Why You No Green!?!

Good day, Kitschies!!  It's FRIDAY!!!  It's supposed to beautiful weather this weekend, so we're planning on taking the boys sledding on Sunday.  I can't wait!  I think it'll be more for me than the boys, but it'll be fun either way.  Saturday will be spent getting things done around the house so we can play on Sunday.  What do YOU have planned for the weekend?

I have a fun mani to share with you today.  I've done a few like this before, but of the 3 I've done so far, this is, by far, my favorite.

I started with a base of a pale, pale pink Color Club (I cannot remember the name of it right now).  I wanted something light but not as stark as a plain white.  This super pale pink worked perfect!

Then I splattered ChG Four Leaf Clover (yes, that really *is* green, almost a neon green, but it would NOT capture correctly at. all.) and Orly Charged Up (purple) alternately on each nail.

For a more color-accurate pic, check out this swatch by ALU.  No matter how I tweaked the settings on my camera and no matter what I did in Photoshop, I could NOT get that green to look green.  Strange.  Usually I have trouble with purple.

I loved this mani!  Some of the polish dragged when I put on top coat and usually that would bug me but this time it gave it an almost watercolor effect, a la David Mack.

And just as a little side note, I've noticed I've picked up a few new followers here and there and I want to say WELCOME and thank you!  It's amazing to me that people are interested enough in what I do on my blog to follow me.  Keep an eye open for a giveaway to be happening very soon!  Happy weekend!

And It Goes Splat

Good Monday morning, Kitschies!  *yawn*  It's Monday again...already.  And I'm at work...sorta working.  The docs are gone for 3 days and I'm pacing myself on the work I have to do.  Nothing exciting - just working on EMR forms - but definitely not enough to keep me occupied for 3 days.  But sssshhhhhh!  Don't tel them that!

Saturday, the bestie and I went to see some Duke City Derby.  Holy crap that was awesome!  We haven't been out like that in soooo long AND the matches were so much fun!  So much so that I want to do it - I want to be one of those Roller Derby girls!  So. much.  But...I have a crappy knee and I really think all it would take is one good fall and I'd be out for the count.  Like, on the surgery table out.  I have a good brace, one that would probably keep me from injuring my knee more, but that brace was fitted when I weighed at least 50 pounds less.  GAWD I wanna do this but I don't see myself losing 50 pounds so I guess it's going to have to be one of those "when I was younger" dreams.

Anyway...I was going through my polish pix on Saturday and this mani screamed Roller Derby to me, so I'm sharing it with you today.

In early June, I saw this tutorial on The PolishAholic and I *had* to try it!  This was my first attempt at a splatter mani (my second attempt can be seen HERE) and though there were some spots I didn't like, I do like the overall result.

I started off with 2 coats of Zoya Raven.  If you click on the pic to make it bigger you can see there's a really pretty hidden sparkle in Raven.  It's more apparent in the bottle, but I'm not really complaining.  I did this mani in late June - I didn't think my nails grew fast but if this was only about 6 weeks ago, my nails have grown quite a bit! 

Then I splattered ChG Spontaneous (purple) and SH Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away (blue, duh) over Raven.  Love it!

It took a little practice but by the end, I had it down!  The pinkie finger looks kinda like a blue blob with some purple dribbled over it.  LOL

Here's my camera-shy right hand.  I really, really liked this mani.  The colors were great together!  But I can't take credit for the pairing: The PolishAholic posted her blue, black and purple splatter mani - that's the post that inspired me to try a splatter mani in the first place!

I want to thank everybody who voted for me in the Styled On DIY nail art contest.  Judging is today and they'll announce the winner on Wednesday...cross your fingers for me!

Enjoy your Monday!  I have some good recipes coming up soon, so be sure to keep an eye out for those yummies!

Listening to: Gone Forever by Three Days Grace
Mood: It's Monday

Happy 4th of July - Version 3.0

Happy Independence Day!!  I hope you are enjoying a day with family and friends today.  We spent a good evening with friends last night and me and the boys (hubs included) are hanging out together today.  It's pretty dang hot here and the boys spent some time in our little wading pool and now I'm cooling off and putting together this quick post to show off my 3rd of 3 patriotic manis (#1 HERE, #2 HERE)...and I think I save the best for last!

A couple weeks ago I saw a splatter mani on The PolishAholic.  I did my first splatter mani (which I'll post soon-ish) with a black base and blue and purple splatters.  And I couldn't pass up doing it for the 4th!

I started off with two coats of ChG White on White then I splattered ChG Frostbite (blue) and Zoya Alix.  I had some issues with my first splatter mani, but I got it down this time!  This pic was taken outdoors in filtered sunlight (there was a lot of smoke in the air - that's why my skin looks more orange than usual).

Ah...the standard sub-par pic of my right hand.  LOL  Of all my patriotic manis, I think I liked this one the best!  I know I said it before, but I really don't care for ChG White on White.  It seems to chip pretty easily, at least easier than my go-to SH White On.

How are you celebrating your 4th of July?  We'll be BBQing some tri-tip tonight but we won't be doing fireworks.  It's waaaay too dry here and the fireworks are hard to find at the moment.  Have a safe 4th!