Sunday, June 26, 2011

And the WINNER IS...

Greetings Earthlings!

Guess what time it is!




Thanks to the random number generator at random.org the lucky winner of my 200 Follower Giveaway is:

Megan Harmeyer !!!

CONGRATULATIONS!



Remember I said I'd be adding at least one more mystery polish? Well turns out I couldn't help myself. I got 2!! But it's going to stay a surprise! :P

Megan and I have already touched base and I am simply waiting for the mail strike to wrap up (awesome timing mail people) so I can mail her box o' loot. :P

I want to say thank you again to all of you for visiting my blog and leaving such nice notes. I really appreciate all your support and positive energy! I am very thrilled to be a part of this community. You guys are all super fantastic.

But for everyone who didn't win this one--Please Don't fret! I am starting to save up now for my 500 Follower giveaway, and I hope you will all come back for another try!


JQ




Friday, June 24, 2011

Black and Gold Chevron French Tips!

Guess what everybody!!

Today is the last day to enter my 200 follower giveaway! Quick! Get entered! :D


Here's the manicure I just finished up. Sorry it's a bit overcast today! But I still managed to catch the glimmer of my Cover Girl Pink Twinkle.


The tips are done with NYC Flat Iron Green (very very dark) and then the whole nail is gone over using Cover Girl Pink Twinkle. Then I used China Glaze Midnight Kiss (gold) and a fine paintbrush to accent the chevron tip, and then the same polish with my largest dotting tool for a dot at the tip of each chevron.


Then a smaller dot of Claire's Black Hole to give the chevron the look of jewelry or a curling ribbon, and my black Art Deco to delineate the chevron. One coat of Seche Vite and voila! Dressy nails. :P Now, where shall I go?

Thanks everyone and good luck in the giveaway! I hope to contact the lucky winner by Monday morning!


JQ

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Piano keys and Filigree

Greetings Jelly Beans!

I was itching to use the piano keys image out of the new bundle monster set, but now I'm sad because I don't have any images of sheet music, or musical notes to go with them! I had some trouble getting the stamp lined up on my nail. I think next time, prior to stamping, I'll take my Art Deco black and draw a line where I want to follow with the image.


Also, my nails are kind of warping a bit as they grow out. I am not used to this length at all, and the images were harder to get contacted all across my nail, resulting in a skewed stamp. I had to go in with my Art Deco black and try to straighten a few keys a bit!


For this manicure I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails White Tip, and then stamped the piano keys image from BM 207, using GOSH Nero. I LOVE GOSH, especially Nero. It's nice and crisp, and cleans up WAY easier than the Konad black.

Then I used the filigree image (BM21) from the old set and Wet n' Wild Blackmail (a kind of transparent black with a hint of sparkle in it) to get the grey effect. Also a bit of the sparkle transferred which was terribly subtle but it made me happy!

Lastly, before applying my Seche Vite top coat, I went over the line between the filigree and the piano keys with my Art Deco black, and touched up a few of the keys.


These totally remind me of my spats n' spangles manis! And now I want to do one of those again. :) I really like splitting my nail in half or 1/3 to 2/3 --almost like a reverse french but with a straight line, especially if the nails are filed square. :)

Have you entered my 200 follower giveaway yet? It includes a bottle of Wet n' Wild Blackmail and a Black Art Deco!

Thanks for stopping by!

JQ

Friday, June 10, 2011

I scrub and scrub but they'll never come clean!

HIDEOUS! AND AWESOME!

My germs and bacterium manicure:


I don't even know where to start on explaining these bad boys. Suffice to say my friend Alikat came over for a girl's night and well...things got a bit silly!


I had been browsing my new bundle monster set and noticing all the cool little stamps that look like germs or bacteria. Lo there was also a french tip that looked like it would combine nicely. I painted my nails with 2 coats of Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White, and when that was dry I went to town. I grabbed a whole schwack of sheer/iridescent polishes from my stash including: Sinful Colors Fiji, Love Nails and Bali Mist, Sally Hansen HD Resolution and Hi-Def (both green) and Digital (bright pink sheer), Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Lime Lights, And Nicole By OPI Respect the World.


I planned to french tip all nails except my ring finger on each hand, using the tip image, so before I stamped I wanted to ensure some sparkling colours would come through the stamp. I blotched on daubs of random sheer polishes across the tips of each nail. I then used more sheers and the stone stamp from BM211 to add subtle colour to the remaining white nail.


I used GOSH Nero and the bacteria tip from BM217 to stamp over the tips once everything was dry. On my ring fingers I blotched sheers all over the nail instead of just the tips. Then I used Nero and the germie images off BM211 and 212.


Then I switched to red. I used OPI Off With Her Red to stamp those same images from my ring finger onto the whites of the remaining nails. I was totally random about it. It was a lot of fun!


Time to dig out the dotting tools!
I used brighter more pigmented colours and dotted all over the place. I used a bright yellow and more Off With Her Red inside some of the bacteria. I used GOSH Nero here as well.


And I just spammed you with sooo many pictures! But this was totally fun. Not really an attractive manicure, and it has a LOT going on, but from a distance it has a kind of abstract art/graffiti effect that I really enjoy. :)

Thanks for visiting me and having a nail painting session Alikat!

Has everyone had a chance to take a peek at my 200 Follower Giveaway?

Cheers!

JQ

Thursday, June 9, 2011

2 different full nail stamp images...

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay, but things have been pretty hectic 'round here. :) Just a quick set of photos of two manicures I wore around mid May:

OPI Ski Teal We Drop and metallic silver eyes:


2 coats OPI Ski Teal We Drop, image plate BM212, Sally Hansen Chrome Crystal, Seche Vite.


OPI Off With Her Red and metallic copper curlicues:


2 coats OPI Off With Her Red, image plate BM 201, Sally Hansen Chrome Sizzlin' Bronze, Seche Vite.



We've been super busy landscaping (I'm surprised I've been able to keep my nails this long!) and I've been picking up momentum again on my tapestry. It's nice to see progress again!

Have you checked out my 200 follower giveaway yet?

Thanks for taking a peek!

JQ