Sunday Stamping Shamrocks!

Hello, Fireflies!

St. Patrick's Day is coming up, and today's challenge is to put on a little o' the green!

Dance Party!

Here we are, Fireflies! The last day of the Celebrate the Occasion with the Challenge Your Nail Art group.  This has been fun for me, and I've definitely had to give some thought to these special occasion nail arts.

For my freestyle mani, I decided to do a Dance Party! So, my dancefloor is Wet 'n Wild Black Creme with a smattering of Sephora by OPI 18k gold topcoat.  Reading '70's excess already!

Check out this groovy stamping plate by Winstonia! Bell-bottoms, big hair, and disco balls! I used W216 and Essie No Place Like Chrome, as well as Maybelline Bold Gold for the stamping.

I couldn't resist pulling some of the holo circle glitters out of OPI I Snow You Love Me for a little extra bling-bling!

It's a Studio 54 Discotheque Glitz and Glam Sparkly, Gold Lame' Dance Party!  All that's missing is the coke!

Bottle shot:  Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, Essie No Place Like Chrome, Maybelline Bold Gold,  OPI I Snow You Love Me, and Sephora by OPI 18k gold topcoat.

Do the Hustle!

An InLinkz Link-up

Circus! Circus!

 Hello, Fireflies!

Our penultimate challenge this month is Circus Day.  I haven't been to a circus since I was a little kid.  What I remember most vividly about it was going to the bathroom with my friend and she ditched me there.  I couldn't remember how to get back to my seat, and I was pissed and a little scared, and an usher had to help me find my friend and her dad out of the thousands of people there.

Probably why I didn't go to the circus again...

Deep breath.  Clean slate with Revlon Spirit, a lovely white.  I topcoated it with Rica Glossy Glam, so it's shiny and hard, too.  I was gifted with a bottle of Glossy Glam from Ricarda, and I must say, I really like it!  It is a thin, smooth topcoat that flows effortlessly over the nail and dries fast and glossy. It makes a great surface to stamp on, too.  The only thing I can't speak to is longevity, because I change my polish so often.

There probably isn't going to be a better time to use this Winstonia W209 stamping plate than a circus challenge! All circus/fair type images! I stamped with Finger Paints Black Expressionism.

I took a bunch of stripers and played Coloring Book.  My husband said it was like a color-by-numbers!

 I added SOPI Meet Me At The Disco for a sparkly finish.

Bottle shot:  Revlon Spirit, Finger Paints Black Expressionism, stripers in red, metallic pink, and glitters in purple, gold, and green, and SOPI Meet Me At The Disco.

Do you have happy memories of going to a circus or fair?

An InLinkz Link-up

Darling Stripes - #NailArtForNubs

(If you missed it, my Beauty Box 5 January box review went live this morning.  You can find it HERE.)

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's nail art was inspired by geometric nail art by The Nailasaurus.  Nobody does nub nail art like Sammy.  I really love the shape of her nails, and her art is always so clean.  Mine is definitely the lazy girl version!

I started the look with Cameo Colors Lacquer Darling Nikki, a purple holo with red glitters.  I really thought it was a red polish at first!  It's pretty unique in my stash, and I really like it.

If I had used tape, this part would be cleaner, but that's why this is the lazy girl version.  This is Julep Anisa, a blood-red creme. 

This part is where Sammy's nail art looks so awesome - because her nails look so perfectly square at the bottom, the stripes look so much sharper.  No matter how hard I try, I can't square mine off.  I don't like the pointy edges, for one.  Pointy things = owie.

Sephora by OPI Break a Leg Warmer is a pretty grey that I love with both the purple and the red, and I think really brings all the colors together.

Bottle Shot:  Cameo Colors Lacquer Darling Nikki, Sephora by OPI Break a Leg Warmer, and Julep Anisa.

I love stripes in nail art! What do you think of this version?

(If you missed it, my Beauty Box 5 January box review went live this morning.  You can find it HERE.)

An InLinkz Link-up

Sunday Stamping - Happy Chinese New Year!

Hello, Fireflies!

Friday was the celebration of the Chinese New Year, and that's the challenge for today.  I admit, there are many, many times when I am ignorant of other cultures.  So, I got myself on the interwebs and did a little research on the Chinese New Year.

Ok, you got me.  I went to Wikipedia.  I'm not writing a research paper, here. 

I learned that red is a very important color for this celebration! It made sense to start this mani with a sparkling red - Too Cute-icle Lifeguard.  Lovely bright red jelly with a subtle scattered holo. 

What's more celebratory than gold confetti?  REAL18k gold confetti, that's what! Sephora by OPI It's Real top coat, for the win!

This is the year of the horse, so I had to use this horse stamp from Mash - 42, along with Maybelline Bold Gold.  I have trouble with little images - the horse on the plate is running and free.  Mine looks shackled, lame, and sad.  Poor old horse.

Dragons are important to the celebration, too.  There is always a dragon dance.  Who wouldn't want to pretend to be a dragon for a little while?  This is also Maybelline Bold Gold and plate DRK - C.

I also read that people wrote letters on red paper during the New Year, so I used Finger Paints Black Expressionism and the same DRK - C plate to make, what I assume is, Chinese letters.  It could be drivel, it could say, "Eat At Joe's."  I really don't know.  Maybe it says, "Hi, Mom!"

Here's the whole thing all together.  Lots of red and gold!

Bottle shot:  Too Cute-icle Lifeguard, SOPI It's Real 18k topcoat, Finger Paints Black Expressionism, and Maybelline Bold Gold.

Did you celebrate the Chinese New Year? 

It's a Percival Holiday!

Hello, Fireflies!

As many beautiful polishes that A-England makes, I think my fave is Percival.  It's a gorgeous red metallic.  It applies flawlessly, and can be a one-coater. 

For my husband's office party, I decided to add a little sparkle with Pixie Polish Disco Peacock, a scattered holo topcoat with a blue flash.

I felt very festive, and best of all, it was quick!  I am always running late when I go to parties.  Who am I kidding... I am pretty much always running late.

My friend, Jill, also wanted some holiday nails!  I couldn't believe that she wanted RED!  Of course, I had to bring out my best!  A-England Percival didn't disappoint.

She also wanted some stamped snowflakes, which I did with Essie No Place Like Chrome, my fave silver for stamping.  Perfect!

I gave her an extra-decadent flourish with SOPI's Real 18k Gold topcoat.  Now, who's a princess?  That's right, this girl.  Fancy.

What do you do to your nails to make you feel extra-special? 

Art Challenge - The Green House

Hello, Fireflies!

This month's Nail Challenge Collaborative challenge is Inspired By Art.  Well, I'm no arteest, ya know?  But, a challenge is a challenge, and I learn more from failure than success, right?

I learned a LOT.

I found this pix by gingado on Deviant Art, and thought it would make a nice, festive inspiration for today.  It's called, "The Green House."

I really had no idea what I was doing, so I didn't take any step-by-step pictures.

It's, uh, green... and there are some red doors.  You see the resemblance, right?

I decided that a wax topcoat would give it a closer resemblance to the photo.

I was just hoping that something - anything - would make it look better.

Here's alllllll the colors I used:  SOPI I Come In Peas, NOPI Green Up Your Act, China Glaze Keep Calm, Paint On, SOPI Absinthe Makes the Heart, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Sally Hansen Red Zin, China Glaze Hawaiian Punch, Cult Nails Wax That, Maybelline Bold Gold, Milani White On The Spot, and Zoya Cassedy.  *whew*

You'd think something called, 'The Green House' would be easy!  Maybe next time I'll try some Michaelangelo.

Other-worldly Flakies!

Hello, Fireflies!

I'm pulling a mani from the vault today.  I loved this look when I did it, but it just didn't make it into the blog until now.

I love brown polish.  I know it's unpopular, too 90's. Whatever.  I've broken so many fashion 'rules' by even having this blog, I think. What's one more?

This is Sephora by OPI Studs and Stilettos.  Such a nice warm, rich brown with a hint of brick red.

Nails, Inc The Wyndham came to me as a surprise extra from a sale!  I couldn't believe it.  I really wanted this, but it was discontinued.

Y'all know how I love my flakies.  Though the obvious color is green, there is blue, too - and this interesting golden glow.  Doesn't the polish look almost radioactive?  So perfect for the Halloween season!

And any other time you want people to just STEP OFF.  Can't you see I'm going nuclear?!

Toxic Wasteland!  Are you ready loving this season's glow-in-the-dark, ghostly, glowy manis?

EcoPolo - Summer Sky

Images of a summer sky... you're probably thinking blue skies, white, fluffy clouds... so, maybe this shimmery blue Peace Camp from Pretty & Polished is a perfect summer sky blue..

Sometimes, these heavier shimmer polishes can hide the bigger glitters, but this one does a pretty good job of letting you see all the nice colors in it.

I live in Florida, and our summer skies are often punctuated by torrential thunderstorms.  So, I painted one rolling in, with lots of our famous Florida lightning.

I mixed up SOPI Frankly, I Don't Give Adam, Dark Room, and I Don't Bite to get the murky sky, and drew in the lightning with a white striper.

Bottle shot:  Pretty & Polished Peace Camp, and SOPI Frankly, I Don't Give Adam, I Don't Bite, and Dark Room, with a white nail art striper.

What do the summer skies look like where you live?

Oh, no! What did I do to that holo?!

Hello, Fireflies!

It's a good thing I'm not a perfectionist, or I'd never post anything.  Today, I have a couple of manis that were aspiring to perfection, but overshot and went up in flames.

Ironically, the first polish is from a brand called, "Perfect".  This is the perfectly named, "H3".  It looks like an H3, doesn't it?

This is one of those holos that would have performed better with an aqua base coat.  Took me three coats to even out the patches, and the formula was finicky.  But, the end result is awesome.  Very bright, clear linear holo.  Almost blinding.

And. then, I wasted all that hard work.  Pffft.

I thought, 'ooh, dark green would look great with pink.'  Not thinking that dark green would stamp as  muddy black.  It just looks like my printer ran out of ink.

Look at this gorgeous cornflower blue holo, Liquid Lacquer When the Levee Breaks. 

It's so delicate.  I love how the rainbow reflects yellow and purple and pink.

And then, the Levee broke and made a dam(n) mess.

One of my recent fave blues (and a great pedi color) is OPI I Saw..U Saw.. We Saw.. Warsaw.  Beautiful blue.  Does not stamp, at least for me. Looks like a weird Rorschach test.

If it weren't so tragic for these gorgeous holos, it would be funny.  Oh, heck, it is funny.  Celebrate your screwy manis, we all have them, and if we're lucky, we learn something from them.  If you have a screwy mani you'd like to share, post it on my Facebook wall! I'd love to see them.