Girly Girl Challenge #8: Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

Helllllo Everyone!!!!
I've stretched out this challenge as long as I possibly can but there is no getting around it.  This is the last one and the challenge is over.  It's been a great run and I've seen some fantastic manicures from my fellow participants.  Really fantastic work everyone!

So this final challenge was : Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

Since I've been doing a few "arty" manis lately, I thought I'd do something a little different and bring out the glitz!

I did a glitter gradient!  This was my first one and I was happy with how it turned out although I wasn't entirely happy with how it photographed.  This is a base colour of China Glaze - White on White with a glitter gradient of Icing - Lemme See Your Peacock.  (What a dirty name!)  The colours didn't capture too well but it is a great mix of peacock blue, a magenta-ish purple and green.  It looked great outside and I wore it all week.   It held up really well!

Thank you so much to the other participants and to Lindsey for bringing us all together.  I had a great time with this challenge! 

Please check out what the other ladies have done for this challenge!

'Til next time,
Amanda

P.S. I did quite a bit of hauling recently that I must show you!

P.P.S. Don"t forget to enter my giveaway here.
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 Challenge #7: Sugar & Spice

So I'm warning you now, my interpretation of this round is very strange!

When I was a little girl, my best friend used to pass me notes in class with these things on them.  When I asked what they were, she told me very matter-of-fact-ly, "Killer Cinnamon Buns!"  Like it was the most obvious thing in the world. :)

Well now, that's sugar with some spice!

And so I give you:  Attack of the Killer Cinnamon Buns!

They're gonna eat you as payback for all their kin you've consumed!

I know this is a little crazy but I thought it could work as a silly mani for April Fool's Day too.

Also, it's Jodie's (she who thought up these wicked little creatures!) Birthday next week. 

Happy Birthday Jo!

ETA: Jodie has approved this message!  ;)

So, only one more entry in this challenge to go for me!

Most of the other ladies participating have already completed it but you should check out what they did!

Oh, and...  Happy April Fool's!

'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 Challenge #6: Sunflowers and Ladybugs

Hello Everyone!

Here (finally) is my Girly Girl Challenge entry #6.  Day 6 was, Who Inspires You? Show some love to your favourite female role model by creating gorgeous nails in their honour.

So like many of the ladies in this challenge, I chose my Mom.  I thought about choosing something different just for some variety, but, when it comes right down to it, she's inspired me most in my life.

So, these nails are for her...

My Mom really likes both Sunflowers and Ladybugs so I figured, why not both?

This is China Glaze - Smoke and Ashes with Acrylic paint freehanded on.  The Ladybug is China Glaze - Red Pearl.

I really liked how this one turned out.  It's definitely the most involved freehand I've done so far.
I had two sources of inspiration for this:  A metal garden decoration I just bought for my Mom of a Sunflower with a Ladybug on its leaf and an old copy of Painting Magazine from July/August 1994!  It featured a black watering can with Sunflowers on its cover.

I was really thrilled with how this turned out as this was basically how I'd envisioned it.

Please check out what the other lovely ladies participating came up with.  Most, if not all, are up now.  The next round starts tomorrow!

ETA: I've swapped some of these photos out for new ones.  I wasn't happy with how dark those other ones looked.

'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 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

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

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

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