Stripes

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, or Thursday.  Mine was good, even if I felt over-full for most of the day.  It is rather tough to not eat too much when you are obliged to eat two meals.  That's ok, one day won't kill me, and now it's back to eating normal and exercising a little extra to make up for yesterday.

I decided Wednesday night to change my mani a bit.  The black and white was nice, but somehow I managed to take a chunk out of the top of my thumb nail, so I had to file it all down.  Also, the only bad part about the matte top coat is it's extremely hard to repair damage like that without it looking even worse than the chip.  So I removed it all and started with a new mani.  Enough talk, pictures ahead.

This is in direct sunlight.  I used Sinful Colors Fig.  Then I used tape down the middle of each finger and painted on OPI Yoga-Ta Get This Blue!










This is in the shade.

My sister said it looks a lot like racing stripes.  I just love the two colors together.What do you think?  Great colors for fall/winter?

Update on my polish challenge:  I have 61 bottles to go through before I can really buy any more.  I bought one color from the Orly Christmas Collection.  I'm trying to save my money for the China Glaze Holos coming out in the spring.





Until later,
Chess

Black and White

I can't believe it is already Thanksgiving.  This year is almost over!  This time of year always stresses me out. So much to do, with less time than ever to get things done.  However, I'm still making sure I have time to do my nails.  It's much like meditation for me.

This week I recreated a mani I found on Pinterest.  The original can be seen here.  I switched up the nails a bit, and added a couple of dots to one, but this is very close to the original.

I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Black Out and White On.  I used Orly Matte Top Coat.  Then I placed lines and dots on top of those layers.  I love this matte top coat!!  It works so well.

Also, the ring finger reminds me of spats.

So does anyone have plans for Thanksgiving?  We will be spending the day with both sets of parents so it will be a busy day.

Happy Thanksgiving all,
Chess

Astrology

I was finally able to get photos of this last week's mani.  I'm having to re-evaluate when I do my nails so I can get pictures during the day light.  I would have had this up sooner, but we went to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra yesterday.  It was great!!!

This mani was based on one I found on Pinterest again.  The link to the original blog is here.

I started with a base of China Glaze Want My Bawdy.  Then I used plastic wrap and "sponged" on a layer of  China Glaze Deviantly Darling and then a layer of Want my Bawdy again.

Then I stamped the moons using Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Copperhead and the stars with Firefly.  The astrological symbols were stamped using Essie Good as Gold.  After everything, I used the Orly Matte Top Coat.

I had a number of complements on this one.  I think it is the contrast of the dark background with the light symbols.  I also think that taking the photos in bright sunlight with the sun being blocked works the best.

Until later,

Chess

A Zebra of a Different Color

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week.  Things have been so busy and with very little light at night, I've been having a hard time getting the pictures I need of my mani this week.  I think I'm going to end up taking my camera to work and taking some photos on my breaks.

So until I can do that, I'm posting a mani I did a while ago, before I started posting all these.  I took it with my camera on my phone, so they aren't the best.  Also, I don't remember everything I used for this one.  It doesn't really matter though because it's simple enough to replicate.

What do you think?  I still love this one very much!

Hopefully I can get this week's up soon.

Until later,
Chess

Steampunk

This week I decided to do a steampunk mani in honor of The World of Steam Kickstarter project.  If you are interested in the project, whether it be to see what they are doing or to become a backer, you can check it out here.

For the mani, it is not my original design.  You can see the original here.

I started with a couple layers of Pixi Evening Emerald.  On my thumb, middle and pinky fingers, I stamped the Space Needle from BM15 using Sonia Kashuk Two Cent.  On the other two fingers, I stamped the same image using Essie Penny Talk.  I like the Sonia Kashuk one better for this look, so I would use it on all my fingers if I did this again.

Finally, I stamped the cog image from BM03 using Essie Good as Gold and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Silver Sweep.  

I really like the teal backdrop for this mani.  I think I could work on this idea a little more to make everything look distressed or vintage without making it look like a mess.  It is not a perfect recreation of the original as I didn't sponge anything onto my nails before stamping.  That may have made the overall look a little better.

I hope you like this one as much as I do, and I hope you will go check out Matt King's newest project at the Kickstarter link I gave you.

Until later,

Chess

Copper

Halloween was great fun!  It was actually warm so we had a few more little ones than usual coming to get candy.  There was a little Pooh Bear and a Butterfly.  A Dalmatian and something from Minecraft.  The last I had to take his word on it.

However, I decided that since I had some time that night, I'd change my polish.  It was no longer time for spiders and ghouls.  I went with something that was a little more simple and colored for fall.

I started with two coats of Essie Antique Rose.  Then I sponged onto the tips Pixel Oh Goly Gee!!

So very quick and simple, but it looks great.  Everyone at work loved this one.  It was also just right for the first few days of November.

I think taking the photos outside during the middle of the day is best.  It is rather overcast today, but they still show truer to color than when I take photos with any artificial light.

Until later,

Chess

Halloween 2012

This weekend was great!  Saturday night was the annual Halloween party and everyone looked great.  A group of my closer friends and I decided to do steampunk versions of Batman and some of his enemies.  We all had a wonderful time.

 

This week I decided to do a mani based off of a picture I saw on pinterest. The original blog for this inspiration can be found here.  I modified it slightly, as you can see.

 

I used a base color in China Glaze Immortal.  It is one of the new Halloween colors and I absolutely love it.  It isn't just a basic grey, it has some very small bits of purple, red and blue glitter in it.  I stamped on the webs with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White and the spiders with Konad Black special polish.  Both images came from BM13.

 To add a little more to the design, I used China Glaze Ruby Pumps on the spiders' bodies.

  

I hope you have a Happy Halloween!!!

Until later,

Chess

Bewitching Vines

Well, we've received our first snow of the season.  I'm not really surprised.  We rarely have a warm Halloween here.  The predicted weather for this Wednesday is in the 70's, but I'll believe it when I see it.  Other than that, not much has been going on around here.  The usual work and such.  I was forced to get a flu shot for work and spent the last week and a half recovering.  So, it's taken a little longer to get this posted.

I was looking at my polish stacked on my desk, trying to figure something out.  I had a couple colors that really looked great together and decided to try it out.  Then I went searching through my plates and found a suitable design.

I used a base of L'oreal The Temptress' Touch.  Then I stamped on the vines using Mash-45 and China Glaze Bizzare Blurple.  Finally, I painted on the tips with Sally Hansen Diamond Strength All Aglow.

This design reminds me of the deadly vines in Sleeping Beauty when Prince Charming is trying to get to Princess Aurora.

I thought this would be a great mani for the week before Halloween.  I'm excited about the mani I'm planning for this coming week.  I will try to get those posted a bit sooner this coming week.

What do you think of this mani?  Also, are the pictures a bit better this time?  I hate the way the sun glares off the nails, but it seems to be the best lighting overall so far.

Until later,

Chess

Burgundy

This week has been decent, the weather has been nice.  I've tried to keep it low key as this weekend will be extremely busy.

I decided to keep the mani for this week rather simple.  I wanted to try something with red in it, and remembered I had bought a nice vampy red from China Glaze earlier in the year.  Since I'm trying to use these new colors first, I figured it would work well.  So I put on a couple of coats of China Glaze Prey Tell.  Once I put it on, though, the color was a little too brown.  So I topped it off with a coat of Essie Wild Thing.  This is a more pink burgundy with a small amount of holo glitter in it.  I love the color combination!

Once again I was playing around with the lighting for my photos.  I just haven't found anything I like yet.

What do you think?  Do you like the color?  What about the photos?

Until later,

Chess

Challenge

This weekend has been great so far.  A wonderful show of bellydancers, a hoop dancer, musicians and other dancers last night.  Today was busy getting ready for a little video performance I did with a bunch of other ATS dancers.  I hit the store and then decided I'd sit on the couch with my dogs and watched a couple movies.

Now, for the title of the post.  Instead of these challenges that I often see where you have to do something every day, I decided to do something different. I just don't have the time to do a mani every day.

This photo is of all the new polishes that I've picked up this year.  They are all ones that I have not tried yet, other than maybe a small swatch to see if I really like it.

My challenge is to try to use these before I buy more.  Luckily, looking through the press releases of new sets coming out, I haven't seen a whole lot yet, other than the new China Glaze Holos that will be coming out in spring.

What do you think?  Can I do it?

Until Later,

Chess