Suit Up!

Hello Jellos!

Sooo I had to file my nails down to super nubbies. I am--in a haphazard way-- learning how to play guitar! But the really nice thing is that most of my full nail images will fit my nail now to that's a plus. And the guitar is coming along nicely! I hope to be able to play and sing my first song (Wheat Kings by The Tragically Hip) before the end of the month!

Lately I've been really expanding from just my nails to a bit of make-up and a fancy suit. I got all dressed up the other day and painted my nails to match my new outfit! It's a super cute brown casual skirt and jacket. There is a slight woven look to the fabric that I thought I could mimic with a stamped plaid.


And you get a good idea of how the plaid matches the texture of the fabric here:


Also my accent finger is painted to go with my shirt!

BM03 and Konad M60 were used to create this manicure. For all fingers except the ring finger I used 2 coats of Essie Little Brown Dress, and for the plaid, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Wet Clay. For the ring finger 2 coats of a frankened ivory creme, sponged on a bit of Nina Ultra Pro Like Butta, and Sinful Colors Vacation Time in opposing corners of the nail. Then stamped the flowers using Essie Little Brown Dress over Vacation Time, and OPI Off With Her Red atop Like Butta. Did a few criss-crossed with Wet Clay, and filled in some areas with tiny dots of Off With Her Red and Little Brown Dress to tie the nail in with my shirt.

And...okay this is a picture of my feet. 2 coats Sinful Colors Vacation Time and a coat of KleanColor V.I.P. (ooooh sparklies) and my Shooooes lalala...


I wouldn't really consider myself a fashion blogger, but I do enjoy making manicures to match my outfits, and have been dabbling in *gasp* makeup. :P What does everyone think if I do a post here and there to show the complete look?

Thanks for stopping by everyone!
Hearts off the charts!
JQ

Lavendar Fishnet Tips with Teal.

Greetings Jellybeans!

This was my manicure that I did yesterday afternoon, after I anxiously checked my mailbox for the new Bundle Monster plates. They still haven't arrived, but I have yet to do the final check of my mailbox today so there is still hope for the weekend. :P Seeing as I was so revved up to do stamping I decided I'd better sift through my Konad and older BM plates to see if I could get inspired.


Up until this time I haven't had much luck with applying the tip images STRAIGHT. Yesterday I lucked out, or else I have just done enough stamping and lining up full nail stamps that I am intuitively applying the tips better. Anyways I'm pretty happy with the turn out! I kind of finished this mani at the last minute so I slopped on some lotion, and ran outside to catch the last light in an already overcast day. I still managed to capture some of the shimmer, but due to my rushing I didn't actually do a brush clean up around the cuticles, and the lotion makes my hands look sooo shiny.


First I painted the tips on freehand, using a pale lavender franken, then painted the whole nail in two coats of Nicole by OPI Count On Me (teeny tiny pinkish blue flaky). After that was all dry I used Konad image plate #m45 and China Glaze Avalanche (a purple metallic), Then I used a fine brush and Revlon 340 Ocean for the definition line (that extended 3/4 of the way across each tip, leaving a small undefined section to the pinky side of each tip).


I also used Revlon 340 Ocean to stamp the flower (bm02) on the pinky side of each nail, sort of half on the tip. I did clean up the excess green that landed on my cuticles, but that's the extent of the clean up I did. I used a little nail glue to adhere a dark purple rhinestone to the center of each flower, before covering everything with a good coat of Seche Vite.

I just want to make it known that I am in LOVE with Nicole Count on Me. I just want to slap a coat of it over EVERYTHING. Also. I wish I could eat it.

Okay. I go now. :P

♥
JQ

Blue Veins

Hi everybody!

For this manicure I used 1 coat of Sinful Colors Cream Pink, and sponged on a very pale frankened pink at the tips to look a bit like spray paint. I then stamped using a gradation from Revlon Royal to Sinful Colors Love Nails (a pretty pale shimmery sheer blue) in the hopes that it would show up more on the lighter pink. It did actually. The pattern is more washed out than it appears in reality.


I used Konad Image Plate m60 paisley again for this manicure. It really is one of my favorite designs. I promise I'll do a different one next time. :)

This is sunlight:


I didn't capture the really pretty shimmer in the dark pink or much of the shimmer in SC Love Nails. I was really happy with this manicure, although it was a WEE bit bright. Just a wee bit.


Thank you for stopping by! I hope everyone has a really nice weekend!
♥
JQ

Blended Red Paisley

Hi everybody! I hope your week is going well! Mine has been pretty sunny and wonderful. No complaints here!

This is the manicure that I've been sporting the past 4 days. It's finally chipping and I'm excited to try something new.



For this manicure I used 3 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On that I frankened into a creamy colour by adding about 14 drops of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Yellow that didn't have a name. I just didn't want a glaring white for this one.

Once that was fully dry I used image plate m60 paisley pattern, and painted one side of the image with Revlon Matte Suede Ruby Ribbon, and the other side with OPI Off With Her Red. I scraped a couple times to blend the colours a little and then stamped each nail so that the darker red was at the base. Seche Vite and voila!

This is in the shade:


And direct sunlight:



Thanks for taking a peek!
♥
JQ

Blended argyle with GOSH Metallic

Happy Friday everybody!

Lately I've been playing with stamping using my GOSH Metallics over similar creamier base colours. ABOP left me a note last entry saying it would be cool to see some stamping with more than one colour on the plate. I had been thinking the same thing! I've seen some pretty awesome multi-coloured stamping around the blogs and I figured I'd give it a whirl!


I'm THRILLED with it! I decided I'd use a dark base so that I could really see the contrast this first time. For my base I used a frankened black Wet n' Wild that I made into a slightly shimmery charcoal grey. I don't own a single charcoal colour! What?? The closest I have is OPI My Private Jet and it's more brown-y, plus I thought the holo sparklies might detract from my pattern.



Left to right: Seche Clear, frankened charcoal colour, GOSH Metallic Green, Blue and Pink, Seche Vite. Konad Image Plate M60. I painted a coat of Seche Clear, then one thick coat of my frankenpolish (it was teh gooey but it dried fairly quickly), then dragged the brush from each GOSH metallic across the image horizontally first with pink, then blue, then green. When I scraped I did it in the same direction I brushed on the polish, and I did it a few times just to blend the colours together a bit. I stamped so that the pink is at my tips every time. Next time I want to try diagonal.



Once again with the scaly look. I DIG. It's fun because I'm trying for a very reptilian quality with the tapestry I am currently working on. It actually distracted me from weaving yesterday because I kept admiring how my nails looked next to the leaf of my rose at the lower left hand corner.


Here's a couple more shots of the polish outdoors and indoors. The colors are actually a bit deeper in reality so the transition is quite visible. I just can't get enough of it!


In the two shots where you can see my thumb, you can see that it gets a bit messy on the one side. Even the Konad full nail images are not wide/long enough for my thumbs. The tip and the right side I tried to stamp on a little extra and it's gibbled but from a distance it doesn't draw attention. :P

Thanks everyone for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend!
♥
JQ

Minted Brocade

Hello everyone!

I wish I could be making more frequent posts but I've been working on a large scale tapestry project and it wreaks havoc on my polish, so I haven't been playing with my nail art lately. Yesterday evening I took a little time out to pamper myself.


Because I have been weaving a lot I have had fabric on the brain. I adore the richness of handwoven or otherwise hand manipulated textiles. One of my favorites is that brocade type fabric where the pattern is metallic or shiny and the background is matte.


More often than not it is a floral pattern but I went with a retro bubble stamp from Konad image plate m65. I used 1 coat of Seche Base, and 2 coats of Revlon Minted. Then I stamped using GOSH Metallic Green. I finished with a coat of Seche Vite.


I'm really digging the metallic stamps over a similar matte colour. I think next time I'll actually use a floral motif.

Hope everyone is gearing up for a fabulous week. Thanks so much for visiting!
♥
JQ

2 syruppy frenches and a guest manicure!

Greetings JellyBeans!

These are two frenches I did near the beginning of March. This first one started by sponging a few layers of Sinful Colors Love Nails, then halfway towards the tips a few layers of SC Bali Mist, and right at the tips a Layer of SC Fiji to darken it up. Then over the whole nail I painted one coat of Color Club Si Vous Please! and at the tips sponged a layer of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rockstar Pink.



For the second french I sponged 3 coats of sheer bluish tinted Claire's Pink (unnamed from a pack) trying to get a good gradation from base to tip. Then at the tips I sponged two coats of SC Show Me The Way which is this swampy green sheer with little flakies, but it made the pink look gold! Then over the whole thing I painted a coat of Sally Hansen Diamonds.



Both of the above manicures were stamped using Gosh Nero and Bundle Monster image plate# BM11

And this is one of the other guest manicures I did on my friend who was up for a visit the first 10 days of March. One half of each nail was Claire's Raindrops, and the other half was OPI Ski Teal We Drop. Stamped using Konad image Plate # m60 and GOSH Metallic Blue.


The stamp doesn't really disappear over Raindrops, but it takes on this weird floaty look. Super cool. I want to try more!


Thanks for stopping by! Hope everyone has a fabulous week!
♥
JQ

Black and White and Valentine Manis

Hi everybody! I got tired of trying to get ALL my guest manis together for a couple big posts and decided that I'll just lob one guest manicure pic in with my current manicure posts. That way I can go fetch them one at a time and it doesn't feel like such a big project.

This is a guest mani I did for my auntie Judith while I was home was done by painting thumbs white and rest of nails black. Stamped the black nails using Konad Special polish in White and Konad image plate #m65 . Thumbs used Konad Black Pearl stamping polish and Bundle Monster image plate #BM14 . I layered up the single rose stamp in a pyramid on each thumb. Used my Art Deco Silver sparkle striper polish to add a little bling to the center of the roses. Topcoat was Seche Vite.


And this is my manicure from last week. Base color is 1/2 Sally Hansen Insta Dri White On, and 1/2 GOSH Nero. Stamped using GOSH Nero and Bundle Monster image plate #BM11, lining it up so that I got a line of crisp white between the solid black and the pattern.


I finished off with Sally Hansen Insta Dri anti-chip top coat. I pour this top coat into a smaller bottle that has a softer brush and I find I don't get nearly as much smudging on the stamp this way. It also helps the polish not to thicken up and get goopy as fast.


And finally my Valentine's day manicure. I just did something quick to match a black and red dress I found at the thrift store that fit me perfectly! I painted a little more than half my nail with Essie Lacquered Up and filled in the other side with GOSH Nero. Stamped using GOSH Nero and the full rose image off Konad plate#m65 (I love that plate) I didn't worry about the stamp overlapping onto the black side. It was visible upon stamping but because it was the identical polish when I went over the manicure with my SH Insta Dri Anti Chip Top Coat it just melted into the previous layer. :)


Sorry there's already a fair bit of tip wear, but I don't think it's the polish. I've been weaving taspestry all morning and the friction of my fingertips against those warp threads really does damage.

Hope your week is cheery!
♥
JQ

I'm Back!

Hello Jellos!

Christmas vacation was plenty awesome, but I'm so happy to be back and in the old groove! Finally have my house in order, a few projects underway, and am ready to start posting!

For this, my first post of the new year I just want to say thank you again to all the people who follow my blog! I will be posting my very first giveaway to celebrate reaching 100 followers soon so keep in touch!

Also I won some super cool Broadway Nails from Dollface's giveaway just before Christmas, so when I got back there was this parcel waiting! Thanks Dolly! I've never given fakies a try, but the timing couldn't have been more convenient, because I have a really busted up nail that's just growing out and catching n everything, so covering it with a fake one has been awesome. I'll post about that soon as well!

Without further ado, I give you two manicures (on my real nails) done just after arriving at home for my vacation.


This one is done using a base colour of 2 coats Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Commander in Chic, Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear Black Out (and my Art Deco striper in black) to do the tips, then over the tips with a sponge Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamonds for a little glitz. I finished with a stamp from Bundle Monster image plate BM11 and my Konad Princess stamping polish in Yellow.


I can't remember exactly where I first saw someone use splotches of nail polish under a full nail stamp but I totally dig the effect. I did like 4 manicures on family and friends with the same concept. Here's mine.


Base: splotches of OPI Off With Her Red, Pamplona Purple, Green-wich Village, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lightening, and Complete Salon Manicure Thinking of Blue.

Stamp: GOSH Nero polish and random Konad and Bundle Monster full nail stamp images.


OH MAN I totally need to do a post just for GOSH nail polish because I'm loving them. Mostly because the Metallic Green, Metallic Purple and Metallic Blue as well as Nero all work beautifully as stamping polishes. Wee!

I packed a mega-haul over the holidays! I got my very first ever OPI polishes and the formula is like butter and the brushes make me so happy. I also find that I'm pretty happy with the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polishes, and my favorite polish gift this Christmas was from my sister in law who got them for me in Finland (I don't know if they are sold in Canada) IsaDora Plain White, and IsaDora Graffiti Nails in Subway Green. Seriously as soon as my bashed in nail grows out I'm doing a review on that!

Okay well I feel way better now that I finally got online and made a post! Hope everyone is having a wonderful new year so far.

Cheers!
JQ

2 Christmas Manicures before I catch my flight!

Joyeux Noel!

This was last week's festive manicure! My take on Christmas holly and wreaths. I painted a white base, then stamped using my new Apple Green Konad special polish, then painted around it all with Essie's Lacquered Up. A few red dots for the holly berries!



My new friend Alikat came over for a manicure Monday and we had a nice evening visiting and painting and stamping. :) This is the Chrismtas mani I'll be wearing for the trip home! Hopefully it will get the gals in my family inspired for their own manicures! There are a few slumber parties in the works. :)


I was inspired by PHD 's red manicure with snowflake so I used it on my ring fingers. :)

Merry Christmas everybody! I'll be back again with blog posts in mid-January!
<3
JQ

Poinsettias with Rhinestones

Hello Jellos! I'm back before the holidays with another mani that I did yesterday.

I filed down my nails and squared them off again and I remembered how much I love them like this. Sure there's not much space but I can get through the days without chipping/breaking a nail and they look fairly cute.

I probably should have used bullion beads again because I was going for the poinsettia look, but I was staring forlornly at my rhinestone wheel wanting to use them so I caved. You can't really tell in the photos but the ring finger is actually darker green rhinestones.


I used 2 coats of Claire's Snow Ball for the base colour, then stamped using image plate # BM06 and Wet n' Wild Precious Metals Red Graphite. Then rhinestones and a topcoat!


My rhinestones didn't last much longer than a day before a few came off and I obsessively picked the rest off. *sigh* I have this love/hate thing going on. But I used a dotting tool and some emerald green polish to fill in the centers this morning and that got me through the day.

I just went out and picked up three new Konad stamping polishes in Yellow, Apple Green and Chocolate and I CAN'T wait to use them. I also caved and picked up Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear Rockstar Pink along with another Wet N' Wild French White Creme (base white and black are so essential for me). Eee!

Again Merry Christmas and if I have my way I'll be posting another manicure tomorrow afternoon!
<3
JQ

Two Christmas Manis!

Feeling the Christmas spirit yet? I know I am. I've been having more fun with sponges and Konad. :)

This first one I used 2 coats of Claire's Snow Ball for the base color, then sponged some Revlon Emerald City matte suede polish onto 3/4 of the nail towards the tip. Then I went over the whole nail using the plaid pattern from image plate plate m60 and Konad special polish in white. This made it look like the white at the base of the nail turned plaid over the green. Then I made little poinsettia flowers with Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar and I used some of my new gold bullion beads for the first time! When the topcoat went on all the hidden shimmer in the matte green polish popped up under the white plaid. Too bad I couldn't take a good picture of the glimmer on the nail but the macro on my camera is seriously lacking.



This is the mani I am currently sporting. I used 2 coats of Claire's Rain drops as a base color, then sponged on Sinful Colors Show Me The Way (pretty grassy green shimmer) 3/4 of the way up the nail. Then sponged Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar onto the tip of each nail, so the nail fades from grey at the base to grassy green to deep red. After this was dry I stamped using Konad image plate m60 with a plaid pattern. I used Sally Hansen Chrome Crystal so it pops. The photo doesn't do it nearly enough justice.




I wanted to leave everyone a note to say that I am getting ready to fly home to the Yukon for Christmas and won't be back until mid January. I hope to be in with at least one more post before the New Year but things might get too busy. I do hope to be doing a bunch of guest manicures while I am home for the holidays so I promise I will take photos for posts in the new year. Wishing you all the very best during the holidays and all year round. Merry Christmas! Peace be with you.

<3
JQ

Dusky Rose Paisley

Hi everyone!

Is it just me or is Christmas approaching at nearly the speed of light? Well this manicure wouldn't reflect that at all. I'm not sure why I didn't try a nice Christmas mani using this stamp, because I think it would look pretty stellar, but I have this addiction to Sinful Colors Vacation Time right now. There's probably all kinds of similar pinks out there but that's the only one of it's kind in my collection currently and I just adore it. It's my dirty dirty pink. :P


For this mani I used Sinful Colors Vacation Time as the base and sponged on a couple layers of Sinful Colors Tokyo Pearl at the tips.


I used Konad image plate #m60 for the paisley pattern, stamped using Konad special polish in Black pearl. I apologize for the blur in some of these photos.


Once I was done stamping I used Sally Hansen Intsa-Dri Anti-Chip top Coat to seal it up, and I didn't experience any smudging fo the stamped polish. Awhile ago I switched my Insta-Dri polish into a different empty polish bottle because the brush was wider and softer and I hoped this might help with the blur. Either I had magic touch this time or the brush is actually working. Any blur you do see is because I wasn't careful enough with my stamping and it moved a little before I drew away or because my stinkin' camera wasn't stable enough when I took the shot.


You might be able to see from some of the photos a hint of what the Tokyo Pearl does at the tips. It really got some depth when the top coat went on and it shimmers beautifully under the stamp. I can't wait to try this again with steadier hands! I really have to lay off the java.

Cheers!
JQ