Hidden Gems

This week, after the time change, I feel a little more like myself.  I'm not sure if it was the extra hour of sleep, that my husband was away for a few days, or things slowing down a little at work.  I managed to get more done this week and feel more accomplished, if not more rested.

For the full moon this week, I decided to do a more celestial manicure.  I started with two coats of  L'Oreal Hidden Gems.  In the bottle it looks like a beautiful blue that shifts to purple, with small silver glitter.  Like most duochrome polishes, it doesn't shift as well on the nail as it does in the bottle.  I was surprised to find that it is actually a sand textured polish as well.

Then I stamped on the moon image using plate Mash-32 and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Silver Sweep.  I loved the look so much that I didn't bother putting on a top coat to smooth it all out.

Until later,

Chess

For Audrey

This has been a crazy week.  I got sick this last weekend and ended up calling off work Tuesday to go to the doctor.  She didn't really have an idea of what the problem is, and gave me a prescription for antibiotics and an antihistamine.  I'm feeling only marginally better.

Then we had our steampunk meeting and had great discussions, food, and I sold a piece of jewelry.  I am a tiny bit closer to paying for my General Skills training in August.

Friday night I taught my first yoga class!  It was fabulous!  I really appreciate my students who allowed me to test out my first class on them.

This week I ironically did a mani that celebrated Audrey Hepburn's 85th birthday.  I started with two coats of China Glaze For Audrey.  It is a perfect Tiffany's blue.  Then I stamped on the dots using plate Mash-25 and Mash special polish in white.  Then I stamped on the bow image with plate BM-317 and Mash special polish in white.

I'm very happy with how this one turned out.

Until later,

Chess

Fancy Pants

I am starting off my weekend right.  I already went to yoga and picked up some fresh, yummy food for the weekend.  It will be another long weekend of belly dance and yoga, with the usual chores in between.  On top of belly dance class, we also have rehearsal for our upcoming performance.  I'm excited to finally be able to perform, and now all my friends and family who keep asking about what I do can see it too.

This week I wanted to use a slightly brighter color.  I'm extremely ready for summer and the warmer weather that comes with the season.

I started off with three coats of China Glaze Fancy Pants.  It is a bright blue with a red shimmer that turns the color more purple in some light.  Then I used plate Mash-49 and the Konad special polish in black to stamp on the image.  Finally, I topped it all of with Diamond Dry.

I really like this color.  It is the perfect blend of color and shimmer.  What do you think?

Until later,

Chess

High on Hope

This week flew by.  The beginning of the week was a little rough at work, but by midweek, we had extremely cold weather and snow on the ground.  Things slowed down a bit, with more people staying home.

This week I decided to try some more stamping, and I really like what I came up with.  I started with three coats of ORLY High on Hope.  After that dried, I stamped on the image using plate Mash-39 and Konad special polish in black.  Finally, I topped it off with Diamond Dry.

I like the fish scale image, and during the week I thought of a couple other things I could have done.  I could have used a different color than the black special polish for the image, to make it look more natural.  Also, I would like to see what it looked like with a matte top coat.  The pink glitter in this polish might show through better with the matte top coat.

Let me know what you think!  Do you see any other possibilities for this one?

Vines

This week the weather changed significantly.  Instead of hot and dry, it rained so much there was a lot of flooding around here.  We were lucky enough to not have to deal with that.

Last night I went to this great presentation on Impermanence by one of the Drepung Gomang Monks, from Tibet.  It gave me a lot to think about, and maybe another reason to finally do the yoga teacher training that I've been talking about for so long.

This week I wanted to use a green polish, so I went through my pile that I haven't used yet.  I also wanted something that had a more fall tone.  I used one of the more recent China Glaze holos.  After about 3 coats of OMG a UFO, I stamped on the image using China Glaze  Liquid Leather and plate Mash-43.  I decided to do a reverse status nail, so I placed the image on all my nails except the ring finger.

I hope you like this one.  Please let me know what you think!

Until later,

Chess