It's Pronounced Fronkensteen

Happy Halloween, Kitschies!!  I have a compilation post for you today of all the Halloween inspired manis I've worn over the last week or so.

But...before I begin...a clip from one of my all-time favorite movies - Halloween or otherwise.





There is no more magical connection that Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder and Cloris Leachman!

Anyway...on with the polish!  All pictures are click-able to make big-able. :)

These were my first two in my Halloween sets.  I started with a base of WnW Black Creme then I used two coats of ChG Ick-a-Bod-y from the Awakening collection (Fall 2010).  This gave me the effect I was looking for but I was a little disappointed because the orange glitter is a little chunky and made the finish a little rough.  That's just me being a little over critical.  The orange glitter is a perfect color.

Next up is Franken Fingers.  LOL  I started with 3 coats of Kermit with a Twist, a great franken creation from DragonRhi Creations.  It's a pretty apple green base with darker green and gold glitter.  I got this one is a box of franks from Chris and I don't know why I waited so long to use it.  It's so pretty and wears like iron.  Using my black striping polish, I created little Frankenstein stitches on each of my fingers.  This is the mani I wore to the derby championships last weekend.

Speaking of derby championships, you saw the whole look in THIS post, but here's a better full-face pic of me that night.

I went with a green eye theme to match my nails.

Next up are my mummy accent nails.  I used Ulta Underground on 3 of the nails and ChG White Out on the accent nails.  Then using my black striping polish, I created "bandages" and I used yellow acrylic paint for the eyes.  I ended up doing this just on the left hand because I was too heavy-handed to do good looking bandages on the right hand.  And ignore the smearing of the black stripes - stoopid striping polish smears no matter how long I wait to put on top coat.

This is what I wore for the end of the week last week and through most of the weekend.  This is Zoya Tanzy (from the Sunshine collection, Summer 2011).  What I like about Tanzy is that it has a bright orange color but there's lots of gold glass fleck in there, too.  I painted little flowers toward the tips of my nails using black acrylic paint and Tanzy as the center of the flowers.  Somehow, this ended up kinda looking like leopard print, but I knew they were flowers and that was good enough for me.  LOL

Last but not least, this is what I'm wearing for Halloween.  I used two coats of WnW Black Creme and then I sponged on a few coats of ChG Zombie Zest (also from the Awakening collection, Fall 2011) using a makeup sponge, just on the tips. 

I really liked this one because the slime-green glitter on the tips makes the black base almost look like a super deep green (think Nars Zulu).  I don't know what made me think of doing this look...it just kinda popped in to my head on Sunday afternoon.  I think it's a good end to two weeks' of Halloween manis!

Whatever you do for Halloween, be safe!  Keep an eye on the little ones - they're super crazy tonight.  I'll have pix of my little guys in a few days.  Happy Halloween!!!

Fade to Black

Good morning, Kitschies.  It's a dreary, cold Thursday over here in my neck of the woods.  You know the kind of day...a day where all you want to do is hide under the covers with a good book or a warm body and lay there...all...day.  I'm flying solo today here at work, so it's probably going to be a short post.

To sort of reflect that dreariness outside today, I have an equally dreary (color-wise) mani to share with you today.  But first, a little explanation as to the inspiration for this one.  I was in a mood to do a sponge gradient so I sat down with a bunch of colors and turned on Douche Bagans and the crew of Ghost Adventures.  Say what you will about ghost hunting shows (yes, I know, most of that shite can be disproved, but whatev), but they're good to have playing in the background when I'm doing stuff like doing my nails and want to have background noise.  Anyway...they were doing a lot of work with black and white video and then it came to me.  Black to white gradient!

After getting the bugs out with my You're Fired! sponging gradient, I had a better idea of what to do with this one.  I started at the tips with Zoya Raven then sponged ChG Recycle and finished with SH White On.

To finish it off and maybe make it a bit more mystical (yeah, right), I added a layer of ChG Fairy Dust for a little sparkle.

The faded effect didn't turn out as strong as I'd have liked, but I still like the end result.  Have you tried a sponge gradient before?  What colors do you go to first?  Any tips for a beginner sponger like myself?

Alright.  I must get to gettin'.  It's shaping up to be a busy-ish day here at the clinic - but nothing that I can't handle.  Me strong like bull.

WWtKW: Shopping Edition

Good morning, Kitschies!!  It's that time of week again.  It's time for We Want to Know Wednesday.  With your hosts: Mamarazzi, Queso and Crazymama!



This week's questions are brought to us by Queso, who has been on a shopping spree as of late.

1.  Do you shop until you drop or are you in and out as quick as possible?
2.  Are you a price conscious shopper?
3.  What store could you spend HOURS in?
4.  What is the most frivolous purchase you have ever made?
5.  What was the last thing you bought for yourself?

1.  Do you shop until you drop or are you in and out as quick as possible?

It depends.  If I'm grocery shopping or shopping *anywhere* with the boys, I am in and out as quick as possible (which is never quick enough).  But, if I'm shopping with my bestie, we could shop for HOURS just because we're out of the house.

2.  Are you a price conscious shopper?

Yes and no.  If it's a big-ticket item, I do my research (cars, electronics, etc).  But if it's everyday stuffs, I just grab and go.

3.  What store could you spend HOURS in?

Easy.  Ulta.  It's my nemesis.  Or Bed, Bath & Beyond.  Seriously.  I could so re-stock my kitchen.

4.  What is the most frivolous purchase you have ever made?

I try not to make frivolous purchases, and when I do, they're usually not too costly.  With that said, I think my nail polish purchases are pretty frivolous.  As well as makeup purchases.  And I have Makeup Zombie to thank for all of it.  LOL

5.  What was the last thing you bought for yourself?

Nothing exciting.  Toothpaste, LifeWater and sour watermelon candy.  See?  Told you.  LOL

Link up with us, won't you?  It's fun to play along and all the cool kids are doing it.  C'mon!  DO IT!!

Happy Wednesday.  Have a great rest of your day!

Red Hot

Good day, Kitschies!  So.  I went to derby practice last night.  I skated about 40 minutes and that's about all I could take.  My toe was kicking my butt!  LOL  Kinda sounds funny, but I couldn't take it.  I should've listened and not pushed it, but I'm stubborn, so I thought I could work through it.  I couldn't.  So now I'm super frustrated and don't know what to do.  I am *not* the kind of person who can just sit on the sidelines.  Good god...it's just a little toe!  *sigh* 

Anyway...enough of the venting.  I have a mani that was pretty enough on its own to not do anything to it.

This is Zoya Nidhi (from the Sparkle collection).  On Zoya's website, it's described as a rich red, sparkling metallic.  I agree with that, but despite what you see in this picture, it's a tomato red (read: yellow-based).

I waited for a long time to pick this one up.  I have a few of the others from the Sparkle collection (Charla, Ivanka, Mimi) but I wasn't all that impressed with Nidhi at first. 

But now I know I was wrong.  Nidhi is beautiful.  She is one of the few polishes that are pretty enough to be left alone.  I love that the shimmer in this one isn't the typical gold shimmer you usually see...it's silver.

If you haven't picked up any of the Sparkle collection, you should!  Really.  They're all so pretty.  I think, between the bestie and I, we have them all.  LOL

One More Summer Fling

Happy Monday, Kitschies!  It was a fun weekend over here in the Land of Enchantment - well, Saturday was fun, anyway.  It was derby championships and I got all dolled up.  I was stuck behind a computer for both bouts, but I got to don my skates and glide around the area a few times.  It felt so good to be back on my skates - I hadn't laced them up since October 4th and let me tell you...I am itching to get back on the track!!  I'm going to my first practice tonight since breaking my toe - wish me luck! 

And yes...I hear you...rest that toe. :|  I hear you.

Now...for the real reason of the post.  Nail polish!  LOL

Waaaaay back in August (yes, another mani from August), I got on a French mani kick.  This is one of the few that survived the cut.

This mani *screams* summer to me!  I did the tips with CC Tangerine Scream (from the Electro Candy collection) then I used Finger Paints Paper Mache for the flowers and dots with a blue rhinestone in the center of the flowers.

I don't usually go for neon polishes, but I dig the whole Electro Candy collection.  They have the prettiest flash to them.  The orange has a really pretty white pearl flash to it.  Oh...and that's Nate's little foot over there in the corner of the pool.

I really liked the contrast of the bright bold cobalt blue against the neon orange.  And the white dots broke up the blank field of the nail bed a bit.

This is how Tangerine Scream looked in the shade.  I don't know what it is about neons, but you can't really capture their heat unless you're in half-light.

Friday Confessional: Irritation Edition

Good morning, Kitschies!  It's Friday...can you believe it?!  It seems like the last week kinda just flew by...again.

I haven't played along in a long time and it's time.

Time for Friday Confessionals!  With your host, the lovely and awesome Mamarazzi.

I confess...

I get so irritated by Mr Nate.  How can he refuse to eat dinner (something that everybody else is eating without complaint), ask to go to bed early then pop out of his room *the* second he hears popcorn popping in the microwave?

I confess...

I am super irritated at myself.  Well, my toe, really.  I broke it almost 3 weeks ago while at my parent's house and it *still* hurts.  Still. 

No, it doesn't help that the boys keep stomping accidentally stepping on it, but c'mon!  3 weeks!

I confess...

I am still super irritated by myself.  I want to get back to skating so bad.  So. bad.  It's derby boot camp tomorrow and I can't go.  I can't do it.  Freaking. toe.

I confess...

I am irritated that with ALL my polish choices, I can't decide which one to use next.

It's like looking in to a closet full of clothes and not being able to find something you want to wear.  Ridiculous, right?

I had a nail art idea in my head last night but I couldn't find *the* green I needed.  I don't even know if I own the green I wanted, but I settled for the one that was close enough.  

I confess...

I'm irritated that there are hundreds of miles between me and the people I want to be with.

Somebody needs to build a time machine...STAT! 

And one good one (OK...maybe two) to balance out all the complaining...

I confess...
It's derby championships on Saturday and I can't wait.  If I can't skate, at least I can watch!

I confess...

I officially picked my derby name: Dr. Girlfriend (bonus brownie points to anybody who gets the reference).

I feel better now.  It's always nice to vent at a good friend (or two).  What do YOU have to confess?

Inspiration

Good day, Kitschies!  I hope your week is flying by and you're as productive as you want to be.  I did not want to come in to work today.  Not at all.  And for good reason.  It's super-de-duper slow today.  Like, we had six patients between two doctors this morning.  *yawn*  Luckily the afternoon has filled in a bit and it looks like I'll actually have something to do.  In the meantime, I decided to give you a post.

I finally sat down last night and prepped pictures.  I now have enough pics for 10 posts.  10 posts!  And I'm still not caught up!  ANYWAY...I have had this mani sitting in my pending folder for months.  I was inspired by a (ex)coworker's scrub top.  I find inspiration in the strangest places sometimes. 

I started with a base coat of ChG For Audrey then I water marbled that with ChG Goin' My Way (brown) and SH White On.

Wow.  I'm horrible at taking pics of my right hand.  LOL  I like how this marble came out pretty consistent - with the exception of my right thumb.

My left thumb pattern was my fave out of the group.

And, in contrast, the right thumb was my least favorite.  You can't win them all, right?  LOL

Here's a little better pic of my right hand.  Good thing I don't have to take pics of that on a regular basis!

And a pretty sunlight pic for you.

I know I say it every time, but I think this is my favorite marble to date.  I have another marble hanging out in the pending folder - I'll get to it eventually. 

I want to do another marble (maybe for Halloween?) but I'm horrible at pairing/matching colors.  So, here's your homework: give me color combos to try!!  Please!

I'm off to eat lunch.  Hope you have a fantabulous day.  I'll be back soon with some Friday Confessionals.  It's been a while!

Like Pumpkin?

I know *I* like pumpkin!  Wait.  Scratch that.  I *love* pumpkin!!

Good morning, Kitschies!

Today I am guest posting over at the awesome Housewife Eclecitic for Month 'o Pumpkins!  The very talented Debra asked if I'd share a pumpkin recipe with her and her readers - how can I pass that up?!

Click on the super cute button below to check out my guest post and to see all the other great pumpkin themed posts she's had this month!

WWtKW: Randomness At It's Best!

Happy Wednesday, ladies & gents!  I've been slackin' a this blogging thing lately and I apologize.  It's hard to juggle life sometimes.  Please accept my apologies.

I'm linking up with Mamarazzi, Queso and Crazymama for another installment of We Want to Know Wednesday.

So, put down that laundry, fill up your coffee cup and sit down with me for some great Q&A!

1.  When was the last time you lost your temper?

2.  What 3 words best describe you?

3.  What movie could you watch over and over again and never get tired of?

4.  If you could do something dangerous, just once, with no risk, what would you do?

5.  Which is more important intelligence or common sense?

1.  When was the last time you lost your temper?

Since I'm working on this on Tuesday afternoon and there's still time between now and when this gets posted, I'm going to say Monday.  Monday was not a good day.  Things got said that needed to be said, but, yeah.  I lost my temper.  

2.  What 3 words best describe you?

Stubborn, stubborn and...oh...stubborn.  LOL  Oh, you mean 3 *different* words?  OK...first is definitely stubborn.  Then there's strong.  Oh, and funny.  I can crack you up!  Really...I can.

3.  What movie could you watch over and over again and never get tired of?

I can't pick just one so I'm going to say 40-Year-Old Virgin (that's my life right there), Meet Joe Black (I'm a sucker for a romantic story), American History X (hellooooo Edward Norton!), Whip It! (Ellen Paige is too cute) AND...Glory (great score, great history, great scenery).

4.  If you could do something dangerous, just once, with no risk, what would you do?

I'd say roller derby but I'm doing that and it isn't as dangerous as I thought it was going to be.  So now, I think I'll go with...I have no idea.  A good answer to this question is escaping me right now.

5.  Which is more important intelligence or common sense?

That's a hard one.  I think common sense is better because without that, all the intelligence (ie: book learning) in the world won't tell you how it really should be.  I have plenty of intelligence, but sometimes I have to rely more on common sense than what I've learned in "school".

Thanks for joining me today!  Now why don't you join a bunch of other wonderful gals and LINK UP with us and share your answers to these great questions? 

PS:  My posts don't usually look so messed up - Blogger is being a PITA this morning and isn't formatting correctly, no matter what I do.  Sorry!

I'm a Rock Star!

Good morning, Kitschies! I hope you had a fantabulous weekend. Mine started off swimmingly - the bestie and I went out for a girls night out and let me tell you...we worked it! We hit 3 different bars, got drinks bought for us and got home around 2 in the morning. Now, that may not be a big deal to you youngins, but to this old lady, that's a BIG deal. LOL We had so much fun! Thank you, Mz Zombie for a great night out! The rest of the weekend was spent doing things around the house (chores - joy) and I did a little baking for the peeps at the office. They got THIS and I don't mean to toot my own horn, but WOW! This stuff is awesome.

Anyway...I have another mani for you today that I wore back in mid August (yes, I'm *that* far behind - I told you!).  This mani reminds me of a rock star for some reason, hence the title of the post.

I started with a couple coats of SH Complete Manicure in Midnight in NY.  I drew two diagonal lines creating almost a triangle with a red glitter striping polish.  I closed out the triangle with a red star rhinestone.

It was cute like that, but I added a bit of sparkle with some black glitter acrylic paint between the two red lines.  I liked how this turned out but I was kinda disappointed how long the rhinestones last.  Or, rather, didn't last.  I applied them like usual (push them in to the still-tacky polish then cover with top coat) but they fell off within a day!

And it's not like the stars were pointy - they were rather rounded at the tips.  So I don't know what made them come off so fast!!

So, what do you think?  Are these rock star worthy?

OH!  And another thing...I used Revlon Grape Fizz this morning as an accent nail and oh em gee.  It's really pretty but that shite STINKS!!  It is so sweet smelling - it made me nauseous.  They lasted about 2 hours on my nails and thank jeebus I had acetone at the office because there was NO way I was going to last the whole day with that stuff on my nails. 

Awesomeness *pic heavy*

Good morning, Kitschies!!!  I'm baaaaaack...for reals this time.  LOL  My bestie's hubs un-exploded (read: fixed) my computer and now I have access to the internets at home again!  And now I can get back to blogging.  Yay!  I can't believe it's been so long since I actually posted - my, how time flies.  I have sooo many manis and recipes to share with you - it was hard to pick what I'd come back with!

I have a gorgeous polish to share with you today.  I picked this beauty up at Dollar Tree a YEAR ago and it sat in my Helmer until about August.  After wearing it, I do NOT know how I let it sit there that long.  It. is. awesomeness.  And though I wore it in the dog days of Summer, it really reminds me of Fall.

It looks like your basic red shimmer in this flash pic, but let me assure you, it is nowhere near basic.

This, my friends, is SH Nail Prisms in Amber Ruby.  It is a duochrome (multichrome?) that starts off red, then flashes amber.

Just an FYI: I did not manipulate the colors in these pics at all.  The only thing I did was crop them a bit and slapped on the blog name.  This is just how full of awesomeness this polish truly is.  This (and the previous pic) was taken in indirect sunlight.

In bright sunlight, the red comes through more than the gold, but you can still see a hint of the amber shining through.

At the right angle, you can get the amber to just glow when it's in bright, direct sunlight.  No matter what color you see, it's awesomeness.  I'm sorry...did I just say that again?

 Clouded sunlight.  LOVE this polish.  I seriously don't know why I waited so long.  I can tell you that the bottle has not been shoved back in to my Helmer - it's been sitting on my computer desk to remind me of it's awesomeness.

I know this pic is a little blurry, but I liked how it shows both the amber and a touch of the ruby, more of a bronzed ruby, really.

This is easily the best find I've made at Dollar Tree.  AND...it came in a pack with another polish, so really, this only cost me 50-cents!  SCORE!!!  Have you had any great finds like this at Dollar Tree?

Like I said, I'm WAY behind in prepping pics and posting.  If there's a color you'd like to see next, please, let me know.  I think I have a bit of everything waiting patiently for me.

I'm Baaaaack...Sorta

Good morning, Kitschies.  Long time, no post, huh?  I returned from my vacay with my family late last week.  I had a great time (GREAT time!) and I was sad to come back to Albuquerque.  I came back to a very excited 5-year-old who proceeded to Velcro himself to my arse the following day.  It's nice to know I was missed, but c'mon!  LOL  Anyway...I'm back in to the routine, but...and this is a *big* but...I exploded my computer at home yesterday.  *sigh*  I'm only connected at work now and it sucks.  Seriously.

So, I don't have much of a post for you today.  I do, however, have a few pics to share with you.  The biggest reason I went to Cali was to participate in the Walk to Defeat ALS.  My mom was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gherig's disease) 10 years ago.  She is doing remarkably well considering ALS is usually terminal within 3 years (average), so every moment we get to spend with her is a blessing.  I hate when we miss the walk and the hubs could tell I was getting depressed over it, so he told me I should go.  Let me tell you...I am so glad I did!  So. glad.

All pics are clickable for better viewing.  This is part of the gang - family and friends.  Oh!  And I even got to skate the walk!  More on that in a second.

I got to take Mason with me - he had a blast with everybody (even though he was being insanely shy that morning).  Mason found a buddy with my dad (Beba) - they both loved it!

My mom and Mason.  For some reason, it was all Mason could do to keep from smiling.  Silly boy!

Auntie Chicken with Mason.  I wish she could've stayed home longer but a double-header softball game called her and Uncle Ryan away the next day.

The night of the walk, we had a BBQ at my parents house.  It was much warmer than we're used to this time of year and Mason was all sweaty!  LOL 

While I was there, I was able to skate the walk which was a nice bit of exercise.  But...I managed to break a toe and let me tell you it sucks.  It hurts.  A lot.  I wasn't even doing anything exciting - I was going over to pick Mason up out of a chair and I jammed my toe against the corner of the wall.  It was all I could do to not scream obscenities (being in the presence of my son and my parents and all).  I got to skate with the league in Bakersfield and in case you were wondering, skating (well, trying to skate) with a broken toe does not work very well.  That practice KICKED my butt and the side of my foot went numb!  Went to work on Thursday and had them take a picture of my toe - yep.  Broken.  So, I'm on orders to give my foot a break and even though I *really* don't want to, I didn't go to practice on Saturday and I probably won't skate tonight.  Having a broken toe sucks WAY more than I thought it would.  LOL

So, there ya go.  You're updated.  I missed you all and can't wait to get back to blogging.  Cross your fingers that I didn't really explode my computer.