Summer Challenge: Olympic Medals

This mani was all done and ready this morning, but I was too busy watching Team USA win at least one of each of these :) After a disappointing day yesterday, I think we've more than made up for it. For those of you that only watch the prime time airings, get ready for an awesome night. So proud of Team USA!!!! Any time they show an athlete cry, I lose it. And sometimes I'm just so happy for them I cry even though they aren't haha. 

I went simple for this. I stamped the "O" from Konad M18 with Pure Ice Silver Mercedes, China Glaze Passion and Sally Hansen Bronze Ablaze. Then I googled the 2012 medals and realized the gold was bigger (Duh!) and had to add on to it. The ribbons for the medals are Pure Ice No Means No. I free-handed the flag with Pure Ice French Kiss and China Glaze Salsa. 

I used the same stamp to make the rings and then free-handed 2012. So how are y'all enjoying the Olympics?

Make sure you check out the other awesome blogs participating in the challenge! Click the image above if you'd like to join us!

Debbie at The Crumpet

Danielle at Little Book of Beauty

Neivys at Maquiclub Girl

Jo at Northern Nails

Arlene at Nails and Vanities

Helena at Nail Wish

Róisín at Cuti-Clue-Les

Katee at A Girl and Her Polish

Sarah at Y Nails...Why Not?

Bec at Lacquer Dreams

Misha at Enigmatic Rambles

Sharon at What Color Is My Coat

Melissa at (Mis)adventures of a Wanna Be Martha

Laurie at Dressed Up Digits

Lucie at Lucy's Stash

Emma at  Manicurity

Caitlin at Caitlin's Creative Corner

Jane at Absolute Varnish

Amber at Never Naked Nails

Vic at Glowstars

Jackie at Mema's Manis

Rychelle at Colorsplash Nails

Stella at My Wet Nails

Missy at Missy's Manis

Kim at A Polished Addiction

Christine at Lost in My Reverie

Angie at Our Painted World

Bazzia at Polish My Mind

Missy at The Manicured Maniac

Michelle at Lacquer or Leave Her

Nikki at Lil Green Heart

Elizabeth at Nail Polish is My Crack

Ana Cris at Esta Cerrada la Drogueria

Shayleen at Simply Handy All Year

Dina at Secretary's Nail Art

Nayade at Toxic Vanity Toxic Vanity

Karen at Nails by Kaybel

Blogger Friends Forever: 80s

Here we go for 80s day! Since I was only a fetus when this decade closed, I don't have any personal experience with it. I did some google and referenced The Wedding Singer for some help and came up with checkers, neons and splatter.

Checkers remind me of the 80s. Probably because of The Wedding Singer and his sheets. You mean you don't remember his sheets?! Good, you're normal. I started with a base of Pure Ice white, then stamped with Cheeky CH3 and L.A. Colors Circuits. Then I used straws to splatter with China Glaze Hang Ten Toes, Surfin' for Boys, Sun Kissed, I'm With the Lifeguard, Splish Splash and Beach Cruise-r. I was completely satisfied with my splattering and then decided to do one last blow on my thumb because it needed more purple.

That was clearly a mistake.

Here are the fabulous bloggers participating in this challenge:

Thiamere of On Beauty Stuff & What Else's

Pram of My Nail Polish Addiction

Bec of Lacquer Dreams

Kerrie of PishPosh and Polish

Caitlin of Caitlin's Creative Corner

Emma of Manicurity

Sally Of Nail Pron

And here's what we have in store! (My week is August 23-25)

Summer Challenge: Olympic Opening Ceremony

As I've mentioned before, I really love the Olympics. I'm so pumped to watch the Opening Ceremony and start watching some Americans win medals! The prompt was Opening Ceremony/Flag so I did the good ole stars and stripes. I know this is practically the same as my 4th of July mani, but I really liked it. 

What I love most about the Olympics is the whole nation uniting to cheers for our athletes. Usually, everyone has all sorts of crazy rivalries and get in ridiculous arguments over sports, but once every four year (if we pretend Winter Olympics don't exist) we're all on the same side and can watch sports in harmony :) And even though we're rooting for different teams, the world unites to watch one event. It's amazing.

P.S. Are the Olympic-themed commercials making anyone else cry? Like this one:

Tears. Lots of tears.

And I even broke out a new hand pose to show USA with the linear flag. Materials used: Pure Ice French Kiss, China Glaze Salsa, Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, Sally Hansen Rapid Red (for stamping), Cheeky plate CH 4, Konad plates M17 and M18.

Make sure you check out the other awesome blogs participating in the challenge! Click the image above if you'd like to join us!

Debbie at The Crumpet

Danielle at Little Book of Beauty

Neivys at Maquiclub Girl

Jo at Northern Nails

Arlene at Nails and Vanities

Helena at Nail Wish

Róisín at Cuti-Clue-Les

Katee at A Girl and Her Polish

Sarah at Y Nails...Why Not?

Bec at Lacquer Dreams

Misha at Enigmatic Rambles

Sharon at What Color Is My Coat

Melissa at (Mis)adventures of a Wanna Be Martha

Laurie at Dressed Up Digits

Lucie at Lucy's Stash

Emma at  Manicurity

Caitlin at Caitlin's Creative Corner

Jane at Absolute Varnish

Amber at Never Naked Nails

Vic at Glowstars

Jackie at Mema's Manis

Rychelle at Colorsplash Nails

Stella at My Wet Nails

Missy at Missy's Manis

Kim at A Polished Addiction

Christine at Lost in My Reverie

Angie at Our Painted World

Bazzia at Polish My Mind

Missy at The Manicured Maniac

Michelle at Lacquer or Leave Her

Nikki at Lil Green Heart

Elizabeth at Nail Polish is My Crack

Ana Cris at Esta Cerrada la Drogueria

Shayleen at Simply Handy All Year

Dina at Secretary's Nail Art

Nayade at Toxic Vanity Toxic Vanity

Karen at Nails by Kaybel

Blogger Friends Forever: Punk

While I was really look forward to the last challenge, I was kinda dreading this one haha. While I am definitely a nerdy bookworm, I'm not really punk, so I had no idea what to do for this challenge. (That's why they're challenges, to push you out of your comfort zone!) I asked the ladies in my birthday group and they had some awesome ideas. One of the suggestions was chains and I had a stamp for that!

I stamped one chain along the tip and absolutely loved it! The original plan was silver and gold chains all over, but I loved the funky French look and stuck with it. I decided it was a more inspired-by mani than direct inspiration haha. Plus non-conformity, so there's that lol. While it's still not really my style, aren't these hot?! Materials used: Bundle Monster plate BM 15, L.A. Colors Circuits, China Glaze Passion.

Here are the fabulous bloggers participating in this challenge:

Thiamere of On Beauty Stuff & What Else's

Pram of My Nail Polish Addiction

Bec of Lacquer Dreams

Kerrie of PishPosh and Polish

Caitlin of Caitlin's Creative Corner

Emma of Manicurity

Sally Of Nail Pron

And here's what we have in store! (My week is August 23-25)

Indie Swatching: Pretty & Polished Jawbreaker

I think I was one of the last people in the world to get Jawbreaker, so there's not a whole lot to say about it. It's gorgeous, applied well and I didn't have to fish for glitter. Feast your eyes:

Teal Tuesday: Monochrome

Today's teal manicure is monochrome! I was inspired by The Crumpet's awesome mosaic manis. I also had some fabulous new teal I couldn't wait to try out!

For this mani I started with a base of China Glaze Exotic Encounters. I then drew my mosaic outline with China Glaze Ink and filled it in with Color Club Untamed Luxury, China Glaze DV8, and Love & Beauty Metallic Teal using a dotting tool. I wasn't the most precise dotter, so I went back over my lines with Ink to make it a little clearer.

I thin it's funny that I classify all these as teal, but all together they make each other look not so teal haha. I'm trying to decide which is my favorite nail, but just when I think I've decided, I notice something I like about another one lol.

Check out these other Teal Tuesday blogs! If you'd like to join us, click on the badge at the top of my page!

Missy at Gnarly Gnails

Rhonda at Nails Beautiqued

Kirsten at Geeky Owl

Amanda at Mandy's Polish

ColorSplash Nails

Simple-and-Beautiful

Aimee at Persistently Glittery

Nat at No Holos!

Ana at Cherries Sweet

Caitlin at Caitlin's Creative Corner

Ariane at The Frenzied Polisher

Kia at Lacquered Libra

Belén at Nail Polish Lane

Sam at  Polished Art

Jess at Once Upon a Polish

Jasmin at Subtletyisoverrated

Indie Swatching: Aqua Daisy Succulent

Today's indie swatch is Aqua Daisy Succulent. I saw this polish on someone else's wish list and decided I needed it. This is two coats. I bought a mini, so the brush is kinda hard to maneuver, but it wasn't horrible. The polish is advertised as "mint with pink glitter" but it's actually blue. I really thought mint green and pink would be adorable, but I love this combination too! This polish is so light and airy and happy.

I also bought Beauty School Drop Out, but I haven't gotten a chance to wear it yet. Aqua Daisy polishes are available here.

Blogger Friends Forever: Book Cover

I was so excited for today's challenge! I wanted to do a book cover for so long and finally had an excuse to! I chose The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly because I love love love this cover. I saw it at Hastings and knew I had to add this book to my buy list.

I read this book two summers ago, so I can't remember exactly what it's about. I do remember that I thoroughly enjoyed it and that it has a lot of fairy tale elements to it. I'm definitely going to start rereading it after this :)

I started with four coats of Deborah Lippmann Footloose. I was not a happy camper. A polish has to be pretty special for me to be willing to do three coats, and damn near magical for four. This was neither. And then I got shrinkage! I tried to use a stamp to mimic the vines, but either my stamp or my stamping polish wouldn't work :( I finally gave up and freehanded with acrylic paint and a dotting tool. I also used plate LO01 for the keys. Since my stamping polish wasn't opaque enough, I went over it with acrylic paint and my dotting tool. I did the index nail first before I really knew what I was doing. I eventually got better and the ring and middle are my favorites. Despite all the issues I had, I'm still pretty satisfied with the end result :)

Here are the fabulous bloggers participating in this challenge:
Thiamere of On Beauty Stuff & What Else's

Pram of My Nail Polish Addiction

Bec of Lacquer Dreams

Kerrie of PishPosh and Polish

Caitlin of Caitlin's Creative Corner

Emma of Manicurity

Sally Of Nail Pron

And here's what we have in store! (My week is August 23-25)

Blogger Friends Forever: Striping Tape

It's striping tape day as suggest by Pram! I was kind of worried since I've only used striping tape once and I didn't really like it. But that mani I left the tape on the nail and this one I used it as a polish block and took it off. I'm much happier this time around.

I started with two coats of Jade Deja Vu (amazing!), then place striping tape in the pattern I wanted. Then I polished over that with Zoya Carly and took the tape off. It was kinda difficult applying it with my left hand, but it was still pretty easy and was a really quick manicure.

I love how these two look together. And I had to take a flash picture, of course, to show the awesome holo. If you're thinking about getting Jades, take the plunge and do it. They're sooo worth it!

Here are the fabulous bloggers participating in this challenge:
Thiamere of On Beauty Stuff & What Else's

Pram of My Nail Polish Addiction

Bec of Lacquer Dreams

Kerrie of PishPosh and Polish

Caitlin of Caitlin's Creative Corner

Emma of Manicurity

Alyssa of Fancy Phalanges

Sally Of Nail Pron

And here's what we have in store! (My week is August 23-25)

Indie Swatches: Fanservice Nails

I've gotten a lot of indies recently. Usually as soon as they come in I wear them and take pics, but I haven't posted most of them yet. I'm going to try to clear them out this week. First up is the rest of my Fanservice Nails polishes. First up is Clownfish Driving a Sports Car.

Orange shimmer with opalescent glitter. This polish was not the easiest to apply, but wasn't awful. Anything with glitter makes hard clean up, and that was the case here. I still really like this polish. Next time I wear it, I'd like to put it over a red to bring out more red it. I think it'd look even better. This was two coats.

Next up is Gwen Cooper:

Gwen Cooper is a dark red scattered holo polish. It is absolutely gorgeous. It's like a England St. George's red sister. Applied like butter. I think this was only one coat.

blurry for holo goodness showcasing

And now we have Owen Harper:

Owen Harper is a white shimmer polish with red, yellow, green, blue, purple and silver glitter and larger purple hex glitter. White with glitter is really popular in the indie world right now and I love it. I love white polish and glitter, so I'm all for it :) This one applied really well. I got the purple hexes onto the nail without having to do any fishing.

Fanservice Nails polishes are available here for $11 each or 3 for $28. Ships super fast too :)

Teal Tuesday: 3D

Since today was 3D Nail Art for Teal Tuesdays, I decided it was high time I used my knock off caviar beads. I started with two coats of Risque Husky. It looks more teal in the bottle, but it dried pretty blue. The application was amazing. I applied this with my left hand and needed almost no clean up.

Then I topcoated it all. While the top coat was wet, I dipped my ring finger into the pot of beads. I got these at Michael's on clearance, so they were hella cheap. 

I tried to touch up the little bald spots, but it didn't really work. I wish I could report on how well these held up, but I'm so bad at picking at my polish that these didn't last an hour.

Check out these other Teal Tuesday blogs! If you'd like to join us, click on the badge at the top of my page!

Missy at Gnarly Gnails

Rhonda at Nails Beautiqued

Kirsten at Geeky Owl

Amanda at Mandy's Polish

ColorSplash Nails

Simple-and-Beautiful

Aimee at Persistently Glittery

Nat at No Holos!

Ana at Cherries Sweet

Caitlin at  Caitlin's Creative Corner

Ariane at  The Frenzied Polisher

Kia at  Lacquered Libra

Summer Challenge: Summer Lovin'

I'm finally doing another theme from the Summer Challenge! The theme today is Summer Lovin'. I decided to draw from one of my favorite summer songs about love. I've already shown my love for Katy Perry on this blog before and it didn't hurt that I just saw the Katy Perry movie and ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! Go see it, it's fabulous!

I remember exactly when I first heard this song. I had spent half my summer studying abroad in Rome and heard California Gurls pretty much every day. They were obsessed with it. Then I got home and went on a road trip with my best friends. They were watching VH1 in the other room and I was curling my hair in the laundry room (it was a weird house). I heard the song through the water heater vent. I was so mesmerized that I put my straightener down and went into the other room to hear the whole thing. I was in love with it.

Here are the specific lines that inspired the nails:

"I'm a get your heart racing in my skin-tight jeans be your teenage dream tonight"

"I finally found you my missing puzzle piece I'm complete"

"Let's go all the way tonight no regrets, just love we can dance, until we die you and I, will be young forever"

"We drove to Cali and got drunk on the beach"

Colors used: Julep Mila, China Glaze Orange You Hot?, Splish Splash, Man Hunt, Flirty Tankini, OPI Last Friday Night, Essence Romeo & Julia, Color Club Turn the Other Chic, Kleancolor Funky Yellow, Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, Bundle Monster Plate BM 319. If you'd like any more details, leave me a comment :)

Make sure you check out the other awesome blogs participating in the challenge! Click the image above if you'd like to join us!