Black & White

Hi Lovelies!

I have recently had the pleasure of trying out a few stamping plates from Lina Nail Art Supplies, the newest player to hit the stamping community by storm. More nail art with them, as you can expect, is coming up. I decided for my first manicure, it would be fitting to pair it up with a new to me brand of indie polish named O-My Jewels for a classic black & white manicure.

Nicole Diary Paisely Decals

Hi Lovelies,

I've got a super quick and easy manicure to share with you today. Our lives often get so busy and hectic that we can't always make time for fancy nail art, but still want something pretty on the nails. When such is the case for me, I tend to gravitate toward nail wraps and water decals. This time, I decided to try out another pattern of water decals from Nicole Diary.

Happy 4th of July!

Wishing all of you who celebrate a safe and happy holiday!

I got home from work this morning with a strong urge to create a manicure for the occasion. Since I will once again be working tonight and missing all the fireworks and festivities, I needed something to put me in the holiday mood. On a whim, I decided to try my luck with a water marble and I'm so glad I did because I love how this it out...

My 4th of July Mani!

Hi Everyone!

I hope all of you who celebrate the holiday had a Happy 4th of July yesterday!

I spent my 4th at work as usual, but I was able to sneak out for a break just in time to catch a bit of the gorgeous fireworks display over Puget Sound. I hadn't intended to do a manicure for the occasion because I really had nothing special planned for the day, but a co-worker shamed me for not rocking some red, white and blue on my nails as I used to. I promised her I'd get my act together at least for 4th! So that's how I ended up with some nail art for the first time in months! Just slightly ironic that on independence day, I gave up my freedom of sleeping in late to get up and do some nail art ;)

Delicate Stamping

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday! Today I would like to show you a manicure that I wore for a solid week after swatching the Glam Polish beauties which I posted about earlier this week. If the manicure hadn't started growing out and driving me nuts, I would have happily continued to wear it. It is rather 'simple' as far as some of my manicures go, but somehow it didn't seem to call for added embellishments. Sweet and delicate was just what I needed...

Peppermint Twist!

Every year I get drawn to all the beautiful looking candy canes out there and I end up buying a box (or three) and then eating one and sometimes none of those candy canes. No joke, I've thrown out more unopened boxes of then I care to admit, month after they have expired. This year I decided to resist temptation and enjoy the classic color twist on my nails instead...

Whimsical Winter Scene!

Almost three weeks ago Marta of Chit Chat Nails announced a nail art contest that she is hosting with a stamping plate maker Pueen. I was instantly intrigued because it features two of my favorite things, stamping and holiday nail art. I rarely enter contests, partly for lack of time, but largely because I disagree with the 'judging' process. Marta's contest, however, has actual judges which makes the process about talent rather than popularity. For me that makes the contest a challenge and I love challenges...

I've been thinking about what I want to create for the contest for the past couple of weeks and have been coming up blank. I knew I wouldn't be entering the contest unless it was something I was really proud of, so that I wouldn't kick myself later and think "I could have done better". That way loosing would mean someone created nail art that is better or more creative than mine, not because I didn't give it my best shot. Also, win or loose, I had a blast creating this manicure and at the end of the day that is what really matters to me...

Snowflake Lumières

Hi Lovelies! It snowed in Seattle over the weekend and has actually been cold enough for bits to stick around. Nothing dramatic by any means and probably not even worth a mention given what has been happening in other parts of the country (I'm looking at you Buffalo with your 8 feet of snow! Just insane!), but in any case our little snow fall makes me feel justified to dive right into Winter manicures. I actually created and wore this snowflake manicure in September, but held off on posting to avoid frightening you all. It is not that I was ready for Winter a few months back, it is just that I have a weakness for snowflakes. I would wear them in July if no one would question my sanity...

OPI Mustang Collection Swatches and Review!

Hi Lovelies! Today I would love to show you my swatches of the OPI Mustang collection. This lacquer collection celebrates the 50th anniversary of Ford Mustang with 6 gorgeous shades...

31DC2013 Day 24 - Inspired by a Book

Today I would like to show you my manicure for Day 24 of the 31 Day Challenge. Now some of you might be thinking "Day 24? What happened to Days 1-23?" so let me explain. Days 1-23 are way back in September of last year when I started this challenge. I lost steam after the first three weeks and at the time thought I would finish up "soon". Well somehow "soon" turned into a full year and probably would have been even longer if a whole bunch of talented nail art bloggers and fanatics weren't in the midst of doing this challenge AGAIN! I thought for me this would be the perfect time for me to pick up where I left off and post my challenges along with them. Hopefully that will keep me motivated to complete the challenge and get that nagging voice out of my head that keeps reminding me that I left something unfinished.

The challenge for Day 24 is to create a manicure inspired by a book. I chose a fun little book titled, Everything Men Know About Women. As you can see, I was inspired by the cover because (SPOILER ALERT) all the pages in this book are blank and somehow plain white nails didn't seem like much of a challenge...

Glam Polish Snoopy the Witch!

Hi Everyone! I am super tired from working all weekend, but I've still got enough energy to show you the fun Glam Polish glitter topper named Snoopy the Witch. It is one of the Halloween Limited Edition polishes which will be available for pre-order on the 17th. Inspired by the colors of the glitter in this bewitching mix, I decided to pair it up with a matching gradient...

Head Over Heels Down the Aisle...

Hi Everyone! Today I would like to show you a bit of an experiment. I created this while swatching the Dazzle Dry Do You Love Me? collection. Two of the polishes in the collection have similar golden flecks and I felt compelled to somehow combine them. Rather than sponging a smooth gradient, I wanted to try dry brushing a rough one...

Dazzle Dry Do You Love Me? Spring Collection Swatches and Review...

I've been away from the blog for just four short days, but it feels so much longer. I'm happy to be back today to show you the Dazzle Dry Spring collection named Do You Love Me?. This collection consists of four beautiful, romantic shades...

Happy International Women's Day!

It is March 8th which means International Women's Day! I wish all the wonderful women out there a day filled with love, happiness and good fortune!

It seemed appropriate to show you a flowery manicure today. I actually created this a few weeks ago in response to a prompt by Nail It! magazine for a chance to be featured in the next issue. I won't know if this made it into the magazine or not until it hits the news stands in a few months, but regardless I'm quite excited about how it turned out...

Nicole by OPI New Nail Lacquers for 2014 Swatches and Review

Today I have prepared for you swatches of the new 2014 Nicole by OPI nail lacquers! I'll leave my blabbing to a minimum because this post is very photo heavy. Consider yourself warned! Let me know what you think of these new shades!

Zoya Naturel Floral...

Oh how I love the beautiful shades of the Zoya Naturel collection. Not only are they the perfect creamy nudes and mauves on their own, but they also go so well together. I couldn't resist blending them in a soft gradient as a delicate backdrop for some floral stamping...

Golden Snowflakes...

I've got another snowflake manicure to show you today because that is just about all that I want to do at the moment. I have been wearing OPI Ski Slope Sweetie solo for the past few days because I'm seriously in love with it. It is so beautiful and sparkly on it's own, but I finally decided to add some subtle nail art yesterday so I could enjoy wearing it for another day...

OPI Mariah Carey Holiday 2013 - Part 2

Hi Everyone! Today I would like to show you the remainder of the OPI Mariah Carey Holiday collection. You can see my swatches of the 1st half here and the liquid sand shades here. As a whole, this collection is really beautiful and gives us some gorgeous shades in a variety of finishes. Take a look at the swatches and let me know which are your favorites...

Snowflakes, Snowflakes, Snowflakes...

Hi Everyone! I'm starting out the year with my nails back to shorties and loving the length. For my first manicure I decided to stick with the winter theme and enjoy another snowflake manicure while I can still get away with it. Can a girl ever have too many snowflakes manicures? Just like the real thing, no two are the same...

Snow woman...

I wanted to show you some nail art that I created while swatching the Elf-tastic Christmas collection by 365 Days of Color. I thought it would be fun to play off the snowflake glitter embedded in this beautiful gray polish by adding a few stamped snowflakes. Of course once there was snow, a snow woman decided that she would fit right in with her bright red hat, scarf and buttons...