3…2…1…

Happy New Year!!!  According to my ring finger, it’s almost midnight. 🙂  Will you be going to any crazy New Year’s Eve parties?  I’m not much of a partier myself.  I’ll probably be falling asleep on the couch and go to bed about 12:01.  When I was little I remember being at Grandma and Grandpa’s house for New Years and running outside banging pots and pans as soon as the clock struck 12:00.

Then there was the year when I was 17 I think and went to my city’s downtown celebration with a couple friends.  A couple minutes before midnight I happened to run in to a guy from school who had made it no secret that he had had a crush in me since freshman year.  I considered him a good friend, but didn’t return the mushy feelings (yet, he eventually grew on me.  Nevermind that it took almost 4 years.)  Anyway, he ditched his friends and was hanging out really close to me as midnight approached.  I was really nervous he was going to try to kiss me so I hung close to my friend.  He either got the point or chickened out.  Whatever the reason, I was relieved.

Being that I don’t have any super exciting parties to go to, I stuck with a simple nail design as well.    My base color is OPI DS Magic, which I just happened to be wearing anyway.  I used OPI DS Radiance for my streamers and OPI Rainbow Connection for the confetti. For the clock I used China Glaze White on White and Nina Ultra Pro Punki Purple and a fine point Sharpie for the clock face.  This is the first time I’ve ever tried a Sharpie on my nails.  I learned you need to wait for your polish to be completely dry first.  I wish it was a bit darker and more opaque, but am happy with the ease of use.

Happy 2012 everyone!

Tag! I’m It!

Amanda at Amandalandish passed me The Nail Polish Tag.  It’s a getting to know you of sorts.  Here goes…

1. How many polishes do you own?

Believe it or not, I know the answer to this.  I just counted all of my polishes (excluding top and base coats) when I finished putting them in my new, shiny, red Helmer that I got for Christmas.  I counted 113, but today while I was out and about I bought 4 more.  So 117.  I know that’s a baby stash compared to some, but I’m not looking to own every collection out there (unless you’re talking about O.P.I. DS, then all bets are off!)

2. What is your favorite nail polish brand?

I can’t say that I have a favorite.  I like different brands for different reasons.  I really like Sinful Colors and Jordana because they have a large selections of colors for a very affordable price.  O.P.I. makes some amazing colors with an awesome formula and brush.

3. Do you like or hate crackle nail polish?

I like it.  I own several.

4. What was your first nail polish brand?

Probably Wet n Wild with Sally Hansen being a close second.  They were probably all pink.  I was a nail biter for a long time.  Sometime when I was about 11 or so I just decided I needed to stop.  It was that easy.  When I was 13ish my nails were all nice and long.  I got a split in one and was so upset about it.  I called a local nail salon and asked them if there was anything they could do to fix it.  I walked about a mile to the salon and the nice lady put a fiberglass wrap on it for me.  She didn’t even charge me for it which was great since I didn’t take any money with me.  I’ve always enjoyed having nice nails.

5. If you created a nail polish line, what would you name it?

I’ve never given it any thought.  I don’t actually have any desire to do something like that.

6. What nail polish color does not compliment you?

Hmm… I don’t know that I have an answer to that one.  Maybe oranges.  I like to wear lots of colors in my clothing and like to do the same with my nails.

8. Name two of your best nail art friends.

Another hard question for me.  I’m the new girl on the block and am still working on that.  Amanda (who sent this to me), Sarah, Cheryl…

9. What was the best nail polish gift you have ever received?

My sister gave me my first magnetic polish and a couple others she picked up while in London for Christmas and I got my Helmer for Christmas after I exchanged a similar storage unit that I thought would work.

10. Make a speech about thanking the blogger who tagged you.

When I was still an infant blogger Amanda allowed me to join in a guest posting venture that helped open up my horizons.  Amanda is a fantastic buddy to have in your corner and I really appreciate her friendship.

I’m supposed to tag 5 other bloggers, but for now I’m just going to pass it to Sarah and Cheryl.  I’ll let you know if I come up with 3 more.

*I just realized there’s no number 7.  I don’t know where it went.  I copied these questions from Amanda’s blog post and she didn’t have a 7 either.  Oh well.  It must’ve been a boring question I guess.

Braille Nails

These striped polka dots were another sort of Christmas mani I wore in an effort to be festive.  My dad took a good look at it and asked what it was.  I told him it was just polka dots when my sister-in-law chimed in that it was Braille.  Ha ha!  That made me laugh.  She’s quick that one.

This was inspired by a design I saw HERE.  I love the colors they used, but wanted to make it Christmasy.

I used Color Club Reddy or Not and Orly Green Apple.  Just like with most of the designs I do, I really liked this and want to play with other colors.  I wore it for a couple days and it stayed on really well.  I really didn’t have any chipping!  Love when that happens!

And the Award Goes To…

This post has been a long time coming.  Several awesome possum nail bloggers have nominated me for The Versatile Blogger award. Yay for me!  Thank you, thank you so much Amanda @ Amandalandish, Chelsea @ Nailed: A Nail Polish Blog, Nicel @ Operation Nail It and PtiteMeve.  Sorry it’s taken me so long to get to this.  As a recipient I’m supposed to tell you seven random things about myself.  Things like this are always difficult for me.  I can never think of anything to say.

1-  I HATE cucumbers, but love pickles.

2-  I decorate cakes.

3-  I’m can cut a freaking awesome paper snowflake!

4-  I’m a very curious person.

5-  I’m a major animal lover (except lately my cats are driving me crazy!)

6-  I love, love, LOVE Johnny Depp. ♥  It all started with 21 Jump Street.

7-  I also love Cyndi Lauper.  She inspired my current hair style.  No, I don’t have a checkerboard shaved in the side of my head. 🙂

Lastly, I’m supposed to pass this along to 15 other bloggers.  Fifteen seems a little extreme to me and I really don’t want to leave anyone out or give it to anyone who doesn’t want to do it; so I won’t be passing it along to anyone for now.  Thank you again for thinking of me ladies!

Fading Polka Dots

Ahhh…  That was a nice couple of days off.  My nails are naked at the moment and I must say I’m enjoying it a bit.  I do have a few new things I want to show off though, so I’ll be back at it soon.

One of my favorite bloggers, Chalkboard Nails, did a mani like this with white and red.  It reminded me of Minnie Mouse, but I loved it. This design was inspired by Sarah.  I wore it to my husband’s work Christmas party.  I started with Icing Glimmer, sponged on O.P.I. Outback Aphrodisiac, then dotted on more Glimmer until it faded back into itself.  I think the face that Glimmer is a glitter camouflaged the fading effect a little as opposed to a creme finish.  This mani didn’t last long though because there was some significant shrinkage.  I don’t recall any shrinkage the last time I used Glimmer though.  I want to do some experimenting and see if I can figure out a way to prevent that.  It’s so frustrating when you’ve spent so much time on a cool design and it shrinks.  Grrr!  I loved this design and I will definitely play with it again.  Thanks for being so creative Sarah!