Blue Sparkly Water Marble!

Hey ya'll!  So this is a blue design I did back in April when we were all hitting the blue hard for Autism Awareness.  And I was also heavy into practicing my water marbling.  I tried a couple of different designs in the water for this mani, I'm trying to branch out!  

Picture Polish Honey Dew and a Skittlette!

Heeeey ya'll!  Long time no bloggin' - so so sorry.  I've still been painting my nails but not quite as often and it's all I can do to squeeze it in!  I'm racking up a back log of polish photos... I was really excited about these nails though and was looking for a moment to share them with you!  It started out with my first Picture Polish lacquer in Honey Dew!  (I also bought Tiffany which, should be self explanatory.)  Here is a swatch of Honey Dew to get us started.... 

Zoya Blu

Hey guys!  Hope everyone has had a great weekend!  Can't believe it's almost over... yuck.  Today I'm bringing you one of the colors from Zoya's Spring 2013 Lovely collection - this is a mini bottle I got when I ordered all the color cuties!  This is Zoya Blu.  

China Glaze Frostbite

Hey ya'll!  I'm sorry it has been soooo long since I last blogged!  I started working out (ever heard of Insanity??) and have a super limited amount of time in the evenings so basically, it's been spent doing that...and slapping on some polish when I can!  Since it's still April and blue is the color of the month for Autism Awareness... today I'll be showing you China Glaze Frostbite.  

China Glaze Mod Dots

Hey ya'll!  I have a really cute design to share today!  If you follow me on Instagram (see the side bar) or follow Cristina at Let Them Have Polish! or Kelly at Vampy Varnish (@l_t_h_p and @kellyvampyvarnish on Instagram!) then you've already seen this design.  They teamed up for a Wednesday guest post by Cristina on Kelly's blog - and this was the first design she used for that.  See it [here] with a tutorial!  I definitely like the colors she chose for hers better than mine but I chose different ones so it wouldn't be exactly the same.  As a side note - I've been blowing up the blog with some China Glaze lately huh??

OPI Russian Navy

Hey ya'll!  Hope you're having a good weekend.  Today I have a polish swatch that's been on my computer for a long time, since I did the Galaxy Nails way back in February.  Russian Navy is a classic OPI shade and since April is Autism Awareness Month and blue is the color to recognize it, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to show it!    

Water Marble with China Glaze

Happy Friday you guys!  I'm so excited to show you this water marble.  I'm still kind of an amateur at this technique so I get REALLY excited when it turns out good!  I loved this one and wore it for 3 days.

Easter Nails 2013!

Hey guys!  Hope ya'll all (I know, I say it anyway.) had a wonderful Easter!  Before I get into the Easter nails, you remember in [this post] when I said the color totally gave me smurf fingers when I took it off?  Well, you'll be seeing those here in this post.  Kindly overlook them.  

China Glaze Fancy Pants

Good Saturday morning girls (and guys?)!!  Today I have another polish from China Glazes Avant Garden collection, Fancy Pants!  I love love the names they came up with for this collection... 

 

China Glaze Sunday Funday

Hey ya'll!  How are ya?  It's kind of funny how I change my nails so often and sometimes blog about what I have on right away, and sometimes not blog about certain designs and polishes until weeks later.  This one?  I have it on right now.  Put it on last night.  It's China Glaze Sunday Funday from the Spring Avant Garden collection (which is altogether an awesome collection.)

Comparison: Zoya Ali and Nina Ultra Pro Punki Pink

Hey ya'll!  I have another PINK post today!  This one is a comparison of two similar colors: Zoya Ali and Nina Ultra Pro Punki Pink.  In all photos I have Ali on my index and ring fingers and Punki Pink on my middle and pinky fingers.  

No Top Coat

China Glaze Escaping Reality

Hey folks!  I have a simple swatch post for you today.  After all the crazy nail art I did for the last month, I needed a little break, like, just some regular polish.  Remember way back when I posted about China Glaze Def Defying? I mentioned then that I had my eye on a couple of other polishes from the World's Away collection...I finally caved and bought one of them!  This is Escaping Reality.  

Color Club Cherubic

What is up ya'll?  I've been kind of hit and miss on the blog lately, but I've been active on my Instagram, if you follow my shenanigans there (@hardlacquer), and definitely, definitely still polishing my nails often!  I've been on a polish buying spree lately (I got ALL 12 of the Zoya Color Cuties - super excited to get those, some Color Club Halo Hues, some China Glaze Avant Garden and some randoms) so hopefully I'll be able to sit down and blog about all of them soon!  Today I have one of the Color Club Halo Hues I ordered from www.shopcolorclub.com.  This particular color is from the older Halo Hues line (I got 2 from the old, 2 from the new) and it's called Cherubic!

Flip/Flop February Recap!!

Hey ya'll!  Sorry for the long absence.  Ya know, busy ...with... stuff!  Anyway, I thought I would do a post that recaps February's Flip/Flop Challenge.  It is VERY pic heavy - at least 28 photos!  So that's your warning.

Some of my favorites!

Flip/Flop February Day 28: Recreate Favorite Day

Hey ya'll.  FINALLY you guys - finally, today, on March 7, near midnight, I am typing up the LAST day of the February challenge... whew.  (**Update, I fell asleep in the midst of this so NOW I'm finishing it near midnight on March 8...)  I had it going on in the beginning and then it kinda fell apart but I was determined to finish this sucker.  Thanks Jillian for hosting this awesome chalenge!  Day 28 challenge was to recreate your favorite day.  There were a few days I really liked and I couldn't decide so I took a little poll on Facebook... and this is what I came up with...

Flip/Flop February Day 27: Recreate Someone Else's

Slowly but surely ya'll... I just ran out of steam at some point during this challenge.  To do it every single day is A LOT of painting and blogging.

It was hard to choose which design I was going to recreate, and I know Galactic Lacquer's mani's have already gotten a lot of love on the recreate day (well deserved), but her Day 20 Flower nails are just the ones I wanted to try!  I changed the colors a little...and I have got to get a striping polish with a thinner brush, but I'm still pretty happy with the results.

Flip/Flop February Day 26: A Theme You Missed

Hey ya'll!  Woohoo, Day 26 - only about... 5 days late.  Today we were supposed to do "A Theme You Missed" and while I'm going slow, I haven't missed any days.  But I didn't do both options for everyday so I chose to do the other theme from Day 6, Glitter Bomb!  

Flip/Flop February Day 25: YouTube Tutorial

Heeey ya'll.  Today I have what I think is my absolute favorite nails from the challenge so far.  This is Day 25 - YouTube Tutorial or Tape.  I chose YouTube tutorial because I've been wanting to try vintage roses forever and haven't yet.  SO I looked up a tutorial (2, actually) and got to business.  

Flip/Flop February Day 24: Rainbow

Hey folks - I really wish I wasn't behind with this challenge but I am and it doesn't look like there is any hope of catching up before it's over... so I'm just gonna settle in.  lol.  Hope ya'll follow me to the end anyway!  For Day 24 we had the choice of Tissue Paper or Rainbow.  For me there was never any question which one I was going to choose!  

Flip/Flop February Day 23: Lightning

Hey ya'll - so for Day 23 of the Flip/Flop February challenge the choice was Lightning or Bows.  I decided on lightning because Nailside has a really great tutorial on how to do these [here].  I did these in a really random order - ring nail first, then middle, then pinky then index... so they kind of got better as I went, I'm not crazy about how small the ring finger one turned out.  

Flip/Flop February Day 22: Mustache

Woo!  3 posts in one day (so far).  So, for Day 22, which was yesterday - we had the choice of plaid or mustache.  I tried a couple things on my nail wheel for plaid, but couldn't decide on colors and was in general no good at it.  So here's your mustache mani!  

Flip/Flop February Day 21: Dots

It's probably apparent to all of you by now that I have majorly fallen behind in the challenge!  I'm trying to play catch up!  The options we had for Day 21 were Flames or Dots.  I had really been planning to try some crazy awesome flames, but I was on a time crunch, so I went with the dots.  I kinda liked how they turned out!  

Flip/Flop February Day 20: Flowers

Hey ya'll!  Today is Day 20 of the Flip/Flop February challenge.  Today's options?  Flowers or VGap.  I chose flowers.     

Flip/Flop February Day 19: Wings

Hey y'all! Doing this real quick from my phone so we will see how it turns out. I'll update it from a computer when I get a chance. Today's options were Wings or Outline. I was scared of wings and not a fan of the outline look so... I ended up going with the scary option, wings.

Flip/Flop February Day 18: Galaxy

Hope everyone had a great Monday!  Another late post for me... I'm slipping!  Today our options were Galaxy or Rhinestone - and I chose Galaxy!!  I was a little bit afraid to do these nails, I've never done Galaxy nails before ... I thought they were just going to look like ugly blobs of random color polish, but I was stupidly happy over how they turned out!  Looking back - I think you'd almost have to try to mess them up for them to be bad!

Flip/Flop February Day 17: Delicate Print

Heeey guys! My post is sooo late today!  Sorry about that - this weekend has been jam-packed and discombobulated... Anyway.  Today is Day 17 of Jilltastic Nail Designs Flip/Flop February 28 Day challenge and our choices were Delicate Print or Newspaper.  Now, I've been meaning to try the newspaper thing for a long time, but I had this idea in my head for delicate print, and I didn't have any newspaper, so decision made.

Flip/Flop February Day 16: Animal Print

Hey ya'll.  Today for the challenge we had to choose between Animal Print and Stripes.  Now, I love me some stripes - it's one of my favorite nails looks ever, but since I've shown you stripes before...and I had a fun idea for animal print - I decided to do that!  Here are my leopard nails!  (Sorry if the photos are redundant!)

Flip/Flop February Day 15: Jelly Sandwich

Hi ya'll!  Today is Friiiiiday!  Get excited.  Ok, calm down and look at the nails!  Today's options were stamping or jelly sandwich.  I chose jelly sandwich because I've already done some stamping in this challenge and because jelly sandwiches are easy, easy, easy and so pretty!  

Flip/Flop February Day 14: Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

So today's challenge was Valentine's Day (duuuuh) or French Tip and I chose Valentine's Day.  Mostly because I have a bunch of heart/love stamps I don't really have the urge to use except for on an occasion such as this!  Here they are, my Valentine's nails:

Flip/Flop February Day 13: Sponging

Heeey yous guys.  Today's challenge was Watercolor or Sponging.  I chose sponging....the "easier" option, which I totally failed at.  This is one mani that I was not upset to take off as soon as I took pictures... 

Flip/Flop February Day 12: Drips AND Matte!

Ya'll!!  It's Day 12 of the Flip/Flop February Challenge hosted by Jillian at Jilltastic Nail Design.  Today's options were Drips or Matte - I chose drips...and then I matted them!  First up, the glossy ones.

Flip/Flop February Day 11: Splatter

Good Monday morning ya'll!  Remember on Day 9 when I said I was wearing something waaay cool and I couldn't talk about it because it wasn't Day 11??  Well - today is Day 11!!  We had the option today of Splatter or Cocktail Nails.  I went with splatter for a couple of reasons.  1 - I love the way a splatter mani looks and after a failed attempt about a year ago, I've wanted to try another one so bad.  2 - Even after looking at the explanation of the cocktail nails, I was kind of confused.  So here they are, my splatter nails!

Flip/Flop February Day 10: Half Moons

Hi girls (and guys?)... Today I have another fairly simple design that can be done with endless color combinations!  Today we had the choice of Fish Tail Braid or Half Moons and I went with Half Moons!  I just really like the look of them and have never done one.  I tried one a long time ago but my stickers didn't lay down good so it was an awful mess.  This time worked out very well though!  

Flip/Flop February Day 9: Plastic Wrap

Ya'll, it's Saturday!  And I'm wearing the most fun design on my nails right now, I'm in love with it - but I can't talk about it yet because it's Day 9 and not Day 11.  BUT for Day 9 our options are Abstract or Plastic Wrap.  The whole abstract idea kind blows my mind, so I chose plastic wrap.  It was my first time and I really really really liked it!  I didn't realize there were so many designs and techniques I hadn't tried yet until this challenge...thanks Jillian!    

Flip/Flop February Day 8: Black and White

Heeeeey ya'll!  It's Friday!  Let me get an amen on that!  Today is day 8 of the Flip/Flop Challenge hosted by Jilltastic Nail Design.  The options we challengers had to choose from was color blocking or black and white.  I chose black and white in a design I've never tried before.  

Flip/Flop February Day 7: Sugar Spun

Hey ya'll!  Whew - Day 7 of the Flip/Flop February Challenge!  For Day 7 our choices were Sugar Spun or Pattern.  I chose sugar spun.  Before this manicure - I had never done sugar spun and I wanted to try it.  However, if I had thought this through a little more, I would've realized how close the look is between "Fan brush" nails and "Sugar Spun" nails - AND that they were back to back on the challenge.  The reason I didn't realize this before now is I did Sugar Spun long before I went out and bought the fan brush in order to do the Fan Brush nails!  None the less here they are.  

Flip/Flop February Day 6: Fan Brush

Ah!  Late with this post - started typing it up last night and fell asleep while my pictures were uploading to blogger...yeah, in that short amount of time.  Oops!  Today is Day 6 of the Flip/Flop February 28 Day Challenge hosted by Jillian at Jilltastic Nail Design.  Today's options were Fan Brush or Glitter Bomb.  I've never tried the Fan Brush thing before, so I bought one and went to town.  This is what happened:  

Flip/Flop February Day 5: 3D

Hey ya'll!  Today is Day 5 of the Flip/Flop February challenge hosted by Jilltastic Nail Design!  Sadly - her and her family have been sharing the sickness since the challenge started and she hasn't been able to keep up!  Hopefully they're all on the mend and she can join us soon!

Today's options were 3D or Decals.  Since I've never really done either one - I went with the 3D option.  I kind of cheated because these are just studs and not really that 3D, but this is what I had on hand and I really liked wearing it.

No idea what's stuck on the bottle between the I and the L but it's driving me crazy.

Flip/Flop February Day 4: Ombre

Hi folks!  Today is Day 4 of the Flip/Flop February Challenge hosted by Jillian at Jilltastic Nail Design.  Today's challenge options had me less than thrilled.  Those of use participating could choose between One Stroke (which I had absolutely never heard of or seen) or Ombre.  I looked up some One Stroke designs but, I just didn't quite get it.  So Ombre it is!

Liebster Award! Wha??

What's a Liebster Award?  I didn't know either until the gal over at Nail Doodle told me she nominated me for one!  Obviously she's a gem and has great taste!!  Thanks!  To make things easy, she posted the rules on her own Liebster blog post.

Here they are:  

1. Post 11 facts about yourself.
2. Answer the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you.
3. Ask 11 questions to the people you are nominating.
4. Find 11 blogs with less than 200 followers and nominate them.  

Let's see what I can come up with... 

Flip/Flop February Day 3: Water Marble

Happy Sunday ya'll!  Today is Day 3 in the Flip/Flop February challenge hosted by Jilltastic Nail Design.  Options were water marble or dry marble - I chose water marble!  I have wanted to marble with my China Glaze Summer Neons since I saw Cristina at Let Them Have Polish do it [here].  Seriously, go look at it.  I'll wait....... Isn't that awesome?    SO, I figured today's challenge would give me the perfect opportunity.

Flip/Flop February Day 2: Accent Nail

Good morning ya'll.  It's Saturday and the 2nd day of the Flip/Flop February challenge that Jilltastic Nail Design is hosting!  For today our choice is Stained Glass or Accent Nail.  Let me tell you - I looked at some stained  glass nails but it just wasn't calling me... so today I'm bringing you my accent nail.  I was and am still SO happy with it!  I looooved it.  The two polishes I used are 2 of my favorites!

Flip/Flop February Day 1: Gradient / Skittle

Ya'll, I've been so excited for this day!  This month I'm participating in the Flip/Flop February 28 Day Challenge hosted by Jilltastic Nail Design.  She was nice enough to post this list back in late December so we could work ahead.  So far, I've only done about 8 of the challenges, but hey, a head start is a head start! I change my nails a lot - but I can't bear to spend so much time doing sweet nail designs and not even get to wear them for one day, and sometimes (whether ya'll believe this coming from me or not...considering how much I actually do change my nails) you just plain don't have time or are too worn out to change your nails - even if they're jacked up.  Anyway - without further ado - here's my Gradient / Skittle nails!

OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls

Good morning ya'll!  It's the middle of the week - and I have a color (Okay, white isn't technically a color...it's a shade or something, just stay with me...) I really really hope you can still buy somewhere.  I love it so much it is the only color of polish in my stash that I have a back-up bottle of.  Today I bring you OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.  (Warning: I may possibly have WAY too many pictures here of a simple white polish - I just loved them all.  Tough it out.)

OPI Pompeii Purple

So!  Yesterday we had Emmy Belle's 2nd birthday party.  Nostalgia set in and I decided I would wear the same color for her party as I did the day she was born.  This color is OPI Pompeii Purple - and it isn't really purple at all, it's...PINK!

 

butter LONDON Bossy Boots

Happy Saturday to ya'll!  Today I'm going to be showing you butter LONDON Bossy Boots.  If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen this color already - but I don't think the image portrayed the green very well.  Lots of folks thought it was tan, but it is green indeed!  

Pink Roses

Hey everyone!  So I inadvertently took a 3 day hiatus.  Sorry about that.  I haven't had enough time to paint and get new material for ya'll.  PLUS - I have been trying hard to work ahead on a challenge I'm gonna be participating in in February that Jilltastic Nail Design is hosting.  I'm really excited about it because it's my first one!  Lots of new things I've never tried before on there...so look out for some really cool designs and some possible fails, lol.

Anyway - today I have a mani that's a few months old.  I mentioned in this blog post that back in October 2012 I wore pink for every manicure (until Halloween) that month for Breast Cancer Awareness.  This design is from one of those.  I had just gotten my Bundle Monster 2012 stamping plates and I was using them non-stop!

Cult Nails Flushed

'Tis Monday once again ya'll.  Today I have a reeeeeally awesome purple from Cult Nails.  This is Cult Nails Flushed.  Remember when I showed you Deal With It and I mentioned I bought 4 while the $10 price tag was still good?  This is one of them.  And it's gorgeous.  (Worth the new $12 price tag gorgeous.)

 

Zoya Zuza and some Stamping

Good morning evening ya'll!  I started typing up this post last night to schedule to post this morning, but I totally fell asleep typing.

Earlier this month Zoya had a "Color Your World" promotion where you could order 3 Zoya polishes for free!  All you had to pay was $10 for shipping and processing - so obviously I took advantage and got 3!  The colors I chose are Zuza, Daul and Nova.  Today I'm going to show you Zuza!!  I have been dying to get this color since it came out this past summer.  I kept stalking my Ulta, wondering when the crap they were going to get them and by the time I got there once they got them - Zuza was all gone!  And until the promotion, I never got around to ordering it.  SO... at long last... Zoya Zuza.

OPI Too Hot Pink To Hold Em

Finally Friday.  Heck yes!  As I'm typing this (Thursday night) it's raining outside and it's super windy and it's supposed to get reeeallly cold tonight.  It seems everyone I know is hoping for snow.  But let me tell you something - I'm not.  I don't like snow.  I don't like cold.  I really don't like rain in the cold.  I just plain don't like winter weather so I am sitting here hoping for a "normal" morning and day tomorrow.  :::Brrr::::

Anyway - today I have OPI Too Hot Pink To Hold Em and a little easy nail art.