A Fistful of Butterflies and A Few Butterflies More

Does anyone get that title is a reference to some old Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns?  Can you already tell I used to work in a video store?

Alrighty, so this should be my post for Girly Girl Challenge #6 but I got a little off track.  Here's why...

My favourite time to really play with nail art is when I'm about to take off a mani.  I figure it's no risk.  If I like it, it usually revitalises an old mani for a day or two more and if I screw up or hate it, well, it was coming off anyways!

So with that in mind, I sat down to play with my previous mani of Solar Power and butterfly wing ring accent.  Now after the ring finger had worked out, I chickened out and didn't want to go any further for risk of ruining it.  But now it was go time!  I did butterfly wings on all the fingers and it looked pretty good so I took it a step further...

Please ignore the tip wear on the ring, like I said this was ready to come off at this point.  Anyways, I took all but the original ring butterfly off and added China Glaze - Red Pearl on the thumb, China Glaze - Sexy Silhouette on the index, China Glaze - Riveting one the middle and China Glaze - Tree Hugger on the pinkie.  Then I flutterby'd them all up!

I liked this enough that I cleaned up the ring tip and wore it for another day!  Hence the delay with the challenge.  Also, this was some great practise for me.  It was far from perfect but I'm getting better!

Here was the full hand of Solar Power...

So what do you think?  Did anyone get the movie reference?

Also in OMG! OMG! OMG! news:

I won two giveaways today!!!!  I've never really won anything my whole life and then to win two giveaways today?!  I'm floored.

I won a custom Hunger Games inspired polish by FEVERlaquer from the lovely Casandra at The Mani-Logues.  Check out the awesome polish I won.

And

Some elf eye shadow palettes from Kimberly in her big Birthday Giveaway at Libby's Pink Vanity .

Please check out these ladies' awesome blogs if you haven't already.  I'll be doing specific posts for all my winnings when they arrive! Yay!

Also, since I seem to be on a roll, I have a lottery ticket for tonight.  Tune in tomorrow to find out how many millions I've won. LOL.
Alright, I supposed I've blabbed on long enough.
'Til next time,
Amanda

Butterflies & Sunshine

Hello Everyone!

Today I've got some more nail art for you!  I'm ready for spring to arrive although the weather here has been anything other than springlike.  It's like we're headed back for winter.  So, I thought I could at least make spring arrive on my nails.

I really liked this!  This design is not my own.  I first saw it years ago in an unwatermarked photo with a pink china glaze polish.  Then I found this youtube video from 2010 where she is talking about seeing that same photo, which she shows, then does a tutorial based off it.

I decided I wanted to go yellow to really brighten up the manicure.  It's China Glaze - Solar Power.  The black and white is just acrylic paints.  So, originally I had planned to do it on all nails.   Then I started by totally screwing up my index finger which I had to redo.  So, I figured maybe just an accent finger?  The ring finger worked out pretty well and as I wanted to wear these to work, I chickened out and decided to quit while I was ahead.

When I was a kid in Quebec, my Nana had a huge field of milkweed by her house and the Monarchs would come and land on the milkweed in almost a blanket.  It was amazing.  Year after year.  Sadly, I don't think I've ever seen a Monarch here in BC.

Here's a shot of Solar Power by itself.  You can actually see the subtle shimmer in this one.

So, what do you think?

'Til next time,

Amanda

Girly Girl Challenge #5 - Gotta Love Chick Flicks!

Hello Everyone!
Are we all ready for another instalment of the Girly Girl Challenge?  I can't believe it's more than halfway done now. :( It's going too fast!  Hey Lindsey? How about adding a second round?

So for today, let's check our handy dandy chart...

Day 5 : Gotta Love Chick Flicks! - We just CAN'T resist!  Wear a mani inspired by your favourite chick flick.

Alrighty, so I must admit...   I'm actually not much of a fan of chick flicks in general, with one exception.  I love cheesy dance movies!  I'm a total sucker for those big-talent-and-a-dream type of movies.  Now for me, I think the King of dance movies is Dirty Dancing. 

A scene that always stuck out for me was when Baby, in an attempt to make conversation with Johnny, told him she carried a watermelon.  It always struck me as amusing and truthful.  Sometimes we just don't sound as cool as we'd like to.

In honour of Baby, who can still catch her man, no matter how awkward she is, I give you my, "I carried a watermelon?" manicure.

So, I have seen several people do variations on this manicure and I don't know where it originated.  I googled for pics and found one I liked to used as inspiration which I found here.  However, she was only using it as her inspiration too and doesn't cite where it came from. 

Unfortunately this turned out to be a bit of a fail for me.  I was doing so well.  The base colour was on.  I'd freehanded the green tips and despite the extremeness of their colour, the line was smooth and even.  I made the little black seeds and they actually managed to look like seeds!  Then, I went to do the little white highlights on the seeds and my hand got the jitters.  What were meant to be delicate little highlights turned into big white blobs.  And it kept happening!  Oh well.  Sometimes we learn more from the fails than the wins, right?

Anyways, this was Orly - Retro Red from the Plastix collection for the base colour.  The green tip is China Glaze - Watermelon Rind (Appropriate!) and acrylic paint for the black, white and green highlights.

I'll be checking out what my fellow challengers did when I get home from work, but you should check them out right now! ;)

'Til next time,
Amanda

Challenge Creator: Lindsey of Neverland Nail Blog
Ashley of Follow The Yellow Polish Road
Stephanie of A Little Polish
Kelly of Devilish Polish
Jodi of Captivating Claws
Danielle of Polish. Glitter. Rock & Roll!
Elly of Polishable
Olivia of Unprofessional Nails
Kate of This Charming Kate
Bethany of A Plethora of Nails
Lizzy of The Do It Yourself Lady
Eugenia of Talon-ted
Johanna of Neues vom Kellerkind
Ashley of Smashley Sparkles
Sarah of See Sarah Swatch
Emily of The Lacquerologist
Jess of LuvMyLacquer
Tressa of O' Natur Nail

ChiChi of I'm just me...ChiChi

CR of Color Me Silly
Amanda of Berry Polished
Robin, Erin, and Anna of Polished Cousins

Bonny of Over Stuffed

Taylor of REJOICE!
Jess of Nearly Natural Nails

Girly Girl #4: Inspired by the Runway!

Hello Everyone!

I have another challenge design for you.
The challenge today is...  Inspired by the Runway!

Personally, I love that fashion is cyclical.  Everything old becomes new again.  Recently, some older fashion houses that had, to different degrees, fallen out of favour are back.  Pucci and Lacoste come to mind.  Halston is also making a comeback.

I've always loved the bold patterns of Pucci.  I found this dress as part of their Spring/Summer 2012 collection.

I thought a water marble might capture the spirit of this dress.  I'd never done a water marble before either.  I love a challenge!

So, here are my results.

I'm pretty happy with that for a first try!  The thumb and middle finger definitely turned out best.  I can't wait to try it again.  For colours, I used China Glaze - White on White and Liquid Leather and Color Club - Shabby Drab and New Bohemian.

Also, I need to admit that I cheated a little bit here.  I loved my St. Paddy's Day mani so much that I don't want to take it off yet.  Therefore I used some loose fake nails for this.  You didn't really think my nails had grown half an inch overnight, did ya? 

Anyways, what do you think?

Please check out the designs the other amazing ladies in this challenge came up with!

Oooh, almost forgot!  I was nominated for a Liebster Award by  Cee. Yay!  I'm going to do a whole post about that tomorrow but just couldn't let it slip by. :)

'Til next time,
Amanda ,

Challenge Creator: Lindsey of Neverland Nail Blog
Ashley of Follow The Yellow Polish Road
Stephanie of A Little Polish
Kelly of Devilish Polish
Jodi of Captivating Claws
Danielle of Polish. Glitter. Rock & Roll!
Elly of Polishable
Olivia of Unprofessional Nails
Kate of This Charming Kate
Bethany of A Plethora of Nails
Lizzy of The Do It Yourself Lady
Eugenia of Talon-ted
Johanna of Neues vom Kellerkind
Ashley of Smashley Sparkles
Sarah of See Sarah Swatch
Emily of The Lacquerologist
Jess of LuvMyLacquer
Tressa of O' Natur Nail

ChiChi of I'm just me...ChiChi

CR of Color Me Silly
Amanda of Berry Polished
Robin, Erin, and Anna of Polished Cousins

Bonny of Over Stuffed

Taylor of REJOICE!
Jess of Nearly Natural Nails

Luck O' the Irish!

Top O' the Mornin' to You!  Well it's still morning here anyway. :)

Just a quick post today to show you some nails I'm rocking this week for St. Patrick's Day.

To get this manicure, I put 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Going Green over my basecoat.  Then I added one coat of Zoya - Opal (Yay Flakies!)  Once that was dry, I stamped with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Green with Envy and Bundle Monster plate BM03 on index, middle and pinkie.  Then, again with Green with Envy, I stamped using Red Angel plate RA-116 on ring and thumb.  Then I topped the whole thing with Seche Vite.

I'm very happy with these nails.  They turned out super green but the flakies look gorgeous in person.  They are flashing green in one direction and teal in the other.   The stamping turned out quite subtle but I'm alright with that.

Girly Girl Challenge #3: Delicate and Elegant

Hello Again!

...and we're back!

Time for another installment of the Girly Girl Challenge!
Today is day 3 and that means...

Delicate & Elegant: Adorn yourself with a lovely pattern, color or technique.

So since my blingy manicure was a little OTT, delicate and elegant definitely seemed to be called for.  I recently picked up a Color Club set for french tips so I went for a classic elegant look.  I paused after I wrote this to chuckle because I am aware that a debate exists as to whether or not french manicures are only for porn stars now.
LOL

OK, moving on, classy and elegant, right?

So there we go!  Delicate and elegant!  I started by freehanding the french tips in, appropriately, Color Club - French Tip then I added a sheer pink Color Club - More Amour.  I'm not really fond of the super bright white tips, so, this gives the clean look of french tips while keeping it all soft and pinky.

Then I added a little nail art.  Nothing too crazy, just a little pink flower for each finger.  Done with a dotting tool, the flower is China Glaze - Designer Satin and the centre is essence - wanna be my sunshine?

My only gripe with this mani is that because the french mani is the default look for gel nails, it's giving me the feeling that my real nails are fake.  Nothing wrong with that, I just keep getting surprised when I look at them.

Hope you like it.
'Til next time,
Amanda

Please check out what the other ladies participating in this challenge have created!
Challenge Creator: Lindsey of Neverland Nail Blog
Ashley of Follow The Yellow Polish Road
Stephanie of A Little Polish
Kelly of Devilish Polish
Jodi of Captivating Claws
Danielle of Polish. Glitter. Rock & Roll!
Elly of Polishable
Olivia of Unprofessional Nails
Kate of This Charming Kate
Bethany of A Plethora of Nails
Lizzy of The Do It Yourself Lady
Eugenia of Talon-ted
Johanna of Neues vom Kellerkind
Ashley of Smashley Sparkles
Sarah of See Sarah Swatch
Emily of The Lacquerologist
Jess of LuvMyLacquer
Tressa of O' Natur Nail

ChiChi of I'm just me...ChiChi

CR of Color Me Silly
Amanda of Berry Polished
Robin, Erin, and Anna of Polished Cousins

Bonny of Over Stuffed

Taylor of REJOICE!
Jess of Nearly Natural Nails

Contact Me

If there is any need to contact me (comments, questions, swaps etc.)

I can be reached at faulka [at] gmail [dot] com

Amanda

Nail Mail!

I've gotten quite a bit of nail mail recently, so, I thought I'd put some of it in a post.  I can't put it all in one or this post would be way too long.

So first up is a parcel I received a couple weeks ago.  I bought it from Amazon and the seller shipped promptly and securely.  Yay! 

Girly Girl Challenge #2: Bring on the Bling!

Happy Daylight Savings Time!

It's the first week of the challenge and I'm already behind!  Yikes!  The good news is that I've already done the challenges for this upcoming week so I'll just schedule those posts and there won't be any delays this week. :)

Challenge #2... let's consult the chart shall we?

Gimme That Bling!:  Diamonds are a girl's best friend so put some sparkle on those nails!

So, I love blue with diamonds and I love blue stones so I figured, why not put it all together?
I kept this manicure relatively simple because I wanted the stones to really stand out.

I started with a base of Essie - Midnight Cami.  It's a gorgeous midnight blue with subtle shimmer (the shimmer seems very shy in my pics).
Then I added giant blue rhinestones at the base of my nail.  Last, I framed the blue with two small clear rhinestones on either side.  I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.  I wanted non-fussy bling and I think that's what I got!

Be sure to check out what the other ladies participating in this challenge have created!
I'm so behind that theirs are all up.

'Til next time,
Amanda

ETA:  I know the rhinestones are ridiculously huge, but when it comes to diamonds, it's go big or go home.  Am I right, ladies?


Challenge Creator: Lindsey of Neverland Nail Blog
Ashley of Follow The Yellow Polish Road
Stephanie of A Little Polish
Kelly of Devilish Polish
Jodi of Captivating Claws
Danielle of Polish. Glitter. Rock & Roll!
Elly of Polishable
Olivia of Unprofessional Nails
Kate of This Charming Kate
Bethany of A Plethora of Nails
Lizzy of The Do It Yourself Lady
Eugenia of Talon-ted
Johanna of Neues vom Kellerkind
Ashley of Smashley Sparkles
Sarah of See Sarah Swatch
Emily of The Lacquerologist
Jess of LuvMyLacquer
Tressa of O' Natur Nail

ChiChi of I'm just me...ChiChi

CR of Color Me Silly
Amanda of Berry Polished
Robin, Erin, and Anna of Polished Cousins

Bonny of Over Stuffed

Taylor of REJOICE!
Jess of Nearly Natural Nails

Walk on the Wild Side

essence has just arrived here in Canada.  I knew I wanted to do a mani to celebrate and I've seen so many acid coloured zebra manicures that I  knew I wanted to try one.  I've seen lots of colours on one nail, I've seen one colour each nail, I've even seen professionalDQ paint a wall of her kitchen in a rainbow zebra.

I wanted to try it, but of course I wanted to try my own spin on it.  This is what I came up with.   A rainbow zebra that progresses down my nails with some overlap.

I think this might be my favourite manicure I've ever done on myself.

The colours I used were: Thumb = China Glaze - Pool Party + essence - wake up!

Index = essence - wake up! + essence - wanna be your sunshine

Middle = essence - wanna be your sunshine + essence - lime up!

Ring = essence - lime up! + essence - let's get lost

Pinkie = essence - let's get lost + essence - break through

I used Bundle Monster plate BM-223 to stamp and Konad Special Polish in Black.

Sorry for all the pics, I'm just so in love with these nails.  Anyways, last but not least...a rare daylight shot of my nails.  (There is a reason I named my blog NOX nails, after all)

So, there it is.  I freakin' love it and I think it's a worthy welcome to essence in Canada.

Hope you all love it too!

'Til next time,

Amanda

Girly-Girl Challenge #1

On the weekend, Lindsey of Neverland Nail Blog asked for participants in a great challenge she created.

It's her Girly-Girl Challenge.
This is the challenge as it is laid out.

Lindsey suggested posting the challenge results on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I'm going to try and stick to that schedule.  I'm really liking this challenge because I'm a little commitment phobic, so a fun, relatively short challenge with posting flexibility seems right up my alley.  Plus, I'm not the girliest of girls so this actually is a bit of a challenge.

So, let's get to the challenge, right?

Day 1: Think PINK

Well, I wanted to use several different pinks and I had animal prints on the brain so I decided to do an Ombre manicure with leopard print over it.  Then I added little spots from two shades down the Ombre.

This manicure really pointed out to me how few pale pinks I have.  On the pinkie, I had to resort to white dots.

On my thumb, the base colour is China Glaze - Traffic Jam, index finger is China Glaze - Designer Satin, middle finger is China Glaze - Make an Entrance, ring finger is Essence - Ultimate Pink and pinkie is OPI - Pink Friday.  The leopard was stamped with Rimmel - Black Satin and Bundle Monster plate BM-223.

I hope you like it as this is my first challenge entry.

Anyone who happens by this post should definitely check out the entries from the other challenge participants.  I know they're all excited to participate and I'm sure their entries will all be amazing!
I know I'm excited to see all the designs.  I'm off to work right now but I can't wait to see them all tonight!

Challenge Creator: Lindsey of Neverland Nail Blog
Ashley of Follow The Yellow Polish Road
Stephanie of A Little Polish
Kelly of Devilish Polish
Jodi of Captivating Claws
Danielle of Polish. Glitter. Rock & Roll!
Elly of Polishable
Olivia of Unprofessional Nails
Kate of This Charming Kate
Bethany of A Plethora of Nails
Lizzy of The Do It Yourself Lady
Eugenia of Talon-ted
Johanna of Neues vom Kellerkind
Ashley of Smashley Sparkles
Sarah of See Sarah Swatch
Emily of The Lacquerologist
Jess of LuvMyLacquer
Tressa of O' Natur Nail

ChiChi of I'm just me...ChiChi

CR of Color Me Silly
Amanda of Berry Polished
Robin, Erin, and Anna of Polished Cousins

Bonny of Over Stuffed

Taylor of REJOICE!
Jess of Nearly Natural Nails 

Thanks for looking!

'Til next time,
Amanda

A Grey Day

Another stamping mani!  Yay!

Okay, so I need to apologise for these pictures in advance.  I had been wearing this polish for several days already and was just about to change it to something else when I remembered I hadn't photographed it.  That's why there is so much growth showing near the cuticle and there is so much tip wear. 

On top of that a pen slipped and jammed me in the cuticle.  That's the cause of the damaged index finger cuticle.  If that wasn't bad enough, it actually damaged my nail bed and created an indentation in my nail that I'm still waiting to finish growing out.

Alright, after all that, on to the mani!

I started with a grey base, Gosh - Miss Grey.  Then I stamped with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Lacey Lilac and Bundle Monster plate BM-209 on index, middle and pinky.  On my ring finger and thumb, I first stamped a fishnet pattern from BM-209 in SH Xtreme Wear - Plum Power (it barely shows up) then I stamped a flower from BM15 also in SH Xtreme Wear - Lacey Lilac.

The idea had been for the flower to look like it was growing up a trellis but the "trellis" part not showing up kinda ruined that.

Anyways overall, this was a semi-nailfail but it wasn't a total failure and it was a learning experience.

Thanks for looking!

'Til next time,

Amanda

A Leopard Called Audrey

Hello!

I've got another stamping mani today.  This one was also from the fall.  I had seen a lot of brightly coloured leopard print manis and despite its popularity I hadn't seen one done with For Audrey.  (I'm sure they exist, I just haven't seen them.)  Anyway, I thought it would look nice so I gave it a go.

I was really happy with how this turned out.

Base colour is China Glaze - For Audrey and leopard print is stamped using Konad Special Polish in Black and Bundle Monster plate BM-221.

I'm sorry all these pictures are "chicken-claw" looking.  I hadn't gotten the hang of posing with the bottle yet.

'Til next time,
Amanda

First Stamping Mani

Hello again!

This stamping mani was my very first full set after getting my Bundle Monster plates in September and playing around a bit with them.

I had a terrible time at first. Somehow after watching a few tutorials and reading a few blogs, the only that had really sunk in was to go quickly. That translated to me as lightning fast and I was rushing way too much. I had disastrous results! Anyway, once I calmed down and went about it quickly and efficiently, I started having fun.

This my first full nail plate mani. Unfortunately, the picture is quite blurry.

I used China Glaze - High Roller as the base colour. It's a great jelly red. Then I stamped over it in black Konad Special Polish using Bundle Monster plate BM-201. I know you can barely tell but I used the sort of spirally scrolly one.

I remember being very happy with how this turned out. I managed to line up the stamps almost perfectly. Yay!

So there it is. Sorry about the blurriness, the pictures really do get better eventually.

'Til next time,
Amanda

Nail Art Fail/Abstract Art

This manicure I did last fall.  I was inspired by several apple manicures I'd seen at the time and since my gold Gosh polish was just about ready to come off, I decided to try this over top. 

I didn't have any little brushes to paint leaves or stems with and I'd seen some variations with green rhinestones for the leaves so I decided to do that.  However, the only green rhinestones I had were quite large and from the dollar store.  Oh well, I forged ahead!

I chose quite a dark red for over the Gosh-Gold.  It was Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Wired Up. I made the curved tops of the apples and then added the huge rhinestones.

The result doesn't look a thing like apples.  Perhaps an abstract sort of apple if I'm being generous.

Anyways, here is the final result.  It actually looks quite Christmassy I think.

'Til next time,

Amanda

Pink Tips

I've been collecting pictures of my various manicures over the last year or so.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them but I knew I wanted a record of all the colours and stamps, etc.   This is what I've decided to do.  I'm going to blog them all here.

As we progress through the time line, both the nails and the pictures will get better.  I promise!

Anyways, here is a set I did last summer.
The base colour is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Midnight in NYC - a black cream base with subtle multi-coloured micro glitter.
The tips are Sinful Colors in Cream Pink - which despite its name is actually quite a hot pink with subtle shimmer.

My nails were quite short at the time.

So there you go my first posted mani.  Like I said, pictures and nails improved as I went along!

'Til next time,
Amanda

Awards

I've been very generously awarded some awards!  Thank you to all the lovely people that nominated me.  It's been an awesome journey so far and I hope will continue to be for a long time.

Giveaways Tab!

I'm hosting a giveaway! Closes 5/02/12 at 12:01 am EST

Varnished Valkyrie is hosting a great giveaway!  Several gorgeous polishes including Chanel - Peridot.  It closes May 9th at 12am EST.  Enter Now!

 

Arfblat is hosting a giveaway on her blog, Splat!  Jellies and glittahs for sammiches!

Nails by Diana has reached 60 followers and Diana's celebrating by giving away a bunch of polishes!

 

Holly at Holly and Polish is giving away the China Glaze Prismatics collection!

Stash

This is my nail polish stash.

I'm keeping track of all that I own to try to help myself to avoid buying repeats.  It has happened several times.  Also, I thought this list might help for friends and family come Birthday and Christmas time.
I don't know whether to list them by collection or by alphabetical but I think I'll go by alphabet.