Gobbles on Turkey Day

Hello, everyone!  I hope all of my American friends had an awesome Thanksgiving!  This year, for the first time, I roasted a turkey myself. It was a big deal for me since I'm usually happy to let others do the cooking! :) The turkey turned out well, and it was just nice to spend the day with family and friends.

I wanted a fun and Thanksgiving-themed manicure to wear.  I kept telling myself that "one year" I would try out the little turkey design on Winstonia W119; this was the year!

I began with China Glaze Life Preserver and made decals of the feathers and the turkey with Revlon Top Speed Espresso and L'oreal Walk on the Beach.  I decided to give my turkey some eyes and to dab on a little red for his wattle.  The feather pattern isn't as opaque as I thought.  I probably should have been more careful with my fill color.

So...what the heck is going on with my top coat or base coat?  I can't seem to go more than a day without chips.  Ideas?

Well, Konaddicts, thank you for stopping by!

Spooky Kitty

Boo!
This is my scariest mani yet!
It's been a while since my last Hello Kitty nail design, so I used our upcoming holiday as an opportunity to try out my a few designs from my beloved MJ-HK plate from the My Online Shop store on Etsy.

For this dotty design, I used a base of the gorgeous orange, Revlon Top Speed Charmed.  I made simple decals of the black cat and witch using Bundle Monster Art Polishes in black and white and accents in Salon Perfect Bellini and Sinful Kiss Me Here.  For the full nail design, I used plate Cheeky CH-10 for the stamping and added a few dots in white to add a little more interest.  To tie all the nails together, I added dots in black, white, and gray.  My only regret is that I forgot to add a second application of top coat, so the polish began to wear.

Halloween nails are so much fun!  Thank you for stopping by! I hope you have a safe and fun Halloween!

Fall Foliage

Hi everyone!
It's certainly feeling like Fall out there!  I decided to try a design in honor of this beautiful season.

I started with the rich gold of Revlon Hypnotize.  The leaf design is from Cisi & Sisi 03.  I tried several different greens for stamping and finally settled on Sally Hansen Insta Dri Jumpin' Jade.  Insta Dris just stamp so well, and I wanted a bold outline that I could fill in.

For the various leaf colors, I just riffled through polishes for my sheerest red, orange and green.  I couldn't find my top coat, so I used my top coat with spectra-flair, which turned out to be a great addition.

Hope your autumn is a colorful one, Konaddicts!  Thanks for dropping by!

Fall Stripes- Twin post with Jajuana from Mani's by Moore

Hello, everyone!
Today I'm sharing another twin post with the talented Jajuana from Mani's by Moore.  We selected plate BM-411 as our theme.  I decided to combine the stripes and the heart beat designs from the plate into a simple fall-inspired design.

For the brown nails, I chose Revlon Top Speed Stormy and stamped with Revlon Top Speed Espresso (I love this brown!).  For my accent nail, I used China Glaze Life Preserver and stamped with Orly Prince Charming.  I decided to try to tie the two colors together by using the Espresso to stamp the heart beat.  The plate is BM-411 from the newest Bundle Monster set.

I hope you are having a great fall day, Konaddicts!  I can't wait to see what Jajuana comes up with!

Fade to Plaid

Hello, everyone!

We're having sweater weather here!  Brrr....   To go along with my winter sweaters, I created this Fall plaid nail design.  My gradients still aren't perfect...argh...but here's what I used for this one.

This is a base of Sally Hansen Insta Dri Petal Pusher.  I made a gradient with that lovely and strange caramel, L'Oreal The Perfect Trench.  This is stamped with plate QA24 (from eBay), a unique, plaid french manicure design that I've been dying to try.  I used Revlon Top Speed in Espresso to stamp over the gradient.

So...here's my gradient problem (or at least one of them!) - I can't find a good sponge!  I bought the Konad sponging set - which was really expensive to get a few foam sponges.  The sponges worked like a champ, though.  I find I do better when I use eye shadow applicators, maybe because of the small area.  I just haven't had a chance to make it back to Sally's to resupply.  

Also, I figured I should be able to do this really cheaply, so I'm currently using pieces from a replacement mop head (!).  It works, I just can't quite get the color on where I want it.

     Sigh...

          Any suggestions, polish lovers?

Fall Plaid

Hello, everyone!
Today's nails just scream "Thanksgiving".  The only things missing are the pilgrims!

I've been wanting to do a plaid design in Fall colors.  I experimented for a while and came up with this design.  This a base of China Glaze Life Preserver, stamped with a pearly brown from Nail Savvy.  I used that classic Konad plate, M60, for the plaid.

The plaid was pretty, but I wanted to add some kind of accent, so I chose the lovely Fall leaf on Red Angel plate RA-121 and China Glaze Passion.  As has been true with the other plates, the image is etched a little too deeply, but it was usable.  My leaf came out better when I lightly stamped it on.  If I applied too much pressure  - splat!

Overall, I like the result.  Every time I notice my nails, I immediately think of turkey and cranberry sauce!

Take care, Konaddicts!  Are you as ready for Thanksgiving dinner as I am?

Cheeky Autumn Leaves

Hi, everyone!
I can't believe it's been so long since my last post!  Adjusting to the new canine member of the family has been fun and a little more work than I anticipated.  I've never had a small dog before, and she insists on being in the middle of whatever I'm doing.  She loves to be in my lap and it's hard to "remove" a small dog from your space with wet nails!

I did manage to put together this fall colored manicure.  This is a base of L'Oreal Walk on the Beach stamped with red, green, brown, and Kleancolor Metallic Yellow (I love this color!).  The metallic yellow softened the other colors and adds lots of sparkles.

I stamped the leaves using Cheeky Ch33 and Kleancolor Military Green.

Thanks for dropping by, Konaddicts!  I'm sure I'll be posting more as soon as I can figure out how to keep this little dog busy!

I'm not the only one having to adjust to this little whippersnapper!

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!

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!

Autumn Leaves

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and it's actually beginning to look like Fall outside.  Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Cafe au Lait as the base.  I used Kleancolor Holo Orange to add a little sparkle.  I stamped the leaves in various browns, reds, and greens with Fauxnad M20.

Here are closeups:

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Speaking of Thanksgiving...I'd better put down the nail polish and get to cooking!

More Halloween Nails

I'm still in the Halloween spirit, so I tried a ghoulish manicure for the big day.

The plate is from the first Bundle Monster set (where the stamps are a little small) so you can see a little green peeking out of my index finger, but I think the mani should be enough to keep the goblins at bay.

Halloween is a fun time for nail stamping.  Have fun everyone!

Base Color: Sinful Colors Happy Ending

Stamping Color: Milani Black Magic
Stamping Plate: BM 16

Halloween Masala Manicure

This Halloween mani started with a base of Rimmel 60 Seconds Extreme polish in Va Va Voom.  I added a little sponging in orange and bronze.  I stamped the spooky tree branches in Revlon Top Speed Espresso using Bundle Monster plate BM 224.  I tried out random other Halloween stamps (most also from the second Bundle Monster set) in Milani Black Magic for the bats, haunted houses and spiders.  Two coats of Out the Door top coat, and voila!

Have a fun and safe Halloween everyone!

Elegant Emerald and Stripes

I'm so excited to post my first blog entry!
The change in seasons and beautiful Fall colors inspired me to create this mani.  It's hard to fully capture the colors, but I like how the color combination turned out.
Hope you like it!  Thanks for reading!

Base color: Revlon Top Speed Emerald
Stamping color: China Glaze Hi-Tek
Plate: Konad S6

Here's a peek at the base before the stamping: