Just Letting You Guys Know

 I will probably be absent the next few days. I know I have been posting regularly for a while now but my cat back in the states was put to sleep yesterday and I don't feel much like posting anything at the moment. I have some swatches and things to share but I don't think I will get around to it this week.
 Thanks to Marketta, Carolina, Marta and everyone else for participating and commenting on the 10 Day Challenge, I had fun. I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate it and a safe weekend.

Day 10: Ombre Nails

 Day ten, Ombre Nails with Carolina, Marta and Marketta! I can't believe today is the last day.
 An ombre mani is like a color fade across the nails, typically you use five polishes in different shades like from grey to black. I did white to pink for my ombre today. I haven't done ombre nails before so this was a challenge for me. Looking through my stash I realized I don't really have polishes that are close enough for an ombre mani. They are either almost exactly the same color or not even close. I should have used one polish and frankened the rest for my lighter colors.
 From thumb to pinky I used Sinful Colors Star Fish, OPI Elephantastic Pink, Sinful Colors Beautiful Girl, Sinful Colors Easy Going and OPI Alpine Snow. In the bottles this looked the best but on the nail I think I should have switched Star Fish and Elephantasic Pink around.

 Be sure to check out the ombre nails from Carolina, Marta and Marketta!

Day 9: Favorite Color Combination

 Day nine already! Today is Favorite Color Combination with Marketta, Marta and Carolina! 

 You know, I used to hate pink when I was younger but my favorite color combination has been pink and black for several years now. It's funny how things change. I liked pink and black so much a few years ago I made a pink and black Charmmy Kitty shift boot, E-brake and seat belt covers for my car because I could never find any new ones I liked, but that's another story. 

 The first think I thought when I saw color combo was funky french with an abstract design. The tips are Sinful Colors Beautiful Girl and the rest is acrylic paint. It was fun not having to think much about what I was doing and just go for it. Don't mind the tint to my nails, it wasn't noticeable in real life but they still have a tint to them from the Salon Effects I wore to Guam. 

 What do you think of funky french manicures? What is your favorite color combination?

 Don't forget to check out Marketta, Marta and Carolina to see their favorite color combos!

Day 8: Favorite Movie Or Inspired By A Movie

 Day eight is Favorite Movie with Carolina, Marta and Marketta! 

 Princess Mononoke is probably my favorite movie, I first saw it years ago when I was about thirteen I think and it has stuck with me ever since, which is saying a lot because I hardly watch a movie twice. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you give it a try, it really is a great movie in my opinion. I won't tell you much, you can easily look it up online but basically a man, Ashitaka, is cursed and leaves his village to find a cure. It does have some gore so it's not really a kids movie. 

 Anyways, today I picked one of my favorite parts of the movie where these spirits, kodama, show Ashitaka through a forest. They are cute in the movie and kind of have a rattle bobble head and no two are the same, there's no way to mess them up! For the background I did simple tree branches covered in moss. The base is OPI Black Onyx and the rest is acrylic paint. 

 Have you seen Princess Mononoke? What is your favorite movie?
 Don't forget to check out Carolina, Marta and Marketta to see their favorite movie!

Day 7: Favorite Freehand Nail Art Design

 Day seven is Favorite Freehand design with Marketta, Carolina and Marta! 

 My favorite freehand nail art has to be zebra/tiger stripes just because they are super easy and no matter what way you do them they look amazing. This is the design I always resort to when I don't know what I want to do with my nails. I was also inspired by the animal print nails Marketta did on day four of our challenge, check them out here if you haven't. I really liked the way she did them with the red so I made an orange to red gradient with a bit of red glitter on the tips in Gettin' Miss Piggy With It, because we all know I can't resist glitter, before making my stripes in acrylic paint. 

 Have you tried any freehand nail art, what is you favorite?
 Be sure to check out Marketta, Carolina and Marta to see their favorite freehand designs! 

Day 6: Favorite Celebrity Manicure

 Day six with Carolina, Marketta and Marta! Today we are doing our favorite celebrity manicure, I picked Dita Von Teese because I love her half moon mani. Plus, I hardly ever wear red so it's the perfect opportunity to wear my red I have been neglecting.  

 I tried doing these with hole reinforcers but have come to the conclusion that is isn't worth the extra time for me. The stickers don't sit on my nails that well and no matter what I do, cannot get a clean line so it is just easier for me to freehand them instead of waiting so long for everything to dry. I also didn't have enough top coat when I went over my pinky and the red smeared onto the white, live and learn. 

 I used two coats of Alpine Snow for the base and two coats of Revved Up & Red-y For the tips. 

 Do you wear red nail polish much? What do you think of the half moon main, have you tried it?

 Don't forget to check out Carolina, Marketta, and Marta to see their favorite celebrity manis!

Day 5: Blue Nails

 We are already at the halfway mark, day five with Marta, Marketta and Carolina!
 For Blue Nails today I have H&M's Bella's Choice that I got in a swap a while back but haven't got the chance to try and I am so glad I did because this is almost a one coater. I did two just for pictures but it is gorgeous either way!
 After I took pictures of it on its own I tried my franken spectraflair top coat over it, it was gorgeous but unfortunately it was dark outside and I couldn't get a decent picture of the holo with my lamp. I will have to try it again soon when I can get better pictures.

 What is you favorite blue polish?
 Be sure to visit Marta, Marketta and Carolina to see their blue nails!

Day 4: Animal Print

 Day four, animals prints with Carolina, Marketta and Marta! 

 I have done leopard and tiger/zebra print before so this was the perfect chance for me to step outside my current comfort zone and try snakeskin. These are easy to do if you some kind of image plate or even netting or tulle, not so easy if you don't. Unfortunately for me I have none of those things and I tried it freehand which was time consuming. My husband said I had to do the Western Diamondback and I complied, here is the picture I went off of. 

 Now, part of my problem was probably that I used polish for the light brown diamond scale shapes and they acrylic I mixed for the lighter grey blended in too much after top coat. I think I should have done less light brown and more dark brown and black. Either way it looks alright, and from a distance pretty cool, but not really what I had hoped for. It kind of reminds me of old man socks, you know the argyle ones? Yeah, those, just in a crazy pattern. I must confess though, I have a few pairs of those in womens Japanese style. And to be honest I have them on right now, maybe that's why this mani reminds me of it.

 I used OPI's Suzi Takes The Wheel for the background and San Tan-Tonio for the light brown and acrylic paint for the rest of this design. 

 What do you think it looks like?

 Be sure to check out Carolina, Marketta and Marta to see their animal prints! 

Day 3: Favorite Book or Inspired By A Book

 Wow, we are already on day three of the challenge Marketta, Marta, Carolina and I have been doing together. Today the challenge is favorite book or inspired by a book. One of my favorite books as a kid was Where The Wild Things Are. I think as a child I really loved the artwork, that all of the "wild things" were different. You can see the picture I used for my inspiration here.
 I'm really happy with the way it turned out for only spending about an hour from start to finish on it and I know I won't want to take it off for tomorrows challenge. There are a few things I would probably change or redo if I was going to wear it longer but overall I love it. I used OPI's Alpine Snow for the base and the rest is acrylic paint.

 What was your favorite book as a child? 

 Be sure to check out Carolina, Marta, and Marketta to see what they came up with today!

Day 2: Rainbow Nails

 Hey, today is day two of the challenge with Marketta from Pink Polish Addict, Carolina from Colores de Carol, Marta from ChitChat Nails and I are doing together. If you haven't already, go check them out to see what they have for rainbow nails. 

 You know, I have never done rainbow nails before so I couldn't resist doing an actual rainbow across my nails! As simple as this looks it look me a lot longer than I thought it would. The base is What's With The Cattitude? and the rest is acrylic paint. I like them but think they are too simple though, maybe they need more clouds on the middle fingers, birds or something?

 Have you ever done rainbow nails? 

 Don't forget to check out what Marta, Carolina and Marketta have for today! 

10 Day Challenge: Day 1 Pink Nails

 Hey guys, so today is the start of a 10 day challenge that Marketta over at Pink Polish Addict, Carolina at Colores de Carol, Marta from ChitChat Nails and I are doing together, if you aren't following their blogs you should! I love the 30 day challenges but there are so many designs and polishes I still want to try I know I wouldn't be able to keep with a 30 day so this is perfect for me!

This is our 10 Day Challenge List:

Day 1. Pink Nails

Day 2. Rainbow Nails

Day 3. Favorite Book or Inspired By A Book

Day 4. Animal Print

Day 5. Blue Nails

Day 6. Favorite Celebrity Manicure

Day 7. Favorite Freehand Nail Design

Day 8. Favorite Movie or Inspired By A Movie

Day 9. Favorite Color Combination

Day10. Ombre Nails

 Anyways, for my pinks nails I picked OPI's Pink Cupcake. I have had this one for a while but haven't tried it yet and thought today would be perfect. It is a bit sheer and I did four coats for the pictures but could have gotten away with three, it did dry fast so no real problem for me but look at that blue shimmer! I was going to do nail art over it but I couldn't make myself cover it up. This is my kind of pink! 

 What do you think of Pink Cupcake, do you love the shimmer in it?
 Check back tomorrow for rainbow nails!

Thank You (Updated) CLOSED

CLOSED

(Thanks to everyone who entered!)

 To say thanks to all of my wonderful followers and to celebrate the holidays coming up I am so excited to share a giveaway with all of you! I am even more excited to say there will be five winners! All of the prizes were purchased by me to share with you. That being said, some of these are HTFand the OPI's were purchased at a beauty supply in Guam, as far as I know they look to be 100% authentic.
 So first off, the rules:
 -This giveaway is open internationally.
 -You must be over 18 or have your parents permission.
 -You must be a public GFC follower, new followers are always welcome.
 -Entry is once per person, if you enter more than once you will be disqualified. If you are not sure if you have entered shoot me an email and I will be happy to check for you.
 -You get two entries just for being a follower and leaving your email address on the form.
 -You may have up to twelve entries total by completing the additional steps on the form.
 -Current followers who regularly comment will also be getting an addition entry, I know who you are, simply because that is one of the biggest reasons I stick around.
 -There will be five winners draw from the entries, one person receiving Mad As A Hatter, one receiving Absolutely Alice, one receiving Reflecting Pool, one receiving Merry Midnight and one receiving Island Girl's Mahalo Dream, the two mini Glow Ink In The Dark and one mini Holo top coat franken.
 -This giveaway ends on December, 11Th at 12:01 AM. Sorry, I noticed on my picture it says the 13Th so to be fair I will extend this giveaway to the 13Th at 12:01 AM

 If you have any questions feel free to email me. Thanks and good luck guys!

 (Update) Please make sure you follow all the directions for the additional entries, don't forget to leave you name and links! If I can't find it to verify, your entry will not be counted. Also, please leave you preference in order from first to last of the prizes so that if you are a winner but your name is not drawn first you will get your first pick of polishes that are remaining. If you have already entered and did not do these steps email me and I will be sure to change it on the form, thanks!

You Know I Love It

 Glitter that is, today I have the Revlon glitters from the Expressionists collection. I know you have all probably seen them but I love them so much I couldn't help but share them.

 Starry Pink, surprisingly by far my favorite, is a pale pink with tons of silver glitter. I used three coats and it covered pretty well for being a light pink. I LOVE all of the glitter in this one.  

 Blue Mosaic is a clear base with tiny blue glitter and silver, blue and green hex glitter. It is pretty sheer in three coats, about the same as the Muppet's glitters.

 Here is Blue Mosaic on my middle and pinky finger compared to Gone Gonzo! on my index and ring finger. They are close but the biggest difference is GG is lighter and packed with only the silver hex glitter while BM is a bit darker and has silver, blue and green hex glitter.

 Facets Of Fuchsia has a black jelly base with tiny purple glitter and purple hex glitter. I did three coats and it covered great, I do wish there was more glitter in this one but that's just me.

 What do you think of these glitters? Do you prefer Blue Mosaic or Gone Gonzo!? I don't think I could choose between them, they are too different to me. Do you love glitter or hate it? 

OPI Shim-Merry Chic

  I passed on this one last year and I am glad I did. The first time I saw Shim-Merry Chic it didn't seem special, that was before I started blogging and realized I kind of like brown polishes now, really any color polish now. One perk of passing on it the first time was when I found it in Guam it was on sale so that was a plus and I think I appreciate it for what it is now more than I would have a year or two ago. 

 Shim-Merry Chic, from the 2009 Holiday Wishes collection, is a golden bronze of a brown shade but what makes is so special is the flakies and just the touch of green and blue/purple glitter it has. It isn't too sheer, I used two coats for the pictures below but it could have used a third.

 What do you think of polishes with flakies? Do you have any polishes that you appreciate more now than you did when you first saw them?

Island Girl Aloha Heat

 Aloha Heat is another polish I bought in Guam. It is a bright neon lime green with silver shimmer that I didn't even notice was there until we got back to the room and looked at it under the desk lamp.

 Application was a little difficult, I did use four coats because it was a little patchy but I love this color so much and it dries so quickly I don't even care. It is neon and dries matte so my pictures are with topcoat. 

 Do you love bright polishes like this or hate them? 

Are You Still Looking For Mad As A Hatter

 I found several hard to find polishes while I was in Guam, Mad As A Hatter being one of them. I picked up a few, one being swapped away and one planned for a giveaway coming up but instead of listing this one on Ebay I would rather give you guys the chance to have it since I know a lot of you are still looking for it. Instead of just posting it for sale on here, I can't think of any other way to make it fair to everyone, I will be taking the idea from The Trace Face Philes and have a silent auction. I will end the auction on November 14Th at midnight EST, if you would like to make an offer or have any questions feel free to email me at Tera1986@aol.com. Hopefully, this baby will have a new home soon. 

Brand New Skates vs Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

 Since these two look similar in the bottle I had to compare them. Brand New Skates and Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous are close but still different. BNS is sheer and needs three coats but has a beautiful gold/red and green shimmer to it while LLM is a bit darker, only needs two coats and it packed with silver shimmer. If I had to choose one it would be Brand New Skates just because I think it is more unique but they are both gorgeous. 

 The first picture is one coat of BNS on my index and ring finger and one coat of LLM on my middle and ring finger. 

 This is three coat of BNS on my index and ring finger and two coats of LLM on my middle finger and pinky. 

 What do you think, are they close enough that you only need one, which do you prefer? 

Award

 A few weeks ago Liz from Nail-Files From The Basement gave me the One Lovely Blog Award. If you haven't checked out her blog, do it! Thanks, Liz!

 

Here are the rules of the award:
Link back to the blogger who gave you the award
Share 7 facts about yourself
Share the award with 10 bloggers


1. I have been into art my entire life even though I have only gotten into painting and nail art the past few years. 
2. I love to sew.

3. I adore animals, I've had everything from dogs,cats, ferrets to birds, fish, hamsters all the way to lizards, iguanas and snakes and I love them all.

4. I have red hair and it will not dye any lighter than it already is. 

5. I hardly wear makeup, if I do it is mascara, eyeliner and occasional eye shadow.  

6. I am slightly obsessed with Hello Kitty. 

7. I love to cook.

 Passing this award to only 10 blogs is hard but here it goes. 

Pink Polish Addict

Once Bitten

Neues Vom Kellerkind

Red Hair and Black Nail Polish

Purple Green Panda

Nails by Catharina

Goose's Glitter

Just Nice Things

Polish Pauper 

Ivana Thinks Pink

 If you haven't checked them out, you should , you won't regret it!