Now for something girly. . .

I wanted to change my manicure, but I wasn't quite sure what to do.  I have never really been a fan of New Year's Day designs.  The always seem too sparkly and well, kind of cheesy.  Don't get me wrong.  I like a good bit of cheese, but drawing the year and champagne glasses just isn't my kind of cheese.  So I took to the web for some inspiration, but I just wasn't feelin' anything.  So I looked through my plates and found a a pattern that I thought was rather pretty.  It is actual Bundle Monster BM-404 which is a design by the fabulous Wacky Laki!  I love her nail art and I thought it would be cool to to a jelly sandwich with the stamp.

As you can see I didn't do that.  When I went looking for a jelly I came across OPI Sparrow Me The Drama which is one of my all time favorite pinks (and I don't like a lot of pink).  The new problem was that I thought having the pattern on all of my nails would be a bit much, but having it on only accent nails didn't seem like enough.  Enter in my love of Elleandish's style and I knew what I needed was a glitter nail!  Nina Ultra Pro Boys 'N' Berries seemed like the perfect match to SMTD!

I am rather pleased with the outcome.  It is so feminie and girly.  I don't usually like that, but this is rather lovely, if I do say so myself.

Can't forget my thumb!

Yep, I like this a lot, in fact I have worn it for five days!  It still looks fresh and pretty, but as any good nail art addict knows, it is now time for something new.  I have a few ideas up my sleeve, just you wait.

Tootles!
Fitz

Elves, not Elvis. . .

The polish on my nails chipped, so I had to do another design, right?

A design by PachAPunchPolish was my inspiration for this one.  I decided I wanted some brighter colors, so I used Nubar Belieze Coral, Finger Paints Lucky In Love Lime, Essie Beyond Cozy, Julep Florence, and Nina Ultra Pro French White.  So many different brands!  That is a lot of typing!

I think the elves might have worked a bit better if my nails weren't so short.  Ugh!  Oh well, I still like the Kilroy was here aspect of the design.

My thumb is a bit dodgy, but it has also sustained a wicked break that is patched at the moment.

They are rather cute and I love the bright colors.

Tootles!
Fitz

A modern Christmas Tree

My sister posted a picture of a nail design that she liked on my Facebook page, so I decided to do it for her today.  It was inspired by this design by Romina - Cajon de los esmaltes.

I took a few liberties in making it my own by changing the color scheme.  I don't often get to use China Glaze Party Hearty and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to.  I love the this glitter, it is just so festive!  I also used Near Dark.  I thought the extremely dark green would be fun.  And don't forget the lose gold star on top.

ND did take two coats to get it this dark, but I actually wanted it darker I was just tired of waiting for coats to try.  Alright, I got a bit impatient, so sue me.

I have decided when doing someone else's nails the thumbs are the hardest.  Have I complained about that before?  If not, now you know.  The thumb on the other hand didn't turn out as good at all.

Such a simple and elegant design.  I really love how this turned out.

Tootles!
Fitz

Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!

I know it has been a long time since my last blog, but I have still been doing my nails and taking pictures. . . I just haven't been blogging about it. . .  Sorry.  I want to be better and her to hoping I will be.

When I saw this design by Janelle of Ellendish I knew I had to try it.  Charlie Brown and his infamous Christmas special are a huge part of my childhood and the holiday season.  Then when I finished and I was so proud of myself I knew I needed to share it with all of you.  It looks hard, but if you follow Janelle's instructions, you can do it.  I think once the holidays are over I might have to try a Peanuts inspired manicure.

Amazingly enough, it only took six polishes.  Snoopy being on a white background adds to the successfulness of the this manicure.  I used Nina French White, Julep Catrina, Sinful Colors Cinderella, China Glaze Gaga For Green, Liquid Leather, and Red Satin.

I really like the simpleness of the rest of my nails.  Cinderella has such a beautiful and subtle shine.  I wish you could see it in the pictures.  However do note that if you use Cinderella it will take several coats as it it is very sheer.

Well, I hope this was a good manicure to start off being active again.  Life has been busy, so I can't make any promises, but I want to get back in the swing of things.


Tootles!
Fitz

And I am a Material Girl!

Today's prompt for Sunday Stamping is your birthstone.  I was born in the illustrious month of April and have always disparaged that my birthstone is a diamond.  I know, it is not natural for a member of the female sex to not adore diamonds.  I have always loved emeralds and felt that I was born in the wrong month.  The biggest problem was trying to figure out how to come up with a stamp that had anything to do with diamonds.  I have a decent collection of stamping plates, but when I wen through them I felt like I had nothing.  Then I tried to think outside the box and Marilyn Monroe popped into my head.  You know, diamonds are a girl's best friend.

So I tried to base my manicure on the iconic number by Marilyn Monroe from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.  This famous scene has been done by so many others; Glee, Moulin Rouge, Burlesque, and Gossip Girl to name a small few.  Even Madonna was inspired by her when she created her video for Material Girl.  I went through my stamps again and came up with this.

I used Gals plate GA30.  When I looked the image on the plate I thought it look delicate and frilly, but it stamped more like a tattoo. . .  Oh well.  I also wish I had crystals for my other nails, but we shall just call them black diamonds.  The polishes are China Glaze United and Konad Special Black.

I love the way United sparkles.  It is so pretty in the sun.  You can really see the color facets of light and dark pink as well as gold.

My thumb.

So this was not quite what others had in mind, I am sure, but it was inspired by diamonds.  I just added some iconic flair!

Tootles!
Fitz

Stars

Just thought I would give this manicure a posting.  It is a rather simple loose glitter star manicure that I did a while ago.  I used Ulta Moody Blues and Nabi Metalic Coral.  I hope you all like it!

Tootles!
Fitz

There Ain't No Doubt I Love This Land

Today is Independence Day and I want to take a moment to thank all those who have made it possible for me to live in country where I can question my government, where I can choose who I want to be, where I can vote, and where I can worship how I want.  These are a few of the privileges I am awarded and I strive not to take them for granted.

To honor and celebrate I have another 4th of July themed manicure.  This was rather simple, as I did it this morning.  However I feel the Old Glory is well represented.

I used Essie Butler Please, Leading Lady, Konad Special White, and Nina Ultra Pro.

The stars were done with Betina  plate B-08.

The stripes were done with striping tape.

I hope you have a wonderful Fourth surrounded by family friends.  Enjoy good food and laughter, but spare a moment and remember the price that was paid.

Tootles!
Fitz

Oh Say Can You See!

I live in the United States if America and with my residence comes a Holiday known as Independence Day or The 4th of July.  On this day we are supposed to remember and celebrate the day the Constitution was signed in 1776.  So in honor of this day and as a prompt from Sunday Stamping (I know I am late, I just didn't get pictures taken) I give my 4th of July Manicure.

I really love how this came out!  The design came from ellandish.  I recently found her on Youtube and am loving her designs.  Plus the quality of her videos is excellent!  I did change a few things due to lack of a particular plate, plus I wanted to stamp the red polish in order to use a sparkly white.

I used plates Winstonia W107 and Cheeky CH51.  Now comes the polishes, there are a few. . . OPI Mad As A Hatter, Essie Butler Please, Konad Special White, Special Red, China Glaze Dandy Lyin' Around, Hey Sailor, and Millennium.

I love that this design is stamping and freehand.  I need to do more freehand.  My roots are there and I am getting rusty.

I forget how much I love MAAH!  It is so colorful and sparkly!  I have no idea if you can still find it, but if you do jump on it!

Well my lovelies, I must be going!

Tootles!
Fitz

Who says glitter has to be shiny?

Let me start this post with this piece of information.  I have drooled over Floam nail polish for a very long time, but it is hard to spend so much on a single bottle of polish.  Granted I spent eight dollars on a bottle of Butter London, but it was on sale.  I mean Butter London for eight dollars?  Who would pass that up?  So when I saw a post (I am sorry I can't remember who's) about Salon Perfect Kaboom I began stalking my local Walmart.  And then I saw it!

I immediately bought it and the only other one they had at the time from that collection, Shocked.

Since I don't have Floam, I can't say how close it is, but The PolishAholic has an excellent swatch of it.  I really love it and want to get the other polishes in this collection.  I just have to wait for a bit more cash.  (Curse you reduced wages of summer school!!)  Well, I thought I would do a swatch for you, so I hope you enjoy the rest of these pictures!

Tootles!
Fitz

Stars. . . Lots of stars

So I wanted to change up my manicure.  I also wanted a design.  I didn't want to take up a lot of time, nor did I want to mess with stamping and picking a plate.  So I saw China Glaze Passion for Petals in my stash and realized something this pretty should not be on my untried list.  I also recently bought some loose glitter and this manicure was born.

I like simplicity and I am going to keep that going and not talk much more in this post.  I'll just let you enjoy the pictures uninterrupted.

Tootles!
Fitz

Can't get enough of your. . . Stamping

Today's theme in Sunday Stamping is the 70's and I used the above fabric swatch as inspiration.  I am so proud of how this turned out, however this is an instance where up close, as in a picture, isn't as good.  Still I love this manicure and I hope you do too.

To do this I made decals with my stamp pattern from Cheeky CH44 just as I did in previous posts (there are two links there).  I am getting better with the technique and it is nice to let things sit and really prepare for a manicure.  It also makes doing the non-dominant hand so much easier.

I used China Glaze Life Preserver as my base color.  I then filled in the decal in random ways using Kalahari Kiss, Chocodisiac, and Budding Romance.

Time really is your friend doing this technique.  You need to make things are dry before going to the next phase of the design, just like any manicure.  The nice thing is it isn't on your nails, so you can do other things while you wait.

Well I hope you like this.  I really do and I hope it lasts a little while. . . although I did get some new matte glitters to play with. . . Oh the temptations of being a polish-a-holic!

Tootles!
Fitz

Yellow and Purple make. . . Well brown if you mix them, that would be gross. . .

Well hello!  Today is a lovely full of. . . sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. . . Is that too cheerful for you?  Me too actually.  I am sitting at home waiting for the next phase in my life to begin.  I got a new job and just completed training yesterday.  However, I don't start the job until August so. . . Yeah, waiting. . .

In the meantime I have anew manicure!  Actually I did this a week ago and I haven't had a moment to blog about it, so here we go!

I am sorry, I am in a strange mood.  I will try to be more serious now.  I did this for Sunday Stamping and the prompt was complementary colors of a color wheel.  I really like purple and yellow together and I got this new metallic purple.  I was so excited!  I thought I would do a soft yellow with some curly design, very subtle and then BAM! a big purple skull on my accent finger!  Well, the polish didn't stamp and I have some serious trouble with the skull stamp. . . so I did another purple and a bow (which looks red in these pictures, but I swear it is purple!). . . Not as awesome as I planned. . .  Oh well.

So, I used China Glaze Lemon Fizz, Urban Night, Konad Special White, and Special Gold.  The plates were  Bundle Monster BM-317 and Gals GA44. 

I still think it is really pretty and it has held up rather well (I am still wearing it and there is hardly any tip wear).

Well,  I best be going before I say something embarrassing. . .

Tootles!
Fitz