Spring Cleaning way late!

Hi Everyone

I got yelled at the other day for having way too many pictures on my laptop so I've been going through my albums and I'm actually finding some mani's I did that I never posted!  Sort of crazy hey???  I actually ran across this one the other day and I remember thinking of it as a failure as it didn't look like the picture I was trying to recreate.  

Looking at it today I honestly do not see a failure here!  What do you think?

I did this the end of November in 2014 yes over a year old!  I know this is a saran wrap base with reds, pinks and whites and the some FUN stamping

This would actually be a really lovely mani for Valentine's Day don't you think?

I think one of my favorite bases after a gradient is a saran wrap base!

This is the picture I was trying to recreate.  It's cute isn't it?

Here it is with the mani

What do you think close or not really??

The Digit-al Dozen Does New & Improved--Sharpies!

Hi Everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  Holy cow not sure where everyone else is but here in Wisconsin it is cold!!!  This morning I shrugged off the help my son offered in brushing off and scraping off my car and was like "oh I'm sure it's not bad I'll just do it myself" IT WAS BAD!  Not so much the brushing and scraping just the bitter cold.  I think we were in denial with all the warm weather we've had.

Since my mani station STILL is not set up I had to do something quick, easy, and sitting in the recliner.  And yes I did this sharpie mani just like that.  I sat in the recliner in front of the TV watching my beloved Joe Kenda on Homicide Hunter and that was that.  This is such an easy yet really lovely nail art look.  There is so much you can do with sharpies too and this is just one of them.  All I do for this type of base is put sharpies over a light color nail polish base and then squiggle squiggle squiggle until you have a few lines and colors on. Then I just dab a brush, a thin brush, into rubbing alcohol and I swirl it around.  That's it!  

Check out this gorgeous base I came up with all in the comfort of my recliner with the best damn homicide detective to walk this Earth! (Take that Olivia Benson!!!)

I'm still not thrilled with my light set up here but for now it's going to have to do.  Tomorrow I might try to get a picture for you guys of what it looks like now when I'm trying to take a picture of my nails LOL!  It's pretty hilarious

I'm really loving this colors together--how about you?

Has anyone been able to tell my pinkie is super short?  I'm trying to fake everyone out so hopefully I've been successful and you can't tell right away

Of course this would be a kick ass base to stamp over with BUT new for me is NOT stamping so I'm trying to do a few of those mani's this week.

How bout our first day yesterday??!! Pretty cool stuff by everyone and omg wait until you see the stuff from today!  As usual my fellow DD members just blew me away!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Digit-al Dozen Does New & Improved--Blobbicure!

Hi Everyone! Long time no see!  The short condensed version of my story is I had to move in November and we did it during a huge snowstorm! While the move is great and I'm now so much closer to work and really loving my new apartment and new city, I lost 2 of my sweet chinchillas in the move.  The stress of the move was too much for my Abigail and Herman and they died the day after we got here :(  To make it even sadder a month later my old man Leonard crossed the bridge.  So my once hopping herd of 10 is now down to 4. Very sad for me.

If that wasn't bad enough a month ago I got into a car accident! Yep my first accident ever and my lovely paid for car was totaled.  Good news is I'm okay, better news is no one at all was hurt.  Even better news I upgraded from a pretty small but sporty 2005 Dodge Neon to a 2013 Nissan Sentra.  I was pretty nervous car shopping as I've never had to do it without my dad at my side.  Thankfully my brother in law came with me and seriously it was only the 2nd care I looked at and drove home in.  

I worked my long hours again in December as I went back to the bakery to help them during their mail order season.  Moving just before Thanksgiving and then starting 90 hours a week all of December meant not too much unpacking got done LOL.  Truth be told my manicure area is still not set up.  

But this week is new and improved for the Digit-al Dozen and I didn't want to miss out even if I can't promise anything spectacular.  We've got some new gals in with us too so even more reason to get my rear in gear and get something on my ding dang nails!

I'm trying to live with what it is me shorties and it's not easy LOL!  My boss was SO sweet for Christmas he got me nail polish!  Yup he got me a little OPI mani set so I decided to pull a couple of these babies out and do a pretty new to me technique with them The Blobbicure.  I sort of like it, I don't love it but as a technique it's easy and it looks different than dotting.

This is OPI's Malaga Wine with blobs of Tickle My France-y on it

So the other thing about moving is not having the same over the stove light to take all my pics with either!  I'm going to have to play around with things here until I find best lighting

Or I might finally have to cave in and set up a light box!

Do you see how short my nails are??!! That's what moving and winter weather will do to you UG

I always feel like I have snausage fingers with short nails LOL!

So yes here it is my first post in a long time and it's not real earth shattering but it's something and it definitely means I'm back in the game!

Speaking of the game we've got some lovely new gals in the Digit-al Dozen!  Please make sure you check out everyone's link today so you can visit them!

An InLinkz Link-up

Memories of days past

In the middle of my very busy life my dad's cousin--my Uncle Ronnie died.  I haven't seen him much and only saw him once after my dad died and that was when his sister Becky died.  It shouldn't be that you only see someone at funerals but as you get older that's exactly what happens.  My Uncle Ronnie and my dad shared a birthday although my dad was 2 years older than he was.  They grew up together and spent time together as adults and he was a big part of my life growing up.  While his death is very sad it also reminds me of the times when we were younger and saw all the Grove cousins in action.  Those were some very fun times.  So instead of being sad and thinking about his being gone I'm spending the night thinking of all those fun family get togethers and picnics when we were young.  Instead of being sad I'm going to think that he and my dad are together in Heaven and hopefully they are golfing and bowling and and maybe even getting into a little bit of trouble up there.

Growing older is a part of our life.  Having to say goodbye to someone we love and care about is a part of our life.  It doesn't make it any easier though.  Sometimes I wish I could be better prepared for this but I never am.

Hold the people you love tight and always say I love you we never know when well get that chance again.

I thought a bit about grief and the turmoil it brings but also the peace and acceptance we eventually feel when someone dies when I did my mani tonight.

Zoya Cheryl with FUN 8 stamping in Mundo Copper and China Glaze Passion.

Blessings to you Uncle Ronnie and peace.  I'll be glad to see you again when I'm called home. 

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!

Dem Bones

Hi Everyone!  More Spring cleaning in the Fall going on here today.  I took the day off of work so we could get the place ready for the soon to be closed windows for the next 6 months.  I had really wanted to get the rugs steam cleaned but that looks like it's not happening until next weekend

I do have another mani to share with you today though.  In trying to keep up with the Bingo gamed in the Advanced Nail Group I had to do a skeleton mani and guess what???? I actually have a skeleton on my card!

I decided to use the very drop dead gorgeous Fathomless by Girly Bits as my base and then I stamped with BM413 and Mundo de Unas Mint.  This was pretty labor intensive because I had to place the skeletons just so to make them appear as is the are dancing

Fathomless is a dark forest green jelly with tons of hidden micro glitters

It is to die for!  And definitely one of my favorite polishes in the world!

How bout dem bones??!! Check out my dancing skeletons!

I'm sorting of liking this hand pose these days what do you think?

Can you just see all this fine glitter buried in Fathomless???? It's just stunning!

I know some people have said they have issues with this image from Bundle Monster but I have never had any issues with any of my BM plates

So this is sort of scary so I'm going to have to come up with some cute for tomorrow!  Hopefully I'll get  a mani in tonight!

Hope you all have a fantastic day!

Who says black cats have to be spooky???

Hi Everyone!  I've had a few days off which means more time to paint me nails and I had to get caught up with the Advanced Nail Stamping Bingo game!  Ruth already won our game but a lot of us are still doing mani's for a theme picked.  Black cat was picked and I'm sort of glad the game ended because I don't have one on my card but I still really wanted to use my Messy Mansion MM50 plate.  I adore this plate!  As a cat owner it's totally a must have!

I started with a base of Paint Box Polish Polar Bear Club which is a lovely holo blue with holo blue glitters making it extra sparkly!  Then I just added some black cats for this super simply yet adorable Halloween mani!

I dotted in some yellow eyes for these guys and was terrified while doing so because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep my hand steady!

I'm also trying to get used to the new lightbulbs I bought for under the stove.  Being an adult and trying to be more energy efficient could reek havoc on my mani pics!

It's a beautiful sunny day here and about 55 degrees.  I hope to get out and enjoy some of this pretty weather soon!

Hope you all have a fabulous day!