Sometimes life gets in the way...

So I owe you guys and apology for not being around anymore. A lot has gone on in such a short amount of time and I've been so busy that I haven't had time to take care of my nails anymore. Long story short...I finally got back together with the love of my life after 5 years. Everything has always been so perfect with him but there is an hour and a half long drive between us and our schedules were just too crazy to make it work...the timing was never right. I could never let him move here because its such a small town and there isn't much to choose from as far as jobs go and I was too scared to move there. I got over it and...my kids and I are moving to Lincoln as soon as I find a job. My little sister and her husband and a few of my friends live there too so that's a bonus. My life is pretty stressful right now...but its good stress. If that makes sense. A lot is changing for the better, but its a lot of work. He's handling a lot of it though. Like finding a bigger place to live and a bigger car since we have 4 kids now. I'm gonna have to sell my car first...there's just SO much to do! But I've never been happier. I promise I'll be back as soon as the dust settles. Hopefully it'll only take a month or so...Wish me luck! I miss you guys!

Sunshine Award!

I was tagged by Tierney from Tier's Thoughts. Thanks, Cutie!


These are the rules:

1. Post the logo within your blog or post.

2. Pass the award on to several other bloggers.

3. Link the nominees within your post.

4. Let the nominees know they have received the award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to the person whom you have received this award from.

These are a few of the blogs I follow and would like to tag. I'm sorry if I tag someone who has already gotten it!

glitterM-You Nailed It!

Nail Talez & More!

All about nails

Polish & Konad

The Girl Who Nailed It

Van D'Go Fauxnad

Base: Essie "Van D'Go"

Pattern: Konad Special Polish in Purple

Plate: H29 From Chez-Delaney


I was really hoping I'd get to use the new plates this week that I'd ordered from Chez-Delaney, but they didn't come in time. I'll just have to wait until next week!

I'm kinda bummed about Van D'Go. I thought it would have more of a pinkish tone to it since that's how it looks in the bottle. It dries much darker. I like it anyway, its just not what I had expected. I really didn't know what design to stamp over it, so I flipped through my books until this one caught my eye. I think it turned out pretty cute. Sorta pretty, yet playful.

Storage

I always like looking at people's storage posts, so I thought I would do one of my own. I guess its also kind of a collection post too. Enjoy!

So, this is the inside of my hallway linen closet. It has four shelves, so far two of them are taken up by polish. I got these Expand-A-Shelf cabinet organizers so that I could see the polishes in the back. They expand to fit the length of the inside of your cabinets which is pretty handy. I try to keep all of my polish arranged by color...sorta.

I put in stick up lights that rotate so that I could actually find what I'm looking for. They're pretty bright for being so small. This is the second shelf down. It also holds some of my odds and ends. Lotions, topcoats, etc.

This is one of my wallet sized photo albums that I use to hold my Konad/Fauxnad plates. Its kind of nice having them in a book so they're not sliding all over the place. I like being able to just flip through the book to find the one I want instead of sorting through a pile. Each album holds 24 plates. I got mine on ebay.

The large fauxnad plates fit too, but its a bit of a squeeze.

I use this Caboodles train case to hold my nail art polish and polishes that I only use for stamping. My friend Adriana bought it for me for Christmas. I LOVE it!

This is just an inside pic I took to show what it looks like when you first open it up. It has three shelves on each side that all branch out.

I keep some of my topcoats and basecoats in here too. There's also a little nail tool kit in that little gold clutch on the bottom.

So, that's how I store my collection. Its not as big as some, but I love it anyway. Thanks for looking!

Essie's Funky Limelight Fauxnad and New Chez-Delaney Plates!

Base: Essie "Funky Limelight"

Pattern: Konad Princess Polish in Gold Black

Plate: Chez-Delaney H21

I love this polish, but I hate how neons apply. Bleck. This color makes me think of a yellow highlighter. Lol. It's actually a bit brighter in person. My poor camera just couldn't capture it. For some reason, the tips of my nails didn't wanna stamp worth a crap and I kinda streaked a bit on my ring finger applying my top coat. Half fail.

Chez-Delaney has a new series of plates! It's the "T" Series, and I'm absolutely farking bananas over some of them. They're all large image plates too, which I love.

I thought this little devil chick was pretty badass.

I love love love the broken heart on this one. I have a thing for hearts.

I'm pretty psychotic over this spider web pattern too. I immediately thought of Evil Angel when I saw it!


They have a lot of cute full nail patterns. The ones on T14, T19, T20, and T28 are pretty cool. Plus T28 has a fish bone image and a scratching cat image that I adore. I can't wait for mine to get here!

Bahamian Escape Konad

Base: China Glaze "Bahamian Escape"

Pattern: Orly "Prince Charming"

Plate: Konad M60

I think this mani is cute, but I feel like maybe it needs something...I just can't figure out what. It just seems kind of blah. I decided to use this image for angled tips because it isn't big enough to use on my full nail and I'm definitely not good enough at lining up images for double stamping. I think it looks kinda cute that way though.

Purple Panic Fauxnad

Base: China Glaze "Purple Panic"

Pattern: Konad Princess Polish in Yellow

Plate: Fauxnad H1 from Chez-Delaney




Ugh. I've been sick for the last two days, so please excuse the sloppiness of my stamping. I'm a little shaky. Plus I've already managed to dent the polish on my index finger near my cuticle. Oops. That being said, I was in the mood for something kind of bright and cheery, so I chose these two colors. I think they're pretty cute and fun-looking together. I'm definitely over the dreary, crappy weather we've been having around here and this mani makes me think of spring/summer. ;)

St. Patrick's Day Konad

Base: China Glaze "Four Leaf Clover"
China Glaze "Cleopatra"

Pattern: Konad Princess Polish in White

Plate: M81


This is my mani for St. Paddy's Day. I'm sure "Four Leaf Clover" will be seen on a lot of nails this week, but I decided to go with it anyway. I think its the perfect color for St. Patrick's and its even appropriately named for it. I put a coat of China Glaze "Cleopatra" over it to liven it up a bit. There aren't really any Konad plates that have any clovers on them so I didn't have much to pick from. It was between this and M20. I went with M81 since its a new plate and hadn't used it yet.

Secret Peri-Wink-Le Konad

Base: China Glaze "Secret Peri-Wink-Le"

Pattern: Nicole by OPI "No Limits"

Plate: M77

I had totally forgotten that I even owned this color until L over at Bright Lights, Big Color used it in a post a few days ago. She did a way better job of capturing "Secret Peri-Wink-Le" though. I had no sun. :(

Leaf Him at the Altar Konad

Base: Sephora by OPI "Leaf Him at the Altar"

Pattern: Konad Princess Polish in White

Plate: M77

Hey everybody! I hope you're all having a great weekend. Mine's been a little crazy. Too much going on. I really wanted to go see Alice in Wonderland but haven't gotten a chance to yet. Maybe this afternoon if I'm lucky.

I wasn't real crazy about this week's konadicure. I did it on Friday and I'm itching to get it off. I can't quite put my finger on what it is about it that I don't like. I do think this color is beautiful though. Lately I'm having an extremely hard time trying to decide what I'm going to do for my next konadicures. I think I've just got too much to choose from. Too many colors, too many plates.

Gumdrop Fauxnad

Base: Orly "Gumdrop"

Pattern: Konad Princess Polish in Red

Plate: Fauxnad H20 from Chez-Delaney



I decided this week that it was time to trim my nails again. They start to curve under once they get to a certain length and I can't get them to stop no matter what I try. Drives me bananas. I think I do like them better at this length though. Anyway, I'm sure most of you already know this, but I realized that "Gumdrop" the most fantastic dupe of China Glaze "For Audrey" I've ever come across. To me, its almost an exact match.

Call Your Mother Fauxnad

Base: Sephora by OPI "Call Your Mother"

Pattern: Orly "Rage"

Plate: H22 From Chez Delaney


I couldn't decide on what I wanted to do with my nails this week so I grabbed "Call Your Mother" since I've had it forever and never used it, and decided to pair it with "Rage". I think the color combo is kinda pretty and not at all loud and overwhelming like my last mani. Lol. I like it, but I don't love it. Colors like "Call Your Mother" never look that great on me. :-( I don't know whether I'll keep this one on all week or not.

Let's Groove Fauxnad

Base: Nfu-Oh #50 over China Glaze "Let's Groove"

Pattern: Orly "Shine"

Plate: Fauxnad H22 from Chez Delaney


With
Essie's Matte About You


I can't decide how I feel about this one. I think it might have a little too much going on. I do know that I definitely like it better matte though! I just got the new Foil FX Collection from Orly and I have to say, I love all 3 colors both as a base and for stamping. They really do look just like foils!

Essie "Scarlet O'Hara" Fauxnad

Base: Essie "Scarlet O'Hara"

Pattern: Black Konad Special Polish

Plate: Fauxnad H5 from Chez Delaney

Let me just start off by saying that this image was extremely difficult for me to use, but definitely worth it IMO. I had a very hard time scraping the excess polish off without leaving bare spots in the design. Whew. I do love how it came out though. As you can see, I already had an accident with the tip of my pinkie. I have no idea where I hit it. At least it will be easy to fix. I'm going to be sad when it comes time to take this one off...

Bleh Valentine's Konad

Base: OPI "Aphrodite's Pink Nightie"

Pattern: Sally Hansen Insta-dri "Rapid Red"

Plate: Konad M59 and Chez Delaney H34

So, I'm sure you could probably tell by the title of this post that I'm not really thrilled with the way this one turned out. The stamping and everything turned out okay, its just a really lame looking mani. I'm really not a fan of the color combo. I think had I picked different colors I would've liked it more. Pink and red sounded cute for a V-day mani at the time though. I'll be really surprised if I make it through the week without redoing it!

Ruby Pumps Konad

Base: China Glaze "Ruby Pumps"

Pattern: China Glaze "Passion"

Plate: M35

So this is my first Valentine's Day konad. I love love love Ruby Pumps and this seemed like a good excuse to use it. I'd like to be able to update more than once a week but with all the extra hours I'm picking up at work I just don't have the time. Sorry guys!

Recycle Konad

Base: China Glaze "Recycle"

Pattern: OPI "My Private Jet"

Plate: M51


Not much to say about this one. Kinda boring but I like it. It sorta reminds me of the way the weather here has been all week. Cloudy, foggy, windy. I wish I had been more careful when applying my topcoat. I accidentally distorted the image a bit on a couple nails. Oh well. I've done worse! :)

Hello Kitty Konad

Base: China Glaze "Rich & Famous"

Holo Flowers:
China Glaze "IDK"
Plate: M03

Hello Kitty:
Konad special polish in black
Plate: Fauxnad A02


I love Rich & Famous. It reminds me of pink vinyl. I wish the pics showed how pretty the holo flowers looked in the sun, but once again, my old crappy camera couldn't pick it up. Hopefully I'll be getting a new one before too long. So anyway, I accidentally learned something when I was stamping the flowers on this one that could be useful. Apparently, if you make a mistake when stamping with a china glaze holo polish, you can just scratch it off with your nail if your base coat is completely dry. I know this because when I was done stamping I was outside wearing gloves before I had top coated, and when I took the gloves off, most of my flowers were gone! Wasn't that big of a deal, I just restamped 'em. Oops!

Happy 101 Tag!

I was tagged by the gorgeous Gina of Prim and Polished. Thanks Gina! I'm sooo sorry it took me so long to get around to doing this. Things just started picking up at work again this past week and I'm going to be working 50-60 hours a week until at least November. I can already tell its going to be another crazy year.

I'm suppose to name 10 random facts about myself and tag 10 people. Here goes...

1. I can't stand having a wrinkle in the bottom of my sock or anything in my shoe. I don't care where I'm at, I will take my shoe off to fix it or I'd probably go mad.
   
2. I have a fear of grasshoppers. I have no idea where this came from. I was never attacked by a swarm of them, my parents weren't robbed and killed by grasshoppers when I was a child, or anything like that. I just am. People give me crap about it all the time so feel free to chime in. Lol.
3. My favorite movie is Rebel Without a Cause. I love James Dean. *drools*
   
4. I'm super well organized. The lables on my cosmetics, nail polishes, everything in my shower, etc, (pretty much anything in general) have to be facing outward. There's a fine line between being really organized and having OCD, and I think I might have a toe over it.
5. I love all kinds of rock. Indie, alternative, classic. My favorite band is Thrice. I'm pretty crazy about Tegan and Sara too.
6. My best friends are my little sister Lorissa, and my fiancee Seth. I love you guys to death!
7. I play a lot of video games. I can't wait for the new Bioshock to come out next month. The first one creeped the hell out of me.
8. I'm addicted to coffee. This past holiday season International Delight put out a white chocolate raspberry creamer that I instantly fell in love with. Sadly it was only seasonal and I'm pretty sure that everywhere around here is sold out of it for good. Sadness.
9. I go bananas over anything with stripes, hearts, checkers, or polka dots on it.

10. I have two daughters. We call our oldest Kika. She's 13. Very sarcastic, she's got an answer to everything. The little goober cracks me up. My younger of the two is my 12-year-old Ally. She's my cuddly little brainiac and a konad fiend to boot. It always amazes me how different two sisters can be. Those ladies are my world.

So that's it. I hope I didn't bore you to tears. I'm not going to tag anyone in particular because I'm pretty sure most of you have probably been tagged, but if you haven't, I tag you!

New Konad Plates

Sasse's 'nad Stamping Stampede posted this the day before yesterday. I NEED M77-80! Hopefully we don't have to wait too long to get them here in the U.S.

Custom Kicks Redemption

Base: China Glaze "Custom Kicks"

Pattern: Sally Hansen Insta-dri "Pronto Purple"

Plate: M65

I'm a lot happier with the way this konad turned out than I was with yesterday's post. I needed something that was kinda cute and fun to brighten things up with all the snow and gloomy crappy weather we've been getting out here. I wish that my camera would have picked up on the goldish shimmer that Custom Kicks has to it. I really need to get a new one...

Blue Sparrow Konad Fail

Base: China Glaze "Blue Sparrow"

Pattern: Konad Princess Polish in Yellow

Plate: M72

I was so disappointed with this one I didn't even bother to clean up before I took my pic. The pic really doesn't do the suckishness justice. It looked a lot worse in person. It was really blurry and just didn't transfer that great. At first I thought I could live with it, but the more I looked at it, the more I got the itch to take it off. It didn't even last an hour. Lol. Hopefully my next attempt works out better. Wish me luck!

Up All Night Konad 1/1/10

Base: China Glaze "Up All Night"
Pattern: China Glaze "Adore"
Plate: M70
This is another Konadicure that my fiancee Seth picked the pattern for. He's been on my case for weeks to do something with snowflakes, so here you go Seffles! I really like these two colors together. If you haven't already heard, all of China Glaze's metallic colors work awesome for stamping. The pattern came out really squishy looking on certain nails. I think its because I tried using a different stamper for this one. Its the one that came with my daughter's nail stamping machine and its a lot softer than the original Konad stampers.

For Audrey Konad M30 & M35

Base: China Glaze “For Audrey”

Pattern: Konad Special Polish in “White”

Plate: M35 for my pinky M30 for all my other nails

China Glaze's "For Audrey" is my favorite polish right now. One of my closest friends, Lesa, bought this for me as part of my X-mas present so I decided to stamp it with this image since she loves cats. Plus, let's face it, the kitty in the bubble bath is absolutely adorable!

Konad M12 & M14 12/17/09

Thumb & Middle Finger

Base: Essie “Blanc”

Pattern: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri “Rapid Red”

Plate: M12

Pinky

Base: Essie “Blanc”

Pattern: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri “Rapid Red”

Plate: M14

Index & Ring Finger

Base: Urban Decay “F-bomb”

Pattern: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri “Whirlwind White”

Plate: M12

I don’t know what the deal is with the weird reindeer on the X-mas plate, but I decided to use it just for laughs. For some reason, I couldn’t get a single reindeer to stamp right. They didn’t want to come all the way off the stamper. Could have been worse I guess. I still think they were kinda cute. I love how well the santas went on. “Rapid Red” works just as well, if not better, than an actual Konad special polish. They’re all a bit off center though. XD

One of these days I’ll master centering the smaller designs…

Konad M12 &M14 12/10/09

Ring Finger

Base: Essie “Blanc”

Pattern: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri “Jumpin’ Jade”

Plate: M14

All Other Fingers

Base: Sinful Colors “San Francisco”

Pattern: Konad Special Polish in “White”

Plate: M12

I love how cute my ring finger turned out on this one! I wish I would’ve done all my fingers with this design. The Sally Hansen Insta-Dri collection is so awesome for stamping. They’re also great for all over color when I don’t have much time on my hands. I have “rapid red”, “jumpin’ jade”, “pronto purple”, “whirlwind white”, and “mochachino”. Every color lives up to the collection’s name as they all dry almost instantly. They’re all one-coat polishes as well.

Konad M56 12/03/09

Base: Essie "St. Lucia Lilac"

Pattern: China Glaze “Harmony”

Plate: M56

I honestly almost didn’t Konad this manicure because I love Essie’s “St. Lucia Lilac” so much, but I decided to dress it up with some simple bows. I think this has to be my favorite Konadicure so far. Its so girlie and pretty.

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Konad M57 11/26/09

Base: Urban Decay “Big Bang”

Pattern: Konad Special Polish in “Black”

Tips: LA Colors Art Deco in “Black”

Plate: M57

I finally got the plate that had the fishnet design and I couldn’t wait to use it. I decided to pair black with Urban Decay’s “Big Bang” because black and pink is one of my favorite combos and I’d been eyeballing “Big Bang” for about a month now. I can’t believe it took me that long to finally break it out. I got soooo many compliments at work on this one. I really wish that it had worn better, it chipped really bad, really fast. I feel like the Urban Decay polish just isn’t that great which is too bad because the colors are gorgeous. Le sigh…

Konad M21 11/19/09

Base: OPI “Mojave Mystic Mauve”

Pattern: China Glaze “Awaken”

Plate: M21

I got bored with this one right away. It just seemed so…blah. Kinda plain for my tastes. I was glad when the week was over so I could take it off and do something a bit more colorful. I think the polish color just didn’t work all that well with my skin tone. Maybe that was the problem. Does anybody know what the hell that design is suppose to be? My fiancee picked it out because I couldn’t decide on a pattern. My friends and I all thought it kinda looked like a weed or the stem of a flower. Lol.

Konad M63 11/13/09

Base: Orly “Mint Mojito”

Pattern: Konad Special Polish in “Blue”

Plate: M63

Orly polishes are, by far, my favorite. I feel like I can wear them almost all week without any chipping or cracking. This manicure reminded me of some kind of tapestry. Curtains or an old sofa or something. Lol. I still think they were super cute.

Konad M3 11/06/09

Ring Finger

Base: Urban Decay “White Widow”

Pattern: Konad Special Polish in “Black”

Plate: M3

All Other Fingers

Base: Urban Decay “Apocalypse”

Pattern: Konad Special Polish in “White”

Plate: M3

I don’t know where I went wrong with this manicure. I went through the same ritual I always do when I paint my nails, but somewhere, something went terribly wrong. I was really happy with it for the first couple of days, but after that, it just literally started popping off. I would go to scratch an itch, cross my arms, or get something out of my bag, and the whole thing would pop off one nail at a time in one solid piece. Base coat and all. It looked like I had on fake nails. Weird…

My First Konadicure 10/30/09

Base: Orly “Prince Charming”

Pattern: Konad Special Polish in “White”

Tips: LA Colors Art Deco Polish in “White”

Plate: M63

After everything that I had heard, I really expected it to go over a lot worse than it did. Overall, I’m pretty happy with it. I kinda wish the all over nail designs were just a bit longer so that they would actually cover the entire nail for those of us with longer nails.