Because I'm a dork.

Tonight we're having dinner with some friends, and I'm planning on wearing my newest Hazel, along with some leopard print sandals.  And because I'm a dork, I did my nails to match:

The base color is China Glaze Kalahari Kiss from last year's On Safari collection.  I stamped the leopard print image from Konad plate m57 using Wet & Wild Black Creme, then filled in some of the dots with China Glaze Desert Sun, also from the On Safari collection. 

I topped the whole thing off with a coat of INM Out the Door.  Even though I got a little bit of streaking, it's really only noticeable in these macro shots.  Out the Door is quickly becoming my go-to topcoat.  It dries as quickly as Seche Vite, but without the horrible smell or more importantly, the shrinkage.  And I'm told it doesn't get goopy and thick once the bottle's half gone.  I just bought mine the other day, so that remains to be seen!

Turquoise Crocodile

Me likey.

It's Complicated

This is one of the most labor-intensive manis I've ever done.  But I think the result is worth the work!

I started out with two coats of China Glaze Cheers to You, from the holiday 2010 collection:  the shimmery, silvery counterpart to Midnight Kiss.  Once that was dry, I sponged the tips with Zoya Danii, then applied China Glaze Fast Forward topcoat.  Finally, after waiting about ten minutes, I stamped on the "shattered glass" design from Bundle Monster plate BM208 with Wet N' Wild Black Creme.  One more coat of Fast Forward, and then all I had to do was sit back and admire my nails for a while!

(colors are more accurate in this picture)

Holiday Nails

I hadn't really planned on posting nails today, especially since I have a whopping four FOs I haven't photographed or posted yet, and three new projects going!  But I did this combo last night, and really love it:

Midnight Kiss is my favorite gold polish - I just love the sparkly finish, and the light silvery-gold shade is so perfect.  With the little black polka dots added on top, it reminds me of champagne bubbles rising to the top of the glass!

Fellow polish-lovers, do you also gravitate toward metallic polishes at this time of year?  It seems to be all I'm wearing lately!

Yesterday's Nails

I really like this stamping I did yesterday.  I think this plate has a lot of potential - it's like the "saran wrap" technique, but without the mess!

Purple Polkas

Do polka dots have anything to do with the polka dance?  Which came first?

Anyhooo . . . I did this stamping a while ago to cover up the tip wear I was getting on my mani.  I thought this one was pretty cute!

But the next time I use this stamp, I'd like to try it with two very different colors - like black and white - to give it a more Op Art feel.

Rayures

I totally stole this from nailXchange.  You can see her awesome mani here.

Unpredictable is one of the polishes from China Glaze's fall Bohemian collection.  I wish I had the photographic skills to capture the color shifts on this polish - it's truly exquisite, changing from deep turquoise to emerald to golden green.  Adding in the black stripes only makes it better, in my opinion!

Houndstooth for Fall

Gah, I think this is one of my favorite manis I've done in a long time!  I can't stop looking at it!

Incredibly, this is the first time I've used this plate!  Now I'm daydreaming of other color combos . . .

NOTD

Shortly after they were released this summer, I got three of the Sephora + Pantone Universe Jewel Lacquers.  So far I've tried two of them, and so far I'm not too impressed. 

Parachute Purple, shown above, is a deep blue-purple with blue shimmer.  It's an OK color, nothing earth-shaking.  My camera wanted to show more of the blue, but it actually leans more purple.  The shimmer is pretty subtle, although when you can see it, it's quite pretty.  My problem so far with these polishes is that the brush makes it very difficult to get a good application.  It's one of those flat, wide brushes that I always have trouble with, and the ends are just ever-so-slightly splayed to make it even more difficult. 

The other thing I didn't like about this polish is that even after a healthy coat of Seche Vite (known for the high gloss finish it gives), the finish was a little dull.  On top of all that, I got tip wear after half a day, although I really didn't do much other than type a little and put away some dishes.  I didn't even wash them, just took them out of the dishwasher!

I put on Parachute Purple last night, but by this morning I was already bored, so I spiced it up with some stamping.   I'm not sure what this image is meant to be, but I think it's kind of cute!  Here's another picture (albeit a little creepy) that shows the shimmer and truer colors (as well as the tip wear):

Have any of you nail mavens tried these polishes?  I keep searching for swatches and reviews online, but there's not much to be found.

Positively in Love

That's the name of this polish, but it also describes how I feel about it:

This one is from the new magnetic collection by China Glaze, Magnetix II.  I also used China Glaze's new magnet.

It took me quite a while to jump on the magnetic polish bandwagon, but now I'm kind of obsessed with them!  So far I've only used the China Glaze ones though. 

I really am in love with this color - it's the most gorgeous black cherry shade.  All the magnetic polishes I've used so far display a fascinating chatoyancy in various lights; I think that's what I love most about them.  Another thing to love:  most of the time, I can get away with one coat of polish!  But if I don't get a good magnetic impression, there seems to be no harm done in layering on another coat for a do-over.  Topcoat adds even more depth to the effect.

How about you guys?  Magnetic polishes, yay or nay?

Meh Leopard

Yesterday I put on China Glaze TMI, one of the few polishes from the much-coveted OMG Collection I own.  But after the holographic insanity that is Layla, it was leaving me feeling a little flat.

So this morning I decided to stamp it:

Just not crazy about this one.  The black I used, Sinful Colors* Black on Black, isn't as opaque as I want it to be.  I think I'll have to break down and buy the Konad black stamping polish.  I used a dotting tool to add silver highlights to some of the spots, but my execution wasn't fantastic since I was hurrying.

*I really didn't even want to use this, because of the whole Sinful Colors content-stealing debacle, but I hadn't realized it is the only black I have, so I was stuck with it.

So, meh.  Good thing I was planning on changing colors tonight anyway.

Kablam!

I got the third Bundle Monster stamping plate set the other day, and I decided to do my first stamping from it with Niecey-poo's favorite image from this set!

Tarnished Gold

I know crackle polishes are kind of yesterday's news, but I still really like them.  Especially the China Glaze Crackle Metals.  I had a little tip wear on my mani, and wanted to extend it for another day or two, so I topped it with Tarnished Gold:

Mmmmmm.  I love it!

Today

I'm heading to the grocery store, wearing my new t-shirt!

Not much else to say really, since I just wrote about this one yesterday!  It is a little long in the waist, but I prefer my shirts to be that way, so that the lower dorsal area doesn't get exposed when I sit down.  You know what I'm talking about.

Also painted my nails last night with one of my new China Glaze polishes, just to go with this top!

A very pretty blue-grey.  Formula was perfect on this one!  I've used four of the twelve colors so far, but this is the first one I've taken time to photograph!

I spent quite a while this morning photographing my four new makes, so I'll be doling those out over the next few days!

(Primarily) Self-Made Woman

I took some time to do a little photoshoot this morning before I headed out to run errands.  I've got a backlog of finished pieces I've been too lazy to model and photograph, and I managed to snap pix of all but one of them today.  I'll spread them out over a couple of posts though.

So let's start out with this week's finished pieces, the Ginger skirt and the Butterick blouse.  You all know how a Ginger looks by now, and having now made this pattern five times, I really don't have anything to say about it other than, look how great it goes with my new blouse!

I put on my most padded bra, and now the blouse is starting to grow on me.  I think in a size 8 it will be just right.  Hmmm . . . decisions!

I'm not sure I mentioned it yet, but when I got started on the blouse I was surprised to discover that there are no horizontal bust darts.  There are, however, two vertical double-ended darts in the back and the sides are quite shaped, so the finished product actually does have more shape than I'd thought it would.

Putting this together reconfirmed my need to hand-baste in sleeves - always.  I didn't do it on the first sleeve, and ended up having to pick out and re-sew a couple sections.  I did baste the second sleeve, and it came together so much easier - and it hangs better than the one I didn't baste.

This shot is here mostly so you can see
my shoes better.

I love this outfit for a spring day - red, yellow and blue!  When I went out, I wore a yellow sweater I made years ago.  Also note that I've coordinated my nail polish and even added a bezel-set murrini glass ring I made a few years ago:

China Glaze Happy Go Lucky

I know.

Last but not least, here are today's silly shots:

Oh Sergio, I love you so much!

You do things for me that Ken doesn't do.
Sigh.

My skirt so far:

Yesterday I got the fabric cut out, but decided not to start sewing.  I knew that I was almost tired, and that I'd be more likely to make mistakes.  So I spent some time knitting instead.  I'm close to being finished with the back of my new cardigan!

Today I got started on the sewing, in between loads of laundry.  I've gotten about 2/3 done, I'd say.  All that's left is the zipper, waistband, buttonhole and hem.

The pockets on this one are a fair amount of work, and they took me even longer because I decided to use my machine's triple stitch for all the topstitching.  It takes three times as long - but I think I benefited by having to go slower.

I really like the jeans styling on this pattern.  Here's a shot of the side seam; the seam allowance is pressed toward the back and topstitched down.

I used a medium blue chambray for the pocket lining.  The heavier stitching is the topstitching in triple stitch, and the finer one is understitching the seam allowance to the pocket lining.  I have a hard time with understitching.  I'm not sure why it's so hard for me, but this is the best understitching I've ever done, so I'm happy about that.

For those who wonder:  polish is China Glaze Lemon Fizz,
with some Sally Hansen Glass Slipper on top.

One of the things I like about PDF patterns is that I can load the instructions on my iPad rather than print them out.  So another reason I knew it was time to stop for today is that the iPad ran out of juice!

I love the enormous pockets, and I keep thinking about all the things I can keep in there!

Anybody else going to make up this pattern?

Victory is mine!

I finally finished my taxes yesterday, so I'm giving myself a sewing day today!  Yay!

I'm starting the Victory Patterns Madeleine skirt.  I'll be doing this without the suspenders, but with the pockets.  Pockets!  Big ones!  Hurray!

I printed out my pattern on Tuesday, and this morning I trimmed all the pages while watching an old episode of Dragnet on Netflix:  it had three vintage commercials too!  Two for cigarettes (!) and one for Grape Nuts.  Yummy.  (The Grape Nuts, not the cigarettes.)

While that was going on, I washed and dried the red cotton twill I'll be using.  And now I'm putting the pages together:

I'm hoping to get my fabric cut out today, and then I'll have to go to the fabric store for a zipper.  I'm very excited.  I've been wanting a red full skirt for quite some time.  I think this one will have just the right amount of fullness for me - I find circle skirts make me look poufy in my tummy.  Because I am!

And I did stamp my nails yesterday.  They didn't look as great as they did in my mind:

Zoya Cassi
stamped with China Glaze Millennium
and Konad plate m66

And I got significant shrinkage because I used Seche Vite topcoat.  I've found that Zoya polishes can take a coat of Seche Vite on the second day without shrinking, but if I use it on the first day, it's just asking for trouble.

Copycat

I totally copied this from something I saw on Pinterest:

Zoya Avery and China Glaze Electric Pineapple*

The pin I copied used pale grey and vibrant yellow, but I like the unexpected combination of putty and neon chartreuse.  I did this because I was wearing Avery and got permanent marker on one of my nails.  I decided to cover it up with the chartreuse, and ended up loving this look more than I expected to! 

Alternate color combinations are now running through my head . . .


*Sorry for the cuticle dryness; I conditioned my cuticles later and took more pictures, but by then the light had gone and this one shows the colors the best.

(Polish) Change is Good

It took me about five minutes to get tired of the blue nails.  I'm not really sure that periwinkle shade works for me.  So last night I took it off and tried out something that's been in my mind for a little while.  I started out with two coats of Zoya Christina, a sheer frosty white, and then topped that with two coats of Essie Luxeffects As Gold as it Gets:

LOVE!!  In addition to loving how it looks, I love that I've found a way to wear Christina that I like.  It was one of the first Zoya polishes I ever got, and I was pretty disappointed with it when I put it on.  It's supposed to have some silver shimmer, but it really just comes across as frosty white - very '70s.  It doesn't apply evenly either.  But I'm absolutely loving it with the gold on top.

This morning I decided to up the ante and add on some gold chrome tips:

Double love!  This is my favorite mani of 2012 (hahaha)!  On my right hand, I made some tip guides with tape and craft scissors (the "cloud" shape from Fiskars), but on my left hand (shown) I just did the tips freehand, and they actually look better than the ones I did with tape.  I'm pretty proud of myself to tell the truth - these are the first freehand tips I've done in at least 10 years.  I used to give myself French manis all the time back in the '90s when I had long nails, but it does take some practice.  Not sure I could do it on my right hand though!

One of the things I love about this is that the texture of the glitter shows through the gold tips on close inspection, so it almost gives it a hammered metal look:

Triple love!  Now I feel like I don't want to do anything because I don't want to mess up my pretty, pretty nails!  But I think I'll see if I can get Hubby's shirt finished, so I can clean up my dining room!

New Polish

I recently picked up Nubar's White Polka Dot and Black Polka Dot, so yesterday I decided to try one out.  Here's 2 coats of White Polka Dot over China Glaze Secret  Peri-Wink-le:

picnik made the blue darker than it really is :-(

Word on the street is that White Polka Dot is an alternate name for a polish Nubar did for The Painted Nail called Moon Drop.  It's not a very bright white, but neither is it quite grey; it has a very slight silvery, opaly sheen.  The black one is just plain, shiny black though.

I found both these glitters a little tricky to apply.  The glitter particles are quite heavy, so they sink pretty quickly, and the clear base is thick.  It worked best for me when I put the cap back on and turned the bottle upside down for several seconds after every couple of nails.  Slow going.  But once you get it on your nails, the glitter is pretty smooth, so that's a plus.

I've got Zoya Raven and Purity on their way to me thanks to the two free polishes promo (ends tomorrow), and once they arrive I'm going to try the black and white polka-dotted mani.