Tuesday, January 31, 2017

UberChic Beauty Collection 14 Stamping Plate Review

Press  Sample

Hey there!  Today I have the latest stamping plate collection released by UberChic Beauty - Collection 14.  I really can't believe she's already up to 14 collections, in addition to the multitude of single plates she has released.  It seems like just yesterday that she popped onto the scene.  But here we are, 14 collections in and she's still going strong.  I've done two manis with each of the three plates in this collection to test it out.  I can easily say that I didn't have any issues at all with this collection.  Keep reading to see what I did for each.


Sunday, January 29, 2017

The Digit-al Dozen does Birthdays - January 2017

Hey there!  January brought us the birthday of one of my long-time nail idols, the amazing Sassy Shelly.  As is The Digit-al Dozen's new tradition, the birthday girl (or girls) pick our inspiration for out birthday mani and Shelly did us good by picking a gorgeous colourful galaxy picture.  I really didn't do the picture justice.  Keep reading to see the inspiration photo and to see the whole giant list of polishes I used to do this.


Friday, January 27, 2017

Nail Crazies Unite: Blue & White

Hey there!  Today's Nail Crazies Unite theme is one of my all-time favourite color combination - blue and white.  I did a technique that I haven't done in ages - a baggie marble.  Actually I think I've maybe only done the technique once before.  It takes a fair bit of clean up but wow, I love the results!  The look reminded me of water and air so I finished it by stamping with a suitable image but now I can't decide which way I liked more so I'm sharing both.  



Thursday, January 26, 2017

Nail Challenge Collaborative - Winter #2

Hey there!  Today I have my second winter-themed post for the Nail Challenge Collaborative group.  I needed a little break from snowflakes so I wasn't sure what to do for this one.  But I had bought the Lina Nail Art Supplies Winter stamping plate and figured this would be the perfect excuse to use it.  I'm really loving the images that Lina is coming up with.  At first I had received three plates to review but since then I've bought a ton more myself.  If you're into stamping and haven't checked out her plates, seriously go give them a look here.  The Make Your Mark series is my favourite so far but they're all nice.  



Monday, January 23, 2017

UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 03 Review

Press  Sample

Hey there!  Happy Monday friends!  My day started with me realizing I had an important work-related report due today that I hadn't started...holy stress!  I thought I would work on it all week but instead I banged the whole thing out in a day.  And I even have enough minutes at the end of my day to put together a quick blog post showing off the new UberChic Beauty Love & Marriage 03 stamping plate.  Obviously this plate is perfect with Valentine's Day coming up but this plate can easily be used year round.  Keep reading to see more about the plate (and why it's not just a V-Day plate).


Friday, January 20, 2017

26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Red and Pink

Hey there!  This week's Crumpet's Nail Tart's theme is Red and Pink.  I wasn't quite ready for Valentine's Day nails when I did these but I really struggled to think of something that wasn't pure V-Day, especially since I'm pretty prone to do hearts and flowers manis.  I thought by using a black base I could avoid any seasonal feel but, nope, I think all red and pink nails will always look like Valentine's Day, no matter what.



Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Snake Nail Stamping with ILNP Open Fields

Press  Sample
Hey there!  Today I wanted to show some stamping that I did awhile ago with one of the Creative Shop plates that I reviewed back in September.  After I got ILNP Open Fields, I thought the snake stamping would pair up nicely with the green multichrome flakie.  I love wearing these flakies as full coverage polishes (thank you to Cathy of More Nail Polish for teaching me to sponge these on to get this kind of look).  The stamping didn't turn out the greatest but the flakie polish makes this worth sharing anyway.



Monday, January 16, 2017

UberChic Beauty Party Time Review

Press  Sample

Hey there!  Today I have a fun new stamping plate from UberChic Beauty, the Party Time plate.  I know it's supposed to be Blue Monday but hopefully the two fun manis I've done with this plate are fun enough that they'll help you chase away those blues!  The plate was designed to celebrate UberChic's 2 year anniversary but my manis celebrate other occasions.  The first design celebrates my bestie's birthday today and the second works well with the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations.  Keep reading to see all the details about this plate and today's looks.


Friday, January 13, 2017

The Digit-al Dozen does Decades/Nail Crazies Unite does Gold & Silver - The 70's

Hey there!  We have come to the end of another Digit-al Dozen theme.  This week's theme of Decades has been an absolute blast for me.  If you ask me, it's been one of our best week's in awhile.  The girls absolutely killed it.  As for me, I had a couple good, a complete fail and some meh ones.  I'm disappointed that every one of mine was stamping based since I want to try to start mixing more techniques into my Digit-al Dozen manis but I'm a stamping junkie so it tends to win.  My final mani does include the glitter placement technique...that I then stamped!  I wanted to combine my final design with the Nail Crazies Unite prompt of Gold and Silver - sounds like the disco of the 70's to me!



Thursday, January 12, 2017

The Digit-al Dozen does Decades - The 80's

Hey there!  We're nearing the end of The Digit-al Dozen's week this month.  I've loved all the Decades designs I've seen so far...except for mine today.  Having spent my childhood in the 80's, I couldn't skip the decade of neon, big hair and over the top fashion.  Unfortunately my idea for today's mani was a lot better in my head than it was in real life.  I don't know exactly where it went downhill.  It still seems like a good idea but I didn't take the time to re-do them so we're stuck with these today.  My apologies!



Wednesday, January 11, 2017

The Digit-al Dozen does Decades - The 50's

Hey there!  It's the third day of The Digit-al Dozen's Decades week and I've got another mani inspired by a time before I was born.  Today I'm doing The 50's...or what pop culture tells me they were like, anyway.  From what I've been told it was nothing but diners and sock hops...I'm sure that's 100% accurate of the entire decade!  Whether or not that's true, that's what I used as my inspiration for today's design.



Tuesday, January 10, 2017

The Digit-al Dozen does Decades - The 60's

Hey there!  For my second design of The Digit-al Dozen's Decades week, I'm doing my take on The 60's.  Bright coloured water marbles make awesome sixties-inspired nails so that's how I started.  This was honestly one of the best water marbles I've ever done but I still couldn't resist throwing something else one top of it.  When I was planning my nails I was trying to think of memorable things about the 60's (even though I wasn't alive yet) and one night the space race popped into my head.  I have NO idea where that came from since Canada wasn't involved at all as far as I know.  But it gave me a good excuse to use more images off the awesome Bundle Monster/Kelli Marissa plate that I just posted last week.


Monday, January 9, 2017

The Digit-al Dozen does Decades - The 90's

Hey there!  It's time for the first Digit-al Dozen theme of 2017 and it's a fun one!  This month we're doing Decades and I'm starting off with the greatest decade ever - The 90's.  Of course I'm biased since I did most of my growing up in the 90's.  1990-2000 formed my junior high, high school and undergrad years so the music and fashion will always hold a special place in my heart.  But I truly think that, even without my blatant favouritism, 90's music can't be beat.  Lots of upbeat pop, melancholy alternative and even some great electronic music...so good!  And yet I've decided to focus my first mani on the fashion instead of the music.  Personally I never found a style of my own.  I wore the baggy pants, the overalls, neon - you name it, I probably tried it.  But when I think of the 90's I'll always think of plaid.  This is based on exactly how I tended to dress - tacky necklaces, plaid, jeans and my "Docs".  And I'm so not embarrassed of the style at the time that I'm even including an old school pic of me circa the mid-nineties.  Oh, to be young again...



Friday, January 6, 2017

26 Great Nail Art Ideas - New Year, New You

Hey there!  This week's 26 Great Nail Art Ideas theme is perfect for this time of year - New Year, New You.  I wasn't entirely sure how to translate this into a bit of nail art but I thought about what I'd like to change this year, particularly in terms of my blog, and came up with time management.  I'm always rushing to get things done last second, usually at the end of my work day which means I'm usually getting home later than I'd like so this year I'm really going to try to be better.  It might mean I skip a night doing my nails here or there so I can crop photos so they don't pile up and become daunting but most people survive without doing their nails every night...I can too...maybe.



Thursday, January 5, 2017

Hit The Bottle Holo The Rainbow Stamping Polish Review

Press  Sample

Hey there!  Today I have the latest stamping polish from Hit The Bottle stamping polish, an indie, 5-free Australian brand.  I've known the creator, Michelle, since I first started blogging and she's always been nothing but helpful and kind.  It's been awesome to see her foray into the world of polish making, in particular, stamping polish turn into a success. Anytime anyone asks for stamping polish suggestions in the nail groups I'm in, I always see Hit The Bottle mentioned, for good reason.  I first reviewed Hit The Bottle stamping polish exactly 2 years ago (what a coincidence!) and have kept it in rotation ever since.  They all work just as well as the day I first got them.  Recently she came out with a holographic stamping collection, Holo The Rainbow, and I jumped at the chance of trying them out.  They are AMAZING!  Below you'll find a few ways I tested them out.  It's kind of a long post since these turned out to be so good that I couldn't stop playing with them.  


Wednesday, January 4, 2017

The Nail Challenge Collaborative - Winter

Hey there!  With a new year comes a new nail art challenge for me.  The Nail Challenge Collaborative is a group of nail art enthusiasts who post 2-4 manis per month with the same theme.  The always amazing Cheyenne of CDB Nails added me last month but I wasn't able to start participating until now. There's no specific timeline so you can expect me to post mine pretty randomly...just whenever I have time.  I love things that work on my schedule!  For January the theme is Winter.  My first design is stamping of a couple of adorable animals that are associated with colder weather and January is certainly cold around my parts!



Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Bundle Monster Galaxy Stamping

Hey there!  Welcome to 2017!  I've already broken pretty much any New Years resolutions I made (more about that on Friday)...how about you?  Luckily I accepted long ago that resolutions can be started back up any time so hopefully I can still change for the better a bit this year.  By the end of 2016 I had made it through my review pile (though I do still have one review to write up) so I've actually been able to do some nail art that isn't for a review or a group theme.  Since it was all for me, I did a galaxy mani.  I'm super drawn to the night sky so space nails are not uncommon in my parts.  I'm pretty sure galaxy nails were one of the first things that got me into nail art years ago and I just keep doing them again and again...