Guest blogger: Christmas mani!

Hello, my lovelies!

I have been sick for several days (first time in almost 5 years!) with a nasty cold so my good friend Mary has offered to guest blog for me again and show off her Christmas looks! Take it away, Mary!

BZZZZZZZ! It's busy bee time!

Hello, my lovelies! 

It’s a hot summer day, so I decided some bzzzzing bees were in order! I was surprised by how many bee manis were there out there, and I have a second one planned as well. They’re so cute!

The one I chose today is based on The Daily Nail’s, from 2010. I really liked the whimsy of the flight pattern in this. I spend a lot of time in the garden, so I deal with bees on a regular basis.

I love the spring honeybees, who are nonaggressive and busy with their pollinating job. The big old bumble bees that are cute and fuzzy looking, are the gentlest of the bunch. They just want to hover over the flowers. But those big, ugly, hornets ans wasp (including yellow jackets), stay away from them. They are the aggressive, mean and very painful stingers! Honeybees have been disappearing across the country in entire colonies, and this is worrisome. A lot of people don’t realize how reliant we are on honeybees for pollinating all kinds of crops across the country. Missing colonies is bad news for everyone!

COOOKIES! OMNOMNOMNOM!

Hello, my lovelies!

I had hoped to post this yesterday but I was out of town with friends all day and didn’t have time. So instead, I’m bringing it to you today!

I wasn’t sure what to put on my nails Saturday but almost everyone who answered the question on FB, said “Cookie Monster!” A dear friend was spending the night so we did our nails, of course! (and I forgot to get a picture of hers, damn!)

Kleancolor Chunky Holo Poppy!

Hello, my lovelies! 

Today I’m wearing Kleancolor Chunky Holo Poppy. I got this baby for $.01 on Copious! (Have you joined Copious yet? Use my referral link toget $10 in credit when you join!).

This baby arrived on a scorching hot day when I was stalking the postman. I had to let the bottle cool down because it was so hot!

The first thing I noticed about this when I opened it was that it doesn’t stink nearly as much as the blue one I have! Warning: pic heavy!

Another Funky Frenchie!

Hello, my lovelies! It’s Friday again and today I have a funky Frenchie for you. Jilltastic Nail Design’s challenge this week was a French mani, but it didn’t have to be the traditional white. Yay! 

I’d been doing some swatching today so I’m a bit high from the fumes and feeling rather tired! Please forgive me for not being too verbose today.

4th of July fishtail!

Hello, my lovelies! Happy 4^th of July! This Navy daughter salutes our troops and all who served so that I can enjoy my freedom. It also would have been my grandparents 75^th wedding anniversary (they’re both deceased).

First off, I have to say I’m Not Happy with this mani. I seem to have trouble with the weaving and it’s just super sloppy. I followed Lucy’s Stash’s tutorial, but I botched it up 4 times. 4 times!!! This is the 4^th round. I’m too tired to try again. In the pictures, she doesn’t show using tap, but either she does, or she just has a great steady hand. So, next time, I will use tape to make the lines nice and crisp. I really like this look and am determined to get it right, so expect to see more of this mani style in coming weeks. 

Jem is Truly Outrageous!

Hello, my lovelies!  Today’s manicure is a super special labor of love. 

My buddy Jenn over at My Indie Glam Addiction is having an awesome nail art contest and the theme is JEM! Any child of the 80s like myself will know immediately who this is. I can still sing the entire theme song and some of the songs featured in the show. I’ve dressed up as Jem for Halloween at least twice in my life-and one of the costumes is still hanging in my closet ‘cause the last time was just a couple years ago. 

A Tribute to JR Ewing and Dallas!

For those who are new, or don’t really know me, yet, I LOVE the 80s tv show Dallas. I grew up watching JR scheme and ruin people and (literally) push Sue Ellen into a sanitarium. For years I could only remember parts of the last couple seasons (I was a kid), so last year I started collecting the dvd sets-I think I only need 3 more!

When it was announced last summer that they were working on a "continuation" of the show, I squealed in joy. Since then I’ve followed every scrap of news I could get. The younger generation doesn’t thrill me (actor-wise) but knowing that JR, Sue Ellen, Bobby and co were returning to the screen just makes me grin like a fool. Ray, Lucy and Cliff will be back as well! I feel like I’m going to a reunion of old friends!

What does this have to do with nail polish? Because it inspired me to do a very special mani, as a tribute to Dallas. I came up with 5 things that represent Texas, and free hand painted them on the left. There’s no way I could do them as well on the right, so instead…they got something else, as you see.

Please forgive my ugly cuticles, I touched them up in Photoshop so they wouldn’t be so scary!

My first water marble!

Hello, my lovelies! So I finally got brave enough to do a water marble mani. I’ve been admiring them for ages now but frankly, was a bit intimidated. Using Water Lilies tutorial, I realized it wasn’t that hard. And I had always thought it seemed like a waste of polish but her tutorial explained you had to redo it for each nail, so it totally wasn’t what I was thinking and you’re really not wasting much polish at all. 

I used an old shot glass instead of a cup. For colors I used China Glaze Liquid Leather (black), Essie A Crewed Interest (pale peach) and Essie Turquoise and Caicos (minty green). Essie A Crewed Interest is almost the same color as both the old politically incorrect Crayola color “flesh” and freakishly almost  matches my skin tone. It's all topped off with Seche Vite, of course.

An Orange V!

A few days ago I was wearing an orange tank top and olive green shorts. I thought the colors looked good together and wondered how to make them into a neat mani. I’ve always liked the “V” manis, but the last time I attempted on a few months ago, it was a disaster. Sloppy, uneven-I couldn’t even bear to take a pic of it. So this time, I thought it through a little better and was more careful with the tape, placing it carefully and removing it quickly. 

This is two coats of China Glaze Agro (from The Hunger Games collection), which, really, Agro is almost good enough to get by with one coat. The triangles are Essie Fear or Desire (3 coats) and topped with Seche Vite. While this attempt is definitely neater than my first, and it looks like how I envisioned (mostly), I don’t love it the way I thought I would. It’s lacking the ‘wow’ factor I thought it would have. I think it’s because the V doesn’t go low enough. I think next time it should extend down the entire nail, instead of the shorter version I have now.And maybe a creme for the green, to go with the orange.

Of course, about the time I finished one hand, I remembered I was going to try a water marble originally. Ah, well, maybe later this week. I’m so bummed over the season finale of Game of Thrones being last night, I may have to work on some Westeros-themed ideas. There’s no way I can freehand paint any of the house sigils…

Memorial Day mani!

As today is Memorial Day, my first mani to share is something patriotic! I am a proud American and ask that you give a moment of thanks to all who have served this beautiful country. Being from a military family, I get a little choked up at such times. My dad was Navy, my uncles were Marines, and my BFF just finished her stint in the Navy. Needless to say, I have special fondness for the Navy and Marines. And yes, I watch NCIS.   

Now, moving onto the mani-that's what you'r here for, yes? This is…an assortment of art. I wanted a flag, but it’s a lot of work and I have yet to pull off a great tape mani. So I did the thumb with the American flag, a variation on the middle finger, dots on ring and forefingers, and a nail decal of Uncle Sam’s hat on the pinkie (no way can I freehand that!). I used China Glaze White on White, China Glaze Eyes Like Sapphires, and Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby.