Random recent manis!

I have been trying to use up my untrieds lately, including some frankens I have made and never worn :)

For this one I used Orly Green Apple as a base and stamped with some of my FabUrNails stamping polishes ( I found them!)

I made a big mistake on my ring finger and got tired of re-doing it so I did a weird spiral design O_O

This is my golden shimmer seafoam franken!!

The seafoam franken is the base here. I added stamping to add some more interest. The pointer and ring also have a franken I made (based off Happy Hands Springs but with no holo!)

The thumb shows the glitter franken off; it has green to orange color shifting glitter instead of holo and smaller green hexes

This one is Essence Midnight Date set with Rainbow Honey Mare of the Moon. The flakies don't show well with the flash :(( I put the flakies over Mare of the Moon. It made a GORGEOUS pink shimmer and green flakie dual glow. Looking at it straight on, one side would be glowing green where the flakies were (with some sparse holo glitters) and one side would glow a magenta-pink...absolutely gorgeous. And the CUTE moons!! I love this polish.

The magenta shimmer is VERY subtle on camera!

Are you seeing flakies?!

Flakies plus shimmer?!

The blue underneath Mare of the Moon makes it an indigo color...it is gorgeous <3 <3

I probably ruined it by stamping, but I wanted to try something cute!

This is Mavela Pistachio and Essence No More Drama with the Dollish Polish glitter top coats based off of the Legend of Zelda (Hero of Time and Hylian Princess)

I tried to make it interesting with the scallops, but maybe it is a little too busy, haha

Stamping Sunday: Delicate Metallics

My inspiration for this mani is based on pieces of clothing that are made like lace with metallic thread; very sheer and delicate looking but also shimmery and rich. 

I used an untried!

Base: Catrice Cotton Candy at Eiffel Tower (3 coats)

I got this polish from my German swap pal

Stamping polishes: FabUrNails gold w/ Konad m51

Revlon Copper Penny with BM-314

Kleancolor Coffee Addict with Fauxnad m76

I think this photo shows how lovely it is to layer a delicate foil shimmer over a sheer nude polish. I used 3 coats of the nude to give it a jelly-ish depth.

It looks cute with my vintage Cutex manicure set!

BLOG SALE! FRANKEN SALE!

BY THE WAY.....

If you stop by the BLOG SALE tab, you will see there are frankens up for sale :)

This does not happen often! Those are a whole 8 months worth of frankens I will never use!!

Well, get to it! If you get 6 or more, free shipping!!

Teal Tuesday: Koi Pond Nail Art

Hello all! I know I have been a bit lazy but I did feel like freehanding some nail art this weekend :)

I am so glad I did. It is so cute.

This will also be my Teal Tuesday manicure (freestyle, even though I have Zoya Zuza and a England St. George) because tomorrow is my wedding anniversary and I won't have time to do any challenges!

Base: China Glaze Flyin' High

Glitter: Rainbow Honey Koi Pond

Fish: WnW White Creme, WnW Black Creme, Zoya Arizona, FingerPaints Cordur-Orange

I thought it looked a little bare so I added

Fish: Venique Havana Glam (for sparkle), WnW Break the Ice (for sparkle)

Lilypads: Sinful Last Chance, NYC High Line Green

and I topped the glitter with NYS Hot Baby Blue to make a very subtle jelly sammitch :)

I wanted them to shimmer at different angles which is why I added shimmery polish :)

I added some Essence Let's Get Lost as water ripples (very subtle) using some acetone to water it down

And finally, with a piece from my etsy store 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/79845287/swirling-koi-pond-ceramic-and-beadwoven

What do you think? They were easy to paint (I try to have a light hand so i don't mess up too bad) and I think everyone could do it :))

Other Teal Tuesday blogs:

Missy at Gnarly Gnails

Rhonda at Nails Beautiqued

Kirsten at Geeky Owl

Amanda at Mandy's Polish

ColorSplash Nails

Simple-and-Beautiful

Aimee at Persistently Glittery

Alyssa at Fancy Phalanges

Frankens Galore!

Hello again, and so soon! I have been having fun making some frankens lately and wanted to share. The unfortunate thing is that I may need to purge more of them soon, haha. Well, maybe fortunate if you want any. ;)

This first one is something I made to quench my lust for Gotta Have Brains by that one person. It suits me a bit better :)

2 Coats

I love the grey squish squish jelly and the almost pastel color scheme. I started with some LA Girls Glitter Addict polishes (the pink and turquoise), added some Jordana gold glitter, purple hexes, and a bunch of white glitter. I used NYC Sidewalkers to tint the base and Kleancolor Concrete Grey for depth. I call it Kindergarten Bunny Sweater. :D

One coat O_O 

This is using black glitter, suspension base, China Glaze Blonde Bombshell, and Jordana gold glitter. Also a little bit of dark gold flakies from youmix glitter.

This is only one coat! It is crazy. I need to shake it up better, but I used an empty Julep base coat container sooo yeah, it did not go well. I am not sure the balls even MOVE! That is why the black glitter is so clustered. But look at all the stuff in there! I call it Lies of the Rich and Famous. I made it after seeing that Fergie by Wet n Wild polish that is mostly black with gold. I did not like it at allll. It wasn't interesting! So I made this instead :D I love gaudy things.

1 coat left, 2 coats right

This one is so much dreamier in person. I used all the teal and turquoise glitter I have, haha! I also added some NYS Amaranth and NYX Girls Inkheart to make a tinted base. I call it Crashing Waves.

2 coats left, 1 coat right

This polish has a story. I thought about my hamster (my first pet!) that I got when I was 9 who was named Peach Fuzz (or Peachie). I loved her a lot, you know, in a child-like way, and was devastated when she died at 1 1/2 years old. I fed her ice cream from my spoon, saved her from my cat Bear-Bear (who we got afterward), and cleaned up her mess from when she got out of her cage! She was peach with grey ears, black beady eyes, and white claws and tail. This franken was made using Revlon Peachy for the tinted base, black glitter hexes, white glitter hexes and bars, and gunmetal hexes. I call it, of course, Peach Fuzz :)

The seafoam franken on the left is my PRIDE AND JOY right now. The lower photo shows the true color. It has golden sparkles and some copper shimmer. There is a golden glow to it when held to the light. IT IS PERFECT. Do not argue -_- I adore it. I used a bunch of colors but mostly LA Colors Atomic, WnW White Creme, and...I think some Color Club Age of Aquarius. I call it Serenity Pool.

One coat on the left, two sloppy coats on the right over NYC Lavender Cupcake.

The glitter top coat here (and above) is made using a base of Confetti Party Palace Blue (its like OPI Last Friday Night; they pretty much make a ton of these types of glitter polishes now) which has different sizes of iridescent glitter. You can see these shining blue above. I added white glitters and the youmix glitter matte pastel glitter mix. Simple but dainty and cute. I call it Pop Singer Soul.

2 coats each

The coral polish with blue glitter on the right has been reformulated; it was lacking enough glitter base to make it less bumpy! I used a bunch of random corals and orange for it. I used a nearly empty bottle of LA Girl Nostalgic for the base. You can't see it but there are copper orange glitters in it too. I call it Coral Merfolk (M:TG nerd 4 eva)

The one on the left is an amazing mix of poppyish colored polish until I got something I liked a lot. I added suspension base and black hexes in two sizes. I was inspired by poppies, if it is not obvious! I also added gold shimmer to give it depth so it is not just another jelly polish with glitter in it. I call it Remembrance Day.

What do you all think?!

Catching up on NOTDs and Progress Report

First off, please consider entering my nail art contest!!! :D

I only have one submitted entry so far and would love to see more! The first entry is a pretty tapestry pattern mani using stamps and rhinestones. Please don't be afraid of doing your own thing! :)

Now, on to the NOTDs!

First up: China Glaze Man Hunt under KBShimmer Bejeweled

This is dark but I wanted to show how it glows....it glows

I know, there is a lot of tip wear here. I am also wearing a fake nail on my pinkie (I call it my 'flipper') which dissolved in the scrubby tub, haha. I lost the section of real nail that I tea-bag method attached while having a fit over a lost box (That I later found). Hey, it had all my expensive perfume in it!

I love KBShimmer so much. There is one holo glitter in the bottle but it is overshadowed by all the other beauty. Just a magnificent polish, truly.

Do you think I loved wearing it?!

SEE!! It GLOWS.

This...is my right hand. And the pretty but utterly disappointing polish mini (That I thought was fine!) from WonderBeauty....It has a lot of melted glitter in it. :| But I refuse to ever talk to that woman again for the mud she slung my way when I pointed out the problems with my minis. Oh well!

It is pretty but the huge melted glitter chunks were not fun to work with. They show up in the photos as a whitish-green square (melted medium sized hexes).

AND the last one....Orly Rage!!!!!!!!!!!! With GORGEOUS custom polish accents from Lacquistry!!! I love Lacquistry. I have had a little bleeding glitter from her but she is AWESOME about all that stuff and bends over backwards to try to make you your dream customs!! 

This one has a lot of holo glitter but I don't care because it is subtle and kinda washed out color-wise (which is exactly what I wanted) and *perfect* for accenting! Look at my sad widdle pinkie sans flipper. It just isn't fair, is it, pinkie?!

Peek-a-boo!

Yeah, pinkie is tired of being short. 

So there you have it...I am not dead. Just trying to figure out what life for me is going to be like and living in a little room with my cats and husband in my mom's house. I have also started to use TRIND balsam treatment and I will let you all know what I think. :)

STAMPING AND FREEHAND CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT!!

My first ever nail art contest!! It starts NOW and ends August 10th, 2012. 

If you don't know, I am an archaeologist. An historical one. So I do like my history :) I also love legends and myths because they tell so much about the people who invent them. Some of my favorite legends and history lie in the countries of Britain and France (pictures above are Tristan and Iseult). However, these countries are not the only ones with chivalrous knights and monarchies!

Do you like dragons and dungeons?! Put some dragons in a dungeon!! Do you like shields, swords, and heraldry?! Put some of that on your nails! How about textile patterns and art of the period? Certainly! 

I want you to use some of your stamps like you have never used them before. Brick motif for a castle wall or a dungeon floor can come from a full nail stamp. Silhouettes of casual people can be modified into knights and ladies. A "wallpaper" full nail design can be the backdrop to a tapestry. 

Maybe you do not know much about this time period. That is okay! You probably know something about Avalon, Merlin, and Arthur or maybe you know a little about the Crusades. You may have read or watched a Robin Hood legend. These are all great!! I also encourage you to move out of Britain and France and explore other countries and cultures between the 11th and 17th centuries, particularly those with monarchies and elaborate customs/costumes. 

ALL PRIZES PURCHASED BY ME!! No sponsors!! No free stuff!! 

Just some of my favorite things :D

WINNERS:

There will be THREE stamping winners

First Place will be for  the best  ADVANCED stamper

They will receive

Barielle Elle's Spell, One of the pictured fauxnad plates, Wet n Wild Cost Is No Issue (this is NOT the same as the Sally Hansen Gem Crush polish!), a bottle of Biotin, and "Casual" shimmer strips by Physician's Formula! (all items purchased by me)

Second Place will be for  the best  INTERMEDIATE stamper

They will receive

Barielle Teaser, Julep Jodie, the remaining fauxnad plate from the First Place photo, and Physicians Formula pH color changing lip gloss!

Third Place will be for the best BEGINNER stamper

They will receive

Hard Candy Frenzy, CoverGirl Lip Perfection in Dazzle, and Nicole Save the Last Dance!

There will be ONE official freehand winner and ONE honorable mention (who will receive a surprise prize)

The official winner will receive

Sally Hansen Purple Pizzazz, Wet n Wild Cost is No Issue, and a bottle of Biotin!

BIG BAD RULES:

STAMPING:

If you enter the stamping contest, you MUST use stamps as the dominant nail art on all 4 nails; NO stencils or decals. Stampers can use *some* freehanding but you must still use primarily stamps. I know it is hard if you don't have all the stamps you need to create your design but you should really stretch your creative use of the stamps you do have for this contest :)

FREEHAND:

*Only* use freehanding to create nail art. NO stamping, stencils, or decals.

You must create a unique and original design.

Allowable techniques to use in addition to stamping and freehanding:

GRADIENT BACKGROUND

DOTTING

STRIPING

TAPE (no tape/striping tape left on the nail)

other techniques that do not distract from the main nail art

PLEASE do not use religious or sacred imagery! 

INCLUDE IN YOUR PHOTOS:

Paper with the words "NoHolos HML Contest" which cannot be photoshopped, must be in original photo

4 nails MUST be shown

Please try to take a clear and good quality photo. Taking a photo outside during the day (not in direct sunlight) is the easiest way of taking a clear photo. Blurry photos are *very* hard to judge and may end up being ignored, I don't want that to happen to you!!

Email photos to noholosblog@gmail.com

Open Internationally (but limited; please see the photo at the top)

Please follow the blog in some way before entering.

JUDGES:

Judges will be picked by me near the contest close. 

I will definitely be using my mother, cousin, and artist husband as judges. I may ask some bloggers to help as well, so if you are not interested in participating, please email me to assist in judging :)

I have not included inspirational manis because I know all of you will have something in mind anyhow :))

If you have any questions, please ask!!