Randomness

A bonus entry for the day.  The hubs is playing Star Wars on the Wii with Nate and Mason is napping.  I was going through my pending and pics folders and realized that I had a couple manis I hadn't shown you.  Why?  Maybe because they only had a pic or two or because they just weren't all that great (in my mind).  Either way, in an effort to start the new year off right and a bit more organized than when I left it, I'm going to show you some randomness.

I did this one for a black & white challenge on FAB UR NAILS.  I didn't really care for it, so I never submitted it.  Therefore, I never posted it.  Til now.  This is SH Black Out, Maybeline Express Finish in Shooting Stars (the glitter) and Finger Paints Papier Mache (white) with light blue rhinestones.  I'm still meh about this one.  I really like the glitter but it's PIA and takes FOREVER to dry - even with FDTC.

This is another FAB UR NAILS challenge, but I submitted this one.  I really do like this one; I don't know why I didn't post it on my blog.  This is ChG Foxy with gold and green acrylic paint and a gold rhinestone in the corner on the ring finger and thumb.

Love. Love. Love this color but it's super PIA to capture accurately.  This is OPI DS Extravagance - a GORGEOUS berry holo.  I think I didn't post this because I wasn't happy with the pics.

Another OPI.  This is Rumples Wiggin.  I like the color and the stamping (Color Club Wild At Heart) is cute, but I only got two good pics out of the mani.

OPI again.  This time it's William Tell Me About OPI.  I loved this color in the bottle because you can actually see the super dark plum color, but once it dried, it was darker and it was practically black unless you were in bright sun/light.  I think I wore this mani plain for a day and then added SH Hidden Treasure over top.  I liked it a little better after that.  Again, the pics aren't the greatest.

One more OPI for good measure.  This is Yodel Me on My Cell.  I do like this color, but it ended up be quite a bit more sheer than I expected it to be.  This was the standard 3 coats, but you can see on my thumb and pinkie that it could've used another coat.  Oh, and the stamps (stars done with Finger Paints Easel Come, Easel Go) didn't show up as much as I would've liked.  That's my big fat fatty kitteh, Sol, in the first pic of this set.

Zoya has yet to let me down and this one is no exception.  However, the pics aren't great and that's why I never showed you.  This is Gloria from the Fire & Ice Flame collection.  It's a really pretty light raspberry pink glass fleck.  The pictures aren't great (are you noticing a trend here?) and so it stayed in my blog pics file.

Zoya Mimi.  Beautiful medium purple glass fleck.  This is the *only* pic I have of this one for whatever reason.  This is more purple than blue as it shows here.  Why are purples so hard to capture accurately?

So, there ya go.  I get to clean up my folders a bit and you get to point and laugh at the horrible pics.  Which one is your favorite out of this?  And the worst?

Jack Frost

Nothing like a fun Christmas song to start the day!

Good morning, Kitschies!!  I got some rest and I'm ready to go today!  It took a while, but I'm finally in the Christmas spirit.  I think I just let myself get too overwhelmed with everything that has to get done and then once most everything is accomplished, that's when I allow myself to enjoy the season.  Oh, and hearing Christmas music on the radio and seeing Christmas displays in the store before Thanksgiving probably doesn't help the bah humbug attitude, either.  I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

In celebration of Winter, I put together this pretty little mani last week.  I had been itching to try this polish because it's SOOO pretty in the bottle.  It did not disappoint!

Zoya Crystal from the Fire & Ice Flame collection that was released in October.  Crystal is described by the Zoya website as a light, silvered shiny blue metallic foil with sparks of brilliant yellow gold.  A cool, snowy winter blue that's ideal for any Ice Princess.  I don't usually describe myself as an Ice Princess (Ice Queen, maybe, but that's besides the point), but if it means I can rock this polish, you can call me whatever you want.

This is photographed indoors with flash.  The blue in this picture is a little deeper than it appears IRL.  I was feeling the chill of winter so I pulled out plate BM14 with the snowflake and stamped a couple flakes on my ring finger and thumb on both hands in blue Konad special polish.

This is much more color accurate.  Taken outdoors in indirect light.  See all the gold flecks?  It makes this polish GORGEOUS!  It almost looks textured but it's smooth.

You can see the stamp the best here.  My little nubbins. :(  They grow pretty fast, but not fast enough to do some funky French for Christmas.  Seeing these pictures makes me want to go home and do another mani with this color!

So, what do you think of Crystal?  Is she a keeper?

Matte About You?

Yeah, if Matte means MAD.  LOL

Hello, my dear Kitschies!  I hope this evening finds you well.  It's Tuesday, and that means Parenthood is on tonight!  WOOT!  But...the hubs is getting ready to leave out of town for two nights tomorrow, so I'm sure we won't be sitting down to watch TV tonight.  *sigh*  Mason had a better day today.  He only had a very low-grade fever and was in much better spirits.  I think last night was the worst of it.  He's still not 100%, but he's getting there.  As for me, I didn't have much of a headache this afternoon and I think it's because I got an adjustment by one of the chiropractors I work with.  We'll see how I feel in the morning.  For now, though, I'll take a chance and say that I'm also on the mend.

A couple weeks ago, after I received some awesome polish from a giveaway through Glamorous Geek Chic, I could not wait to do something with at least ONE of the polishes.  While the hubs and I watched The Hurt Locker (good movie, BTW), I decided to play around with a matte polish and one of the pretty ChG Vintage Vixen colors.

This is Maybeline Express Finish in Matte Sapphire and ChG Jitterbug.  I picked up Matte Sapphire months ago at the Dollar Tree, and it's a good thing I only paid a buck for it because it is the suck.  It doesn't dry matte, it dries semi-matte and the application is gloppy and just yuck.  Luckily, I had ChG Matte Magic top coat, so I slapped a coat of that on top of "Matte" Sapphire.  I also added it on top of Jitterbug because it's a pretty glossy gunmetal silver foil.  When I was finished, I showed the hubs and he basically said "that's it?" and I decided to experiment with some fauxnad.

Thing is, you can't really see the image.  I used Jitterbug (silver) on top of the "Matte" Sapphire and visa versa.  I used the vine-y image from BM21.  It was kinda pretty IRL, but in pictures, it was really hard to pick up.  I was so disappointed with this mani, I took it off by the following afternoon. 

I don't really get the whole matte thing.  Unless it's for something specific (case in point), I really don't see why somebody would rather have a matte finish over a pretty, catch-your-eye glossy finish.  The same can be said of Orly's Plastix collection (as shown by The Manicured Manitee here).  Is there something about matte polishes that I'm just not seeing?  Wait.  I can think of one exception: Hot Mess by Man Glaze.  That is a gorgeous matte, but definitely the exception.

I promise to have a better, far superior mani to share with you next time.  Promise!

So...the hubs is out tomorrow night and Thursday night, so cross your fingers that 1) Mason feels better because I don't want to deal with a sick kid and a 4-year-old who has WAY too much energy and 2) that they cooperate enough to go to bed at their regular time.  Sweet dreams, Kitschies!

Think Horses

...and not zebras.  That's a rip-off of something they teach you in med school.  When you hear hoof beats, think horse, not zebra.  In other words, don't look too far in to something because, chances are, the solution (or, in this case, diagnosis) is simple.

Good evening, Kitschies!  We made it through Tuesday, and I. am. tired.  Being so bogged down at work is really kicking me in the booty.  I am beyond grateful to have a job, much less one that I love.  But, I'm ready for things to go back to normal.  I just have to be patient - and anybody who knows me will tell you (readily) that I wasn't patient enough to stand in line when god handed out patience. 

I must've been tired the night I tried this mani.  The afternoon before I did this, I emailed my bestie and asked her what I should do.  First thing out of her "mouth" was ZEBRA!  OK, then.  Let's do this thing!

I started off with Sally Hansen Black Out on all but my ring fingers and then Finger Paints Easel Come, Easel Go! on the ring fingers.  EC,EG is a bright silver foil - great consistency, 2 coats for complete coverage and perfect for stamping.  This was my first attempt at a whole-nail stamp.  I had some difficulty.

It didn't look bad, but it didn't look good.  I got really frustrated because I couldn't line up the image exactly right.  I had to overlap some of the design (you can really tell on my ring finger).  I got lots of compliments with this mani, but I was not impressed with myself.  I know, I know.  Practice makes perfect.  But, we are our own worst critics!

I was so not impressed that I ended up taking this off the very next night - I usually wear a mani for at least 2 days, and 3 lately.  Even somebody at work (a new medical assistant) asked "Do you change your nail polish EVERY night?"  I wanted to say Yeah, what's it to ya?  But I told her no, but I couldn't deal with the design I had on for one more moment.

So, there ya have it.  First full-nail image was a pretty good fail.  You win some, you lose some.  Now it's your turn to share.  Have you had a mani "malfunction" that you couldn't stand to look at more than 24 hours?  If you have a blog, did you share it with the world or did you quietly hide your hands in your pockets and walk away?

I'm off to watch the season premier of Parenthood.  There are many reasons I like this show, but the #1 reason?  Two words: Peter Krause.  I love that man!  How much do I love that man?  I watched Dirty, Sexy Money *just* for him (because the show was HORRIBLE).  Oh, and Lauren Graham ain't half bad, either.  See you tomorrow!

KONAD!!!

Happy Friday, Kitschies!  I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel that is this work week.  We're not doing anything exciting this weekend.  The hubs and his bestie are going to their studio on Saturday to do their once-a-month "power summit" where they do...I don't know what they do.  LOL  All I know is that they go to their studio and they come home.  Wow.  I'm an awesome wife, aren't I?  *sigh*  Anyway, since I'll have the boys to myself on Saturday, I'm hoping the weather will be nice so we can go to the park in the afternoon/early evening.  And I'm hoping to make some cookies with Nate, provided Mason cooperates and takes a nap.

As the title suggests, I got a Konad set and a Bundle Monster set of image plates for my birthday!  I was one happy Megan on my birthday!!  And on top of all the great Konad/fauxnad goodness, my bestie gave me a bunch of Confetti polishes.  This is the first one of the group I tried.

This is Confetti Belle of the Ball.  I had been on the hunt for the perfect light purple/lavender/lilac creme and I think this is it!  This is 2 coats with top coat taken indoors with flash.  The formula was nice though the brush was a little on the thin side.  I'm not complaining for two reasons.  1.  I got it for my birthday (I love it anyway) and 2. for $1.99, how can you go wrong?!

But I didn't leave this mani as just a pretty purple delight.  I had fauxnad plates calling my name!  I was a little nervous using them for the first time (which I did earlier that afternoon), but then I realized it was much easier than I thought it would be.  Thanks to all the stamping how-tos I read and watched before I even got my stuffs, doing the actual stamping was a breeze! 

I am not saying that this looks professional by any stretch of the imagination.  But what I am saying is that this was fun and easier than I expected.  I'm not in to the swing of things with this yet so I didn't write down the plate number, but I can tell you it's from the Bundle Monster set.  I used Sally Hansen Black Out and Konad special polish in white. 

One more picture for good measure.  This is the left hand.  On the right hand I did the exact opposite for the colors and used white on all but the index finger.  I liked how this all turned out and it wasn't too hideous for my first stamping experience.  I hope you don't get bored of the nail art I put up because I can bet you're going to see a lot more of it!

And now a question for those of you who have stamping image plates.  How do you store them?  I'm keeping mine in a small kraft envelope for now.  I picked up a container at Target for my ever-increasing polish collection on my birthday, so I'm trying to get things a little more organized.

Have a good weekend!  From me next week you can look forward to a new recipe (or two), the return of Workout Wednesday and some manis.

Listening: A bad smooth jazz remake of Imagine
Mood: sullen