Springtime Stained Glass

Fun stuff to share today! I bought a random plate off of eBay a bit ago that looked like it would have patterns (finally) big enough to cover my entire nail surface. And boy, was I right!

 Taken in direct sunlight with cell phone.

A full size design means that I finally had the opportunity to try out a stained glass design! For anyone unfamilar, you stamp your design like normal then use dotting tools to fill in the blanks. Add a coat of topcoat to connect everything, let it dry, then peel it off and ta-da! You have a awesomely colored decal that can be attached with a bit of top coat. 

Polishes Used 

Funky Fingers Riot

Fresh Paint Dragon Lady

Fresh Paint High Voltage

Pure Ice Free Spirit

OPI Fly

L'Oreal Royalty Reinvented

Another Swap!

I've signed up for Chaotic Goddess Swaps Favorite Color Swap again!

Swapping is super fun-- you get to pick out items for your partner in their favorite color, then you receive a package full of goodies in your favorite color! You may remember I participated last year (see my reveal post here), where I received lots of fun things in the color orange. :)

Sign-ups are open through May 18, so if you're interested go sign up!

Avengers, Assemble!

Hi there! I'm a huge geek, so when Walmart had Avengers temporary tattoos for sale last year I had to buy them. I knew exactly what I was going to do with them, and last week's Age of Ultron premiere was exactly what I was waiting for!

Taken in mediocre office light via cell phone.

Bam! Awesome & easy Avengers nail art! The only thing that bothered me about this was the the Avenger's A was backwards... but what do you expect from cheap temporary tattoos? :P

Polishes Used
Jade Holográfico Psicodélica

Windians 2015!

A day late for the home opener, but this is the ridiculously awesome look I've been rocking this week!

Taken in natural daylight via cell phone.

I've done two past looks for opening week-- here's what I had for 2014 and here is 2013. I've got a good feeling about this year. New talent, an awesome bullpen, and a shiny new stadium redesign. As for our batting game... eh...

Polishes Used
Funky Fingers Gesso
Julie G Cherry on Top
Pure Ice All Night Long

Christmas in February!

Haha... I told you my posts were a bit dated! I wanted to share my Christmas look with you, so here it is! As has been the tradition in years past, I went with a mix-and-match array of designs in a Christmas-y color scheme.

Taken in random, splotchy natural light.

We've got a whole jumble of things going on here... glitter, pearls, gems! Waterfall, dry-brushing, dots, and saran wrap! Red and green and gold and white... this was definitely a fun look to rock for the holidays. :)

Polishes Used
Julie G Cherry on Top
Zoya Dakota
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
China Glaze New Birth
Piggy Polish Ivy Leaf in Santa Claus
Zoya Ziv
Daring Digits Robin
Glitterfied Nails 24 kt Gold

A Thanksgiving Waterfall

New technique time! I've seen waterfall manis all over the place, but finally gave it a shot thanks to a new set of nail art brushes. Having the right tools makes all of the difference when you're trying to make skinny lines! 

Taken in artificial light.

I wanted an orange base for this look but wasn't sure which polish to use. Peach was too pastel and pumpkin was too dark... but what about my nemesis (OPI's Y'All Come Back Now Ya Hear)? It was the perfect color! As you'll recall, Y'all Come Back reacts with my nails to create a beautiful dark stain. Which is lovely, except no. Just no. 

Luckily I came up with the perfect (and oh-so-simple) solution: a white undercoat! A quick coat of white left my nails stain-free and made the jelly appear solid, so I only needed 2 coats of Y'All Come Back. Excellent!

Polishes Used
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
OPI Y'All Come Back Now Ya Hear
Piggy Polish Ivy Leaf in Santa Claus
Dots Metallic Bronze
Revlon Jackson Polish
CoverGirl #245 Go Go Mango
Zoya Ziv
Sally Girl Gold Glitter

Hello again!

Hello again! It's me, Katie. Remember me? I used to blog semi-regularly? Yeah... I inadvertently took a hiatus beginning in November and have just now decided to get back at it! 

So I just wanted to say hi, I'm back, and you can now expect old Thanksgiving/ Christmas/ New Year's nails to show up in the next few days. Woohoo!

Surprise! My Wedding Nails!

Yeah... so remember like a month and a half ago a bit ago when I mentioned I had one more Halloween manicure left to share and also had a big surprise? Well it's finally here!

Both taken in natural daylight.

I got married! YAY! This is the manicure I rocked for our Halloween wedding. I've got the something blue, ghosties to keep in the Halloween spirit, glitter, and romantic text... it's the perfect package! :D

I used the "make your own decals" method for this, which entails painting topcoat on a plastic baggie, tracing your design in polish (in this case, I did all the letters), cutting out the design, then adhering with topcoat. I added the hearts and ghosties using my dotting tools then added small smiles with a detail brush.

The wedding itself was performed at the local courthouse with just our families present. Sean & I have been dating since high school (7 years!), so it was just a matter of time before we actually got married. :P And we did it! The craziest part is that the next day we moved out into our own apartment, which explains the delay in posting. We've only just got officially settled into our routine and I finally found the motivation to post. Woohoo! So it'll be back to nails for a bit... up next is Thanksgiving!

Polishes Used 
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Salon Perfect Baby Blues
Daring Digits Holyfire

Stripey Spiderwebs

Hello! Today I've got yet another Halloween look to share... my first attempt at spider webs! I wasn't sure what to do with the other nails, so I went with a quick set of stripes. I seem to be in a stripey mood lately... strange!

Taken in office lighting.

Making webs with a striper brush was actually way easier than I expected. I've already had 5 comments on these nails this week, which is a larger number than normal. Clearly they're eye-catching (and spooky, for sure!)!

Polishes Used
Funky Fingers Riot
Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Color Club White Striper
Salon Perfect Black Diamond
Sinful Colors Secret Admirer 

Halloween Stripes and Splotches

Hi there! I've got another Halloween look to share this year... a good ol' black & orange combo!

Taken in indoor lighting.

I matched some black & orange stripes with OPI's Black Spotted. I then added a hint of glitter to add some pizzazz and ta-da! A simple yet interesting Halloween look. :) 

I've got another Halloween look coming your way later this week, then an additional extra-special manicure sometime this weekend... keep an eye out!

Polishes Used 

CoverGirl #245 Go-Go Mango

Sinful Colors Black on Black

OPI Black Spotted

Sweet Heart Polish Scary Delight