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