Spring on Sunday

Hello, all!

I recently joined a couple of Facebook groups dedicated to nail polish, and one of them (Adventures in Stamping) posts a challenge for its members to complete every Sunday. This week was Spring Colors.

I really struggled for a while trying to come up with a design that I liked. But all my color combinations sucked, and I kept smudging the polish pretty drastically. So, I had pretty much given it up. But, in a last ditch effort, I search "spring colors" on Pintrest and found a picture of a skirt that really inspired me. My nails look nothing like that skirt, but it helped me break out of the "spring colors" mindset that I had and into something new.

So, my Spring Colors nail design is more muted than some of the others that were posted, but I really like them. Unfortunately, I've already smudged and dented them pretty badly. I'm used to the super-quick-drying Seche Vite top coat, but for this design I decided to use a matte top coat by Sinful Colors. I love the look, but I didn't let them dry long enough before making lunch. So, I may not be wearing this for very long, because I don't handle the imperfections well.

Anyway, enough of my rambling....on to the pic!



China Glaze - Kalahari Kiss

Sinful Colors Nail Art - Rose in Your Nose

Sally Hansen Hard As Nails - Limestone

Loreal - Royalty Reinvented

Wet n' Wild Shine - Sunny Side Up

Loreal - Not A Cloud In Sight

 

What do you think? Do these colors say "Spring" to you?

Liebster Award

So, I woke up one morning to an email on my HOPE post that Julie over at Kick Acetone had nominated me for the Liebster Award. I'd never heard of this award before, but Julie was nice enough to explain it all in her blog. So, here are the rules:

1. Post 11 random facts about yourself.
2. Answer 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you.
3. Create 11 new questions for nominees to answer.
4. Nominate 11 bloggers with fewer than 200 followers.

Miss Julie is now my only "official" follower! I'm new to blogging, and not really very good at it yet. But, it's fun to do anyway. Thanks, Julie, for nominating, following, and reading me!

Let's get down to it, shall we?

11 Random Things About Me:
1. I played the bass guitar in a girl band in college.
2. I played the saxophone in middle and high school.
3. Purple is my favorite color!
4. I have 4 tattoos: a fairy on my right ankle, a sea turtle on my right shoulder, 3 stars on my right wrist, and a rose on my left wrist.
5. I make up words like 'underbrella' and 'hellophone' and use them daily.
6. Earrings are my favorite accessory that isn't nail polish, but I've only had my ears pierced for a few years.
7. I desperately want a Toy Yorkshire Terrier.
8. I love fairies, including Tinkerbell.
9. I'm a TV junkie who doesn't have TV. Thank you Hulu, Netflix, and online streaming!
10. I was a theater major in college, but am terribly uneducated about shows that everyone else seems to know.
11. Snickers are my favorite candy bar.

11 Questions from My Nominator:
1. How often do you paint your nails?
  -- usually about once a week
2. Do you collect anything besides polish?
  -- I kind of have a collection of programs from plays I've seen. And earrings.
3. What's the farthest you've traveled from home?
  -- Hawaii! Twice!
4. Do you have pets?
  -- My roommate has a crazy bi-polar cat named Kindle.
5. What's your favorite beverage?
  -- Right now? Dr. Pepper!
6. What's is the best beauty tip you've received?
  -- I know I'm behind, but I just found out about this handy tool that helps to get rid of pimples.
7. What's your favorite nail care tip?
  -- I use a wonderful hand scrub that keeps my hands soft. But my favorite part about it is that it gets rid of the strong taste and smell that nail polish remover can leave behind on my fingers after working with my polish for hours. It's called 60 Second Manicure from Bath & Body Works.
8. How long can you go with naked nails?
  -- I've gone about a week before, but I don't like it! I prefer to always have polish on my nails.
9. Do you paint your toenails as often as your fingernails?
  -- No. My toes only get painted once every few weeks, and I don't normally do art on my toes.
10. What's your favorite nail trend?
  -- I love stamping! It makes me feel like I actually have talent! haha
11. How many polishes do you own?
 -- On last count, I had 107 bottles of regular polish. This doesn't include top coats, base coats, bottles specifically designed for nail art, or pens. But I've purchased some since then. ;)

11 Questions for My Nominees:
1. How long have you been blogging?
2. What's your guilty pleasure?
3. What character from a movie, book, or TV show do you wish you could meet?
4. How long do you usually spend on your nails?
5. If someone had to get to know you, just from the contents of your closet, what would their first impression be?
6. What's on your toes right now?
7. Bigfoot -- fact or fiction?
8. What inspires your nail art?
9. What's your favorite brand of polish?
10. Do you paint other people's nails, or just your own?
11. What song did you turn up way too loud and sing at the top of your lungs most recently?

My Nominees:
All Glazed Over
Nail Polish Creations
Marine Loves Polish
Chester's Drawers
Brandy's Nailtastic Blog
Polish My Mind
Forever the Ugly Duckling (I can't tell how many followers you have, so I hope this doesn't break the rules! :))
Tales of Knit and Nails
Drama Queen Nails
Nail + Colours
My Nail Journey

And....go!  

 

HOPE

I know this amazing kid. He's 5 years old. He's crazy, funny, and smart as a whip. He's one of the cutest kids on the planet. He's my nephew, Josh.

In October of 2011, Josh was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. His blood sugar was so off that he could have gone into a diabetic coma and died. It was a life-changing moment in the lives of Josh and his family. They've had to change the way they think of every moment of every day. When other kids get run-down and cranky, their moms can put them down for a nap and give themselves a break as well as the kiddo. That's not the case for Josh. If he starts acting abnormal, a bit of panic sets in. Is his blood sugar too high? Too low? He has to have his blood sugar tested several times a day, each time having to endure having his finger pricked. He has to have insulin shots. This little guy get needles stuck into his arms, legs, belly and bum all the time.

Josh isn't the only child who has to go through this. There are lots of kids just like him, who have to interrupt their playtime for finger-pricks and shots. Today, we are writing HOPE on our hands to increase awareness of Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. There is currently no cure, and we HOPE everyday that one is discovered.

Sinful Colors - Irish Green

Sinful Colors - Smokin'

Sinful Colors Nail Art - Pretty Cool (red)

Sinful Colors Nail Art - Bad Chick (white)

BM 321

So, here's to you, Josh. Aunt Becca loves you!

Easter

Hey there! Here we again, with a blog post a week late! But, here's my Easter mani. 

I'm actually really proud of  the little chick hatching from his egg. I had this image in my head, but I was sure I couldn't actually make it happen. You see, I can't draw to save my life. Hand me a pencil and piece of paper, and you get ... nothing. But somehow, with polish and the tiny canvas of my nails, and I can make things that look like the image in my head! lol

With no further ado ... here it is!

Thumb

Loreal - Not A Cloud In Sight

Sinful Colors - ?? (Zigs)

LA Colors Art Deco - Magenta (dots)

Index

Sinful Colors - Fusion Neon

Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen - Bright Blue

Middle

Sinful Colors - Open Seas

LA Colors Art Deco - Yellow

Ring

D'Oro - #63 (egg shadow)

Unnamed Nail Polish - (egg)

Mini Divas - Star Estrella (blue)

Sinful Colors Nail Art - Time Off (black)

Sinful Colors Nail Art - Orange Alert

Pinky

Loreal - Royalty Reinvented

LA Colors Art Deco - Baby Pink

I know that my pics suck. The only camera I have is my IPhone. And somehow, the edges of the polish are never even. But, people don't really notice those little imperfections in real life. 

Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled programming. Free free to comment if you have something to say.

Catch Up, Little Becky!

Well, well, well. Look who it is. I think I can just waltz in here, after being gone for a month, and act like nothing's changed? Do I really think that no one would miss me? That my absence wouldn't have been noted? Well, if anyone out there noticed my break and missed me, I'm sorry. But...I think I might be making up for it today. I bring you not 1, not 2...but 3 new nail designs! Let's dive right in, shall we?

This is a pretty look I achieved using Bundle Monster Stamping Plate BM14. I started with Kiss Me Here by Pure Ice as a base, with roses made of Black Heart by Sally Hansen Hard as Nails and Mahogany Pearl by Naturistics Super Shine.

This is the first of my two St. Patrick's Day nail designs. It's simple, but it's one of the first times I've used jewels on my nails. When I've tried them in the past, I always found that they would get caught on things, and end up falling off. Well, I've learned a lot since then. I've got a better top coat, and my hair is short now. Washing my hair always resulted in strands wrapped around the jewel, under the top coat. No longer! I think this is going to be a look I'll wear more often.

I used Kalahari Kiss by China Glaze as a base, and stamped the shamrocks in True Beauty by Icing using Bundle Monster Plate BM03.

Wow! This pic is really blurry! Sorry about that. This is the second of my St. Paddy's designs. I'm not a huge fan of it, for a few different reasons. This was the first time I've used a striping brush. The colors don't separate as much as I would have liked. But, it's not too bad for a first try.

I used Limestone by Sally Hansen Hard as Nails as the base, but I just can't figure out which colors I used for the rainbows. Forgive me? 

And there we have it! 3 nail designs, and we're done. 

I'll try to post more often. Feel free to leave comments to let me know what you think, and with any questions or suggestions.

Singles Need Lovin' Too!

Hi, there! This post is about a week late, for which I apologize. But I suspect that not enough people read this blog to really care.

Last week, America was overtaken with Valentine's Day. Facebook was abuzz with confessions of love for spouses and significant others, and alive with protestations of the holiday. I tried to just ignore it, but I find it difficult to let a holiday pass without a matching manicure. So, without further ado, I give you "Singles Need Lovin' Too!"

Let's scroll down for a tutorial, shall we?

I started with a coat of Seche Clear base coat, and then a couple coats of  Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Twisted Pink.

I cut a heart stencil from a plastic sandwich bag, and laid it over the top of the pink in varying orientations.

Then, I painted the stencil with Pure Ice Super Star, being very careful around the edges to prevent bleeding. Brush toward the center of the heart from the edges to keep the paint from leaking under the plastic.

Next, I used my dotting tool to create hearts in the same white polish and Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Black Heart. The hearts are done by placing two dots side by side, barely touching, and then drawing a V shape to link the them and then filling in the center.

I then used OPI Black Shatter to make the shattered look of the hearts. The polish is best used in thin coats on a totally dry base. The paint will crack in the direction of your brush strokes, so you can get different looks depending on how you apply it.

I topped it off with two coats of Seche Vite top coat, and voila! 

What do you think, boys and girls? Wanna share the love?

Red Hot Kitty!

A couple of years ago a friend of mine had me point my mouse towards this great nail art blog. She really inspired me to go ahead and get crazy on my nails. Those of you who have commented on designs that I've done and posted on my Facebook page have her to thank.

I was sitting around thinking about what I wanted to paint this week, when I decided I wanted to try a half-moon manicure. This design from The Daily Nail got stuck in my head, so I decided to go ahead and give it a try. And here's the final product!

I started with a base coat of Seche Clear, and then two coats of Naturistics Super Shine in Mahogany Pearl.













Next, I used page reinforcements to block off the half-moon, and then painted the rest of the nail in Revlon's Totally Toffee til I couldn't see any red coming through.







Then, I used my nail stamper again to create the cheetah print. This time, it's Konad Plate # M57 using Revlon's Hot for Chocolate. I'm not going to show every step of how to use the stamp in this post. If you'd like a refresher, please visit this post.

I stamped the design with the reinforcer still on, to keep the red un-touched. I then removed the reinforcement, and topped it all off with two coats of Seche Vite top coat.

As you can tell, my bottles of polish get pretty beaten up. But I just choose to think of them as well-loved!

What do you guys think? Do you have any ideas for designs you'd like to see? Would you like to see a tutorial for any designs I've posted on my Facebook? Speak up!