Halloween Candy Corn & Giveaway Winner!

I'm thrilled to announce the winner of my first giveaway - it's Katie!  Katie is all set to get her plates.  I hope she comes up with some great designs!

Thank you to everyone who entered and, to all the new followers, thank you for making me part of your "nail family". :)

Amazingly - and nearly just in time for Halloween - inspiration struck and I'm sporting these fun candy corn nails!

This was one of those designs that sort of evolved as I went about my day.

I knew I wanted candy corn stripes, so I used tape for the color blocks.  I started with a base of  Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White (A).  I polished about half of the nail with Sinful Pull Over, an yellow-orange (B).

I waited until the polish was completely dry before adding tape to section off the middle (C).  Polished in my China Glaze Life Preserver (D).  And removed the tape! (E).

I'm getting better about remembering to smooth the tape before polishing and removing the tape while the polish is still wet; my lines are getting better!

I couldn't decide whether to stamp these or leave them in blocks.I decided I wanted to add the candy corn shape, but I didn't feel like trying to cut tape, so I decided to use nail pens and a nail brush to fill in the sides with Revlon Top Speed Espresso.

Then I decided I wanted to stamp them, so I used  Konad M17 and M18 and Wet n Wild Black Creme for the letters.

Please forgive the nail wear in the photo.   I wanted to take the picture sooner, but I have a new addition that has been keeping me busy.

This is Rosie.  She's only about 5 lbs, but she's a year old and is a burst of youthful energy.  My other dog, Barley, is 11, and we have been together for 8 years, so adding this little whippersnapper to our tried and true routines has been a challenge.  She's a sweet, sweet girl, though, and it already feels like she's a part of the family.

Well, take care Konaddicts!  I hope you have a fun and safe Halloween - and are wearing fun polish designs to celebrate!

Bronze Tiger

Hi everyone, and welcome to all the new subscribers!
Well, I've been waiting for the Halloween mood to settle in, and this year I'm just not feeling it.  The past six months have been the most "challenging" of my life.  Losing my father in April was, unfortunately, just the beginning of some pretty heart wrenching and difficult times.  I may post more on this later.

For now, I'm feeling pretty subdued and not especially festive.  It is beginning to feel like Fall outside, so at least I've gotten a lot of use out of all the browns and bronzes in my nail box!

Today, I've got tiger stripes.  I don't wear stripes very often, so this was a nice change.

I used a very old bottle of L'Oreal Jet Set Move Out,  a brownish, almost purplish color.  I stamped the stripes using Mash 38 and China Glaze Hi Tek.

Take care, Konaddicts, and have an awesome weekend!

Fall Color Block Manicure

Hello, everyone!
Today I'm wearing a color block manicure in Fall colors.  I done many manicures using tape, so it was nice to try out something different.

I started with a white base and cut scotch tape pieces to make a small cross.  I taped all of my nails at once. Then, I polished in the colors: Kleancolor Coffee Addict, Metallic Yellow, Metallic Orange, and Metallic Red.  I pulled the tape off after I got all the color one.

I couldn't decide whether to leave the taped spaces white or whether to fill them in.  In the end, I used a black nail pen to color in the cross.

People have done some awesome color block designs!  I'm going to have to practice this technique more often!

Be well, Konaddicts!  Hope you're having a great weekend!

China Blue Roses

Hi all!  I hope you've had a chance to enter my giveaway!  I wanted to take a moment to show you today's nails.

This design started with a base of Sally Hansen Insta Dri Whirlwind White stamped with Insta Dri In-A-Blink Blue using BM 323.  I covered the roses with a glitter in a sheer blue base, Milani Glitzy in Denim.  It provided the right amount of sparkle and softened up the white "petal lines" of the roses.

Today's mani is quick and easy - just my style!

One Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway!

Hello, everyone!
I'd like to celebrate the one year anniversary of my blog and show appreciation to 52 wonderful followers by having a giveaway!

The Prize:
I tried to select a prize that you might not already have as part of your collection.  As far as I'm concerned, the second set of Mash plates has been an awesome and underrated set of plates.  I waffled about buying them, but I have had so much fun playing around with these!



You can see some of the designs I've come up with here.  If you, like me, waffled or never purchased this set, now is your chance to win a complete second set (plates 26-50).

Details:
The giveaway is open internationally* and you can earn up to six entries by completing the Rafflecopter form below.  The giveaway begins now (!) and will end October 30 at midnight EST.  I should be able to contact the winners within 24 hours of the giveaway closing.  The winner will have 48 hours to respond to claim her prize.

How to Enter:
Use this Rafflecopter entry form.  You can only enter once, but you can earn up to 6 entries.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* Please know that I can provide proof of mailing, although I can't be responsible for any issues with the mail on your end.

Good luck, everyone!  Thank you so much for allowing me to share my love for polish with you!

Black Accented French Manicure

Today's post is actually from several weeks back.  I have mixed feelings about this one, but I'll put it out there anyway.  I really like the black accents in French manicures, but I can't decide what I don't like about this one.

This is simply a base of  Orly French Manicure Sheer Nude, tips polished with Wet n Wild Black Creme, stamped with Konad Special Polish in White using BM 218.  I figured it might be a good time to use the black rhinestones in the wheel I have (because when else will I use them?), so I stuck one on each nail.

Hmm...thoughts on this one?

Vibrant Pink and Teal

This looked nicer before the cotton ball got stuck on my ring finger! :(

Hello, everyone!  I hope you're having a great Saturday!

Today's nails came about in a backward sort of way.  For several days, I've been wearing Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear The Real Teal.  I planned to stamp it, but I wasn't sure what design I would use.

I picked Wet n Wild Lavender Creme as a complimentary color.  Since my nails were already teal - and there's no way the creme would stamp over it - I polished my tips white with Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Whirlwind White.  Then, I polished the Lavender Creme over the white, to give me a bright vibrant pink.

I stamped the heartbeat line using Wet n Wild Black Creme using Mash 38.  I used a little nail brush to fill in any spaces missing colors.

Take care, Konaddicts!  Take time today to remind your loved ones how much you care for them.

Parchment and Roses

Hi everyone!

First, you may have noticed that I have 50 followers now!  Thank you so much!  I so much appreciate that you stop by to see what my polishes and I are up to!

To celebrate you, and one my one year blog anniversary later this month, I'll be posting details of a little giveaway later in the month.

So...on to today's manicure!

I was feeling nostalgic and trying to think of a design that was romantic, elegant, and kind of old fashioned.  I thought back to all those photos of roses on old music sheets (now you know what all my screen savers were back in the day!) and ultimately came up with this design.  I also wanted to try a new technique, so I created this look using saran wrap.

I started first with a base of that lovely caramel, L'Oreal The Perfect Trench (I am not yet over this color!).  I sponged on a little Revlon Top Speed in Stormy to add a darker color.  I covered the entire nail with white - Pure Ice Siren - and dabbed it using saran wrap.  That worked perfectly to give me the mottled-type background for the roses.  (Doesn't that seem like a weird combination?  It worked, though!)

I used BM 323 and Pure Ice Rumors for the roses.  I added the leaves from XL Plate I with Revlon Top Speed Emerald.

Ah...this suits my mood perfectly (isn't it great when that happens?).

Take care, Konaddicts, and see you soon!

Coffee Dry Marble

Hi everyone!
You may recall that in my water marble disaster, I was trying to marble browns. Since that didn't work out so well, I wanted to see how a dry marble of browns and bronzes would work.

Here's my finished product.

I started with a base of L'Oreal The Perfect Trench.  I have been dying to get my hands on a warm caramel color, and when I saw this one I jumped at it.

The colors are the base of The Perfect Trench, Pure Ice Jaguar, Kleancolor Chocolate Brown, Kleancolor Coffee Addict, and Revlon Copper Gleam.  The ziplock is on the top of one my polish bins (which is why the background looks blue).

Yeah...I absolutely loved this one "on plastic", but I'm not sure if I like it.  I love the blending of colors (especially that gorgeous copper), but I think I left too many rough edges.  I also didn't make enough of the marble, so I didn't really have enough of the prettiest part of the pattern for each of my nails (by the time I got to my right hand, some of marble was just splotches).

I also immediately broke what was left of my left thumb nail (which explains why it is "hiding" in this photo).

Okay, lesson learned.  If you dry marble, make enough that you can be sure you can enjoy your color combinations!

Be well!  See you next time!

Reverse Polka Dots

Hi everyone!
Today, I am wearing a Monkey See - Monkey Do manicure.  I absolutely loved the look of Nasli's Silver & Flip Flop Dotting so I decided to give it a try.  I used Essie's No Place Like Chrome as my base color.  I actually tried the dotting in creme purples and blues before I realized that neons seem to work best.  I finally used Heaven Hawaiian Coast, a neon purple, for my dotting, and I love the final product!

Thank you, Nasli, for introducing me to such a great design!  I got tons of compliments on this one!

Take care, Konaddicts!  I'm off to a conference in Nashville this week.  I've never been there, so I'm looking forward to the trip.  Catch you soon!