New Year - New Mani

Happy New Year, Kitschies!  It's been a while since I was 'round these parts.  I've been so bad about posting and reading blogs over the last few weeks.  Hopefully things will return to normal now that the holidays are over.  Speaking of the holidays...how were yours?  Was Santa good to you?  My boys had a great haul from Santa - Nate got his first bike (complete with training wheels) and Mason got a construction site play set with a remote controlled car.  It's been so much fun watching them play with their new toys...they really are spoiled.  Over the last few days, the boys have been trading stomach viruses...definitely not a good thing.  Today I'm home with them both and Nate's been up since 3:30 this morning with a yucky tummy and Mason's mad because I cut the tip off all his binkies.  It's going to be a long day.

ANYway...

I did my first new mani of the year last night AND I decided to trim all my nails so I could start fresh for the new year.  I knew right away I was going to use Zoya Alegra on my toes, but I couldn't decide what to use on my fingers.  I knew if I asked Nate for his input, he'd pick the most sparkly polish I had, so I asked the hubs to pick.  I reorganized my Helmer and other storage drawers yesterday so all he had to do was open one drawer to browse my untrieds (I have a lot more untrieds than I realized).  He decided on SH Xtreme Wear Gunmetal.  I was a little surprised at that choice, but I went with it.

Once I applied it, I wasn't all that excited about it.  It's a pretty color (reminds me of a black pearl), but it's a little too frosty for my taste.  So, I went digging through my BM plates and found a design I thought would work and I am *very* happy with my result!

SH Xtreme Wear in Gunmetal - 3 coats.  I used BM-210 and Orly Luxe for the stamping. 

I impressed myself with this combo.  LOL  It's pretty subtle but it's really classy.  It's best viewed in low light and that's why this picture didn't so up as good - it was taken in bright, direct sunlight.

The longer I see this color, the more it grows on me.  I doubt I would wear Gunmetal on its own, but as a base for stamping, it worked really well.  I love it when an idea comes together when you don't think it will.

Happy 2012!  I wish you all a great year and thanks for hanging with me for so long.  I'll be around more in the coming weeks.  Promise.

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.

A Swingin' Christmas Mani

Good evening, Kitschies!  I don't know how it is where you live, but it is FREEZING here in good 'ol New Mexico.  According to the thermometer on the patio, it is 16* and it's only 9 pm!  Good thing I have a heated mattress pad on the bed.  The boys are all snug in their extra warm jammies and as soon as I get things straightened up around here, I think I'm going to do the same.

As you've probably read, I went to Cali to visit my family for the holidays. We left super, super early on the 23rd, got there by dinner time, and left pretty early on the 28th, got home, unpacked, rested a bit and then the usual routine began the next morning.  Needless to say, I did not have a whole lot of time to do my nails.  I did, however, take a little time before we left to do a pre-Christmas mani.

This isn't the best pic to show off my nails, but it's a good one of the polish.  This is Swing Baby! from the China Glaze Vintage Vixen collection released this Fall.  I'm not really one for foil-y gold polishes, but this one is pretty.  It's a champagne gold foil that begs to be stamped!  So, stamp I did.

I managed to get just a bit of sun one morning and that was just enough to show off my nail art.  I grabbed plate BM14, China Glaze Jolly Holly and stamped a holly leaf design on each finger.  It was lacking something so I put one red rhinestone in the middle of each holly stamp.  I think it turned out pretty good.  I got lots of "Oh, your nails are cute" comments which is fine with me.  I ended up taking this off the first full day I was "home" because it was chipping pretty bad.  I know this was just last week, but it feels like forever ago and I have no idea how long I actually wore this mani. 

A closeup of one of my fingers - a blurry pic, but a more detailed image, nonetheless.  Do you like it?

Well, I put together my Helmer last night.  Usually I am no good at putting things like that together.  You know...things that require you to read directions?  Yeah.  Well.  I made a comment to the hubs that it was easier than I thought it would be.  Then I went to put the first drawer in.  I quickly realized that "easier than I thought it would be" wasn't quite the case.  It would've only taken me about 45 minutes to put it all together, but since I put the drawer guides on UPSIDE DOWN, it took me 90 minutes to put it all together.  Nice.  So, after a scraped knuckle (thanks to the fact I had to tear it all apart), a pinched finger (also from the deconstruction) and a chipped nail, I got the dang thing together.  And it looks pretty good!  As soon as things here at the house settle down a bit, I'll post some stash pics (the current count: 178!).  And just so you know...I'll be hosting a giveaway within the next couple of weeks so keep your eyes peeled!

OK.  I'm cold.  I'm going to get some stuff done around the house and then I'm snuggling up under the covers and watching some TV.  G'night.

I'm A Busy Little Bee

Monday, Monday, Monday.  Yep.  That's about it.  Happy Monday, Kitschies!  I hope you had a good weekend.  Mine was...busy, typical, full of chores, etc.  I'm kinda glad to be back at work.  And today is the first day that work is really back to normal - the first time in over a month!!  I have my co-worker back and both docs are here.  You know what that means, right?  It means I have time to post!  I really enjoy blogging, but it can become very time consuming if I let it.  If I have time at work, I usually try to sneak in a post because I'm so done by the time I get home.  Normal.  I'm good with normal.

I know I posted a poll to see which color I should wear first from the giveaway, and Ski Teal We Drop won by quite a bit.  I did wear it and loved it, but I wore this beautiful mani first.

This was my second successful water marbling - and it was gorgeous!!  This is ChG Riveter's Rouge (dark red foil with gold flecks) and ChG Swing Baby! (champagne gold foil).  I tried using Vaseline around my cuticles instead of tape.  It worked, but it was kinda messy.  I think I'll go back to tape next time.

Left hand - taken outside without flash and indirect light.  Oh, this was so pretty!!  The two foil polishes worked so well together.  I was kinda disappointed because it didn't last very long - I had a nail peel and it took a big chunk out of the polish. 

Wow!  You can see how bad I am at taking pictures of my right hand.  LOL  I especially like the design on my thumb.  I'm definitely going to have to try water marbling again with foils.  LOVE!  This was also taken outside, without flash and in indirect light.

That same weekend, I went to a friend's house to do her nails.  We attempted a water marble, but it was a big fat FAIL because one of the colors she wanted was just too sheer.  I know she was disappointed, but we moved on and did a cute mani that I had done a while back.  Here's a shorter version of my mani:

I know it's not exactly like she had hoped, but when your materials aren't going to work with you, there's not a whole lot you can do!  This is ChG Strawberry Fields as a base and Finger Paints Papier Mache for the flowers.  In the center of each flower is a lime green rhinestone.  I looked at her fingers this morning and she has a little bit of chipping, but her rhinestones are all still there!  I'm impressed.  And while I was there...

I did her girls' nails, too!!  I was so impressed that they just sat their and let me do their nails.  They didn't move an inch!  I used Zoya Charla on both girls.  And instead of big flowers, I did little flowers using my dotting tool and white acrylic paint.  They were both super happy with their little manis!  One of them is bugging her mom: Mom!  When is Megan coming back to do my nails (as she's pointing to one finger with a chip)?!  LOL  They like me.  They really, really like me.  Happy Megan!

Two quick little notes before I go today.  I did an entry to FAB RU NAILS weekly challenge.  This week was black & white.  She got lots of entries!   And...I am hosting my first recipe exchange.  Check out the post HERE to get the details.  I'm getting great feedback for this - join in the fun!  You have until October 12th to get me your info.

Listening to: A Whole New World by Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle
Mood: normal