Llama Lacquers Holiday Collection

Well hello ladies!!  I can't believe it has been over 2 months since I have blogged.  Wow how life has gotten away from me!  But I am back and I have some great news for everyone :-)  Llama Lacquers has a new Holiday collection based on the best Christmas story in the world, A Christmas Story.  It has long been a tradition in my family to watch this movie only a few hundred times on Christmas day.  I love the characters, the simple story line, and the awesomely descriptive and exaggerated voice over of an adult Ralphie. There were so many inspirations for this line I had trouble narrowing it down but in the end I went with some of the most famous parts of the movie.  I have many pictures to show you and even a manicure for each.  I am quite pleased with the outcome of these colors and I think they all look so festive! Take a look and then let me know what you think.

From left to right:
* Deranged Easter Bunny-a gold base with tiny rose hex and gold square glitters
* Triple Dog Dare-a clean base with fine rainbow, large white and bright blue hex glitters
* You'll Shoot Your Eye Out-a clear base with red bar, large white, gun metal grey, and red hex glitters
* Fra-Gee-Lay-a clear base with gold bar, small black hex, and square black glitters
* Daddy's Gonna Kill Ralphie-a clear base with fine white, red bar, and red and green hex glitters
* Fa-Ra-Ra-Ra-Ra-a clear base with white, red, silver, and aqua glitters

Here is a closer look at each

Deranged Easter Bunny

Base-Milani Gold Dust & Milani Black Swift
Glitter-Deranged Easter Bunny
Nail Art-It's So easy Stripers

Triple Dog Dare

Base-Sally Hansen Brilliant Blush
Glitter-Triple Dog Dare
Accent Nail-Spoiled Correction Tape base & stamp m59 using Sally Hansen Co-Bolt Blue

My nails are all all weird so this translucent polish doesn't cover up the yellow good enough.  Alas, there must always be something weird going on :-P

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

Spoiled Correction Tape & You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

Fra-Gee-Lay

Sinful Colors This Is It & Fra-Gee-Lay

I love this one as it also dupes as a Steelers polish. In fact these are my mom's hands and we are watching the Steelers game today :-)

Daddy's Gonna Kill Ralphie

NYC Tribeca Silver & Daddy's Gonna Kill Ralphie

Fa-Ra-Ra-Ra-Ra

Finger Paints & Fa-Ra-Ra-Ra-Ra

So, which one is your favorite?  These make great stocking stuffers in the minis and starting tonight I will have 15mL available! 

Cyber Monday sale starts tonight and everything will be 20% off.  Also, the holiday collection will have a straight shipping fee of $2.50 no matter how many you buy.  Hope to see you there!!

Llama Lacquers

Egyptian Eye of Horus

Hello my ladies! I am so sorry I have been away for almost a week!  I had the greatest manicure using Glitter Goblin and I was never able to get around to photographing it, let alone blog.  I have recently discovered that my daughter has ADHD and have been doing everything I can to help her and to keep her out of trouble.  Being a former teacher the signs were pretty obvious but after doing a lot of research the bells really started to go off. It has been exhausting, but it is working :-)  We have less fights and she just seems happier.  I am so glad I figured it out before she heads off to school next year.  I know its never going to be easy but its better and it feels good to know! If you have children and ever need advice in this area feel free to ask.  I have taught many children over 9 years with a plethora of learning disabilities and disorders. I am a great listener and counselor.  I'm not just nails you know :-P

Anyway, onto the nails.  I really had no idea what I was going to do for E.  I even posted in the Llama Nails group hoping to get some suggestions and I did.  Some great ideas came my way, but none of them felt right.  I finally decided that I was going to do eyes, but was stumped on how to do them (cause I felt like doing something pretty instead of cheeky or fun) Then all of a sudden a light bulb went off and I thought of the Eye of Horus.  The history behind the eye of Horus, as with most Egyptian history, is simply too complicated to explain here so instead if you want to know more click on the Eye of Horus link. Then I realized, oh snap, Egypt starts with E also! I love everything Egyptian.  I am pretty sure I was an Ancient Egyptian in a former life. I love the crazy mixed up insestuous lineage of the Pharoahs, the beauty and colors of their fashion, architecture, and art.  I even love the mystery of the tombs and the aestetics of the heiroglyphic written language.  I have been wanting to do Egyptian nails for a while now and its funny how I completely forgot that when it came time for week E.  

For this manicure I started with a black base on all nails but the accent nail.  I did my accent nail in gold and free hand painted the Eye of Horus (which looks good on my left hand, but the right leaves something to be desired) I then painted the tips of each of the other nails gold and free hand painted a intricate Egyptian inspired pattern into it with a teal color.  I can totally see Cleopatra or Nefrititi wearing these nails.  They are definitely fit for a Queen.  

Base-Milani Black Swift
Accent Base-Loreal Amazon's Flash over Milani Gold Dust
Eye-It's so Easy black striper using a very small brush
Tips-Amazon Flash & Its' So Easy teal striper using small brush

I was super nervous about doing the tiny intricate design on my tips, but I think they turned out pretty awesome. I was unable to duplicate that design on the right hand...seriously how do girls do it! But it still matches.  So pretty cool. don't ya think?  

Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to check out the other awesome E mani's.  There is even another Egyptian mani by Jackie at MeMa's Manis :-)

'B'ows and zom'B'ies

Bows and Zombies.  Those two things absolutely go together, right?  I made the decision that they do after trying to come up with something unique for week two of the ABC's of nails for my Llama Lacquers group.  I have had zombies on the brain for a few days as I am planning a zombie party for Halloween.  I could think of nothing but zombie zombie zombie. Zombie does not start with B.  Someone suggested doing Braaaaaaaiiiinnns and I love that idea, but I couldn't figure out how.  So I decided I wanted to do bows. Yes, not anywhere in the realm of zombiedom, but I made it work.  I figure some girl zombies have bows in their hair.  I mean, they don't choose when they turn into zombies.  It could be on prom night, or out on a date, or even their wedding for crying out loud.  So my nails are a tribute to those poor zombie girls who got all dressed up and never made it to their fancy ball.  Forced to roam in search of brains and human flesh, still adorned with their beautiful bows on their heads :-P

I started with a french manicure using a zombie flesh colored polish by Essie and then topped it with my very own indie polish Rick Grimes, Zombie Killer.  I also used this on the accent nail.  The zombie skin effect is awesome!  I just love how it looks all rotting but sparkly at the same time! I then freehanded some bows on the tips of each nail.  I added some sparkly red to look like blood dripping from the bow. Poor zombie girl.  

Base & Tips-Essie High Spirits topped with Llama Lacquers Rick Grimes, Zombie Killer
Bow-It's So Easy Striper Black
Blood- LA Colors striper red glitter

I left the right hand unzombified so you could see the awesomeness that is my new polish.  If you haven't already done so, please go check out my polishes on etsy.  Llama Lacquers

I hope you liked me zombie BOW nails.  I sure had fun making them.  There are so many more Halloween themed mani's coming in the next month, I just can't wait.  Do you love Hallween as much as I do?  

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate all your comments.  Make sure to check out the other 'B'eautiful manicures by the other ladies. 

Hothouse Flowers

I haven't done a mani for the summer challenge in a while.  But as it is almost over, I thought I should do one!    Today's theme was hothouse flowers.  I assume hothouse is another word for greenhouse.  I know, stupid American :-P  When I saw this topic, I pictured brightly colored flowers.  So I chose some bright colors and free handed some petals.  These will most likely be the only flowers I can keep alive...well until I take them off.  But I like these so much, I may keep them on for more than a day or two!  I started with two colored bases.  Then on two of the coral nails I did a gradient with the purple.  I then free handed the yellow petals on each nail.  I added some dots for a contrasting and complete look.

Coral-Sinful Colors Hazard
Purple-Wet N Wild On a Trip
Flower-It's So Easy Yellow Striper

I really am quite proud of the work I did.  I only wish I could free hand with my left hand better.  Practice makes perfect!

Thanks for stopping by! What are your favorite flowers?

Girly Girl Challenge-Day 1

Spur of the moment thing.....doing another challenge.  Thankfully I am only doing it once a week.  It looks like a lot of fun and gives me an excuse to be girly :-P  This challenge was created by Lindsey at the Neverland Nail Blog

Day 1 (or week one) is Think Pink.  My favorite pink that I own is Milani Pink Out Loud.  It is such a bright and shimmery dark pink that always looks great! I also decided to use one of my own polishes from the Princess Bride Collection called As You Wish.  I'm glad that I did this, because it gave me a chance to see what I need to change about the polish....it needs more concentration of glitter! I was having a hard time picking it up as you will see.  The glitter is a little sparse.  Even still, I think the mani is pretty and oh so girly!

Base- As You Wish by ME
Accent and diagonal french-Milani Pink Out Loud
Striper-It's So Easy white
Stamp-BM317 using Spoiled Correction Tape

Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think :)

There are other ladies participating, but I do not have the linky's code yet.  I promise to get it soon! I do know that The Cute-icle Chronicles is participating so you can check her out to start with!

Captain Jack turns One

I cannot believe that my baby boy is one years old today! It seems like just yesterday that I was holding in my arms feeling so unbelievably lucky to be blessed with another sweet child.  And being amazed that I could love this one as much as I loved my daughter.  Jack was an angel from the day he was born.  He has always been a smiler and brings joy to everyone who sees him! I am so going to miss the baby stage in my life. And yes, we are done.  Two is plenty! So here is to hoping Jack's second year of life is just as enjoyable as his first :-)

For the manicure I got to use a new indie polish from 365 Days of Color.  It is called birthday bash and it has a lovely white jelly base with fine blue glitter and multi-colored confetti like glitter.  It really reminds me of icing.  I wasn't too sure about it when I first put it on, but after the second coat I fell in love with it. I almost ate my fingers....but I took pictures first!

Base-365 Days Birthday Bash
Tips-Its So Easy White striper & Maybeline Blue Blowout
Accent-Spoiled Correction Tape
Stamp-BM 307 using Maybeline Blue Blowout

Happy birthday my baby boy! I don't care how old you are, you will always be my baby! 

Days 26-28-Patterns, Art, and Flags

So I fell a little behind :-/ Fortunately I was ahead before I fell behind, so I didn't fall tooo far back. That sounded confusing.  Anyway, it has been busy and then I got sick.  Feeling better today, so you get three manis in one post! Amazing, I know. So, let's get started!

Day 26 was inspired by patterns.  There are so many freakin patterns that I am inspired by that I simply couldn't choose.  So I think I took an easy way out and did a mani using a bunch of geometric patterned stamps I have been wanting to try.  Excuse the messy tips....I didn't have time to photograph them right away and ended up chipping them a little.  Overall, I liked this mani, especially the base color that reminds me of denim.  And it happened to match my dress I was wearing that day :-P

Base-Finger Paints Art You Blue?
Stamps-Bm 203, 322, 319 using Sally Hansen Silver Swift and Spoiled Correction Tape

Day 27 was inspired by art.  I had an idea for what I wanted to do for this for a while, but wasn't sure I could get it right.  I have always loved paintings of birds on a wire.  There are a million of them out there.  All with different backgrounds and different birds.  I especially like the ones where there is a long wire and the two birds are sitting right next to each other <3  I started with a whiteish base coat and then sponged on a pretty purple.  Then I drew the wire across three nails.  I originally wanted to free hand my birds, but I was sure I would screw it up.  So I found a stamp that had a crow sitting in briar bushes.  I simple removed the briar bushes and used the little bird.

Base-Orly Decades of Dysfuntion
Sponging-Sinful Colors Winterberry
Stripe-It's So Easy Black
Stamp-BM 323 using Milani Black Swift

Day 28 was inspired by flags.  Considering the 20 year anniversary of Hurricane Andrew was this past week and hurricane Isaac has reared its head, I thought I would do a mani in honor of all the people affected. I chose the hurricane warning flag.  Nothing real fancy, just simple and to the point. 

Base-Spoiled I Tripped on the Carpet
Box-It's So Easy Black Striper

Thanks for checking out all of the manis today.  I feel like I did them a bit of a disservice by not writing much.  But I figured with three manis no one wanted to hear some long story :-P

Hope everyone is feeling well and don't forget to check out the other ladies manis!  We're almost done!!

Day 25-The Hobbit

Choosing a book to be inspired by is both easy and hard.  It's easy because I love books and have a million that have inspired me.  It is hard because I love books and have a million that have inspired me. I was originally going to do A Tree Grows in Brooklyn but I just couldn't find the right way to do it.  So I finally settled on my favorite book of all times.  The Hobbit.  I read this book for the first time while in high school and I have read it probably about 4 times since then.  It has the best opening line ever...."In a hole in the ground there lives a hobbit.  Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing to sit down on or eat: it was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort"  In only a few sentences I was hooked. After being introduced to Gandalf, all the dwarves, Smaug, Gollum, the trolls, Gwairir, and many of the other characters, I knew I was never going to be the same.  Yes, I'm being a bit dramatic, but I truly love this book.  One of my favorite characters is Smaug, the dragon.  He guards his gold in a cave in the Misty Mountains.  I always pictured him with dark red dragon scales laying prone over his mound of gold snoring smoke out of his nostrils with one eye open.  Tolkien really evokes my imagination :-)
So for this mani I chose to use a deep red as my base and used gold for a gradient.  I then painted Smaug's tail on my accent finger and added a few rhinestones for him to guard.  I am absolutely in love with this red polish.  It doesn't look red in the bottle....more like a coppery brown.  I was pleasantly surprised when I first put it on.  It's so deep and dark and yummy.  It took two coats to make it opaque.

Base-Finger Paints Picasso's Puce
Gradient-Loreal Amazon Flash
Dragon Tail-It's So Easy Gold striper

Don't you just love a good book? What is a book that makes your imagination soar?  

Thanks for checking me out today! I appreciate all of your comments :-)

Please stop by the other other ladies' posts to see what books they are inspired by!