close up 

 I love how my thumb turned out the best!

After I took a shot of this one I decided I should make a ring like this mani!  Hopefully it will turn out and I can post pics of it later!

This is just a basic gradient mani.  I started with a base of two coat of Zoya Pippa.  Then I sponged on Kleancolor Metallic Orange going from the tip to halfway up the nail.  After that I sponged Zoya Sarah onto the tips.  I stamped using all the colors on the image plate using Shany SH22.
Here's a picture of the polishes I used

Look at the loveliness that is Zoya Sarah!  When I mentioned how gorgeous Sarah was in my FB group the bigheaded Sarah from Chalkboard Nails got a big head! Can you believe it???!!  You all should stop over there and give her some grief about it!! LOL!  The thing that makes me laugh is Zoya Sarah is all fiery and spicy and that is SO not Sarah--she is super nice and sweet.  My Zoya color Laurie is a pale pink--really innocent looking--our colors totally should be switched lol!


So what do you think about this challenge mani readers??  Do you think it looks good stamping in reverse on the gradient or is it just too much?  Is this your everyday mani or one you'd haul out on for a special occasion?


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

Good things come in twos!

Hi Readers!  Don't you love with you can get two for the price of one???  Today's mani features another one of my birthday gifts from Igor.  She got me the Serena set in Love Is A Racket and Pros & Bronze.  I have to tell you the Serena sets are fantastic!  I also have Grape, Set, Match and Servin' Up Sparkle.  I feel like I'll need the other sets as well!  As much I love Love Is A Racket on it's own when I layered Pros & Bronze over it I loved it more!  

What a gorgeous layering combination!

I stamped over it with Sally Hansen Chrome Pen in gold using plate M78 and really like this design!

I really love this Serena set and can't wait to find some more uses for both Love Is A Racket and Pros & Bronze!

How about you readers?  Do you have any of the OPI Serena sets?

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

A Red Hot Red!

Hi Readers!  So how are you about the whole vampire trend?  I'm totally on it BUT I'm not a Twilight or True Blood fan.  No my vampires are definitely Mick St. John of the now defunct Moonlight--CBS really dropped the ball on that one in my opinion--and The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward as well as Midnight Breed Series by Lara Adrian.  If you like your vampires alpha and edgy with absolutely no sparkles check out the books by those ladies they are fantastic!
As I mentioned earlier I like to name the frankens I make after my favorite books.  Lover Eternal is by far my favorite in The Black Dagger Brotherhood series.  It's the wonderful romance between Mary and Rhage and I'm not going to lie I bawl my head off when I read it.  Yep you guessed it I'm a big re-reader.  I was lucky enough to meet the author, JR Ward, a couple of years ago and she autographed my copy for me!  It was awesome meeting her and chatting with her about my love of Mary and Rhage.
My franken Lover Eternal is a mix of browns and reds, flakies and glitter.  It's a gorgeous dark and vampy red brown.  I did the cardinal sin of frankening in my book and I used some expensive polishes to make it--still I gambled and it paid off.  Here it is you can see for yourself this is definitely not a fail!

That pic is kind of blurry but it shows the color really well.  Here's another view

Here it is with flash--it glows from within!

One last pic of it showing the flakies buried within the polish

Do you franken readers?  If yes, what are some colors you've made?  If no, why not???  If you don't because you're worried it won't turn out, don't be, just forge ahead and see what gorgeous polish you can come up with!


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

The Devil Made Me Do It!

Hi Readers!  Awhile ago I got a delicious dark vampy red by Revlon called Devil's Lure.  It's very dark but instead of being a dark creme like Vampire State Building it's a jelly.  It also has teeny eeny little pink glitters in it but those are too visible when you stamp on it lol!  I wanted to do another Valentine's Day type mani for you all today without being one of those cutesy Valentine's Day manis that are all over the place right now.  I decided to go a gorgeous rich, baroque style by mixing the dark vampy red of Devil's Lure with gold.  The gold I chose is Finger Paints Key To My Art.  I also dusted off my reinforcement tabs to try another half moon mani.  
Here's the final result

Looks who's in the background!!! Baxter!  He doesn't seem too interested in this mani lol!!


I love this view of it

Here it is with flash

Here's a bottle shot of Revlon's Devil's Lure.  I love these dark reds!

If you look close at the bottle you can see some of those teeny pink glitters in there. To get this look I did a base of Key To My Art.  I let it dry completely and then placed the reinforcement tabs on the bottom of my nails and did 2 coats of Revlon's Devil's Lure.  I topped with Seche Vite and when dry I stamped using Sally Hansen Gold Chrome pen and used RA112.


Here's a pic of the polishes I used

All in all I like this mani for a Valentine's Day look.  I'm not thrilled with how the reinforcement tabs work with my nails.  Next time I may just try the french manicure guide and see if I like that better.


Got any plans for Valentine's Day readers???  I've never really been on the receiving end of Valentine's Day because my birthday is on the 12th so I've always had birthday celebration but not so much Valentine's Day celebration lol!  Oh the curse of sharing a birthday with Abe Lincoln!


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

Go Red For Women Day!

Hi Readers!  In case you didn't know today is national Go Red For Women day. It's sponsored by the American Heart Association.  To raise awareness on the subject of heart disease issues in women, it's a day for red!  Red dress, red shoes, and of course red fingernails!
I'm not rocking a red dress today but I am rocking a red mani and with the Holy Grail of red's if I do say so myself.
Before I show you the mani I'm sporting for today here are some facts on Go Red For Women Day and signs of a heart.


Go Red For Women was started in 2004 to dispel the myth heart disease was an older man's disease.  More women die each year from cardiovascular (heart) disease than from any other cause of death including all forms of cancer.


A heart attack occurs when the flow of blood to the heart is blocked, usually by a blood clot.  If the blood clot cuts off the blood flow completely the part of the heart muscle supplied by that clogged artery starts to die.


Here are signs of a heart attack.  If you ever experience these signs don't wait!!! Call 911 immediately!


1. Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and then comes back again.
2.  Pain or discomfort in one or both of the arms, neck, back, jaw or stomach.
3.  Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
4.  Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
5.  As with men, women's most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort.  But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.


That's some helpful info on heart attack symptoms always remember never wait things out or try to drive yourself to the hospital if you think you are having a heart attack or stroke!  Call 911!!!


Here's how you can help prevent heart disease in yourself ladies!

• Don't smoke or use tobacco 
• Exercise 30 minutes on most days of the week
• Eat a heart healthy diet--foods low in fat cholesterol and salt.  A diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lowfat dairy are best for preventing heart disease.
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Get regular check ups

Okay that's the health portion of my post now how about we get on to the mani! This is my take on a poor heart who's owner is not following a heart healthy diet, getting any exercise or who smokes

Poor heart all chained up :(

But look at a heart who's owner is eating well, gets some regular exercise and who doesn't smoke

This heart is so happy it's growing!

Here's a close up!  Which one looks happier to you???

LOL I had to throw this out there!  Anyone who knows me knows my absolute favorite stamping image is the chain!!!

Now remember I said the red I used is the Holy Grail of reds in my opinion?  Do you know what it is readers??? Can you guess??? Take a look at the bottle and see if it helps you

Did you figure it out??? Still need a little hint?

OMG VAMPIRE STATE BUILDING!  I love this polish.  It's the best red EVAH!  I wore this polish until the bottle was gone back in 2000.  Little did I know I wouldn't be able to easily get my hands on it again.  Lucky for me my friends Brie and Wendy & Carly had my back.  With the three of them combined I have almost a full bottle of it!  This isn't an everyday red for me even though it IS any everyday red.  I have to be real careful with this stuff now!

How do you feel after today's post readers?  Do you feel you know a little bit more about heart disease and how if affects women?  Are you going to promise not to sit around and wait it out if you have any heart attack symptoms but instead call 911 right away?

How about that red polish readers?  Do you have Vampire State Building?  Do you have a red you consider the Holy Grail of reds?  If yes please let me know which one it is!


My friend bloggers who have also gone red for today are:
Sarah
Jacki
Amber
and Rachel
please stop by and see what they've come up with!



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

A page out of Cupcakes book!

Hi Readers!  The first blogger I ever followed was Rebecca over at Rebecca Likes Nails.  She makes a FANTASTIC franken called Rebecca Likes Cupcakes so one of her nicknames is Cupcakes!  I'm sure you all know her, but just in case you don't you can visit her here.  I think Rebecca is the queen of the gradient nails and try as I might I just never was as good at it as she is.  My friend Claudia did a way cool mani the other day using her favorite purples and then she holo'd the tips!  I hope you can see her cool mani from pinterest here.  My friend Rhonni is what I like to call a polish ninja--if you're looking for something she can find it for you! She's doing an awesome giveaway right now on her blog for the Clarins dupe--visit her here. Getting back to Rhonni's ninja ability I'll tell you I had been looking for China Glaze's On Your Knees for what seemed like forever and one day completely out of the blue and by surprise it arrived on my doorstop courtesy of the polish ninja!  I'm not sure if you've figured this out yet but I love dark colors on my nails!  Spring and Summer basically kill me readers!  On Your Knees is a gorgeous deep burgundy shimmer.  A few weeks later another incredible China Glaze wound up on my door step, once again, courtesy of the polish ninja!  This time is was the glowing red Long Kiss.  I really wanted to use these two together and after I saw Claudia's purple gradient with holo tips I decided to try it with these polishes.  I did 2 coats of On Your Knees First then sponged Long Kiss on from middle of nail to tip then to bling it out with holo goodness I did a kiss of OPI DS Signature on the tips.  BAM gorgeousness at it's finest.  I fell in love with this mani--FELL IN LOVE WITH IT READERS!  Therefore absolutely no stamping on this one!


Here it is under the kitchen light (hence the frig in the background lol)

Still in the kitchen but directly under the light

Isn't this beautiful????
Here is shot with the low light of the hallway lamp I feel like you can really see the subtle stamping of Long Kiss over On Your Knees here

To me this pic shows their true colors best
Here's a close up with flash

It's so rare for me to love a mani enough to go without stamping on it but that's exactly what I did with this one.  Rebecca gave it her stamp of approval too, which made me very happy!
Here is a picture of On Your Knees and Long Kiss--On Your Knees is well loved, I really hope to get full bottle of it someday I love it that much

On Your Knees is on the left and Long Kiss on the right.


Have you done gradients before readers?  How do you think you are at doing them?  I think I'm getting better!


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

Hot Blooded Leopard

Hi Readers!


My mom has always had a great fashion sense.  When we were kids growing up and even now she never has looked her age to me.  She likes hip but also classy.  I'm quite a bit bigger than my mom so I've never been able to wear her hand me downs BUT I do get the shoes she buys and wears once and her cast of purses! WOOT!  I love going shoe and purse shopping with her because I can always tell the things I'm going to end up with eventually.
So naturally I was thrilled when this cool purse made it's way to me!

My friend Destany of Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom and I are BIG red lovers, especially Vampire State Building by OPI, so whenever we find a red we like we tell each other.  She went one step further and sent me a LA Colors Craze called Hot Blooded.  Instead of having a fever of a hundred and three I decided to use it in a mani!  I went a step further and realized I could copy one of my favorite mani's from the beautiful and incredibly talented Kayla of Nails by Kayla Shevonne.  You can check hers out there. But you can see mine here!

This is my first time trying a half moon mani using the reinforcement tabs you can find at the store.  I think this mani is pretty chic if I do say so myself.

I laid it against the kitchen towel when I was done with the mani and like how it looks this way too

To get this look I did two coats of LA Colors Hot Blooded then topped it with a coat of Seche Vite.  I applied the reinforcement tabs at the bottom then did one coat of Zoya Pasha.  Another coat of Seche Vite and then I put the reinforcement tab back over the red and stamped with Sally Hansen Coco A Gogo using Konad M57.  By covering the red with the tab I didn't have to worry about getting any of the stamping on it. 


How about you readers--do you get any good hand me downs from your mom??


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