12 Mani's of Chirstmas: #1... Presents!

Hello there lovelies!  So when I said I'd make my next post tomorrow, I guess I really meant Thursday... oops :P

I have decided to take up a challenge!  It is a self-made/self-inflicted challenge that I hope I'll be able to keep up with :\  I can do it... I can!!  Haha

Here is the list of mani's that I shall attempt to create...

1. Presents
2. Snowflakes
3. Snowmen
4. Rudolph
5. Santa
6. Ornaments
7. Candy Cane
8. Christmas Lights
9. Holly
10. Charlie Brown Chirstmas Tree
11. Little Drumme Boy
12. Star of Bethlehem

I do not plan on doing these in any sort of order.  Whenever-the-mood-strikes-me kind of a thing :)  Today it's Presents!

 Colors Used: Sinful Colors Nail Art - Simple But Fun (green) and My Day (red), Sally Hansen - White On, Julep - Felicity

Lots of patience and manipulation of striping brushes went into this mani.  I probably spent about an hour total on this... more time than I usually spend doing my nails.  But it was well worth the effort :)

My only irritation with this mani is that the red seeped thru on my plaid  striping.  I guess it couldn't be a completely perfect mani... they never really are :P

Yay presents!

This whole celebrating Christmas thing is new to me.  I was raised a Jehovah's Witness and then became a Christian while in highschool.  Even then, I was still with my family and Christmas wasn't something we did.  I've never really understood the giving of presents or the stuffing of stockings because in my household we celebrated Jesus year round haha.  While dating my husband, his family brought me into their Christmas traditions.  I love the family gathering and while presents are nice, giving them is much more fun than opening them :D

I'm excited to have my first tree this year with my hubby and I'm hoping that I will be filled of Christmas spirit soon ;)

Until next time!

Stef <3

So Many Mani's, Very Little Time!

*sigh* I know what you're going to say.  And you're right.  I have no excuse for neglecting my blog and all of you.  I have been out of the nail world for over a week and that's crazy sauce!  I hope you all are fairing well and for those who are State-Side... Happy belated Thanksgiving!

Altho I have not been blogging, I have been doing some manis.  And seeing as I'm very much ready to start doing Christmas nail art, I am going to share all of the mani's I have left in the vault... right now... in this post.  Lucky you! So en lieu of a Church Mani (the choir has the day off!), I shall share a pic of each mani, the polishes used (if I can remember them haha)  and a brief description.  Let's get started!

 Colors Used: Julep - Isla, Rimmel - Black Satin, China Glaze - Fairy Dust

This is a mani I did last weekend.  I was going to a big family gathering (in-laws) with my husband and wanted pretty nails to match my silvery-white ensemble.  Hubby liked it  :)

 Colors Used: Wet n Wild - I Need A Refresh-Mint, Love & Beauty - Strawberry (scented)

I wanted something colorful and fun to wear around on Wednesday but was short on time.  I picked these polishes because they apply well and I knew they would dry fairly quick.  I used a 2-sided dotting tool (large on one end, small on the other) to make my design.  I then applied a small amount of nail glue to attach the rhinestone.  A cinch!

 Colors Used: Wet n Wild - Nerd Alert Screech and Straight "A" Jesse, Julep - Sofia, Rimmel - Black Satin

This mani get's two photo's because of Sofia.  I did this the day before Halloween because I wanted to get into the holiday but was too tired to attempt topping my prior Halloween Mani. I painted two coats of Nerd Alert Screech and then topped it with Sofia (Julep's glow-in-the-dark polish).  Sofia is an old school girl, she likes to tan before she shines.  This polish needs to be exposed to light for a good while before it will glow in the dark and the effect fades after a while but I like her none the less :)  With a dotting tool and striping brush I applied the cheetah print.

 More mani's after the jump!

Church Mani: Beyond Cozy

Happy Wednesday, dolls!  I meant to post this mani on Monday because I had the day off of work.  I woke up with a list of chores to do and feeling like I could conquer the world!  About 30 mins. later I got a throbbing headache and was down for the count.  I laid on the couch ALL day *sigh*.

Well, this is the mani that I wore this past Sunday to church...

 Colors Used: E.L.F. - Dessert Haze, Essie - Beyond Cozy, Rimmel - Black Satin

2 coats of each color and then I free-handed the design.I was really excited when I found Beyond Cozy at Target.  It's from Essies 2012 Winter Collection.  I now have 2 of the 3 that I want from that collection and I'm hoping to pick up Where's My Chauffer (a kind of Tiffany's blue) on Friday :D

 

I did these on Saturday night while watching a movie with my honey and the Fashionista.  I don't know how I ended up with such terrible tip wear over night hahaha.  I snapped these photos in the car while on our way to the church :P

It was a cold morning so that's why I wore my finger-less mittens (that... and because they're so stinkin' cute!)

I hope you all are having a fabulous week :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

November Julep Maven Box

Good morning all!  The week is half way over, woohoo!! I was going to make this post yesterday but I came down with some sort of stomach virus... it wasn't pretty lol.  I'm just gonna jump right in!

I haven't really posted any of my recent Julep boxes because I've been a busy bee.  But this month's box is great!  This month's theme is Suede Polishes.  It's not really a look/style that I'm interested in and I almost skipped this month's subscription but then I saw these amazing colors in the Bombshell box and I had to have them :D

From L to R: Donna, Trina and Pink Grapefruit Body Frosting

The body frosting is A-MA-ZING!! Love love love it <3

A closer look at Donna and Trina...

I combined the colors in my mani.  This idea kept running through my head, "Abstract art, abstract nails, abstract nail art..."  So I took my striping brush and went to town on my nails :)

 

 I also used my go-to's Black Satin and White On (Rimmel and Wet N Wild respectively)

I really didn't have a specific design in mind... I just went for it!

 

 My nails are almost back to a decent length, I'm so happy!!  Hahaha :P

2 mani's in a row that I am happy with... I think I've finally gotten back in the groove!  It only took a month lol.

If you are interested in becoming a Julep Maven, head on over to their site here.  If you use the code Maven50, you'll receive your first month's box for a penny... 1 cent!  That's how I got hooked :)

Until next time!

Stef <3

A Quilted-esque Mani

Hiya!  It's the beginning of another week and as we inch our was closer to the holidays, I have a couple of non-holiday manis I want to share (you know... before I go Christmas crazy!)  Lol so this month I'm going to focus on getting any mani's that I still have in my vault posted/shared and then I can start off the new year fresh :D

So!  The mani today was inspired by a pin that I saw on Pintrest of a quilted mani done by The Polish Aholic.  The pin said to use a ruler to make your lines when the polish was almost dry... and that is a big ol' bunch of bologna!  It came out like a disaster!!  On the actual site, Jen said she used striping tape and I HATE striping tape *sigh*.  So, I gave up on that exact look and went back to basics.  I freehanded it...

 Colors Used:  Love & Beauty - Silver, Julep - Gloria, Essie - Blanc

 I haven't used Gloria in a while but I'm still oh so inlove with her!  She's just a beautiful coral :)  This is 2 coats.

I received a request from a fan (and a friend <3) to do more glitter manis, hence the glittery accents... you're welcome!  Lol :P

I could have been a little neater/precise with the striping brush when doing the quilting but... whatevs!  I'm not gonna beat myself up about it haha.

I'm quite happy about the way this one turned out :)  I am considering doing a tutorial on this mani (also per request from the lovely Amy at OkAmy).

So what do we think loveys?

Until next time!

Stef <3