Sunday, May 27, 2012

Memorial Day Mani!

This weekend is for remembering.  For remembering that there were men and women who gave their lives to fight for our country.  For remembering that there are families whose loved one never came home to them...there are children who will grow up without their mom or dad, and wives and husbands who are now widows and widowers.  Those men and women are the reason why we can still enjoy the freedoms we do. 

So, while we enjoy our holiday weekend, and spend time with our loved ones, please do not forget why we are celebrating...
I got my Pretty & Polished's "Freedom Calling" just in time for my manicure!  It's freakin' awesome.  This is 2 coats of "Freedom Calling" over Zoya "Diana" (red) and China Glaze "First Mate" (blue) and "White on White".  I LOVE how this came out, and I'm super-proud of my USA flags!

 I painted them red first, then used a white striper before making a blue square and dotting white stars in.  BTW, I must say that Zoya is freakin' awesomely perfect polish that went on flawlessly in 2 coats..practically painted itself on!  "First Mate" was no slouch either, and had full coverage in just 1 coat! 

I'm spending my Memorial Day weekend golfing.  And I thank my service men and women for my ability to do so.

THANK YOU!!!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

A Mani Worthy of Lacquistry "Oh, Yes I Did!"

So, of course, as soon as I get the chance, I wanted to bust out my Lacquistry!  I hadn't yet worn my "Oh, Yes I Did!", so it seemed like the perfect choice.  It's a lovely BROWN glitter with larger holo hexes that glint turquoise and green in the light.  It's absolutely stunning!

I wanted polish job which would do this gorgeous glitter justice, so I figured a water marble would be just the thing.  Here's my first try:

Hmmm.  Close, but no cigar.  The blue is China Glaze "First Mate" and is too....blue.  It doesn't pick up the aqua-ish glitter in the OYID.  So, I took it off.  Yup, I removed my hard-earned water marble, and decided to go darker & use a blue that matched better:


SCORE!!!  I used China Glaze "Shower Together", Ulta "Chocolate" and OPI "Studs & Stilettos".  I think it's gorgeous, and perfectly matches OYID.  I love it! 

I've had this mani on for going on 5 days now, and I never get tired of admiring it ;-)  But it's growing out, so I need to think of my next creation....

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

I Conquered Plasma!!

So I've finally finished the challenge laid out by Plasma Speedo: Plasma Plays in 21 Ways.  "#20: Go Yellow", and "#21: Add a Black Stamp to that Yellow".

Well, I mentioned before that I don't like yellow.  But gold is a shade of yellow, right?  Right!  And stamping?  Well, I just did that not long ago, so I wanted to do something different, but I still adhered to the black edict.  Behold my final Plasma creation:


This is an Orly "Glitz" french tip dotted with China Glaze "Liquid Leather" and swiped with my black striper.  This was fun to try.  A little sloppy, but I'm still new at this!  I really liked this one!

Anyhoo, I'm all done with Plasma!  YAY for finishing my first nail challenge!  I'll have to find another, but in the meantime, I'm gonna play around with whatever I want :-)

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

More Zoya! "Lotus"

The last 2 mani's for Plasma Plays in 21 Ways involve yellow.  I don't like yellow on my nails.  But I do have a pastel yellow that might be ok, but I've recently gotten tanned from golfing (I don't wear gloves), and pastel yellow on super-dark skin is no bueno in my humble opinion...

So, I'm skipping them for now, and playing with my gorgeous Zoya polish instead!  Here is "Lotus"
It is such a beautifully perfect shade of lilac purple!  And, just when it seems fantastic, it gets even better with it's faint pink shimmer.  Fantabulous!!

So after wearing this gorgous color for a couple of days, I decided to spruce it up a bit.  I wanted more practice with my stamping plates, so...
This is Pure Ice "New Lilac" stamped with Konad 57.  I still need to get better with placing the stamps, but this was a fun little accent, and I like how it came out really subtle. 

Gonna have to cut the nails down when this mani comes off...it's getting kind of dodgey to type :-)

Monday, May 14, 2012

Beetle...Juiced!

This is my #18 and #19 in Plasma Plays in 21 Ways:  "18. Wear a Purple" and "19. Add a Chevron to Your Purple".  I was sick last week when I did these mani's and only took a pic of the finished product:



This is Hard Candy "Beetle" under China Glaze "Liquid Leather", and I added little purple rhinestones too!  Yes, I'm counting "Beetle" as a purple, even though it's green and gold at certain angles.  I free-handed the chevrons.  I was going to cut tape with my fancy scrap-booking scissors and use those, but I couldn't get the tape to cut cleanly.  So, this is Plan B.  Not too shabby for a back-up plan, right?  I loved how this one came out!

P.S. - Rhinestones don't last long on your fingernails when you golf! :-/

Monday, May 7, 2012

Zoya Girly Girl Mani!!

These are the next two mani's in Plasma Speedo's Plasma Plays in 21 Ways:  "#16 Wear a Pink" & "#17. Add Flowers to That Pink". 

Well, since I'm obviously in love with my new Zoya's, you should not be at all surprised about what I've got on my nails:

This is "Reagan" (dark pink) and "Shelby" (light pink) topped with Seche Vite.  This mani is actually 1 1/2 days old, and had gone through 10 hours of typing at work, and then a couple sinkfuls of dishes and kitchen duty, and the various other daily stuff we working moms do.  I didn't even paint the edges like I'm supposed to, and it's still gorgeous!  YAY for Zoya!

Ok, so then I had to add flowers.  But what kind?  Well, this whole challenge for me is about trying new things, so I figured no dotting tool flowers.  I've got cute rhinestones I've been wanting to use, but none of them seemed to do it for me, so I turned to my stamping plates.  I've got a Red Angel set, and a Shany set, and haven't really used them because I suck at stamping.  But I've seen such cute mani's all you other bloggers create, so I had to try!
This is an image from Red Angel plate 121 stamped with "Reagan" and China Glaze "White on White".  Even though there are some wonky spots, I love how this came out!  Very Hawaiian-y.  I had to double-stamp each nail since this wasn't a full-nail design.  I learned that I have to totally chillax when stamping, that I need to SLOW down, and NOT press so hard.  Taking my time prevents the horrible smearing and helps with placing the images where I want them.  After I figured that out, stamping was actually FUN!  Imagine that....

So, that's that!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Zoya Paint Splatter Mani

So, my next Plasma Plays in 21 Ways  are "14. Today we will wear blues", and "15. Grab a Straw and do Some Paint Splatters Over that Blue".  OK, then. 

Although today is Tuesday, I'm calling it "Wednesday", har har har!  Anyway, this Zoya polish is very different.  It's actually a little more green than in the pics...kind of like the color of copper when it starts to turn green...that vintage-y, tarnished, Statue of Liberty greenish aqua.  Very unique.  This is 2 coats with no top coat.

So, now I'm to do paint splatters on top of these with a straw.  Crazy lady say what?  Here's the video to show you how.  So, I figured I'd just stick to the Zoya Summer collection I just got since they look so awesome together.
 Left
 Left
 Right
Right

Ok, so I used Zoya "Arizona" (orange), Zoya "Shelby" (pink), and China Glaze "White on White".  This method made such a mess!  And I got dizzy from a combo of blowing through the straw, and breathing deeply of the polish fumes.  And, even though I coated my skin with Chapstick prior to the splattering, clean up was extensive.

But, it was cool to see what design would blow out next.  And also frustrating when nothing came out, or just a big blob splattered on the nail (e.g. Right-hand pinky).  I would have liked the colors better had the base been white and then had the colors splattered on, but I still think they're super-cute and spring-y. 

So, I'll definitely do this again, because it's such a different look.  But probably with less colors, and maybe a dark background w/a light metallic.  Oooooo. 

Are you going to try this method?