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Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Water marble using piCture pOlish and OPI

I haven't done a water marble in a while. Possibly, last year? I love the look and I don't think it's really hard... it's just time consuming. (If you want to try it, I suggest watching a few videos from Collette over at My Simple Little Pleasures. She's, in my opinion, the Queen of Water Marble. She has excellent tutorials and unlike some, her videos are always in FOCUS.)

Polishes used:
piCture pOlish Violet Femme
piCture pOlish Freya's Cats
OPI Alpine Snow


I was playing around with using a scarf or other fabric for hiding more of my hand. I have short fingers so I find it difficult to hold my hand just right so that you don't see my palm so much.
The scarf above is one that I got for a steal in Scottsboro at Unclaimed Baggage.


I used the blue winter scarf to highlight the blue polish:



And for fun, here's the right hand:



By the way, Happy Fall Ya'll!






Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Kudos to someone at Hobby Lobby

I could literally walk around Hobby Lobby for 2 hours at a time and not get tired, hungry, or bored. I love that place. I'm positive that I've been up and down every aisle in that store, whether I care for that certain craft or not. The always have a fab selection of picture frames (sort of hard to find in a lot of stores for some reason). And the amount of stuff in the middle of the store, the stuff already crafted/made and for sale) is what really sets it apart from Micheal's or Jo-Ann. (In Minnesota, we had to drive almost 2 hours to get to the nearest Hobby Lobby. I hated that. I have 2 within 20 minutes from me now.)

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Hobby Lobby looking for Halloween decorations for the house. They had a little bit of stuff, maybe an aisle and a half. They had over 3 aisles featuring Fall decorations. And of course, 6-7 aisles already packed for Christmas.

(I know. A lot of you think it's too damn early. On some level, I agree. As much as I love Christmas music, I don't want to hear it in the stores until AFTER Thanksgiving. But the craft stuff? Hey, it takes some of us a few weeks/months to create the stuff we want to use during Christmas. And if you wait until closer to Christmas to buy the goodies, a lot of it will already be gone/picked over.)

I have a post in the works to showcase what all we chose for Halloween this year since our front door area actually allows for decoration. Look for it at the beginning of October.

Today, I just wanted to give an interwebz high five to (I'm guessing) an employee at my local Hobby Lobby who must have thought "This display has potential".

The other side of this display was dedicated to Superman and Batman.

I couldn't get a more head-on photo due to a display being in my way. It's harder to make out in the pic, but that does say 'YOU' right above the little Star Wars sign.

My husband and I were quite pleased with this display since we are both fans of the movies. (More the ones we saw as kids, not the newer ones featuring Mannequin Skywalker.


Are you a Hobby Lobby fan?





Monday, September 22, 2014

It seems the Tooth Fairy is a pushover

Not long before we moved down south to Tennessee, Peanut lost a tooth. (She's 8 so she's used to it by now.) But instead of the usual 'leave the tooth and you'll get money' deal, we found out that sometimes a certain tooth can mean a great deal.

Peanut mentioned to us that she wanted to keep this particular tooth. (Don't ask me why, I haven't got a clue.) We explained that in order for the Tooth Fairy to leave money, she had to have a tooth to take with her... that that was just how it worked. You don't usually get something for nothing, even with magical beings.

She thought about it for a day and then said she was going to write the Tooth Fairy a letter before she set her tooth out for collection. We looked at each other and thought, fine...write a letter but that tooth will be joining the rest of your teeth found in that little plastic white tooth from the dentist. You'll get it back once you realize that Momma is the Tooth Fairy and not before.

I swear she spent half an hour on the letter prompting me to ask her if she was writing a book. When she was done, she handed it to us and wandered off to her room, surely dreaming about all of the quality time she'd be spending with her tooth should the Tooth Fairy decide to play ball.

This was the letter that Peanut slaved over, asking for a small (really freaking tiny) favor:


I swear, the last part made me tear up a little. Could she be any sweeter? "You can ride in my pocket, if it does not bother you." Our little Peanut making sure that she'd be able to take the Tooth Fairy with her during this HUGE change in her life.

Of course, I wrote her back, as the Tooth Fairy of course. I even used a pretty nifty swirly sort of handwriting in that note. I told her that normally, I (the Tooth Fairy) didn't allow children to keep their teeth but since she asked so sweetly, I'd make an exception this once time.
I told her that I would take the tooth for now and find a jar small enough to hold her precious white treasure.

And I told her that although I couldn't ride with her to her new home 1000 miles away (I have children all over the world that need cash money for teeth... full time job, you know), I appreciated the offer.

I also told her that no matter where she moved, I would always be with her.

So, we moved in mid May.
Neither she nor the adults in the house mentioned the tooth for a little while. (Moving makes you forget about stuff like that.)

Fast forward to this past week.....

She lost yet another tooth. The Tooth Fairy visited in the night and left some money for the newest tooth. And I promptly freaked out, having actually freaking forgotten about that damn tooth jar.
I kept thinking, where in the hell was I going to find a jar that small and looked cute... like something the Tooth Fairy would make.

And the it hit me.
The one site that seems to cater to things like this.
The site where I sell my own wares.


ETSY.


I found this adorable little bottle sold by elephanttales.

I ordered this with a bright pink ribbon and Peanut's initials. I figure she can keep her special little tooth in it on her bookcase. When she's older and finds out the truth about Momma/the Tooth Fairy, we can transfer her remaining teeth from that little plastic tooth to this bottle.


Yeah, the kid got to me. She's a sweet girl with a big heart and she's only mentioned the tooth and jar once since the letter. That's the sort of patience I applaud in an 8 year old.



Have you ever found yourself doing something weird/crazy for your child on request?



Friday, September 19, 2014

Fa-la-la-la-blue stars in winter

If I can post St. Patrick's Day manicures in September, can the Christmas one be far behind?


I saw an idea on Pinterest during Christmas a couple of years ago and I had to try it. I love Christmas. I love giving gifts, Christmas cookies, decorating the house, eating traditional Christmas food, etc. Oh and lights. I LOVE all the lights. I tried my hand at drawing lights on my nails.

Mani of Christmas Past:
I don't think it turned out too bad and I was especially proud of the tree on my ring finger. I used regular scotch tape to make the outside of the tree and striping tape for the lines in the tree. Dotting tools made it easy to decorate the tree but you can use a toothpick if you don't have any of your own.


This next mani was an excuse to use more blue and silver. Looking over all of my pics on my computer, I seem to favor blue and silver.


Blue and Silver Glitter/Stamping mani:
This mani was fun and sort of screams winter... but I'd be willing to recreate this one in the dead middle of summer. Come to think of it,I might do that next year.


That's it for the manicures of old this week. I might have a few more next week.




Have a great weekend!






Thursday, September 18, 2014

Galaxy and Laser manicures... so spacey.

Back when I did my very first Galaxy mani, Galxy manis weren't that common. I remember seeing a tutorial around that time and thought I'd give it a try. Now it's almost impossible to go on to Pinterest and NOT run across a tutorial or picture featuring Galaxy nails. The great thing is that so many ladies have come up with so many color combos when creating Galaxy nails and it's fun to see them.

This was my first attempt, right before a trip to Disney. I remember hating when it finally needed to come off my nails. (I think it's time to try it again.)

Galaxy nails:
(I do wish the photo was better. There is a chance I took this in the car on the way to Florida.)
The polishes I used, I believe:
Base- China Glaze Liquid Leather
Other colors- Sally Blue It, OPI Ogre the Top Blue, and China Glaze White on White.
I remember using a purple but I don't remember which one. 
I topped off the mani with China Glaze Fairy Dust.



The next mani was me playing around. I am not great at free-handing lines on my nails. (Not back then and not now.) But my DRK-A plate had lines... or lasers. To me they looked like lasers once I put it over the blue.
Laser mani:
For the base, I used Orly Lunar Eclipse. It's beautiful on its own... one of my favorites.
For the lasers, I used Color Club Lumin-icecent. It looks a lot more silver on top of the blue.


I'll have one more post of old manicures this week ready tomorrow morning and then I'll be playing tour guide for the weekend when my mother-in-law comes to visit.

See you tomorrow!


 

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Snowflakes in September?

Why not, right? Poor Wyoming got snow this year before Labor Day even found us.

Since I lived in Minnesota for 6 years, I lived with a lot of snow. And at the beginning of the winter months, I loved anything snow related. Sadly, as the months of cold and darkness moved on, I would cringe at the sight of flakes.

So, if memory serves me, both of these manicures were done before the inevitable hatred of winter kicked in.

I tried my hand at gradients on this first one and stamped snowflakes in silver. The matching pants in the background were not intentional.  Haha. It was winter and they were comfy.


Instead of doing a gradient on this one, I used different colors on the snowflakes to capture winter.


It will be interesting, at least to me, what happens with my winter manicures this year since I'm living back down south. I may enjoy the winter a hell of a lot more, as long as freak blizzards don't show up.


More manicures tomorrow!
See you then.





Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Old St. Patrick's Day manicures

Hello all.
Seems strange to be posting St. Patrick's Day manis when Halloween is flying quickly in our direction but I don't see any reason to wait months, do you?

Plus, this is comical to me since the first St. Patrick's Day mani is from closer to when I first started trying my hand at nail art and the second is from a year later when I realized stamping your nails can bring more life with less effort.

First up, St. Patrick's Day mani- 2012:
I hate to say it, but other than using China Glaze White on White for the base, I have no idea which other polishes I used for this. Greens. That's all I recall.

I think I had just gotten my dotting tools and I remember holding my breath a lot when dotting. All in all, I don't hate the manicure. But the photo could be a lot better.


St. Patrick's Day mani- 2013:
For this mani, I actually DO know what I used! The green is China Glaze Running in Circles and the white is Konad white. The shamrock stamp was from MJ1.

I loved this mani because Running in Circles is so shiny. It's fun in all sorts of lights.


Tomorrow, I'll have a few more manicures from the past to show you so come on back and check them out.






Monday, September 15, 2014

Old manicures from the past, brought to the present

I used to make nail polish. (I might make it again in the future, who knows?) And with that came a blog announcing new shades and photos of my manicures and nail art. Since I don't use that blog anymore, I decided to bring the older mani pics over here.

Can I just mention before the pics... I seem to have improved in the last 2 years. Hahaha.
The older pics have less than stellar lighting, I could never get my fingers in a row, and I hope my art has improved.

Black and Silver water marble
I have to say... the marbling was good. 
Lighting and background could have been better.



Purple Holographic Butterflies
This one was tons of fun to look at in the sun. 
Fairly certain I used a purple holo from Layla.



I'll have a few more posts this week with a few more pics of older manicures.