Won't You Be My Valentine | Nail Art & Outfit

I'm a little late posting but my weekends are usually really busy. Still, better late than never right? This post covers not just my Valentine's Day nail art but also my V-Day outfit. :)

I have no significant other this year so I went out for dinner with family. I felt a little pathetic but we had fun and ate some good food. We left early so it wasn't really dinnertime and beat the crowd. However, this meant I had very little time to get ready and do my nails so I went really simple. I used 3 quick coats of My Own Sweet Valentine scented rose and added a holographic heart as an accent. Those of you who have bought my nail polish will recognize this as the heart that goes on your bottle's cap. It worked perfectly and didn't crinkle or pull up when I added a layer of top coat!

All simpleness aside I think my favorite part of this mani was the way it glowed in the dark.

Now for the outfit part of this post. While attempting to take a simple outfit pic my Labrador, Shiloh, kept wandering into the shot. She usually hates pictures so I really couldn't resist snapping a few while she was so willing. :)

I'll start with my outfit so you can wander off afterwards ... though I'm going to believe you're evil if you don't want to see my cute pup. :p

The top and polka dot jeggings are from Boscov's. Both I managed to pick up on sale. The jeggings just last weekend for about $5 (originally $40!!). The cami is from Walmart, and my much beloved boots are from Zulily.

So, what did you wear for Valentine's Day (outfit, nails or both)?

The Remembrance Duo - and a sale on Halloween polishes

Hey gals! I bring some really sad news. My family has recently lost a member. My bonus-dad (my dad in all but blood) passed suddenly on October 25th. He was so proud of me for making polish - such an odd thing for a big, gruff guy like him to proud of but he was always telling anyone who would listen that I actually make my own polish ... and sell it too! I wanted to honor the wonderful man he was and the broken hearts he left behind ... and I guess this is the only way I feel I can do that.

I also want you to know that I keep nothing from selling these polishes. ALL proceeds will go to my mom to help her pay bills and funeral costs.

This is The Remembrance Duo. It includes Teal We Meet Again and Butterflies and Broken Hearts. As part of The Remembrance Duo is the only place you will ever be able to buy Teal We Meet Again. However, if you want just the glitter topper Butterflies and Broken Hearts can be about alone.

These polishes are being sold at a slightly increased price ($10 for the glitter topper and $20 for the duo).

Butterflies and Broken Hearts has a lot of meaning to me and my family. My mom taught me early her belief that butterflies are messengers of heaven and that every time you see a butterfly it is simply a loved one's way of waving hello from the great beyond. I couldn't create a memorial polish without including lots of silver holographic butterflies. The black hearts are of course the broken hearts he left us with. You'll also find tons of green (my bonus-dad's favorite color), as well as lots of holographic black and holographic silver glitter.

Teal We Meet Again is a gorgeous teal holographic polish that makes a stunning base for Butterflies and Broken Hearts. I really don't think you could find a more perfect pair.

On a side note, there are still a few polishes from the Halloween 2013 Collection left that can now be bought on sale.

My Storenvy

My Etsy

Write Me A Love Letter

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Welcome to the last Valentine's Day manicure of 2013 — Love Letters.

I started with a base of LA Colors Energy Source. This is the best white I've found to date. It can be bought in most Dollar Stores at a great price and it takes a really, really long time to turn thick in the bottle. I used a nail art brush and Petites Night to create the envelopes, sealed them with top coat, and topped with a red heart sticker. The accent nail is a simple newspaper nail. I used the wedding announcements section of the newspaper. :)

Here is what the mani looks like without the heart stickers. You could certainly keep them like this, use heart rhinestones, or even just draw the hearts on with polish if you don't have stickers or rhinestones.

Have trouble creating newspaper nails? Don't do them on completely dry nails. Wait until your nails are almost dry before dipping your nails or the newspaper into rubbing alcohol and applying to your nails. You want your nails to be at that point where they're dry to the touch but applying any pressure will leave fingerprints. This degree of 'wetness' will soak up the newspaper ink much better than dry nails. Be sure to apply even pressure across your entire nail or you'll end up with patchy newsprint. If you do have a place on your nail that is blank simply line up another piece of newspaper — being as exact in lining it up as possible, lightly dip a finger of the other hand in alcohol, and use it to hold the newspaper onto the blank spot.

W is for ...

Hello everyone and welcome to another ABC Challenge post! This week we're up to the letter W. Coming up with words to use for each letter and then creating a nail art design for that word is harder than it sounds! My mind goes blank every week, so I usually scroll through dictionary sites to find my word of the week. I thought there was absolutely nothing to do this week that I could then link to Valentine's Day, but I finally came up with something. And it has no pink!!

W is for ... Wings of Love.

I have wanted to do a caged bird mani forever! And I completely and totally adore how this one turned out!! I started with 3 coats of LA Colors Energy Source. More coats than I usually use, but since so much of the white was going to show I didn't want any chance of this being sheer or patchy. The black is Petites Night. I tried to keep everything connected between nails. The open birdcage, the cursive love, and the bird all leading to the heart. 

I love this mani so much that I couldn't seem to stop taking pictures. I tried to choose one from every angle so you can get the full effect.

I actually sacrificed an old nail art brush to do this mani. I couldn't get the lines small and delicate enough for the birdcage and the cursive love with the brushes I have, so I cut some bristles off an old brush to make it thinner! A great use for old brushes and cheaper than buying a thinner brush!!

It looks intricate and elegant, but is actually pretty simple when you break it down by nail. I found the hardest part is actually the birdcage, at least for me. Don't try to twist your hand around to do it right-side-up — this will just make your hands shaky and it's harder/messier to do an 'n' shape with nail polish; it's so much easier to leave your hand pointed straight away from you and just create a U on your nail. Create a smaller U inside that making sure the bottom of your u's touch/overlap and put a line down the middle. Add a line across the bottom, a handle at the top, and an open door on the side.

I really hope you enjoy this mani as much as I do. Check back tomorrow for the last Valentine's Day mani.

I'm Having Mixed Feelings

Hello everyone!! Today's post is a very simple Valentine's Day mani since I've been hard at work on the really awesome nail art coming tomorrow and Thursday.

I started with a saran wrap mani using Sally Hansen Pink Blink and New York Color Sidewalkers. I admit deciding to change my original idea of stripes to a saran wrap mani wasn't the best choice; I'm not perfect! Still, topping it all with Mixed Feelings was the right choice. And I guess with a name like Mixed Feelings the pink and grey kind of fits.

Mixed Feelings is an unreleased Valentine's Day polish of mine. If there's enough interest I may decide to release it later on though so definitely let me know if you want it. It's perfect for Valentine's Day, but would make a good every day polish. Also, don't forget to check out my Etsy shop next week for new polishes!!

V is for ...

Is it Wednesday already?? This week is going way too fast! Still, it is Wednesday and you know what that means: ABC Challenge nail art. Can you believe we're up to the letter V already?

V is for ... Vampire's Valentine.

I loved last year's Anti-Valentine's Day nails so much that I decided to use it as inspiration for this mani. Honestly, I really can't believe how far I've come in a year.

I loved the entire design of this mani, every step taken to create them, so I took many pictures! A base of black, some tape, and some white polish created this star-burst design.

I used white polish to create a heart on my index nail. The white creates a barrier over the black; this means you don't need to use a ton of pink to cover the black. It also creates a very pretty border around your pink heart if you make it slightly smaller than your white heart. This alone would make for a gorgeous Valentine's Day mani!! You could even create hearts on all your nails instead of just as an accent or use red for the heart to make it really stand out.

Since I was going to create bleeding fang marks on my heart I knew I couldn't use red. :) The bleeding marks add depth and give these nails a nearly 3-D look—all a pretty illusion of course. With the dark fang marks, the bright red blood, and the white outline, doesn't it look like the heart is really bleeding?

Finally, I created white outlined blood on the tips of my nails. I added a small amount of Venique Runway Sparkle over all of the blood. Sadly, I couldn't seem to get a good picture with the actual sparkle.

So, which are you this Valentine's Day: hearts and roses or vampire bites? Will you be rolling out the Anti-Valentine's Day red carpet?

I Give You My Hearts

Continuing with the Valentine's Day theme, the mani I bring you today is another of my attempts to use colors other than the standard red, white, and pink ... though I do seem to be using a lot of pink with my recent manis. :)

When I first started with Sally Hansen Pink Blink and Revlon Enchanting, I was told this looked like an Easter mani. I lost some of my confidence at that, but I rallied and finished this mani as I had planned: with a line of hearts down the middle of each nail using the opposite color. Personally, I think it turned out really well for trying something slightly nontraditional!

If you're not comfortable using colors other than red, white and pink for Valentine's Day, this mani will work just as great with any combination of those colors! You could even use them all if you want, using pink and red on opposite nails and finishing with white hearts or use pink and white on your nails with red hearts. Maybe even spice it up with your own color combo! Be traditional or be daring, but whatever you choose: have fun!

A bit of real life news: I entered my adorable pup, Shiloh, in the World Spay Day 2013 Pet Pageant. The pageant runs until March 15th, and you can vote once per day in each category. I would love it if you would give Shiloh's entry a look and give her a vote if you think she deserves one. It will ask you to login or create an account to vote. If you click 'create an account to vote' you can then select to vote with Facebook. Thanks!!

The Best Kind of Potatoes

Last Saturday my mom, my niece and I went to a local festival called PotatoFest. It's one of my favorite fall festivals, second only to the Fall Foliage Festival happening this weekend. The city that holds the festival is the second largest supplier of potatoes in the state so it's kind of a big deal. PotatoFest is, naturally, all about potatoes and the people who grow them. The festival has food, crafts, and live bands that take up a few blocks of the city for just one day every year. My mom goes for the crafts but I go for the potatoes! Sweet potato fries to be specific. Also love the potato candy and the maple syrup booth with some of the most amazing lollipops in existence—maple lollipops!!

I couldn't let this day pass without some equally amazing nail art.

What else could I possibly do for PotatoFest besides Mr. Potato Head nails? I used China Glaze Desert Sun as my base color. I wanted to give these nails more of a sweet potato coloring than the more brown color of regular potatoes. I added hearts to show my utter love of potatoes, especially sweet potatoes and sweet potato fries.

This is my rarely seen right hand with Mrs. Potato Head and more hearts. I'm sorry for the poor lighting and the awkward angle of this picture. I was racing against the setting sun and my camera just wasn't made to be used by a left hand.

French Hearts

I've given myself something of a challenge. I want to see how many ways I can spice up a simple French manicure. I will keep the standard French white as a base for these manis as an added challenge.

You've seen the standard French manicure in Mother's Day post, 'The Mommy Mess', and you've seen the Mother's Day design I created over those nails. Now, I bring you French Hearts. :)

I used my new Born Pretty image plate m56 for this design. I adore this image plate. It's a plate full of tip stamps. It's the same plate that contained the bow from my 'All Wrapped Up' nails

I only had one problem with stamping this design. I didn't push enough near the tip of my index nail and lost the hearts from the very tips. You can see that I went back and tried adding them. Well, I didn't line them up well enough and overlapped them slightly. I like to think I'm getting better though. The other nails are almost perfect!! Yay!

I used OPI Alpine Snow and Bubble Bath as the base again. The hearts are done with Wet n Wild's 'I Red a Good Book'.

Bowed Skulls and Hearts

'ello, Girlies! It's been a really busy week. I've barely had time to do my nails let alone post anything. But that's why I'm here now, isn't it? To post something!


Today's post is a mani I absolutely adore, but am very sad about. I'll explain in a moment. For now, gaze upon the awesomeness.

I was going to do this mani using my nails studs right up until it came time to add them and I panicked. It just didn't feel right. The hearts were a last minute decision but worked so much better.

Think you've seen this mani before? Well, you just might have if you follow MixedMama! I honestly had no idea that I was doing an almost exact replica of another blogger's work. And I would have posted this with no idea if I hadn't stumbled across a picture of her mani while tagging the Bite the Bullet nails on my Facebook page. I was absolutely stunned and completely crushed to know this design was already done, but I guess that's the way nail art goes. You win some and you lose some.


I would also like to lay some credit at the feet of ProfessionalDQ over on Youtube. I first got the idea of bowed skulls there.


So, if you don't follow MixedMama or haven't watched some of ProfessionalDQ's nail art in action I definitely recommend heading over there next. :)


Polish Used

• Borghese - Brilliante
• LA Colors - White (2 coats)
• OPI - Strawberry Margarita (2 coats over white)
• Sinful Colors - Beautiful Girl (bow)
• LA Colors - Black
• Sally Hansen - Insta-Dri