White Christmas

It seems that this is the first year since 1987 that we have had a true white Christmas   I'm not sure if it is true, but I'm inclined to believe it.  As my husband pointed out, we never have a white Christmas but we almost always have a white Halloween.

Even though it snowed and is now melting, I did not do a white mani for Christmas.  I found one on pinterest that I fell in love with.  You can see the original here.  I modified it a bit as I didn't have a plate that would give me stars like in the original.  Also, I don't like to put on beads or gems that much, so I found a plate with a line of small stars to use.

 I started with a base of Sinful Colors Merlot.  I don't think that this brand is available anymore, but I have kept this color because I love it!  Then I stamped the stars using Sally Hansen Insta-Dri  Silver Sweep and Mash-49.


I was hoping to find plates with tiny stars, but couldn't find one in my collection.  I tried using plate BM-310 for the quilt looking design, but I couldn't get that to work.  I'll try that with a Konad special polish and see if that works any better.



I then did french tips with the Silver Sweep.  After that dried I used the Merlot again with plate Mash-27 to stamp on the little stars on my ring fingers.


I hope you like this little mani for Christmas!


Merry Christmas everyone!!

Chess

A Starry Night

This week has been rather busy.  I also haven't really been feeling very creative lately.  So I decided to do a fairly simple mani this week.  

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out.  After that dried, I put a coat of Icing All Tied Up.

I know it is really simple, but I love how the holo glitter reflects the light.  It's very similar to China Glaze Fairy Dust.  So I might have to try some basic ones like this with a different color base and using Fairy Dust on top.

Little bit of snow

It snowed again today.  Just a little bit, with lots of cold wind.  I'm hoping tomorrow is a bit warmer.  We have the company lunch at a local restaurant tomorrow, and I don't like going out in the cold much.

I finally managed to get pictures of my mani from last week.  The weekend was just as crazy as the week, and I still need to take pictures of the one for this week.  Hopefully I can get caught up this coming week with the extra time off for the holidays.

For this mani, I couldn't decide if I wanted french tips or a full mani.  I had a couple Essie colors I wanted to play with, but I also wanted the french tips.  So I did a little of both.

 I started with a base of Essie To Buy Or Not To Buy on my ring fingers and used that for the tips on the rest of the nails.

I stamped on the snowflake image with Essie Smooth Sailing and BM-323 on my ring finger.  Unfortunately, this color didn't stamp well on my other nails.  It seems it needs a lighter background to be seen.

So, I used Essie Nothing Else Metals and Blue Rhapsody with BM-319 for the snowflakes on all the other nails.  The second picture shows the snowflakes in a different light.

What do you think?  Do you like the status nail with the alternative french manicure?

I've already had enough snow

It snowed this past weekend.  I'm good now.  I'm ready for warmer weather. Below freezing is a little too much for me anymore. Due to my job and the snow, I have yet to take pictures of my current nails.  I will try to do that this coming Saturday before changing them to something else.  So, I'm pulling from a few manis that I have hidden in the depths of this hard drive.

This one was done around this time last year, back before I decided to start taking pictures and posting them on a blog.  It has some not so great hand art and the inspiration came from a pin on pinterest.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure where that pin is anymore.  Also, this was taken with my phone, so the quality isn't the greatest.  I'm truly amazed at how far I've come, even within the last few months that I've been testing new things out.  My hand art is never great, so I'm so glad I have the stamping set my husband gave me one year for Christmas.  It is probably the best present I've ever received because I just keep on using it.

I hope you like the mani here, and it is really just a segue for the mani that is coming.  Can you guess what the theme is?

Egyptian

This week has been a little rough as well. Work is getting me down and I'm ready for a new adventure. I thought about getting certified to be a yoga teacher, but I decided against it as I just don't have the funds right now. Maybe I can do that soon, though.

This weeks mani was inspired by love for Egyptian symbols. I bought the most recent Bundle Monster set and it had an ankh in there. I'd seen the Eye of Ra in my Mash set, so I decided to try something with it.

I started with a base of China Glaze Swanky Silk.  I sponged Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Lava on the tips.  I stamped the wings using BM06 and Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Scarab.  What a perfect name for that polish too!!  I stamped the Eye of Ra using Mash-36 and Konad special polish in black.  The ankh is from BM-322 using Konad special polish in black.

 What do you think?  It reminds me of something you would see in a burial sanctuary for a Pharaoh.


Also, for my challenge, I'm down to 52 colors!!  I'm slowly getting there.

Something a Little More Scholarly

I found this list on Pinterest, and followed the link to the original post, and then the forum where the list was posted.  It is a huge list of books and movies that were mentioned in Gilmore Girls.  It is one of my favorite shows and I thought I would see what is on the list and everything that I've read up to this date.  It looks like I am not as much of a book worm as Rory, but it gives me a list to read.

Rory's List (in alphabetical order)

1984 by George Orwell
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain- read in middle school
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt- read in high school
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank- read in middle school
Archidamian War by Donald Kagan
The Art of Fiction by Henry James
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner- read in high school
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Babe by Dick King-Smith
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (TBR)
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney
The Bhagava Gita- I've started reading this a few times, but haven't finished yet
The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy
Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel
A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays by Mary McCarthy
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Bridgadoon by Alan Jay Lerner
Candide by Voltaire
The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White- read in grade school
The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman
Christine by Stephen King
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
The Collected Short Stories by Eudora Welty
The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty
A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
Complete Novels by Dawn Powell
The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton
Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas- read in high school, in french
Cousin Bette by Honor'e de Balzac
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (TBR)
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber (TBR)
The Crucible by Arthur Miller- read in high school
Cujo by Stephen King
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
David and Lisa by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Da Vinci -Code by Dan Brown
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Deenie by Judy Blume
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx
The Divine Comedy by Dante
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
Don Quijote by Cervantes
Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
Eloise by Kay Thompson
Emily the Strange by Roger Reger
Emma by Jane Austen
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Ethics by Spinoza
Europe through the Back Door, 2003 by Rick Steves
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Extravagance by Gary Krist
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore
The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan
Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
The Fellowship of the Ring: Book 1 of The Lord of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien (TBR)- I will never finish this list because I cannot get through this book.  I couldn't even get through the movie.
Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce
Fletch by Gregory McDonald
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers
Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
Gender Trouble by Judith Butler
George W. Bushism: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President by Jacob Weisberg
Gidget by Fredrick Kohner
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
The Godfather: Book 1 by Mario Puzo
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alvin Granowsky
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (TBR)
The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford
The Gospel According to Judy Bloom
The Graduate by Charles Webb
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald- read in high school
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Group by Mary McCarthy
Hamlet by William Shakespeare- read in high school
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling- read them all

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (TBR)
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry (TBR)
Henry IV, part I by William Shakespeare
Henry IV, part II by William Shakespeare
Henry V by William Shakespeare
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris
The Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III (Lpr)
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (TBR)
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss- read in grade school
How the Light Gets in by M. J. Hyland
Howl by Allen Gingsburg
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo (TBR)
The Iliad by Homer- read in high school
I'm with the Band by Pamela des Barres (TBR)
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (TBR)
Inferno by Dante
Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Iron Weed by William J. Kennedy
It Takes a Village by Hillary Clinton
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bront�
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
The Jumping Frog by Mark Twain
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Lady Chatterleys' Lover by D. H. Lawrence
The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway
The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Love Story by Erich Segal 
Macbeth by William Shakespeare- read in college
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The Manticore by Robertson Davies
Marathon Man by William Goldman
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (TBR)
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir
Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by William Tecumseh Sherman
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Mencken's Chrestomathy by H. R. Mencken
The Merry Wives of Windsro by William Shakespeare
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka 
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion by Jim Irvin
Moliere: A Biography by Hobart Chatfield Taylor
A Monetary History of the United States by Milton Friedman
Monsieur Proust by Celeste Albaret
A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (TBR)
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It's Aftermath by Seymour M. Hersh
My Life as Author and Editor by H. R. Mencken
My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest
Myra Waldo's Travel and Motoring Guide to Europe, 1978 by Myra Waldo
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (TBR)
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen
New Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson
The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Night by Elie Wiesel
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism by William E. Cain, Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John P. McGowan
Novels 1930-1942: Dance Night/Come Back to Sorrento, Turn, Magic Wheel/Angels on Toast/A Time to be Born by Dawn Powell
Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Old School by Tobias Wolff
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan
Oracle Night by Paul Auster
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Othello by Shakespeare
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
Out of Africa by Isac Dineson (TBR)
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton- read in middle school.  Also one of my favorite books.
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition by Donald Kagan
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain
The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
The Portable Nietzche by Fredrich Nietzche
The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill by Ron Suskind
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Property by Valerie Martin
Pushkin: A Biography by T. J. Binyon
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Quattrocento by James Mckean
A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall
Rapunzel by Grimm Brothers
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe- read in high school
The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (TBR)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman
The Return of the King: The Lord of the Rings Book 3 by J. R. R. Tolkien (TBR)- again, can't get through these books
R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton
Rita Hayworth by Stephen King
Robert's Rules of Order by Henry Robert
Roman Holiday by Edith Wharton
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare- read in high school
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin
The Rough Guide to Europe, 2003 Edition
Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi
Sanctuary by William Faulkner
Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford
Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller by Henry James
The Scarecrow of Oz by Frank L. Baum
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne- read in high school
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (TBR)
Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman
Selected Hotels of Europe
Selected Letters of Dawn Powell: 1913-1965 by Dawn Powell
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Several Biographies of Winston Churchill
Sexus by Henry Miller
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Shane by Jack Shaefer
The Shining by Stephen King
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton
Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Small Island by Andrea Levy
Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway
Snow White and Rose Red by Grimm Brothers
Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World by Barrington Moore
The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht
Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos by Julia de Burgos
The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker
Songbook by Nick Hornby
The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
Sonnets from the Portuegese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Sophie's Choice by William Styron
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
A Streetcar Named Desiree by Tennessee Williams- read in high school
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals by Anne Collett
Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber- read in highs school
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens- read in middle school
Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Term of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
Time and Again by Jack Finney
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (TBR)
To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (TBR)
The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (TBR)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson
Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962 by Sylvia Plath
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Unless by Carol Shields
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
The Vanishing Newspaper by Philip Meyers
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground and Nico (Thirty Three and a Third series) by Joe Harvard
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Walt Disney's Bambi by Felix Salten
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews edited by Daniel Sinker
What Colour is Your Parachute? 2005 by Richard Nelson Bolles
What Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Hearts

This week has been a little rough for me.  It's been colder and that always makes me want to stay in, under a blanket, with my dogs.  I have no real motivation to do anything.  I keep plugging away though.

Here is a colorful mani to brighten your day.  I was looking at all the colors I still need to use and found three that work well together.

I started with a base of Sinful Colors Open Seas.  Then I used the gradient sponge technique with Open Seas, China Glaze Exotic Encounters, and OPI Nicole Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam. After that was all dry, I stamped on the hearts with Konad Special Polish in Black and a plate from Vivid Lacquer (VL001).  

By the way,  Vivid Lacquer now has a new plate up for pre-order.  Her plates are a little more expensive, but you get more designs on one plate and the full nail designs are larger than others out there.

Also, I had a few questions on how long it usually takes for me to do a mani.  So this next time, I will do my best to keep track of the time it takes to do each step, and post that in my next blog post.

Until later,

Chess

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