Mustard yellow is my favorite color.

This is China Glaze 'Trendsetter' with one coat of top coat. This is, obviously, a pretty simple one. After St. Patrick's Day and three weeks of green, all I wanted was something simple. (The mani before this was actually China Glaze 'Mahogany Magic', which is about as plain as you could get.)

St. Patrick's Day mani #5

This is two coats of my own franken, with two coats of Sally Hansen No Chip top coat.

I would be lying if I said this was anything other than the pinnacle of my St. Patrick's Day manicures. On the nail, this stuff reminded me of astroturf! I ended up passing this on to my buddy Jessie (who makes gorgeous jewelry which can be found here) and  I hope she loves it just as much as I did.

What I used to make this:
- Wet N Wild "Kaleidoscope", one bottle dumped into bigger, empty franken bottle
- Martha Stewart "Emerald" glitter. A TON! I just eyeballed and did a lot of shaking.
- Martha Stewart "Peridot" glitter. Just a bit, to give it a little multi-color effect

"Kaleidoscope" is (as you can see) a silver glitter in a clear base. It's fairly sparse, so I thought it would be a good candidate to add more glitter to. I used a rolled-up post-it note as a funnel, and shook like hell. I added a bit at a time, which made it a lot easier. This, I think, walks to line of almost having too much glitter. It will pull itself off the nail if you don't have enough on the brush. Easy enough to fix, though.

This is my first franken in a couple of years, and I think I'm going to do some more!

Cleopatra mani

This is:
one coat Nailtiques 2
two coats Milani holo '3-D'
stamped with Sinful Colors 'Black on Black' and BM201
one coat Poshe top coat

This is one of my favorite plates because this design is so simple but still interesting. I really love the Milani holos. I prefer scatter holos over linear holos because they tend to look better in non-direct light. (CG Kaleidoscopes vs CG OMGs)  I spend a lot of my time indoors, so I don't want a boring, drab mani 75% of the time! These Milani holos look great 100% of the time, regardless of the light.

simple dotty mani

This is:
one coat Nailtiques 2
two coats LA Girl Flare 'Magnetism'
dots are (obviously) freehanded with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 'Wet Cement'

This is probably my favorite way to dress up a simple mani. It's also a lot easier if you own a dotting tool!

aqua leopard

This is:
one coat Nailtiques 2
two coats LA Girl Flare 'Twinkling'
stamped with Sally Hansen Insta Dry 'Silver Sweep' and BM221.

If this color combo was available in a bathing suit, I would buy it like *that*! This color combo is too perfect for summer.

white with purple stripes or purple with white stripes?

This is:
one coat Nailtiques 2
two coats LA Colors fuchsia (from the dollar store with no name)
stamped with LA Colors white and BM223
one coat Poshe top coat

One word:
LOVE.

This is a great example of a plate that is forgiving and very good for beginners. You can see very easily that this isn't perfectly stamped but it doesn't ruin the overall effect or detract from itself. I also really like stamping with this white because it isn't totally opaque. It adds a slightly different effect than what a thicker, opaque white would.

the China Glaze Capitol Colors as jewelry!

This jewelry was done with the China Glaze "Capitol Colors" collection and they are all inspired by the Hunger Games. Check 'em out in my etsy shop! http://www.etsy.com/shop/TartanHearts

Disneylandy mani featuring Minnie Mouse

When you're going to Disneyland, you need to be appropriately attired. The finishing touch on that for me is themed polish!

This is:
one coat Nailtiques 2+
two coats Milani 'Ready to Wear Red'
stamped with LA Colors white and BM19
Minnies are freehanded with Sinful Colors 'Black on Black'
Minnie's bows are also freehanded with Milani 'Ruby Jewels'

(And no, my right hand did not look anywhere near as good as this. I also smeared the best Minnie by putting topcoat on too quickly.)

Here it is in context with the whole outfit and WITH MINNIE!



Next time, Diasy Duck manicure for sure. Daisy is my homegirl.

simple brown and sparkles

This is:
one coat Nailtiques 2+
two coats Revlon Top Speed 'Espresso'
one coat CoverGirl 'City Lights'
one coat Poshe top coat

Did I mention that I'm really into brown?

swirly, sparkly mani

This is:
one coat Nailtiques 2+
two coats Essence 'Walk of Fame'
one coat CoverGirl 'City Lights'
stamped with Sinful Colors 'Black on Black' and Konad plate m51.

I love the way this came out. Adding simple holo glitters like CoverGirl 'City Lights' or China Glaze 'Fairy Dust' makes any great color even better! This plate (m51) is fantastic and I think I love every mani I have ever seen done with it. This one: http://pinterest.com/pin/144678206748953995/  is fantastic!

St. Patrick's Mani #4: Icing 'Evergreen'

This is:
one coat Nailtiques 2+
three coats Icing 'Evergreen'
one coat Poshe top coat

If you love nail polish, and you love glitter, you need to go to Icing. I know I posted about their Magnetix polish (totally worth the $9!), and I initially ventured in there for it. I found a GOLD MINE of amazing glitter polishes. I picked up three of them, because they fit my March green polish thing:


From l to r: Icing 'Lemme See Your Peacock', 'Happy Go Lucky', and 'Evergreen'.

'Lemme See Your Peacock' is blue, green and hot pink medium-size hex glitter in a clear base.

'Happy Go Lucky' is big green, silver holo, and gold holo glitters in a clear base. BEST GREEN GLITTER EVER!

'Evergreen' is a forest green jelly with forest green and gold micro glitter suspended in it. It reads a lot greener in the bottle than it does on the nail, as you can see. The gold glitter, which is too big to call shimmer and definitely too uniform to be called fleck glitter but looks almost like a fleck glitter on the nail, really makes this color shine. I just wish it had been as green as it looks in the bottle.

Introducing!

NAIL POLISH JEWELRY BY TARTANHEARTS!
These and many more beautiful pieces will be for sale in my etsy shop starting next week.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TartanHearts?ref=si_shop

St. Patrick's Day Mani #3: Icing Magnetix Green

This is:
one coat Nailtiques 2+
two coat Revlon Top Speed 'Emerald'
one coat Icing Magnetix green
one coat Poshe top coat

If you haven't tried magnetic polish, run out RIGHT NOW and get some. Seriously. It is really, really neat.

I like these polishes a lot, because they have a totally interesting design where I end up looking at my nails a thousand times a day but it's not glaring or super high contrast. The magnet on these is fairly easy to use. It has a cuticle rest, which makes it a lot easier than having to just hold it above the nail. I did hit my nails a couple times, as you can see on the pinkie nail. It was pretty

Since it's March, this was my St. Patrick's mani #2. I'm dying to try the gold magnetic polish, but it'll have to wait a week. And that's okay by me. I do LOVE green nail polish!

faux bois for the win!

This is:
one coat Nailtiques 2+
two coats Sinful Colors 'Nirvana'
stamped with Revlon Top Speed 'Espresso' and BM16.
one coat Poshe top coat

This is probably my favorite manicure that I have ever done. Ever. I adore the faux bois plate, and I am going though a serious brown phase. (It's like black but ... better!) There's also a faux bois-type plate in the new Red Angle set that I am anxious to use.

copycat mani

This is:
One coat Nailtiques 2+
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Wet Cement.
Stamped with Sinful Colors Black on Black and BM20.
Tips done with Milani nail art polish.

This manicure was inspired by this manicure: www.polyvore.com/fuckyeahprettynails/thing?id=24235508 It's more my, nail art striper-challenged, take on that great mani.

Tattoo Much

These are Sally Hansen Salon Effects strips in 'Tattoo Much'.

I can say a couple of positive things:
1. Application and the product were fine. As always, applying these is different than just slapping on some polish and they do take some practice to perfect.
2. I always put a topcoat over these and recommend that you do, too. It really helps take them from feeling a little weird or thick to making them feel like actual nail polish.

However, these did not even last 24 hours. They were too much! They look a LOT better in the package, and it really bummed me out that by having short nails I was only getting one part of the pattern over and over. I barely saw any roses on the nails.

Verdict: love the strips, hate the design.

St. Patrick's Day manicure #2

This is:
one coat Nailtiques 2+
two coats Revlon Top Speed 'Emerald'
one coat Poshe top coat
'Emerald' is a good medium green cream. It is opaque in two coats and is the perfect green for St. Patrick's Day.
I actually can't say that much about it, because it is simple and very much beyond reproach. It is decidedly green in any light, and never shows black the way a lot of greens do in dark light.
It is also a perfect base for stamping, glitter, or a crackle top coat.

glittertastic mani

This is:

One coat Nailtiques Formula 2+
Two coats of China Glaze Let's Do It In 3-D
One coat of China Glaze Nova
One coat of Cover Girl Disco Dazzle
One coat Poshe top coat

This manicure could be *literally* blinding at times. And that's just how I like my glitter. I've really been into multisize glitters in the same color, and this had a lot of that going on. If you are at all into drugstore polishes and glitter and you don't have Disco Dazzle, GET IT. It's great.

brown is not drab!

Base is Revlon Espresso. Stamped with China Glaze Gr8 and Konad plate m51.


This is one mani that I really screwed up by not photographing it in the sun. I mean, hello, I used a CG OMG polish. You know it was so sparkly and hololicious that I could barely look at it without being blinded by awesomeness. But I was too lazy, and the weather was too bad, to get a good in-the-sun shot.

I have yet to do a mani with m51 that I haven't loved. This plate is magic.

Hot pink + leopard print =

Base color: Wet N Wild - Through the Grapevine
Stamped with Sinful Colors Black on Black and RA-107. Scotch taped black tips.


I loved this. It started out minus the the black tips, but that is the best way to hide little chips and tipwear!


(My nails almost always photograph like I have serious tipwear even when they are freshly painted. They don't look that way, so I wonder if it's a camera thing or what.)

My Stitches Haul!

This was the first year I've made it to Stitches West, despite knitting for about ten years now. And let me say, I HAVE BEEN MISSING OUT! I had so much fun seeing Christine and hanging out with my fellow LSG girls. Finally getting to meet some of them like Didi and Liz was especially awesome. I must say that I was pretty overwhelmed by it. There was just SO MUCH YARN. Next year, I will actually have some money saved so I can really make the most of it. This year, though, here is what I left with:


Anzula Traditions in 'Ducky'.
This company is based out of Fresno, which is pretty neat. You should know by now that I have a thing for yellow, so when I saw this (and also that it was on sale!) I had to buy it.



Little Red Bicycle Hipster Sock in 'Dagon'.
I love this. In fact, I already have a sock cast on with it. My camera really failed to pick up the green qualities of this yarn. It looks cerulean, but it's really teal. Actual teal, not that turquoise crap that passes for teal these days. I highly recommend checking out LRB yarns.

I also got a copy of One Million Eye(let)s, which is a really awesome scarfy pattern perfect for showing off a cute sock yarn. Since I seem to be acquiring quite a bit of that these days, it will definitely be put to good use.

Not a big haul, but one I'm very happy with. This trip was really more of a learning experience than a shopping one, though I didn't take any classes. I am so ready for next year! Already!

You're wearing a green dress. Is that because you're Irish?

March, for me, is an orgy of green and glitter. And green glitter. I work in an Irish pub, and I do Scottish Highland dance. This makes St. Patrick's Day a huge deal. (We started really planning in January.)
To celebrate this, I do green polish starting March 1st. Today I've got China Glaze 'Holly- Day' on. This is a great medium green cream toward the yellow end of green. It went on streaky in one coat and opaque with coat two. I'm debating adding stamping or glitter over this. Maybe some shamrock stamps!
This is:
one coat Nailtiques 2+
two coats China Glaze 'Holly-Day'
one coat Poshes top coat

reggae nails

              

This mani totally reminded me of what I call reggae colors. My boyfriend said so too, without provocation. (He actually asked me what color my nails were and THEN said that.) Kleancolor Chunky Holo colors (Black, Poppy, Clover, Candy, Fuchsia, Scarlet, Teal, Purple, Bluebell) are AWESOME. Now that I have a couple, I want them all. Yes, I know they've very similar. They're just that awesome. And you can find them here for $1.75. How can you beat that?

Reggae nails are:
Nailtiques 2+
Two coats of Rimmel 'Black Satin'
Two coats of Kleancolor 'Chunky Holo Fuchsia'
One coat of Kleancolor 'Chunky Holo Black' on ring finger

I've heard a lot of people complain about how Kleancolor polishes smell, but it really didn't bother me. It made me feel a bit nostalgic, actually. (And I do believe this is because they aren't 3-free.)

I'm considering mattefying this. I can't imagine it would be anything less than awesome!