A is for Autumn

In case you don't know I have recently started a new group on facebook called Llama Nails. We are a group of fun loving nail girls who just want to have fun with nails and keep the drama for the llama :-)  If you haven't seen....here is our adorable little mascot llama.  You know she wants you to do her nails, right?

So we have started a new challenge today called the ABC of Nails.  We will be going through the alphabet one week at a time! Each week we will post a manicure that contains something from the letter of the week.  It can be a polish name, a polish brand, an item on your nails, or even a technique.  These posts will come to you on Wednesdays! 

Obviously to begin with we are starting with A.  I wanted to do something different, but had a hard time coming up with something. The weather here yesterday was so beautiful.....almost fall like, so I decided to do an 'A'utumn manicure.  I love Autumn, don't you?  The smell of pumkin spice, crisp leaves, apple cider.  The sound of rustling leaves and kids playing outside.   Even the gorgeous colors of Autumn.  They have to be some of my favorite color combinations.  Russet oranges, dark reds, golden browns, and coppery colors.  I recently purchased an indie polish from Hit Polish called Autumn Harvest which is a gorgeous combination of sparkly fall colors.  I used this over gold and then did a gradient using some colors found in the polish with a leaf stamp on top.  I really like this gradient and I think it looks just beautiful next to Autumn Harvest and the gold stamp! I am so glad I get to keep this on for a couple of days!! Doesn't it make you want to take a walk in the brisk fall air and step on lots of leaves :-) 

Base-Milani Gold Dust
Glitter-Hit Polish Autumn Harvest
Accent Gradient-Ultra Pro Mossy Britches, Ultra Pro Burnished Bronze, & Finger Paints Picasso's Puce
Stamp-BM04 using Maybelline Bold Gold

Sorry if my cuticles aren't quite up to par :-(  Alas, so many other things going on!!

So, what's your favorite thing about Autumn??  

And hey....I have opened my polish store on Etsy, so please stop by and check out some of my Princess Bride inspired polishes! It's called Llama Lacquers :-)

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate all of your comments! Please check out the other ladies participating in this fun challenge.  Lots of really cool 'A' manicures!

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?

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!

Day 10-Aloha Means Hello and Goodbye

Did you know that Hawaii became a U.S State in 1950 in the month of August? Me neither! So, I chose to do Hawaiian nails for my 52 week challenge for today.  Plus, today is gradient day in the 31 day challenge, so I combined the two. Gradient Hawaiian nails! I have seen numerous GORGEOUS Hawaiian gradient nails that depict the Hawaiian sunset and the shadow of the trees.  I just love these nails, but I wanted to do something different since I'm a bit of a non-conformist :-P  So, I chose a pink and purple gradient and used yellow and black to stamp Hawaiian symbols, there is a konad stamp that is all Hawaiian symbols! YEAH!

I tell ya, I have come a long way in the gradient department. You should see my first attempt :-P BAAAAAD!! I have a love hate relationship with it because it is so pretty but I can never do it quite right.  Today's is not too bad, plus I covered it up with some stamping.  I still need to learn how to do it better! Tell me what you think.

Base-Sinful Colors Purple Diamonds
Gradient-Sally Hansen Love Rocks
Stamp-m29 using SH Lightening & Kleancolor Black

Left Hand.....I couldn't get my watermark to stay on this. weird :-P

Well, I was bummed to take off my puzzle pieces from yesterday, but I am quite pleased with these.  Now who wants to take me to Hawaii?? Anyone? Anyone?

Thanks for stopping by.  I appreciate all your comments. 

Now go check out the other ladies participating!

MSMD-Pink Gradient

I always want to do a MSMD but something always happens on Mondays and never get to.  There is so much great art out there I want to try it all!!!  I do find that when I try to replicate someone else's nails it often ends in a fail.  Today that was not the case.  I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do today but I knew I wanted pink.  Some days I just feel pink.  I even put on a pink dress this morning.  If you knew me in the past this is pretty funny.  When I was in high school I was anti-pink, pretty much anti-girly things. I was a bit of a feminist and believed that people (boys) should like me for who I was on the inside and that being a girly would take away from my personality.  I also thought that I didn't need to learn how to cook, sew, be a domestic diva.  These things were what girls were stereotyped to do and this was not going to be me.  I look back at this and laugh at my idealistic and naive beliefs.  Plus, look at me now.  I'm a stay at home mom who loves to cook, do my nails, and dress is pink.  Who knew?  Anyways, onto the nails.  I got my inspiration from Colores de Carol who I happened across on pinterest today.  I do not have the same stamp, which I am totally bummed about cause it's gorgeous.  And the one that I had originally picked out, which was similar, just would not stamp. booo.  So I chose one with flowers.  I think it turned out pretty good.  I still am not very good at gradient.  But when you stamp over it it doesn't look too bad. So, what do you think?

Thanks for looking! Have a great week

P.S.  I am very excited to have a fellow awesome nail blogger join me in my 52 week challenge starting this week.  Her name is Courtney and her blog is The Cute-icle Chronicles so go check her out! She is very talented. Plus, we used the same freakin stamp today.  How funny is that :-P