Following A Tutorial Week

Hi Everyone!  Happy Monday!  This week my friends and I are doing mani's inspired by a tutorial.  When I first started stamping my nails I was pretty voracious in following tutorials and searching the internet for pics of mani ideas.  Tutorials are so helpful when it comes to mani's especially when it's a new to you technique.

But sometimes a tutorial is just about an incredibly beautiful manicure and that's why I've chosen this tutorial from Ashley at Ashley Is Polish Addicted 

She did a great mani with the Zoya Summer Pixie Dusts.  I didn't have all of them so I had to switch out the light purple I got from Forever 21.  This really does look like a snow cone!

I really love the textured polishes and love gradienting with them!

I tried to mimic Ashley's hand pose but I can't quite get it LOL!

Thanks for such a great tutorial on this AWESOME mani you did Ash!!

Are you ready for some football???!

Hi Everyone!! Happy Sunday!  Today is the day the Packers host the 49ers in the playoffs.  We are gladly welcoming all the boys from San Francisco to the frozen tundra!  As I mentioned yesterday we are bracing for some very cold weather over the next 3 days.  Schools are already closed for tomorrow and some businesses in the area are talking about closing early.  I'm not sure why they close early as it's colder in the morning than midday LOL!

In any case it's going to be cold, cold, cold and MOAR cold! 

We did not get much snow yesterday which was great.  I braved the elements today to grab some snack stuff for the football line ups today.  Tonight during the Packer game we are having steak and brussels sprouts sauteed with bacon and onions and a smidge of soy sauce.  Yes even if we lose that's a winner meal!

I did a Packer waterfall mani for today.  Just something simple.  A bit hard to capture the pretty gold foil of Zoya Kerrie but I tried my best!

While the Packer colors are green and gold our jerseys are definitely green, yellow and white LOL!

So I did my mani to match our jersey colors.  

Here's a shot in the shade to try to catch some of Kerrie I used

I'm looking forward to a great game day and spending time with my son.  Hopefully this cold front will get in and get out pretty quick.

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

Brrrrrrr it's cold out there! Better get on a sweater!

Hi Everyone!  Happy Weekend!  Here in Wisconsin and throughout the Midwest we are buckling down and bracing ourselves for the coldest weather we've had in decades.  Starting Sunday and going into the week we are expected to see record low temperatures--Monday and Tuesday we are looking at a negative number norm with an even higher windchill negative.  They are talking up to 40 degrees below zero with the wind chill

Why this is bad--HOLY COW this is cold!  Temperatures this low cause frostbite to skin if it is exposed for ten minutes.  Temperatures this low cause damage to your lungs if you aren't breathing in the air from something covering your mouth and nose first

Why this is good--we play the San Francisco 49er's on Sunday in the wildcard play offs! Woot!  Come on up boys we'll show you some weather you'll never forget in our OUTDOOR (cuz only real men play football outdoors and not under a dome) football field!

Today it's not super cold yet, it's actually quite warm out there for almost 10 am with a temp of 28.  I'm going to be venturing out today in search of the new Maybelline maple kiss lipsticks and possibly a trip to the bakery for some good rye bread to go with my spinach dip I have made up.  But after that I'm buckling down for the duration.

My sweet friend Gina from Red Dog Designs sent me an awesome Christmas package this year and in it she had a polish that's been on my wish list for a long time!  The delicious dark blue metallic Rodeo Fanatic by China Glaze.  I decided to do a cute little holiday sweater mani with it using my MoYou Festive 06 plate.  I think it turned out super cute!

Here's a nice pic under the kitchen light and then this one with the flash

As you can see Rodeo Fanatic is just a gorgeous blue!  The best part about it is how much Gina knows I love cowboys so I'm all about the rodeo anything!

If you are in the path of this cold weather front PLEASE BE CAREFUL!  Make sure you are prepared for anything and everything that could occur during this time.  And honestly don't go out unless absolutely necessary UNLESS you are a Packer fan headed up to Lambeau--then you may go out and enjoy the game!  I'll be watching you having a blast there from the warm comfort of my home as we root on our boys!  Go Pack, Go!!!

Welcome 2014!

Hi Everyone!!! Happy New Year's Day!  Today in Wisconsin we are ringing in the new year with snow, snow, snow and then some more snow!  Nice to be able to sit it and watch it come down from the outside!  We are still having our bitter cold weather too.  I'm spending my day reading, working on some nail art ideas for the weeks to come and watching my beloved Discovery ID channel!  
I recently bought A TON of nail polish so I want to make sure I'm using it and not socking it away.  I really want to make 2014 the year I don't just carelessly buy and not use the polish I've bought.  It happens to a lot of us in the nail polish community we buy and buy and buy when we already have enough polish to last a lifetime so we end up not even using the polishes "we just had to have".
I'm also going to focusing on using the plates I have as well.  I have bought a lot of plates as well and I find I get them and don't use them.  Seriously, I just bought 4 Messy Mansions but haven't used the 12 MoYou I got, or the Pueen Love Element Set nor have I really used the last 2 Bundle Monster sets! This just needs to stop LOL!
My vow for 2014 is to use the polish I buy and not set it aside and buy more; to use the plates I have and not keep falling back on images I've already used or have used time and time again.  I'm letting you all call bull on me if you see me using something tried and tried over and over again.

I did want to showcase and highlight some of what I think were my best mani's of 2013.  I tried to narrow it down to ten and that was just a ridiculous concept considering the fact I do my nails just about every single day!  So in no particular order let the pics begin!

I did 2 butterfly mani's this year I loved, this gold sparkle one and this gradient blue one

I went a little wild with some animal print, doing 2 zebra looks I really liked

I did a couple mani's to match my clothes--or someone who I worked with lol!

I had a super fun french tip neon gradient this year too!

Sometimes I went really simple and it turned out stunning

Sometimes I didn't do anything simple at all and it turned out stunning

I went crazy a few times with studs and spikes this year and each time I loved it!

Remember when I matched my friend Jen's shoes and purse?

or when I did this totally impractical collar recreation?

I also did this one my first sugar spun mani with some black studs

I feel in love with textured polish!

I did a lot of mermaid and dragon looks!

I had to survive an entire year without my dad, and it sucked

Many of my friends call me the Gradient Queen

of gradients both bright and dark

Through it all I just love to stamp

Thanks so much for being with me in 2013--I hope 2014 brings you all my love, happiness, joy and success!

Happy New Year!

Hi Everyone and a very happy New Year's Eve Day to you all!  I am off work today--a big WOOT to that!  We've talked about getting out to see a movie but it is about 5 degrees outside with a windchill factor of negative 11 so um yeah that's not happening!  Instead I'm sitting inside and reorganizing my polish stash--looks like I'm getting rid of a lot of glitter right away to start out 2014 LOL!  I'm going to do some snuggling with the cats and chinchillas and do some reading and of course catch up on all my blogs!

I did do a pretty kick ass New Year's Eve mani and it matches my new bracelet and ring perfectly!  

Here it is my first ever Waterfall mani and I just HAVE to thank Ashley from Ashley Is Polish Addicted because I did one first that just did not look good.  she helped me figure out exactly what was wrong with it and I just love this one!

I used black, white, silver and some China Glaze Sexagon for my sprakle!

Too cold to go outside for pics so we have to settle for shots in the bathroom!  I promise I was fully clothed at the time!

Here it is with some natural lighting by the window

And here it is with my new ring and bracelet!!! Woot!!!!

Definitely loving this easy yet dramatic look for New Year's!  The waterfall look has been around for awhile now but I do believe it was first created by the very fab and talented Sammi of The Nailasaurus.  If you haven't tried one yet why not make it the first mani you do of 2014?

I'd like to wish you all a very happy, healthy and joyous New Year!  I hope 2014 is good year for each of us.  Thank you for following me and taking time out of your very busy days to look at my nails!

Two is better than one!

Hi Everyone!  Happy Monday!  I am riding high on the tails of the Packer victory yesterday! Wow! What a nail biter of a game!  Thankfully that's just a phrase and not something I really did!

Awhile back Sarah from Samarium's Swatches did a gorgeous layering combo of OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest and Elevation Polish Toubkal.   I finally wisened up and bought Toubkal during the great sale Elevation Polish had and boy am I ever glad I did!  It is just gorgeous!  I wanted to try to layering combo Sarah did and it turned out just stunning.

It's as if the two colors were meant for each other

I love these dark vampy colors!

I stamped over it using my new MoYou Suki 09 plate and man oh man!

I think this is truly stunning!

I am such a fan of the MoYou plates!

If you look at Sarah's pics you'll see Oktoberfest looking more purple, not sure if it's my skin tone or the camera but I get more of a red plum than I do a purple look.  It doesn't matter to me--I love this no matter the color!

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve!  I haven't really thought ahead to a mani yet!  I might try a waterfall mani as I haven't done one yet and I think they are so pretty.  What are you planning on your nails for New Year's?

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