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

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!

Summer Challenge: Blue/Green/Aqua

I'm finally doing another Summer Challenge mani! I looove these colors together so I was excited to play around with these.

I used China Glaze Gaga for Green, First Mate and Aquadelic. Gaga for Green is a fabulous apple green jelly. It only took two coats for opacity. Amazing. These are the kinds of colors that make me love China Glaze.

I freehanded the dots and stripes with dotting tools and striping brushes. this was super simple, but I really enjoyed the end result :) Also, I apologize for the lack of cleanup on the index nail. I didn't notice it until now. And for my cuticles! I feel like Colorado is sucking all moisture from my body!

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

Summer Challenge: Jungle Mani

Today's challenge prompt was Jungle or Parrots. Birds seriously freak me out, so I opted for jungle :) Also I had a bunch of greens sitting in my untrieds and I decided to knock them out :)

My goal was to make it look like a wet and lush rainforrest. I started with two coats of Sinful Colors HD Nail, then added the following glitters: Orly Here Comes Trouble, Love & Beauty small green glitter (L.A. Girl Purge dupe) and then a sparse green glitter with huge hexes. I loved this a lot! So dang sparkly!

Then to make it more Jungle-ly (or Jungle-like) I stamped with CND Green Scene and fauxnad plate M72. This green was too close to the layers under it and didn't really add anything :/

Finally I added the last layer of leaves with Bundle Monster plate BM19 and Sally Hansen Just In Lime! This is one of my favorite stamps of all time and why I ordered this Bundle Monster set first :) Although the leaves are kinda hard to see, I still really like this mani :)

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

Summer Challenge: Ice Cream Sundae

Ice cream sundae day!!! I looooooove ice cream. If you haven't have Bluebell, you haven't lived. Or had ice cream. Their Homemade Vanilla cannot be beat and they also have other amazing flavors like Banana Split and Blackberry Cobbler. Ugh my mouth is water just thinking about it. Also I really really love homemade ice cream! Two summers ago we lost our ice cream maker and looked all over town for a new one. Best homemade ice cream topping: Butterfinger. Oh. Man. Anyways, I'm kinda anal about food, so when I eat ice cream, I mix everything up so it's equally distributed through the ice cream. I feel like picking exactly what will go in each bite isn't fair to all the ingredients...weird, I know.

For this mani representing sprinkles mixed into my ice cream, I used two coats of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu, one coat of a Love & Beauty glitter (silver, red and blue), then DTMT, then glitter, then two more coats of DTMT. I really like how this turned out, even if it is more patriotic that anticipated haha.

I love jelly sandwiches! Even though this has several layers, after SV, it didn't really take that long for it to dry :)

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

Summer Challenge: Kites

Today's summer challenge prompt was Kites or Balloons. I chose kites! I'm not very good with kites, and in my part of the world, it has to be a pretty heavy-duty kite to withstand our wind.

I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Yellow Kitty...I just got that name. It rhymes with Hello Kitty...oh man, I feel dumb hahaha. Anywhooooo! Then I freehanded kites and tails with Color Club Hydrangea Kiss, L.A. Colors Circuits, Sally Hansen Heat Flash, Went n Wild FuchsiaRama, OPI Thanks a Windmillion, Color Club Sweet Pea, and OPI I Don't Give a Rotterdam. They're not perfect, but neither are kites swirling around in the wind :)

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

Summer Challenge: Ladybugs...or Ladybirds

This week had been absolutely crazy! But now that it's over I can post a little more regularly :) Today's challenge is ladybugs! Or as the UK girls call them, ladybirds. I jokingly asked what ladybirds were to make sure I didn't have to make Ladybird Johnson nails, much to the amusement of The Crumpet haha :) Have you heard the legend of the ladybug? I found it here.

"Legends vary about how the Ladybug came to be named, but the most common (and enduring) is this:   In Europe, during the Middle Ages, swarms of insects were destroying the crops.  The farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary for help.  Soon thereafter the Ladybugs came, devouring the plant-destroying pests and saving the crops!  The farmers called these beautiful insects "The Beetles of Our Lady", and - over time - they eventually became popularly known as "Lady Beetles".  The red wings were said to represent the Virgin's cloak and the black spots were symbolic of both her joys and her sorrows."

At my parents' store we have a rosary that has beads shaped like ladybugs because of the legend of how they got their names. It's kinda perfect because the rosary is a series of prayers asking Mary to pray for us and ladybugs are named after her. Anyways, enough of the Catholic nerdery. On to the polish!

I started with two coats of OPI Color So Hot it Berns. Then I freehanded some ladybugs with a striper brush and L.A. Colors Circuits :) I kinda accidentally did a few different versions, but not all ladybugs are alike. Or maybe some are ladybugs and some are ladybirds haha. This mani kinda went through the ringer at work, so it's not my neatest work, but I still like it :)

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

Summer Challenge: Pink + Blue

This weekend I stopped by Sally's and pick up 3 of the new Orly Flash Glam FX polishes. When I saw the theme was pink and blue for today, I knew I had to use Orly Spazmatic. How awesome is that name?! "Spazzy" is in almost all of my screen names, so I had to have this!

I decided to put it over three OPI Too Hot Pink to Hold 'Em. Then I put on one coat of Orly Spazmatic. It's a really dense glittle with purple micro shimmer. LOVE IT!

This glitter would be really easy to build to opacity.

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

Summer Challenge: Jubilee Street Party

I really had no idea to do for this mani. I've never been to a street party or been under the rule of a queen. The whole concept was foreign. Then I was looking through my untrieds and found Icing Pre Game, which is perfect for a party!

I paired it with Wet n Wild How I Met Your Magenta. I bought this polish purely because of the name. I LOVE HIMYM! I've even dressed up as Robin Sparkles once. I'm glad I bought it because this color is seriously fantastic. Even though it was kinda thin, I didn't have problems with cuticle problems and it applied really well! This was 3 coats. For some reason, any pink that I wear I put on 3 coats and still have VNL. I wasn't too concerned this time since I was layering over it.

And then Pre Game!!! I love love love this polish! It applied really well and I want to put it over everything! Seriously fun. And it's a party in a bottle! This was one coat (with no glitter "plopping", just normal strokes). I could not stop staring at my nails!

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

Summer Challenge: Swimming Pool

Swimming pools are pretty much my favorite thing ever. I once told my parents I'd give up my bedroom for a pool. They didn't go for it :( For this mani I tried to capture the gorgeous water sparkly in the sun :) 

I did two coats of China Glaze For Audrey, which might have been too dusty for my purpose. Then I did a coat of Sally Hansen HD Spectrum (which I found at  Dollar Tree!) and then a coat of China Glaze Snow Globe to mimic sparkles and bubbles :) This mani makes me really happy!

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