tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55331447746557873532024-03-06T00:30:22.844-05:00Adventures of a Nail TechA blog about all the passions in my life, from nails and nail art to weight loss and everything in between. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.comBlogger155125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-91789047083569803922014-12-23T17:35:00.001-05:002014-12-23T17:35:25.228-05:00ClosedThis blog is closed. I am not doing business and have not been in business for over a year. Thank You for your support.<br />
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Life is good but it's busy and I have no time for this blog anymore!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-29503954885206215452014-01-26T15:19:00.001-05:002014-01-27T02:10:44.706-05:00Weekend Nutrisystem updatesThe weekend is almost over! They sure do fly by in our old age.<br />
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I've really been struggling with the weight loss. Don't get me wrong, I'm halfway through my fourth month and I've lost 37 lbs in that short time...but now, as of yesterday, I've officiallly plateaued. That's three weeks with my weight being the same. All is not lost and this is not as discouraging as it seems. How you ask?? It's pretty simple.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>I'm going to go backwards a lot here and fill you in on my journey so far. This is a lot different from things like Atkins and South Beach but more similar to Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig. I'm not getting down with some crazy thing where I can't eat this or that. I also have no interest in going to meetings virtual or otherwise...I'm not an alcoholic, I'm not a chronic over-eater. I make healthy choices when I eat, I LOVE veggies and can't stand most fast food. Cheesecake is my one weakness and even then, I just avoid it and only order on those rare occasions we eat out. <br />
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My real problem is I gained a lot of weight years ago when my thyroid quit once and for all, and the medication helped take a little bit of that off and I had no idea how to get more gone other than what always worked in the past...exercise. I did that and it didn't help. But in doing that, I started logging my food intake and discovered I'm a chronic under-eater. I don't eat all day and then eat one HUGE meal at the end of the day. While generally healthy - it wasn't enough to cover laying there blinking and breathing forget fueling my crazy life. I struggled to eat during the day because I really had no idea what I should be eating and when. Balancing out those carbs and proteins?? Saywhaaaa??<br />
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Some of the things that really drew me to THIS program versus most of the others was it being based on complete nutrition and the fact that when I signed up - Diabetes was hanging over my head. (high weight plus not eating = pre-diabetes and type 2) My insurance dropped my old doctor and my new doctor express concerns, serious concerns about my blood sugar levels. Well I knew Nutrisystem (NS) works for weight loss but I also knew they had a program strictly for Diabetic Diet management! I chose it because I could switch over if that was what was needed. I didn't even wait for my scheduled tests, I just went for it.<br />
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It wasn't needed but it was clear that if I didn't lose weight - it would be! The way the program works is you order a month of ready made food (shelf stable and/or frozen if you want to pony up the cash for the frozen) and then you add in some of your own fresh foods. About 2/3 of the food you eat is what you order from them. The other 1/3 is food you buy. They make a nice complete list of which foods are classified by their own nifty and easy to remember categories. Power Fuels (PF) are proteins with healthy fats (chicken, fish, low fat dairy), Smart Carbs (SC) are all carbs that are processed by the body in your Lower GI tract (generally referred to by the Nutrition world as Lower GI carbs), like fruits, whole grains, starchy veggies. Of course, you can't forget those unlimited veggies! Since I joined they've reorganized the program a little bit but it's definitely an improvement. Now they have a variety of programs based on your height, your body type, and your activity level. One set of plans for men and a different set of plans for women.<br />
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I'm on the 1800 calorie plan and it's so straightforward it's insane. I eat my NS breakfast, then pick a PF and a SC. Then it's snack time and it's another PF+SC. Lunch same as breakfast, my NS lunch and then PF+SC and then it's afternoon snack and another PF+SC and dinner rolls around and it's my NS dinner with a PF+SC. Finally, at the end of the day, it's dessert. The only meal I'm not adding more food to and the one I'm mostly likely to forget to eat. Oh and let's not forget the 4-6 servings of vegetables I'm eating or the 80+ oz of water I'm drinking. No more sugar has meant I'm suddenly very thirsty. That's right, I have literally spent the last few months, eating my way out of my obesity problem.<br />
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Now comes the fun part, it's not typical but it still amazes me all the same. As I've mentioned before we live on an avocado farm and run a palm tree nursery. Since I started the program I log all my food and all my activity. Working, working out, cleaning, everything. If I ate it, drank it, did it, I logged it. Did you know that picking avocados all day burns almost 1800 calories?? Yah, I didn't either. I totally freaked out and immediately called NS to find WTF am I am supposed to do with this? I know from my program materials that a woman's body requires 1200-1500 NET calories a day. (that's what you've eaten minus what you've burned...because remember burning fat requires calories and so does just basic bodily functions). The counselor puts me on hold and checks in with the staff dietician....No worries, on those days when my work is super intensely physical - just double up those PF+SC add-ins during the day so I get the extra calories I need and I'm not burning calories I don't have. The key there is making sure those extra calories I am adding are all nutritious. Kind of goes against everything we've always been taught though. Eat less than you burn and burn more than you eat. Apparently, that forgot to take into account what the body needs for it's most basic functions.<br />
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I kept right on losing. It was like eating a thanksgiving meal five times a day but the weight kept coming off. I'm working out...New Year's rolled around and I'm thinking I should take up running. Gave it a shot but I need to lose more weight or I'll end up injuring myself...that's fine, I just put it off but it's there waiting for me to get to under 200 before I try again. It's sooo close I can almost taste it. Little more than 20 lbs away. Right. There.<br />
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That's brings you up to NOW. I had to delay my shipment of food staring back in November because this stuff is NOT cheap. I'm not just buying food, I'm also paying for the counseling and website support (and I've definitely made use of both so I'm getting my money's worth). No worries though, Walmart sells 5 day trial boxes of NS food, and I really enjoy those. I'm totally BFF's with my spice rack, I've taken advantage of the add-ins to keep those same five entrees four times a day from getting boring. They really have not gotten boring at all. In fact, they've been so NOT boring I forgot that I'm eating the same things day in and day out and that is the #1 cause for a weight loss plateau.<br />
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FACE PALM! No worries though. NS is based on some solid nutrition principles, the website has a ton of recipes, and while I've delayed my regular order, that delay will be ending soon. Just waiting for tax returns to come in and then it's on. I've adjusted the order to NOT include anything in the five day boxes and until I get that box, I'm on my own with the recipes I already have begun to collect in anticipation of that day when I transition from weight loss to weight maintenance. So, for the next few weeks, I'll be posting my usual food pix but they will NOT be including actual NS food . Going forward all dishes that include NS food - will also be noted and include pictures of the NS food.<br />
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So why keep ordering if I can really do this on my own? Convenience. I do advance prep with the fresh foods, make use of frozen foods and it's so easy and quick to just nuke my NS meal, heat up my add-ins and BAM! just eat and GO. Going it on my own means cooking entire meals, dividing up the portions, storing them, etc etc. That's a huge time suck - however, if I'm going to shake the plateau, I need to immediately shake it up. I could just switch around a few meals eat dinner for breakfast or something and see if that helps but I suspect it's my limited selections that are the real problem, so I'm going to let my own impatience run wild and be aggressive in shaking up the eating routine.<br />
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Because I am that darned good. Sorry no pictures today. I was genuinely hungry this morning and couldn't wait to eat. I did have ONE pancake (made with almond milk) (counting that as my NS entree substitute) and a one-egg omelet (PF) with tri colored peppers and onion (veg) with just a pinch of cheese (extra) and a piece of whole wheat toast. I never did put syrup on my pancakes so I totally don't miss not having it, and I have always preferred my toast dry. It's almost snack time, i happen to have some brown rice fixed and in fridge, I also found some seaweed sushi wraps and I'm about to mix up some tuna to make a home made sushi roll (the wrap directions included an alternative method for making the roll for those who are not that highly skilled). PF+SC+VEG<br />
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BAM! I got this.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-76332591708569630632014-01-22T12:15:00.002-05:002014-01-22T14:14:16.296-05:00Cold as Ice but filled with dreams of Butterflies and FlowersWooo!! It's cold here today!! I know some of ya'll aren't nearly this cold but to me it's FREEZING!! I live down here in the Everglades because of the subtropical climate....now where is my subtropical climate??<br />
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I haven't done much nail art over the last few months...and honestly, for awhile there I was walking around with BARE NAILS!! oh the horror!! Seriously. Right now I have zero color on my nail but I do at least have a clear coat of Gelish to protect my nails. They got so raggedy I couldn't take it anymore. I just cut them down to nubs and put the clear coat on so I could grow them out again.<br />
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I thought I would go ahead and post a few of the pictures of Nail Art I've done when I did it.<br />
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This one is a gorgeous butterfly wing design. I have been obsessed with this blue Gelish shade and mixing it with the red to get that purplish gradient. One of the upside to the first coat of gelish being so translucent is it makes it great for these gradients where you're truly blending colors. Of course, I added a coat of small sparkling glitter over the gradient and then added the black butterfly wing design. I got a ton of compliments on it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXDiMuQl0I6AdHtv_4YuTlShAB63h4jtwenWa5v69GCPmiUGiBJwcD_HM-G_-pKIgvyxB7u2j-xb-EDyjvo2eBucTwxMgpLJ9nSO17kn9DkNkf9BYeXlO-iXHAcs-URqLNpJRbchZDgIs/s1600/IMG_20130503_160959.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXDiMuQl0I6AdHtv_4YuTlShAB63h4jtwenWa5v69GCPmiUGiBJwcD_HM-G_-pKIgvyxB7u2j-xb-EDyjvo2eBucTwxMgpLJ9nSO17kn9DkNkf9BYeXlO-iXHAcs-URqLNpJRbchZDgIs/s1600/IMG_20130503_160959.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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The next one is a design I have had in the back of my head for ages. It might look a little familiar from previous failed attempts at executing this design I have in my head. Sometimes I'll do a total fail at the execution of what is in my head - but I still really like how it came out even though it's completely different than what I had in mind. This one I completely nailed the look I was going for. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwVYuLVWPU6Fha1rj3qzYGoi3ZtXGo3NKAnVeXGVwJDRUghJi5zOjqR_zKLhg2JjeEj3MkFkijISrXdS11NIlcPiNv1lhmdGte_7hxBdWmdJZNBOgyppmfIQpolspuDM1pEqirreTDPl8/s1600/IMG_20130521_185749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwVYuLVWPU6Fha1rj3qzYGoi3ZtXGo3NKAnVeXGVwJDRUghJi5zOjqR_zKLhg2JjeEj3MkFkijISrXdS11NIlcPiNv1lhmdGte_7hxBdWmdJZNBOgyppmfIQpolspuDM1pEqirreTDPl8/s1600/IMG_20130521_185749.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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This one I did red french tips and I used flower stickers and small individual pieces of large glitter for the small dots. I could never get the dots on this one exactly the way I wanted and the glitter does the job PERFECTLY. All the better since, well you know, it's glitter! </div>
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I have a sample set of Joby nail art stickers and I'll probably be giving those a shot soon. I have certainly purchase more than a few Joby nail art stickers in the past and I might use these in a way similar to above. I might not. It's almost Valentine's day and it's that time of year to start doing Valentine's nail art! <!--3--></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-77516198806054374922014-01-21T08:00:00.000-05:002014-01-21T08:00:05.345-05:00Tuesday Food Porn and I decided Tuesdays will be weight loss journey days. I first started this "diet" I was thinking OK, they'll give me a little bit of food here and there and just have me eating small amounts during the day and that's what I wanted. Or so I thought. Yes, I to get food throughout the day but I honestly had no idea it's be like this....<br />
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I'm on the "My Way" Nutrisystem plan. It's based on my body type, height, weight and activity level and they've got me eating 1800 calories a day. That's the three meals plus dessert plus extra grocery food on top of that. Five times a day I'm either adding a protein (PF) <i>and</i> a lower GI carb (SC) to a meal or having it as a 'snack'. That's not including the plus 5 servings of veggies and the 80 plus oz of water I'm drinking a day. <br />
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I had no idea I needed to eat this much food to lose weight!! So to give you an idea of what how that looks I took some pictures.<br />
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This is the chicken Noodle soup NS sent me. See how small that container is? How diet-y! I now have to add some veggies to this, because there's no way I'm eating it all at once at dinner, have spread those required veggie servings throughout the day. Of course, I also have to add a PF+SC (proteins plus lower-GI carbs) to this as well. I chose cheese sticks sliced up and had half a whole grain slice sandwich thin on the side. For veggies, I choose spaghetti sqash, tri-colored peppers and onion and some rotel brand diced tomatoes with green chilis. This is how it looked just before I ate it all up!!</div>
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As you can see, there's quite a bit of difference in the amount of food I ate and that sad little cup of soup. LOL That's pretty much how it goes for all of my meals. Breakfast today was a one egg omelet with tricolored peppers and more rotel brand diced tomatoes, 1/4 cup of cheese. One half a whole grain sandwich thin toasted and a bowl of oatmeal. The NS food is the Oatmeal. I technically could have just had a sliced of toast with Peanut Butter on the side - but I wouldn't get the veggies. Gotta get the veggies in. </div>
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Monday's workout schedule is supposed to be the Couch to 5k training and upper body and core strength training. Because I'm walking my way through this first round of the Couch to 5k...my heart rate doesn't get up high enough to really get any kind of serious fat burn going and for now I'm ok with that right now since this is only a three days a week program...the other three days a week I workout I do get a good fat burning heart rate going! Mondays are always tough on me...I ended up just doing the Couch to 5k and the core strength training. I was just genuinely too tired to finish it. I always slack off on Mondays though, I work out six days a week and I've been thinking about just calling it and saying I work out five and a half days since Monday always seems to be a half workout. Thankfully, today is a rest day.<br />
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Tomorrow I'm going to hit the gym early and do it BEFORE breakfast! A few studies have been done on whether you should eat breakfast before or after you do a morning work out. Initial results suggest that maybe you should skip eating to get a higher fat burn. That kind of makes sense to me because when I took Tai Chi and Kung Fu classes - our instructor always said to not eat food, skip the coffee and smoke before coming to class. Water only. Who am I to argue with thousands of years of Chinese traditions and a few European studies?? If nothing else I'll at least work up an appetite early in the day and have fewer problems remembering to eat. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-51725881762248026932014-01-20T11:26:00.000-05:002014-01-20T12:22:01.870-05:00Life Altering Year: A quick reviewI was looking at my posts and it's been almost an entire year since I last made a post! Holy cow! To fill you in on the last year...because I've decided to make this blog about more than just the nail art I do but ALL the things I do and am into.<br />
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I've had to move away from the nails and the nail art because of family responsibilities. I haven't completely stopped doing nail art, I just no longer have the time to spend hours doing different designs and taking quality pictures to post. I've never gone into it before but we live with my in-laws on their family avocado farm and my husband and his brother run a palm tree nursery. The downturn of the economy has meant that my husband has had to spent less time in the nursery and more time at a 'day job'. With his parents getting older and his father's declining health, we've had to take on the bulk of the work that needs to be done. Most of the 'farm' work is stuff that I'm not capable of helping my husband with but I can and have been helping him in the nursery. There's only so many hours of daylight in a day and I like to think I'm not the kind of wife that can stand idly by while the work piles up if there's something I can do to help.<br />
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I don't make New Year's resolutions, I make New Year's Goals. Last year I decided my goal for the year was to get more fit. I started out simple enough, walking a mile or two at a local park three times a week. One of my friends got a membership to Planet Fitness and she could take me along as a guest. I enjoyed that a lot. She was less consistent about working out and my husband decided that membership was more than affordable and I went ahead and joined myself. I started out doing 20 or 30 minutes on the recumbent bike and then added in the Planet Fitness Express Workout.<br />
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My oldest daughter gave birth to her second child 4 weeks prematurely last march...both her and my grandson came through in good health. He's so cute and adorable!! In the closing weeks of May, my mother's health took a turn for the worst and I flew out to Oklahoma to be with her at the end. She's been dying by inches for several years now so I was as prepared as one possibly can be. Being with her at the end and knowing my being there made a difference for her, it made a difference for me too. She asked me to do some nail art for her and it was probably the single most import nail art I've ever done or ever will do. I wasn't able to take pictures of the nail art because unfortunately, the only camera I had was the one on my cell phone and no cell phones in the ICU. By the time she was transferred to the hospice unit, taking pictures of her nail art was the last thing on my mind. I did replicate the design as a<a href="http://instagram.com/p/a6YGmEAuoh/" target="_blank"> memorial</a> to her and posted it to instagram. I went away for the summer to spend time with my kids and while I was away, I became quite the workout warrior.<br />
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I came home from my summer visit with my children living in Boston to celebrate my first anniversary with my husband. We spent our special day at the same state park he took me for our first date. It was a great day! Even after being together all these years, he was still able to <i>impress</i> me like it was our first date. We canoed through the mangroves and went snorkeling on the beach and came home for a nice romantic dinner at home.<br />
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The passing of my mother really affected me and I started to pay more attention to my health. I tried eating better..ok actually eating more than once a day. Decided to start paying attention to my weight because it was getting up there and I'm working out like a mad woman and seeing no results. I have thyroid problems and those were out of control and I was very unhappy with how that was being handled by my doctor. I changed insurance and then changed doctors. I was also very concerned about my blood sugar and seriously worried I had developed type 2 diabetes.<br />
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While I was waiting for appts and all these insurance changes to take affect, I went ahead and decided to go on a formal diet plan. I joined Nutrisystem. I had an ex boyfriend who lost over 100 lbs using that and I had tried the food before and knew it was pretty good stuff. Also, I knew that if the new dr found that I had developed type 2 diabetes then it they had a plan for that and I could quickly and easily transition to their diabetic plan and get it all under control without wasting the money I put down to begin with. I was being proactive. Ultimately, I found that I was NOT diabetic but pre-diabetic and the cure for that was just losing weight and I was already well on my way! He also found that all the working out had kicked up the metabolism but I needed a med increase for my body to keep up with that so I could actually lose the weight.<br />
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I had 90 lbs to lose when I joined Nutrisystem and now I'm down almost 38 lbs in three months. I'm still quite the workout warrior and have exceeded the fitness goals I set for myself last New Year's. I feel pretty strongly about the Nutrisystem eating plan, I refuse to call it a diet because that implies that I'm somehow depriving myself of food and I'm genuinely NOT doing any such thing. In fact, they've upped how much food I need to eat daily because I'm so physically active. I can barely keep up with the amount of food I need to eat in a day, opposite of deprived and "diet". I've decided that this year I'm going to take up running and that is just going super slow. I need to lose at least another 25 lbs before I can seriously do that. The excess weight is just too much for my old legs to handle. I've been doing the <a href="http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml" target="_blank">Couch to 5k</a> program but instead of running, just speed walking the jogging intervals. My plan is to just keep going through the 9 week training program over and over until I can do it!<br />
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I guess this blog will now become about balancing all the many things I have going on in my life. I still love nail art, still sometimes can find the time to do it. I also love fashion and beauty in general and of course, health and my weight loss journey. Going forward, this blog will be more well rounded and about more than just my love of nail art.<br />
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We shall see where life's twists and turns take me and I'll go merrily blogging all the way! I'll try to keep future blog posts from being as all over the place as this one is and stick to one subject per post, but I felt the need to catch you up on a VERY busy and life altering year.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-7578608855703559932013-02-15T06:00:00.000-05:002014-01-20T12:19:04.777-05:00Resistance Is Futile!My geek seems to be showing this week in my titles. That's ok, I have geek pride.<br />
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I'm really excited to show these nails this week. I finished them off this afternoon, got the pictures taken, edited and watermarked and now it's time to get down to business!<br />
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The idea for these are not completely original. They were a special request base on an element of a previous design I had done for the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge in 2012. Specifically, Day 22: Inspired by a Song. The song I chose was Rollin's Band "Disconnect. You can go back my original <a href="http://melissawhitenails.blogspot.com/2012/01/31-day-nail-art-challenge-day-22.html">blog post</a> to see the original design, and the circuit board nail that was the inspiration for the special request! I decided to follow that basic color scheme and add a little bit more detail.<br />
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Now onto the pictures!<br />
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I struggled a little bit with editing the design. It was hard to not make it tooo busy. Here's a macro shot of one of the nails.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDw_OOB25O5VC9mBFPURk-xRa6aKawUHah57k5XqnEkxwLoSy2RBo-Juiab0QZ3dmcH81XjKtt4NDwpEsPHWesGGHk1RmrCbXyxraCLaCoIOKWaQPFl60k6gMlNQ3byQ_6tm0747Kstg/s1600/CircuitboardSetMacro01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDw_OOB25O5VC9mBFPURk-xRa6aKawUHah57k5XqnEkxwLoSy2RBo-Juiab0QZ3dmcH81XjKtt4NDwpEsPHWesGGHk1RmrCbXyxraCLaCoIOKWaQPFl60k6gMlNQ3byQ_6tm0747Kstg/s640/CircuitboardSetMacro01.JPG" height="640" width="400" /></a></div>
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You can see that some of the little microbeads bled the tiniest bit - but in this context - that actually added to the technical look. Overall I'm happy with how these came out, and I think it is way cooler looking than the original circuit board nail that I did. Not that the original was bad, but I'm happy that I was able to come up with something new to add to the design!<br />
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I normally don't work on custom orders until the $$ comes in but this time I decided to make an exception because I think the idea is unique enough that even if the promised payment never comes, it just may sell on <a href="http://myworld.ebay.com/melissawhitenails?_trksid=p2047675.l2559">E-bay</a>. Heck, depending on the overall response, I may keep this in my regular rotation!<br />
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UPDATE: Payment has been received and the set has shipped out. I'd love to get some feedback on whether I should make another set to sell. Would *you* buy these?<br />
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I hope you enjoyed today's design! Have a groovy day!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-79705086803713978382013-02-11T06:00:00.000-05:002014-01-20T12:19:19.474-05:00Return Of The Nail Art!I've been pretty busy over the month of January! I've been keeping on track with my New Year's resolutions, filling some custom orders for nails, and helping my husband with his palm trees. In fact, Today I worked on the very plants used in the background photo for this blog and my website!<br />
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I feel like I have been completely remiss with this blog, I have been struggling with managing my time. My help is needed outside in the nursery, the new exercise regimen, all the eating of the yummy food and of course my actual nail work! I haven't even taken any pictures of my work. I think I've finally gotten a grip on all these changes and now it's time to get back to blogging!<br />
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Today's nail pictures are of the current set I have on sale on <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nail-art-Gold-to-Red-to-Glitter-Gradient-Art-/281063821621?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4170b59135">E-bay</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXI5tdF3xDHcis_StEZSpqNMZOj5SgTa4oAyEJ9ja1JUqi13bqTr6Yry7eAO9MqJ9Z2_d1TzWQ4ffCfovpT5wbhmiwN6Dp3fwPdPZg217W4jXx3kqk5c4LDmbuRQ7Mj9CeyTkIFqp5wAk/s1600/RubyGoldHolidayGradientMacro03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXI5tdF3xDHcis_StEZSpqNMZOj5SgTa4oAyEJ9ja1JUqi13bqTr6Yry7eAO9MqJ9Z2_d1TzWQ4ffCfovpT5wbhmiwN6Dp3fwPdPZg217W4jXx3kqk5c4LDmbuRQ7Mj9CeyTkIFqp5wAk/s640/RubyGoldHolidayGradientMacro03.JPG" height="640" width="384" /></a></div>
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I originally got the concept for this nail around Christmas time but never got the chance to make it happen. I decided to go ahead and do it - because red and gold are 'any time of the year' colors. Bring on the bling! As with all my other nail tips for sale - The topcoat is Gelish.<br />
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This is my standard gradient and I thought light tone of the gold and the dark tone of the red would make a nice contrast. Here's one more shot of it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGE4hST4048DM8Mvaiqie7-Itoy4o6-YJdEtE9-RJRDR4AVlUzKSm5eaq74MDzK9cvXL1R7TtCuz1sEKUx99PR2oCuxhh4rJQTQf_pJkEIFU3Y_rLaN8Ksi-ebefzcOSIFg6ydZ5R3oCM/s1600/RubyGoldHolidayGradientMacro02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGE4hST4048DM8Mvaiqie7-Itoy4o6-YJdEtE9-RJRDR4AVlUzKSm5eaq74MDzK9cvXL1R7TtCuz1sEKUx99PR2oCuxhh4rJQTQf_pJkEIFU3Y_rLaN8Ksi-ebefzcOSIFg6ydZ5R3oCM/s640/RubyGoldHolidayGradientMacro02.JPG" height="640" width="406" /></a></div>
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I really like these and have worn this design on my own nails during a night out with the hubby. He very much pays attention to my nails and even had a say in which design I wore on our wedding day! <br />
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The project I have scheduled to work on this week is actually based on a request I got from a young lady who loved an element of a design I did, very early in my blog, during the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge. I will for sure be posting that because it will highlight the progress I've made in my nail art skills since I've begun this blog!<br />
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I hope you have a groovy Monday because I know I will be! I'm off to have lunch with some friends that I haven't seen anywhere from two months to over a year! Yay!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-42025175129048931212013-01-05T08:04:00.002-05:002014-01-20T12:19:54.071-05:00A New Year and A Not So New Outlook!!Yay! The world didn't end, and 2013 is here! I never doubted that it would be but I thought it would be fun to celebrate that fact just because I could.<br />
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It's that time of year when we look back and then look forward. Last year was the first time in ages I'd actually made a resolution. My resolution was pretty simple - remember to eat a bunch of times a day. I've always been bad for getting caught up in what I'm doing and forgetting to eat meals. I'd fix meals for the kids and not eat any myself. I'm proud to say that over the last year, I took time to eat when I should. This year, the focus is on making sure I'm eating as good as I want to. Making sure I'm not filling up my daily calorie count with too many carbs and sugar just to make that minimum. My second resolution is to be better about making time to get my work outs in. This second one will be made somewhat easier by the fact that on my birthday a wonderful dog came into my life, she's everything I could have wanted in a dog. She'll be relying on me to make those trips to the park to play and do some walks with me. Funny how it is I have this tendency to make time to take care of others but not so much on taking care of myself. Which brings me to my third and final resolution this year. Make that time for taking care of me!<br />
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That's pretty much it as far as the resolutions go. So far, so good. I've downloaded this calorie counter app on my phone and I love it. I can look up nutritional facts about pretty much everything and then decide if it's what I want to eat. Of course it also tracks my exercise too :P<br />
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As far as the nails go - I'm still going to continue my quest to keep working on my skill sets and making sum awesome nails! woohoooo! How has your new year been? Any resolutions this year?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-50242562232099476582012-12-11T20:00:00.000-05:002014-01-20T12:20:16.367-05:00A little twist on a classic lookToday I am showing you some pictures of what I've been doing with my time lately. I finally got around to taking some photos. These are available <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nail-art-Christmas-Tree-with-Microbeads/281037815876?ssPageName=WDVW&rd=1&ih=018&category=45205&cmd=ViewItem">for sale</a> on ebay.<br />
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I really liked the Christmas Tree designs with the zig zag style trees and decided that would be perfect to do with mirco-beads since I have so many left from the Fish Egg Mani trend that was so hot last spring. I also took the time to use the Gelish Structure Gel to overlay the bead design. It makes for a smooth nail and keeps the beads completely secure! I have about a bazillion designs in mind for beads and other little nail art doo-dads along these lines.<br />
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Now, to the pictures!!<br />
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A macro shot of one of the nails.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhST8fFMcbNKdS8cfTcAH1HkcXniapIOCkpRlciYp0wsxVfXiTELAq1lvPipYDopoJ0zp7QpyKQ9vWNBZbEtqhWskGnLuaZtJZ-BDdR0HQPHwYho7gMlmG3UYVLtaktc52NufRwVf0L4sE/s1600/BeadedXmasTreeSet01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhST8fFMcbNKdS8cfTcAH1HkcXniapIOCkpRlciYp0wsxVfXiTELAq1lvPipYDopoJ0zp7QpyKQ9vWNBZbEtqhWskGnLuaZtJZ-BDdR0HQPHwYho7gMlmG3UYVLtaktc52NufRwVf0L4sE/s400/BeadedXmasTreeSet01.JPG" height="400" width="331" /></a></div>
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The entire set.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKr3le2gB2jvpHsN-L54L2irWkQM4n7e2rEoNWfSI70pzghVzsyhe46CvBHx2z_ibeh6MRxgCAMp6sh5rgJMWq-IzPCeBhMJQGUdRA14BoP0J7b7wxbUkLfcXREB0IBQpx_sIjSI3UCeU/s1600/BeadedXmasTreeMacroSide03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKr3le2gB2jvpHsN-L54L2irWkQM4n7e2rEoNWfSI70pzghVzsyhe46CvBHx2z_ibeh6MRxgCAMp6sh5rgJMWq-IzPCeBhMJQGUdRA14BoP0J7b7wxbUkLfcXREB0IBQpx_sIjSI3UCeU/s400/BeadedXmasTreeMacroSide03.JPG" height="400" width="343" /></a></div>
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A side view to highlight the smooth surface and 3D effect it gives.</div>
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These took quite a while to do...I spent two afternoons working on them. I apologize for the sorry state of my practice finger. What do you think? </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-50334750790868823222012-12-07T13:49:00.002-05:002012-12-07T13:49:55.843-05:00Making that leapWell today I have no real new nail art. I just felt the need to share what it is I have been doing instead of blogging lately.<br />
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Over the last year I've had so many friends and family give me feedback that it's too bad I don't live closer. More than a few are aware that you can buy nail art and have asked - when am I going to start selling them? The girl at my local nail supply has even asked - Do you do that? I've even gotten requests for different designs through my website. Up to now, I have hesitated to go that route partly because of just outright fear of failure and partly because I wasn't sure what would be involved in making that happen. What are the up front costs involved for materials, where to sell it, etc? <br />
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When I started getting it from my Dad and my husband, that was it, I needed to seriously look into it. Just for the sake of simplicity, ideally I would like to have used my website. I already have a merchant account through my provider and currently use that account to accept Credit Cards for my services. I have been known to take risks to try something new, but at the same time, I like to keep an eye on my bottom line.<br />
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After a few very frustrating days, I was able to determine that my website provider required that I pay an additional fee per month to add a web store to my site. My inner cynic tells me that it's great I have so many supportive people around me, but will I be able to sell enough per month to cover the cost??<br />
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Ultimately, I decided that it wasn't worth the risk. So I looked at other options; ebay, etsy, craigslist, etc. In the meantime, I was finally able to purchase some supplies I would need and I got to work. In the end I decided to go with ebay since they are no longer charging you for a basic listing with them as a seller. Of course, that does have some limitations, but those limitations are more than acceptable to me since I'm not bringing a huge amount of inventory to the table right off. <br />
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I took some pictures of my product and this morning I set everything all up. You'll notice I've added a link above to a complete listing of what I have available. Linked it all to my website as well...posted a few links to facebook and here I am.<br />
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I thought I would feel more nervous about this venture than I am. I'm less anxious about anyone buying them and more relieved that I did it. It's like I did it and now I can focus on making it work. I've been a firm believer that whatever you put into the things you do is what you get out of them. That's a philosophy that had one pretty good for me so far.<br />
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What do you think? Am I nuts? Would you or have you ever put yourself out there like that?<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-91325727001654986872012-12-06T22:09:00.001-05:002012-12-06T22:09:22.122-05:00Blogging your heart out!I don't normally do these things, but now that I actually have the time to do it - I'm all in!!<br />
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<a href="http://sarahsnailstudio.blogspot.ca/">Sarah Payne</a> has awarded me the "Blog Your Heart Out Button." How awesome! Definitely a blog for you to check out - lots of great videos about nails, make up and other fun girly stuffs. I am so tickled to have her pass this one to me cuz I love Sarah's work and am a genuine fan. Now I get to pass this along to 5 more bloggers that blog their hearts out and answer these 5 questions:<br />
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1.What/who encouraged you start blogging?<br />
2.How did you choose what topic(s) to blog about?<br />
3.What is something that most people don't know about you?<br />
4.What are 3 words to describe your style?<br />
5.What do you like to do when you're not blogging?<br />
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Here's my answers!<br />
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<b>1.What/who encouraged you start blogging?</b> I don't think anyone actually encouraged me as much as I was inspired by the many awesome nail/beauty bloggers out there. I've done blogging before on a few membership based community sites and I genuinely enjoyed it. I no longer maintained either blogs and I really did miss the blogging.<br />
<b>2.How did you choose what topic(s) to blog about?</b> This is what I do for a living. It's never been about making money for me but doing what I love to do. I've been in the business off and on for decades and I keep going back to it...because deep down, it's what I truly love to do. I wanted to share that love and excitement I still have after 30 years of painting nails.<br />
<b>3.What is something that most people don't know about you?</b> That I'm the girliest tomboy you've ever met. I like all my girly girl things but I won't let go of all that 'boy stuff' like sports, cars and comic books. Yah, I have been known to sit and work on a design while watching ESPN.<br />
<b>4.What are 3 words to describe your style?</b> One of these days I'll learn to not ask my husband for help with questions like this "I hate questions like that.....you're not that simple that I can only use three words". LOL So I'm going to go with "Simple" "Direct" and "Creative".<br />
<b>5.What do you like to do when you're not blogging?</b> I love the beach!! There's nothing in the world that a trip to the beach and a few hours enjoying the sand, sun, ocean and the sea breeze cannot fix. I like being outside in general now that I mention it. Of course, I like being a Mommy and Grammy too. When I can I like to meet up with friends for lunch, dinner, drinks...just hanging out.<br />
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Now it's that time for me to pass it on to five more bloggers!!! Be sure to check out these gals and see what they have to say...and don't forget <a href="http://sarahsnailstudio.blogspot.ca/">Sarah</a> too!!<br />
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1. <a href="http://glitteryshinybottlesofpolish.blogspot.com/">MsMidnightBlue's Glittery Shiny Bottles of Polish </a><br />
2. <a href="http://livelaughlovenails.blogspot.com/">Live.Laugh.Love...Nails! </a><br />
3. <a href="http://rycobra.blogspot.com/">RyCoBra's Southern Nails </a><br />
4. <a href="http://tip-top-nails.blogspot.com/">Tip Top Nails</a><br />
5. <a href="http://wellnailed.blogspot.com/">WellNailed x </a><br />
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<i>If you received this award, you must pass this along to 5 bloggers that have less than 100 followers and that blog their hearts out. Also they must answer the 5 questions above. It's nice to learn a little something extra about each other.</i><br />
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Have a groovy day and enjoy the blogs!! Much Thanks to Sarah too!!!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-64650484467592608192012-11-14T14:12:00.000-05:002012-11-14T14:12:56.508-05:00World Diabetes Day ManiGood afternoon! Today is World Diabetes Day today and I had no idea until I saw <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CultNailsLacquer/posts/501653849867742">this post</a> posted by <a href="http://www.cultnails.com/">Maria at Cult Nails</a> on facebook this morning. I spent quite a bit of time last night cruising pinterest to get some ideas and inspiration for my next manicure but I was still not feeling it. After seeing that post this morning - I knew I HAD to do it!! I have type II diabetes and many of my family and friends have both type I and type II, so it seemed the perfect thing to do today! I loved my last mani so much, it seemed hard to find something else to follow that up with.<br />
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Now, let's get to the pictures! I'm going to start with my indoor shots.<br />
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Here's a few more outdoors. I made more of an effort to catch the holo effects here. One day I will master catching the effect. </div>
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I think I did ok catching the effect on the macro shot but you be the judge as to which is your favorite. To do this one, I started with Seche Vite clear coat, then I added Orly's Snow Cone. Then I added a thin layer of Hits' Poseidon. Poseidon doesn't have a strong color - it builds up with multiple coats but I didn't want that many coats of polish here. Then I sponged on a gradient of Hits' Apolo. Finally I stamped on a flower and then used Hits' Hefesta to create the center dot of the flower. Finally I finished this mani with a top coat of Seche vite. </div>
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How has diabetes affected your life and your family?? </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-38648259768330975932012-11-05T12:00:00.000-05:002012-11-09T00:33:33.258-05:00Falling back!I've finally gotten a chance to really play with my Hits collection! I've struggled with making a choice...I love them all so much, I can barely choose which ones to wear!! In celebration of "Falling Back" and the end of Daylight's Savings Time here in the US, I went with a fall color scheme and quickly stamped a few leaves over this lovely gradient.<br />
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I really wanted to see how the holo looked when you stacked colors over each other. I must say, I'm mucho mucho happy with this. I'm just going to get right to the pictures! I didn't finish until after dark, so look for newer pictures later tomorrow showing this in full sun! I managed to catch some of the holo by photographing this outside in the dark with flash, and I like the other regular pictures as well - the lighting is much better and more consistent.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv13GdLawgPwNQleo0lspZ2f8Y0MMUD8ql3_2vS3g6UIddXBrSZkfDgBp7WKtF5mU4DcUCHKIcE3URIR05w17D7Bhy_1deYaayA-74axigGZz6-79oSfEgZJVr60nxvneDR3-FUqsGnJA/s1600/NovemberFallHoloShot02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv13GdLawgPwNQleo0lspZ2f8Y0MMUD8ql3_2vS3g6UIddXBrSZkfDgBp7WKtF5mU4DcUCHKIcE3URIR05w17D7Bhy_1deYaayA-74axigGZz6-79oSfEgZJVr60nxvneDR3-FUqsGnJA/s400/NovemberFallHoloShot02.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwly2APZIKz8S3lArLYkkHfVKDF0FGn_sM3IUgJi-lOwFmZcevPxIH6nVXRQoLFUNqABeWkM715cX4A8BtJKoj43bomop6cYL6OGe76yr-290bREzYhs7JZ-6vvSKp_ttgephFkTPWuU8/s1600/NovemberFallHoloShot01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwly2APZIKz8S3lArLYkkHfVKDF0FGn_sM3IUgJi-lOwFmZcevPxIH6nVXRQoLFUNqABeWkM715cX4A8BtJKoj43bomop6cYL6OGe76yr-290bREzYhs7JZ-6vvSKp_ttgephFkTPWuU8/s400/NovemberFallHoloShot01.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxnPDN_hLcl8homPyXd6Qmi7EGVHAFdxRNLl0z3dSMKwrh9EYy1T-GB8dtH3uMvI-fhbGuBBs6HBoUGot2-UuszxrcNXCaS41whpCIKrQGhkknNIz_2H9gtMJx0KkGzRBdCa6dzIzJCM/s1600/NovemberFallHolo01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxnPDN_hLcl8homPyXd6Qmi7EGVHAFdxRNLl0z3dSMKwrh9EYy1T-GB8dtH3uMvI-fhbGuBBs6HBoUGot2-UuszxrcNXCaS41whpCIKrQGhkknNIz_2H9gtMJx0KkGzRBdCa6dzIzJCM/s400/NovemberFallHolo01.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvloThKa2FuiS67kazsxv8gUyY2GlNPhN3OQ62driaSJVVuLC1_eIUoD6csQ-anGV20aAbkzJVuj6JoInHazStQeWQYLGGHPlxCUAlMWckAL1VM0-0s3DqbiTGldctp4pGN8wIryLyO_c/s1600/NovemberFallHolo02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvloThKa2FuiS67kazsxv8gUyY2GlNPhN3OQ62driaSJVVuLC1_eIUoD6csQ-anGV20aAbkzJVuj6JoInHazStQeWQYLGGHPlxCUAlMWckAL1VM0-0s3DqbiTGldctp4pGN8wIryLyO_c/s400/NovemberFallHolo02.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6GZzpJknGfip3HpPE5DN3m29H3h0LwXv_8MHz6jzEFRUS04l2-ZOjd9JdJhhSayrSVGqHRPGc3hmMnFoB5QbTzlnytfvt7yEeeScX0y8CREijPQBVNG5bIz7l_Xt8dYyd5yNibnMJUk/s1600/NovemberFallHolo03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6GZzpJknGfip3HpPE5DN3m29H3h0LwXv_8MHz6jzEFRUS04l2-ZOjd9JdJhhSayrSVGqHRPGc3hmMnFoB5QbTzlnytfvt7yEeeScX0y8CREijPQBVNG5bIz7l_Xt8dYyd5yNibnMJUk/s400/NovemberFallHolo03.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I love love love gradients, and I love love these polishes. Well worth the wait to get my hands on these!! Now, to get the next collection on my wish list......<a href="http://www.cultnailsblog.com/2012/10/cult-nails-announces-behind-closed.html">the newest Cult Nails collection, Behind Closed doors</a>!</div>
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That last shot is really my favorite!! Which do you think best shows off this mani? Flash in the dark, regular lighting or full sunlight?<br />
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UPDATE: Well after two days - we finally had a day with no haze and I got a pic of full sun. You can clearly see the wear my poor nails have taken in these last three days, and I apologize for that. Sadly, I still was not able to clearly capture holo effect here, so I'm a bit disappointed, but that could also be because I had to wait so long to take the pictures.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMPqdvJbc5BjNPVPLMoTfeuBXsnT-D41ezNby7gLo1nqnbyApnXFKiobpHfoa9RNisz6xb3awFlj5MvxBFTooZWbw8JldZmqb1M8XdtbrNHAyCz_HpqZlm4x8cu3p5esVW-UDSt2mxGXw/s1600/2012-11-08_14-05-12_793.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMPqdvJbc5BjNPVPLMoTfeuBXsnT-D41ezNby7gLo1nqnbyApnXFKiobpHfoa9RNisz6xb3awFlj5MvxBFTooZWbw8JldZmqb1M8XdtbrNHAyCz_HpqZlm4x8cu3p5esVW-UDSt2mxGXw/s320/2012-11-08_14-05-12_793.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqKewLg5ORr99ObtTrkU90ft81yAl7hF-VLpGA_oWIeY_3uKkkVrRgpde8oqLOShv9Ngc67iTI9qL_4ShJ_ZkCIXYvEezvgaNydJStYZ09HJkXd_Z4bQkzpeXcsyXwTaZV1jvFm3kaMQ/s1600/2012-11-08_14-05-29_881.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqKewLg5ORr99ObtTrkU90ft81yAl7hF-VLpGA_oWIeY_3uKkkVrRgpde8oqLOShv9Ngc67iTI9qL_4ShJ_ZkCIXYvEezvgaNydJStYZ09HJkXd_Z4bQkzpeXcsyXwTaZV1jvFm3kaMQ/s320/2012-11-08_14-05-29_881.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-3942117985640563492012-10-31T09:26:00.001-04:002012-10-31T09:26:43.720-04:00Happy Halloween! Good Morning Everyone!! Happy Halloween! It's been a lot busy here lately. (when isn't it, right?) I hope all of you that were in the path of Sandy find yourselves safe and sound today!!<br />
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Today's nail art is one I did last spring, but haven't posted just because the color combination so obviously screamed Halloween! So, I saved it just for today.<br />
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Without further ado, I bring you pictures!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNgE8atFvSilMdEWzI4wN-Vxggne7pMseMHHUSVZ_VNk0i_VHlUU6jrO1FUaAe4sEj_0JpJGPjOEpYeqUj8fVqk19VeaayTVhBAwyw0DVSAo94LpyciV5Ye6HTCwLWni_Mun39_g5qgI/s1600/HalloweenDiagonal02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNgE8atFvSilMdEWzI4wN-Vxggne7pMseMHHUSVZ_VNk0i_VHlUU6jrO1FUaAe4sEj_0JpJGPjOEpYeqUj8fVqk19VeaayTVhBAwyw0DVSAo94LpyciV5Ye6HTCwLWni_Mun39_g5qgI/s400/HalloweenDiagonal02.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZkUZ7EcAeIITC6V7SERF-PlEW73yjFs-UgWX1G7XibUCynptqzzUb52EXhQh_Uu3Ch8GCBK87ar_z6tLo2u93Czz5zN5h-3nFaFW_FTJLOl83gqW5DTvRs2cM89AlZXr3eIgp6gb8iP4/s1600/HalloweenDiagonal01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZkUZ7EcAeIITC6V7SERF-PlEW73yjFs-UgWX1G7XibUCynptqzzUb52EXhQh_Uu3Ch8GCBK87ar_z6tLo2u93Czz5zN5h-3nFaFW_FTJLOl83gqW5DTvRs2cM89AlZXr3eIgp6gb8iP4/s400/HalloweenDiagonal01.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I used Mattetastrophe to give the orange a matte finish and left the black glossy and trimmed the diagonal with a gold glitter. </div>
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I hope your Halloween is filled with more treats than tricks!! What are you dressing up as?? I still have no clue! :O </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-54739301710890755822012-10-05T06:00:00.000-04:002012-10-05T06:00:06.051-04:00The Seasons Turn Turn TurnSo Fall has officially arrived! Living in the part of Florida that I do means there is no change in the weather. We do have many other exciting things going on! After spending what seemed like forever visiting a infinite number of pre-schools, I was finally able to enroll my youngest into one that both of us love! At 14, it's no big deal if your child doesn't love her school, but at 4, it's a bit more important that she feel comfortable! Maybe I'm just a fussy Mommy because she's my youngest, but I'm OK with that! I have mentioned before that I live on an Avocado Tree Grove. It's that time of year again! PICKING SEASON! My weekends are now filled with picking one of my favorite fruits and an endless supply of that yummy and fabulous beauty essential. I'm still contemplating trying a few nail/skin beauty treatment recipes this year!<br />
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Speaking of nails, after a month of insanity, things have finally settled into the new routines, and we're all recovered from our first round of "back to school flu". Those of you who also follow me on twitter know that my nails went naked for almost two weeks. That's the longest period of time my nails have been naked since 2009. I was sick most of that time, so my poor naked nail were not subjected to much abuse.<br />
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I had recently decided to start offering Gelish enhancements and had purchased all the supplies for that already. So today's nails are not just nail art - but my first attempt at a Gelish enhancement over white tips. I have noticed on the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">blogs</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/">pinterest</a> are full of fall and Halloween mani's. I do have future plans to join in on those soon! I already have some pictures of some I did last spring based on a random polish color inspiration. October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so I felt it was appropriate to begin this month with Nail Art inspired by that. Cancer is a cause near and dear to my heart as both my parents and my baby sister are all Cancer Survivors! This coming week, I will be looking into ways I can turn my nail art talents to raise money and spread the awareness!<br />
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Well, I've rambled on long enough and now it's time for the fun pictures!<br />
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Recently, I was able to take delivery of the Speciallita Hits no Olimpo Collection! This is the Atena from that collection. The ribbons and centers of the flowers is pink acrylic paint. I really love this look! I alternated the accent nails on my other hand. I'll be wearing this one for a few days!! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-65591791187875589752012-08-30T01:35:00.000-04:002012-10-05T02:25:39.194-04:00That Was Unexpected!Good Morning! I've never mentioned it here but lately I find myself considering opening my own little nail studio. I keep seeing all this <a href="http://www.belava.com/p-15-indulgence.aspx">wonderful equipment</a> out there on the internet that would be great for a little studio. I could easily reinvest all my income from my call-in business and grow my business by doing that. However, I do still have to do my share to pay the bills, so that's not a very realistic plan. With that in mind, I have recently been doing some job hunting looking for a part-time "day job" so I can seriously make moves in that direction.<br />
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I got a call this afternoon for an interview tomorrow, so that means I had to re-do my nails! woohooo! With all the busyness that came with preparation for then Tropical Storm Isaac, I missed last week's blog post and also skipped out on doing my own nails. Because the call came early in the evening rather than morning or afternoon, there was little time for me to do my own nails. Rather than my usual process of removal - I decided to just go with a "fill". The nature of the job meant that I couldn't be too bold with my color and design, so I started with just a coat of red once I'd prepped the nail. I noticed that the glitter from my old manicure was showing through that one coat of red and I really liked the way the black from the old design showed through as well. That settled it - I knew what I was going to do! Gelish Sandwich with a black french tip!<br />
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You can almost see the glitter showing through but not quite. I wasn't able to capture the glittery effect no matter how hard I tried. I will say that it very much was like "Ruby Pumps" Lite. lol It has all the depth but the glitter is not quite as in your face.</div>
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Another shot from a different angle. I used "Hot Rod Red" here and it's a fairly versatile color. It very much reminds me of a "jelly" finish in regular polish. Sheer but opaque after a second coat and never streaky. Perfect for the Gelish Sandwich! I'll be adding nail art to this as the week goes on but for now I decided to keep it a little more toned down for tomorrow! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-36845658278280642772012-08-20T22:53:00.000-04:002012-10-05T02:18:06.450-04:00Freshening UpOne of the things I like the most about UV Gel polish is the fact you can wear regular polish over it. Three weeks is a long time to wear the same look. If you're anything like me, you need to change it up a little bit, at the very least from week to week.<br />
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One of my favorite ways to freshen up a UV Gel polish mani that feels "old" or boring is to use regular polish for nail art OVER your base color. I did just that to freshen up my wedding mani! Here it is on my wedding day.<br />
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Here it after a quick stamp with little glitter dot flower centers added. </div>
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One of the most common things I see in my business is young ladies who cannot wear nail art during the week because of job restrictions. However, they come see me Friday afternoon - and I'll add nail art using regular polish for the weekend which they then remove using regular polish remover before going back to work on Monday morning. </div>
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Freshening up your mani doesn't always have to be done to hide wear and tear! Have some fun with it!! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-27367772273140649722012-08-19T18:55:00.000-04:002012-10-05T01:57:31.655-04:00The honeymoon is over!Well the official honeymoon where you go away is over at least! The metaphorical honeymoon isn't even close to being over yet. I didn't change my mani for this - and this is why I recommend getting gel color to ALL brides! No need to worry about your nails - they still look great and you can focus your attentions on other more FUN things.<br />
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I didn't post last Sunday because we were in Orlando for a long weekend. We took the kids with us and no trip to Orlando is complete with a day or two at Disney. We stayed at our Timeshare resort, so two days at Disney and another day of enjoying our resort's awesome amenities! Here's a few quick pix!<br />
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I'm obviously not in this one since I'm taking the picture. lol<br />
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This is one of all of us at the resort wearing our ears (or in the case of my dad - his Micky Mouse Straw Hat). A good time was had by all!! </div>
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Now, life is back to normal, I've even gotten some things done towards finally getting seriously settled into the new apartment. I know the traditional dream is to get married and come home from your honeymoon to your "new house" as a married couple. I highly don't recommend you do that unless you took at least a month to get settled in first. LOL Sometime in the next few days I'll be changing my mani and next week's post I will have actual nail art for you!! So many new exciting ideas have come out while I was gone, and I have no end of inspiration for things I'd like to try!!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-56659753587116279522012-08-12T12:32:00.000-04:002012-10-05T01:30:37.939-04:00Post Wedding Check-inWell, I have made it through all the insanity and I think I managed to not loose my mind. lol We are now moved into our new place (though not completely) and we had a lovely wedding, and we're enjoying our "family honeymoon" this weekend. I'll be back to posting regularly, but initially, I will no longer be making daily posts. I will, however be posting at least once a week while I try to get our daily lives back to normal and get the lil one set up for the new school year.<br />
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Without further ado - I bring you a wedding photo! For the moment, it's the only one I have access to but I promise to post at least one more of the entire dress.<br />
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Of course, since this is a nail blog - this entry would not be complete without a photo of my manicure for the day!! I did my nails with Gelish and I took this picture almost a week later so there is some growth going on there. I still love the look!</div>
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The flowers are from my daughter's bouquet. She was one of my bridesmaids and I had to get the nails with the flowers becauses I did like my wedding flowers. I wonder how much of that is because I did my own flowers? haha! </div>
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That's all for this week - I'll see you all next Sunday! Have a nailicious week!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-49701550430949477682012-05-20T19:09:00.000-04:002012-05-20T19:09:02.766-04:00More Experiments with GelishHappy Sunday! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend, I am on the road to recovery from my recent illness. It was not serious but it was enough to keep me from my blog and nail art for awhile.<br />
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While I was away, I did change my gelish and for those of you that also follow my twitter, I discussed trying to create a gelish sandwich and a sunset gradient. My sunset gradient is one of my most popular nail art designs, especially in the gel. However, during the removal of my old gelish manicure, I accidently broke THREE nails down to the nail bed. It was pretty devastating for me because they are so short, it looks like I bite my nails or something like that. But I can't stand uneven nail lengths, so I cringed and cut and filed away. I reapplied my new gelish mani doing it in the usual way on my left hand and trying to incorporate the "jelly sandwich" technique into this gradient.<br />
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I have very mixed feelings about how this experiment came out. You be the judge.<br />
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It came out ok but unlike the previous attempt with the sheer color - the glitter doesn't really pop through...it's so much more subtle. This is a disappointment for me, because the boldness of the colors with a sunset gradient requires less subtlety and that super visible depth that I had with my regular Gelly Sandwich.</div>
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There's a macro shot of this one. Please pardon the horrible length. You can see the glitter is there if you go poke someone's eye out or stare at it for awhile. Let me post the pix of the sunset gradient the way I normally do it with the shimmery glitter coat on top of the gradient.</div>
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I think the regular sunset gradient came out much better. Not just because of the shimmery glitter being on top but also because I did a better job sponging it on with this hand too. This was an all around experiment on a number of levels. Normally, when doing a gradient using gelish, I do one coat with more definite 'lines' and then sponge on the next color to blur the line. I had used this technique because each color requires two coats and when I started working this out with the Gelish I was not as good with gradients in general or working with the gel itself as I have become over the last few months. </div>
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The change in my gradient technique is a definite WIN, but the Sunset Gelly Sandwich is a fail in my book. What do you think?? </div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-31058876640086376482012-05-10T06:00:00.000-04:002012-05-10T06:00:08.033-04:00Half and HalfGood Morning and Happy Friday Eve! I can't believe it's Thursday already? Where did the week go?? I swear, the older I get the faster the day go by. Today's Nail Art of the Day is a little different. I have a KandNail stamping plate I got from <a href="http://www.bornprettystore.com/">BornPrettyStore</a> and one of the downfalls of these plates is that the designs are great but often too small to completely cover an entire nail.......unless ur like 6. I really wanted to do this design though...but as Tim Gunn likes to say "Make it work!"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWluXVzaEXC3oIck98sATBni_GaHpKA4I3kdigghTz5SCTx97aLv_20Ws_UHiknd9LJOOThRRjFpewc256GmNjY7WrV-JKDgZe6XxHk8NOaFAgiS8n-P52lhMC9kgjsuW_4pw1IiEFuHY/s1600/BlackAndCheetah02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWluXVzaEXC3oIck98sATBni_GaHpKA4I3kdigghTz5SCTx97aLv_20Ws_UHiknd9LJOOThRRjFpewc256GmNjY7WrV-JKDgZe6XxHk8NOaFAgiS8n-P52lhMC9kgjsuW_4pw1IiEFuHY/s400/BlackAndCheetah02.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This really made me happy because it's just sooo bold! Perfect for a night out wearing your favorite Little Black Dress! I'm definitely going to have to try this with some of the other designs but let's take one more look at it shall we?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFoNMuH-07_X3qDBtYoB_cHc6E2SGSEbcNCz5MSJD7FQ-AFA_V9asfZvK57lDqufN_i7Wm9HlZibXUP-CkuJVN68T7msoXHLGZVC_9SiHk3mT60Zub7hXZyYRgluRCWhlSLIlYgyZJlrM/s1600/BlackAndCheetah01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFoNMuH-07_X3qDBtYoB_cHc6E2SGSEbcNCz5MSJD7FQ-AFA_V9asfZvK57lDqufN_i7Wm9HlZibXUP-CkuJVN68T7msoXHLGZVC_9SiHk3mT60Zub7hXZyYRgluRCWhlSLIlYgyZJlrM/s400/BlackAndCheetah01.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here, I tried to get a half-way side view of this look. I did have to 'stack' the stamped print on my nail but apparently I can do that top/bottom wise but not so much left/ride sides. Thus the half of the nail being painted black. I'm super happy with this outcome and I hope you like it too! </div>
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That's all I have for you today, Thanks for reading and have a groovy day!!</div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-29706094435869308972012-05-09T12:22:00.000-04:002012-05-09T12:22:46.248-04:00Matte PinkGood Afternoon and I'm finally back! I've had quite a bit going here at home that I had to take care and now that it's all successfully completed I've been able to do some new nail arts for my blog once again. Ohhh how I've missed it tooo!! I know a few people's blogs do "Pink Wednesdays" and I'm not sure what the backstory on that is but since I'm returning after a few days off - what better theme to go with?<br />
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I've previously matted some super sparkly polishes and done a stamped pattern that was also matted and I really enjoy the look. Here's another look at that theme.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwCPLeLt7nd3ibAY09oX2jTFOdywEOJqrR920maIPsotk8qfSUmd_n8GDtfPi8ZX6WfGbuJ_jqUBuNljJhgxmQ5Js2ORmJvDZu1aspeGjqwuSi7PS9fAb4D7DCP7VENBuhgFs4pvBeMU8/s1600/FunkyMattePinkNSilver02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwCPLeLt7nd3ibAY09oX2jTFOdywEOJqrR920maIPsotk8qfSUmd_n8GDtfPi8ZX6WfGbuJ_jqUBuNljJhgxmQ5Js2ORmJvDZu1aspeGjqwuSi7PS9fAb4D7DCP7VENBuhgFs4pvBeMU8/s400/FunkyMattePinkNSilver02.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This foil shows up much stronger in bright light and in low light than the picture here really shows. I got a few compliments on this going to pick up my daughter from school (I had only done four fingers and even that was pretty stand out). I'm seriously considering doing the other six fingers and wearing this for a few days because I really just like it a lot.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkb_cRbh56U8JWgFylmRpo6fvqqwRAUcihAIxyn0y3Z4E4kplr-KC8z_25dSpXBA26iMWGb-ra43jbKhYFkyxmyQ9b-D9moyaqDWhnTIaZamGwGQfLxbFokpPa6m9OfDeYxOZcQVnN14/s1600/FunkyMattePinkNSilver01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkb_cRbh56U8JWgFylmRpo6fvqqwRAUcihAIxyn0y3Z4E4kplr-KC8z_25dSpXBA26iMWGb-ra43jbKhYFkyxmyQ9b-D9moyaqDWhnTIaZamGwGQfLxbFokpPa6m9OfDeYxOZcQVnN14/s400/FunkyMattePinkNSilver01.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Just because I had one more shot of it. I think everyone should have at least one bottle of ManGlaze polish. They do have other colors besides just matte topcoat and all are just stunning. I'm not super big on pimping out specific polishes - but I love love love these sooo much! They are a great little company who put out a great line of products!</div>
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That's all I have for you today, Thanks for stopping by after my extended break and I'll see you tomorrow!!</div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-83003240105641148342012-05-06T06:00:00.000-04:002012-05-06T06:00:00.459-04:00Blue Ombre GradientGood Morning fellow nail art fans! I'm back to my obsession with blue and this time I'm really diving in to the color! I have blue ombre gradients that go from light blue to an indigo blue! Of course, I included glitter and shimmer galore because I can't help myself.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUOSWhmJbEIjN7M8wYgxr3EEJgwjx9ujMdCc8q8PY4lWkZ3-LAApUfrhFq3TjkmwV8qLV1DGdDd0B1EJBcaSsK8Jp7RT-5f5VlBD9zu82m3YLJmy7z813rbTdoj1Uzalw-qRMdMg5Irxw/s1600/BlueGradient01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUOSWhmJbEIjN7M8wYgxr3EEJgwjx9ujMdCc8q8PY4lWkZ3-LAApUfrhFq3TjkmwV8qLV1DGdDd0B1EJBcaSsK8Jp7RT-5f5VlBD9zu82m3YLJmy7z813rbTdoj1Uzalw-qRMdMg5Irxw/s400/BlueGradient01.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is another one I tried the other night but changed it just a little bit because deep down I was unhappy with the original concept. I originally had the colors going from white to blue to dark blue to indigo and I think that was just too many colors and my nails aren't long enough to give a proper graduation to the color.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmyFULZyX4rVF5Ahb8JDRAdxAcPIaWfZH1Fvag0Y4z0jvn_b9gEhLfqiicrTbQv0hnOtRXY1uOSLCcfDhosD6XJqldQCYJQKK5gQYrzOi9TRI5Bxla9QuekAuBumTkAWDVKsqEfv-0Y0/s1600/BlueGradient03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmyFULZyX4rVF5Ahb8JDRAdxAcPIaWfZH1Fvag0Y4z0jvn_b9gEhLfqiicrTbQv0hnOtRXY1uOSLCcfDhosD6XJqldQCYJQKK5gQYrzOi9TRI5Bxla9QuekAuBumTkAWDVKsqEfv-0Y0/s400/BlueGradient03.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I genuinely love love love this gradient and I have a few sundresses this would go fabulous with come summer time!! I hope you enjoyed today's post and Thanks for reading!!</div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-30671302900942902542012-05-05T08:02:00.000-04:002012-05-05T08:02:40.192-04:00Polka Dot CherriesGood Morning and a Happy Saturday and Cinco de Mayo to all my fellow nail art freaks! I was in a bit of a silly mood when I did today's nail art and I thought it would be a fun one for a Saturday. Polka dots with an accent nail full of cherries!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLA6zK3GbOK_3HUQUCY86aljrRFDt384QUeD5X_9wEdFQGNnTbmy7EHzzqPxHhGXpDJ4lGoA57NSSt_acIHr31VVz5hwqXgNkWO4BfaHb5zWbYYRTNnYHSnN6negrSa_Mkzq-86fMvdHg/s1600/PolkaDotCherries04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLA6zK3GbOK_3HUQUCY86aljrRFDt384QUeD5X_9wEdFQGNnTbmy7EHzzqPxHhGXpDJ4lGoA57NSSt_acIHr31VVz5hwqXgNkWO4BfaHb5zWbYYRTNnYHSnN6negrSa_Mkzq-86fMvdHg/s400/PolkaDotCherries04.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I used my Gelish Gelly Sandwich as the background color for this one just because it's pink and sparkly and I love it. Using my dotting tool I made polka dots and the cherries using regular nail polish, Essie's "Swing Velvet" and using a think nail art brush and Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear, "Emerald City" to make the cherry stems and leaves.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvrWVIns1V9y6ruiIGZHdFu4JbNRNu7hYoNmkNfxqu3ftuGAG0GBZ4z9jbckRUpNuqIFr-iA4rfqEGAQ0l-fZEOP7oVOQWEmss7ABku07SzTnk_tpfaiGrXk2Uz04GUbutyAmpVcH7TA/s1600/PolkaDotcherries02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvrWVIns1V9y6ruiIGZHdFu4JbNRNu7hYoNmkNfxqu3ftuGAG0GBZ4z9jbckRUpNuqIFr-iA4rfqEGAQ0l-fZEOP7oVOQWEmss7ABku07SzTnk_tpfaiGrXk2Uz04GUbutyAmpVcH7TA/s400/PolkaDotcherries02.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I still love how some of the larger pieces of glitter shows through "swing velvet". It definitely suited my mood for Cinco de Mayo! I probably should have come up with something more "mexican" looking but I drew a blank so I went with the overall feeling I have every Cinco da Mayo - fun!!</div>
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Thanks for reading and remember! Be safe and No Drinking and Driving!</div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5533144774655787353.post-408114832287433272012-05-04T06:00:00.000-04:002012-05-04T06:00:10.845-04:00Blue Foil FrenchGood Morning and Happy Friday. No #FishEggMani today, I'm still a lot burned out on it after wearing it for five whole days. Instead, I'm bringing you a twist on the french mani that I did last night but the pictures didn't come out. It turns out that it's just as well they didn't. I came up with some tweaks to the original thought I had by alternating the colors.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20UWBkVJyUhXmCLqQIQMBqNzVg740tSHyK9ZHspRHHXo3SLjv5jMM0qIPSbihVhyphenhyphenE0G66mhy3flL3v-AqntnKT_zxFuW5a7cCK9PtChfJEyAwSngm0dGGMogMLcEdOolaoHTn1JD5s5o/s1600/BlueFoilFrench02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20UWBkVJyUhXmCLqQIQMBqNzVg740tSHyK9ZHspRHHXo3SLjv5jMM0qIPSbihVhyphenhyphenE0G66mhy3flL3v-AqntnKT_zxFuW5a7cCK9PtChfJEyAwSngm0dGGMogMLcEdOolaoHTn1JD5s5o/s400/BlueFoilFrench02.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I'm still in love with Orly's "Snowcone" and I was dying to try it as a french. Originally, my thought had been to just do the blue with the foil at the end, separated by the blue glitter stripe. Tonight I had the thought that it would be so much cooler to alternate the foil and the blue.</div>
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I'm definitely pleased with how much better these came out than my original design. I've long been a fan of adding color to the old fashioned "french" and dressing it up a bit. Apparently that's really trending these days and that makes me a little giddy to know I've been way ahead of this trend. </div>
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I hope you enjoyed today's fun twist on an old favorite and thank you for reading!</div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00723892192493244145noreply@blogger.com1