The Red Arrow

I'm pretty sure most of you don't know that one of my hobbies is archery :)  It is a hobby I picked up a few months ago thanks to a sweet groupon deal.  It's been a lot of fun, a huge stress reliever, and it's actually toning my arms a bit (always a bonus).  My "archer name" (my sister in law tells me I have to have one) is "The Red Arrow" - not to be confused with the muscle-ridden rich boy Green Arrow :P  I picked it because of my red hair, and I enjoy the color red in general.

So this Wednesday, I was *finally* able to purchase my own bow and arrows after having to use one of the academy's over-used bows!!  And (shocker), it's red!

Isn't it just puuuuuuuuuuurty? :D  I get to use it for the first time this Monday - I'm very excited!!

Last night I asked a friend what theme I should do on my nails that was quick and easy, since it was already 9pm by the time I could do my nails.  She suggested archery, since I just got my new bow.  So, I present to you, my archery nails!

I painted the bow and arrow to match mine ^_^  It is a very simple design, but I like it.  I used the Limited Edition color "Happy Primary Circumgyration" by Emerald & Ash for the background color. 

I love the shifts in this polish from a pearly super-light green to a slightly darker sea foam green.  It also has lots of silver sparkles, and an ever-so-subtle holographic effect in the sunlight.  It's a really lovely polish.

Hope you all have a fabulous Friday!  I'll be posting the next set of You-Pick-My-Art photos within the hour, so keep watch on my Facebook page!

*Note: links I provide are NOT affiliate (i.e. I do not get a kickback when you click on the link through my blog). I simply provide them for your convenience :)

Nail Art: Animal Drum!!!

Halfway to the weekend!!  W00T!

I have a super short post for you today .  It is payday and I've got tons of errands to run with the munchkins.  So, I'll just be showing nail art this time :)

This week's prompt in a freehand nail art group I belong to is the theme "Animals."  Here's what I came up with:

Look!!  It's a bunch of Animals!!!  :D  Handpainted using acrylic paints over "Purple is My Crack" by the brand Colors by Llarowe.  He is my favorite Muppet ^_^

Hopefully the gals in my nail art group will have the same sense of humor as me :P  Have a great Wednesday everyone! <3

Polish Post: Lilypad Lacquer "Golden Sea" and "Black Pearl" Swatches, Review, and Nail Art

Welp, it's Monday again.  Yuck.  Not much I can really say to redeem that fact, but I can attempt to brighten your Monday a bit with some pics of very lovely indie polishes by Lilypad Lacquer :D  I also did a little nail art, which I will show you at the end.  First, check out these swatches of "Golden Sea":

Outdoors in Direct Sunlight

Indoors Out of Direct Sunlight

Gorgeous, am I right?  Golden Sea is such a light and airy gold/blue color - very delicate and ladylike.  It's not too in-your-face with the shimmer and subtle holo.  It is the perfect polish to wear when you are looking for something a little more reserved.  The application was smooth, and took 2 coats to achieve complete opacity.  Because it is more of a chrome, streaks can show up during application, so just make sure you are brushing in the same direction, and you will be dandy :)  The wear time was great!  Survived two toddler baths, a shower, gardening, and playtime with no or wearing at the nail tips.  Hooray!! I love a good durable polish!

Next up is "Black Pearl":

Outdoors in Direct Sunlight

 Macro

Indoors Out of Direct Sunlight

I'd be a fibber if I told you a part of me didn't buy Black Pearl because the name reminded me of Captain Jack Sparrow's ship in Pirates of the Caribbean.  I sure did, and the other part of me bought it because it is a stunner!  It is a very brilliant, deep purple/black holo.  When in the sunlight, it is blindingly colorful!  Opaque after 2 coats, same wear time as Golden Sea - the only complaint I have is how distracting it is!  Simply beautiful, and a must-have for all you fellow holo-freaks.

Here are some linkages for you to keep up with Lilypad Lacquer:

Facebook: Here

US Shop via Llarowe: Oh Here!

Instagram: Click Me!!

And finally, the nail art!  I had this idea in my head for a few days, and after I recently received my first polishes from Lilypad Lacquer, I knew they would both be the perfect "backdrop."  So here it is: "Opposites Attract" :D

This design took me about half of Saving Mr. Banks (roughly an hour and a half) to paint.  I am happy with most of how it turned out, only disappointed in minor details.  Overall, I'm pleased with it, and I hope you are, too!  This is acrylic paint over Golden Sea and Black Pearl, and everything is hand painted.

That's all for today's post.  Hopefully I will have something for you tomorrow, but I can't make any promises - got the kids to handle all by myself.  We'll see if I still have all my hair by the end of the day.

Have a lovely Monday!!

Polish Post: Colors by Llarowe "Alternate Universe" + Nail Art

Well good morning/afternoon/evening to you!  Please forgive my absence - my computer decided it wanted to die randomly while I was in the middle of tasks, so I am now on my husband's computer until we can get me a new one.  Oy vey!!

Let's get back in the game with a polish post!  Earlier this week I posted a preview pic on my Facebook Page of a swatch of "Alternate Universe," part of the summer 2014 collection by Colors by Llarowe.  I've got some more pictures for you here, as well as a review, and something artsy :D  Check out the swatches below:

Outdoors in Direct Sunlight

Indoors Out Of Direct Sunlight

"Alternate Universe" is a gorgeous turquoise crelly with a green/gold shimmer in the sunlight.  It is a stunning color!  Because it is a crelly, it a bit thinner in shade and would take about 3-4 coats to be fully opaque, or you could put on a solid color as a base and paint Alternate Universe over that color.  I used 3 coats in the pictures above.  The application was super smooth, and surprisingly not thick at all considering it is a crelly base.  Dried very quickly and lasted a good 3 days before the tips of my nails started to wear.  Overall, it's a great polish!!  

The color reminded me of an ocean hue, so I was inspired to paint a sea turtle over it.  What I had in my head did not end up on my nails, though apparently it is a huge hit with the nail community!  It is my most popular and most liked photo yet, and has even earned itself a spotlight on an awesome Facebook page called You Nail'd It - another reason I also have to be thankful that I recently gained 50 followers (hello and welcome to you all!!!)  So without further ado, here is a better quality photo of the turtle!

I have affectionately called him my Turtalien because his face reminds me of an alien, not a sea turtle (couldn't quite get that nose definition right for the life of me!)  I spent the length of the movie Without A Paddle (about an hour and a half) painting this little guy.  This is the second time I have painted over my nails with acrylic paint, and each time I do it, I am happier with the results and am inspired with so many more designs!

So, in light of my acrylic revelations of late, I have decided to do more nail art!!  I will still do polish posts reviewing and swatching colors from various indie polish companies, but I will insert some fun nail art designs here and there, too :)  Keep watch on my Facebook page!  I will be holding a You-Pick-The-Art every Friday, where I will put up 3 different inspiration photos, and whichever gets the most "likes" is what I will use to come up with a nail design :D  First one is next week!

That is all for now!  I will have another post for you tomorrow, and a possible giveaway announcement since I am 2 likes away from 100 on my Facebook page!  Have a great Thursday <3

Polish Post: You Polish Harry Potter Box Pictures and Review

I am so very excited to share this post with you!! So much so that I even typed this whole thing out yesterday in anticipation of posting today ^_^  There are several reasons why I am stoked right now: the Harry Potter box from You Polish is AMAZING and full of so many awesome things; this is the first time I ever experimented with using acrylic paint on my nails; and this is the first time I'm actually really, really proud of how my nails turned out!

Let's start with the goodies!  In the beginning of June, You Polish had a limited edition Harry Potter box available for purchase.  The box included a butterbeer flavored lip scrub, 40 lightning bolt nail decals, one bottle of each House color, a keychain, and a beautiful bracelet made by Penchantelle that had all four House colors and came with four charms (a snitch, a wand, a phoenix, and a snake) that are interchangeable.  Talk about getting a lot of bang for your buck!  All of the beauty products work very well, and the bracelet is of GREAT quality.  The nerd in me is highly satisfied ^_^

The polishes themselves are quite stunning, and after applying them, I was inspired to go even further with my nail design.  If I don't post pictures already, I'm going to burst, so let's get on with it, shall we?

Behold!!!

Outdoors in the sunlight

Light Box

I was inspired to paint the crest of each House, and on my pinky finger is one of the lightning bolt stickers I received :D  The red color is "Godric" for Gryffindor (thumb), the green is "Salazar" for Slytherin (pointer), the blue is "Rowena" for "Ravenclaw" (middle), and the yellow is "Helga" for Hufflepuff (ring).  All the polishes are holographic, and when not in the sunlight, the colors have a subtle glitter to them.  The polish went on smoothly for each.  Rowena, Godric, and Salazar were opaque after 2 coats, but Helga is a bit thinner and will take closer to 4 coats for complete opacity.  I painted the crests after wearing the polish for two days, and it never chipped or wore off on the tips in that amount of time.  Still going strong on day 3!

I had seen a lot of other very talented nail artists talk about using acrylic paint before on their nails, but I had never really gotten around to trying it.  I paint on canvas sometimes, so I had the supplies on hand.  I decided to try it out because the only tiny brush I owned was for acrylic paint, not polish.  I gotta say, it was sooooo much easier working with the paint over trying to do designs with polish, especially during this time of year when polish tends to get thicker and dry quicker when using it for designs.  It took me the last half hour of While You Were Sleeping and all of Ferris Bueller's Day Off to do these nails - so I guess roughly 2ish hours.  Having great 80's/90's movies on in the background helps pass the time :)

While my artwork isn't perfect, it is not too bad, considering this is the first time I have ever attempted something so intricate and so small.  I am proud :)  And since I now know how great it is to use acrylic, I will be playing around with a lot more detailed nail designs!!  Yay!! Something exciting for you to look forward to!

I suppose that is all for this polish post.  I hope you all enjoyed my artwork!  Please let me know what you think in the comments below, or you can comment on my Facebook Page, too!  Give it a like if you haven't already - I'm having a giveaway when I reach 100 fans!