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...

piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2014 Featuring Nail Vinyls!

Hi Everyone! I am so excited today because once again I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the annual piCture pOlish Blog Fest. For the first time this year the blog/insta fest features Nail Vinyls. piCture pOlish will be retailing a special exclusive 4 pack 'Nail Vinyls' containing Chevrons, Mini Chevrons, Straight & Right Angles.

My challenge for today was 2-fold, to swatch a gorgeous newly released lacquer named Eyre and to create nail art using Nail Vinyls and the creamy shades Marine and Mad Magenta. I had quite a bit of fun with this challenge so buckle up for a long post!

Genie, you're free!

Hi! Along with the rest of the world I'm in shock and saddened by the death of Robin Williams. I thought I would pay my tribute to this brilliant man and actor who was a part of so many of my favorite movies from Mrs. Doubtfire to Good Will Hunting and of course the voice of Genie in Aladdin. It is sad to learn that the man who sprinkled magic into our lives, put a smile on our faces and made us laugh suffered from severe depression that ended so tragically. Depression is often misunderstood by those who haven't experienced it. It can strike anyone regardless of their status in life, whether they have seemingly everything or nothing at all. Hopefully his death will raise awareness of depression and suicide prevention so that others don't have to suffer or feel they have nothing to live for and no one to turn to...

El Corazon Shine of Jewels

Hi Everyone! Today I would like to show you nail art that I created recently while I was swatching an El Corazon beauty. Although I didn't have anything specific in mind when I started out, I was mesmerized (and I'll show you why) by a dragon featured on the bottle label. I picked a stamping design that reminded me of dragon scales and embellished from there...

My Favorite Ornament

December seems to be flying by at rocket speed and I'm realizing that I don't have much time to execute a lot of the ideas that have been floating in my head. This is one such idea that I'm happy to have found the time to create. It was in one way or another inspired by a number of talented ladies, so I thank Beaching Nails for the idea of using nail studs for ornaments, Drama Queen Nails for the idea that studs can be painted with polish and Eeek! Nail Polish! for the idea of stamping onto rhinestones. Sheesh! Feels like I'm making some sort of acceptance speech here, but truly I learn so much from seeing everyone's manicures that even though my manicure doesn't resemble theirs, I did get the idea from their beautiful art. And now without further adieu, my ornament manicure...

piCture pOlish Collab-Fest 2013

Hi Everyone! I have been getting some much needed R&R over the past week and I return today with a very special post for piCture pOlish Collab-Fest. This end of the year celebration aims to show off all the amazing shades created by piCture pOlish in collaboration with bloggers. Each blogger will create a manicure featuring their own shade to share with you. I'm super excited to get an excuse to show you my collaboration shade, Sea Jewel, again and bring to life the manicure which has been floating around in my head for a while now...

piCture pOlish Swatches...

For the sake of not overloading the Blog Fest post on Monday, I would like to show you my swatches of the piCture pOlish shades that I used for the manicure (and one more for the heck of it), today. I was going to show them to you yesterday, but I somehow got pulled into watching Ukraine Got Talent on YouTube all night instead of writing the post. I admit it, it's my guilty pleasure. Half the time they speak in Russian and I can understand it and the other half they speak Ukrainian and I'm looking at my bf for translation. His translation is always along the lines of "they didn't say anything interesting" so I gave up, but the acts on there are still pretty amazing to watch. Well that was pretty random, so let's get back to the swatches...

Citrus - "looks as good as it tastes!"
A bright orange cream that lives up to it's citrus name. I'm a bit confused by the tag line though since I would think it looks better than it tastes although honestly I have not tested that theory. The formula on this one is nice and smooth. It took just two coats to reach full opacity. No problems with application. These swatches are with no top coat...

piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013

I'm so honored to once again get the opportunity to participate in the annual piCture pOlish Blog Fest. This year, piCture pOlish is celebrating the Year of the Blogger by challenging the participants to create our ‘most amazing nail art manicure ever’ using 3 piCture pOlish which were sent to us. In addition we were asked to create a step by step tutorial for the look. No pressure, right?

Actually, if that wasn't pressure enough, there is the promise of an amazing Blog Fest Award. Three lucky bloggers who are participating in this year's Blog Fest will get the chance to collaborate with the gals at piCture pOlish and create their own shade. One winner will be chosen by all the lovely fans, one by the participating bloggers and one by the piCture pOlish gals themselves. Since I have already had the privilege of creating Sea Jewel, I'm not eligible for the Award, but I'm so excited to see all the manicures and vote for my favorite. I hope you'll be doing the same.

With the Award off the table for me, the pressure was lessened and I got to dreaming up my manicure using the 3 shades sent to me... Citrus, Flirt and Splash...

Rays Through the Haze...

I'm back from a fun birthday getaway and want to thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes that you sent my way! Thank you! Thank you! I was without internet access on my trip (since I choose to live in the stone age with no smart phone) and I was so excited to read all your comments when I got back home. They mean so much to me!

I'm also thrilled to see that you like Sea Jewel. I wore it for my entire trip and spent my free time dreaming of what fun nail art I could create with it. I would like to show you today the one look that I had to try out first...

Presenting piCture pOlish Sea Jewel by Wacky Laki!

I have written over six hundred posts for this blog, but I have never been nearly as excited about any of them as I am for this one. That is because today, I finally get to unveil and show you Sea Jewel, my collaboration shade with piCture pOlish. This shade has been nearly a year in the making and I have been sworn to secrecy and anxious to tell you about it since day one.

When I was first asked if I would be interested in this project (as if there is any possible answer other than a resounding YES!), I read and reread the email and then replied asking if they had made a mistake and actually intended it for someone else. Upon being reassured that it was not a mistake, I sent the girls at piCture pOlish a few images for inspiration. One of the images was of sea glass and the other of my favorite pair of earring that I made a few years ago...

Raining Hearts - Valentine's Day Nail Art Contest Entry

There was something intriguing about the Harlow & Co Valentine's Nail Art Contest, so I decided to join. The challenge was to create a manicure using at least one polish sold by Harlow & Co. I only have a few shades that they sell, which is what made this a fun challenge for me. I ended up using three shades, all of which are available in their catalog...

Nail-aween Challenge Day 9: Pumpkins

It is hard to believe that the Nail-aween challenge is almost over, leaving just one more manicure to complete in time for Halloween. The theme for today's challenge is none other than pumpkins. Since I already did a stamped Jack-o-Lantern manicure, I wanted to try something with freehand art. I'm really excited about how it turned out and I hope you like it too...

Nail-aween Challenge Day 8: Witch

I hope you are all having a bewitching Friday. I'm trying to keep up with the Nail-aween challenge with just a few days left until the big day. The witchy manicure kind of had me stumped, the only thing I knew for sure was the witch was going to be stamped. I first thought to put her over a moon background, then maybe some sort of orange gradient and finally settled on a night sky using a few of my piCture pOlish favorites...

piCture pOlish White Wedding Stamped with Dorothy

After I was done swatching the beautiful piCture pOlish White Wedding and Dorothy for yesterday's Blog Fest post, I couldn't help but play around with the two. They were perfect a perfect combination for a sweet romantic manicure. I could definitely wear something like this for Valentine's day or maybe a wedding? See what you think...

piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2012: Dorothy and White Wedding

I cannot even tell you how excited I am to get to participate on piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2012 this year. I was sent two brand new shades which are being released today to try out. Since piCture pOlish is all about creating a scene with their polishes, I decided to take a break from my usual swatch background and do something fun. I hope you enjoy...

piCture pOlish Tiffany Boxed Up

The last piCture pOlish in my collection is Tiffany. It carries the very appropriate and cute tag line of "diamonds with breakfast!" With a name like that, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that I wanted to put a ribbon and bow on this manicure.

piCture pOlish Denim with Lace

Today I went with something simple and classic... denim and lace. Denim is a lovely piCture pOlish lacquer. It is really one of those polishes that I had to see in person to appreciate. The swatches online just can't capture the true complexity of this polish. To make it classy I added lace using Wet 'n Wild French White Creme and the Shany stamp SH21.

piCture pOlish Festival with Aphrodisiac

What is it about flakies that is so magical? I can't seem to get enough. I have already worn the combination of piCture pOlish Aphrodisiac and Festival twice. Both times for at least three days. That must be some sort of record for me. I even went into Sally's Beauty with this and they had the nerve to ask me if it was one of their flakies. After a gentle hint that their flakies are impossible to hunt down, I told them about a lovely brand called piCture pOlish :D

piCture pOlish Camo - Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide!

I couldn't resist creating a camouflage manicure for a piCture pOlish aptly named Camo with the fun tagline of "Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide!" To create this I used a dotting tool and dabbed random splotches of acrylic paints in grey, toffee, tan and green. It really doesn't get simpler than this, but the result is so fun. Makes me think of the Brad Paisley country song named Camouflage with the lyrics of "Ain't nothing doesn't go with camouflage... You can blend in the country, you can stand out in the fashion world..." Do you think I will blend or stand out with this? :)

piCture pOlish Voodoo - See the Darkness, Feel the Magic!

I'm finally getting around to playing with the piCture pOlish polishes that I won in giveaways from Sawan and Mirannie's Nails. I guess I'm failing at my New Year's resolution to try polishes with 30 days of getting them. It is crazy how quickly time flies. Did someone accidentally set it on fast forward?