Some manicure Pictures... and Wildlife!

As long as I'm sitting here trying to wake up, I'll share some more manicure pictures with you. And, a surprise guest that showed up in our back yard last week. Let's jump right in!

First up, a no-name taupe from Icing. I did a Konad, and added little beads to it. I rather like the effect.

This is the first time I used the water decals that I got from Viva La Diva. I *LOVE* them!

Well, this is when my nail broke... but at least I had a gorgeous blue on there. And after filing my nails down, this mani still looked okay.

Here are my lovely little stubs. On the right hand I played with a Ruffian mani, and on the left I added some decals from Viva La Diva. I'll probably have to do a good review post on those soon. Let's just say I am impressed.

As you can see here, I'm starting to get a little better at water marbling. I rather like the way this one turned out.

Again, water decals from Viva La Diva. This time over a lovely bronze polish. The tiny inset there shows how it looks with top coat and with matte.

I showed these off before, but I'll include them here anyway.

I totally adored the way this mani turned out. I started with Rimmel Grey Matter, which is a nice grey that leans just a touch blue. Then I used SH Night Flight to Konad this pattern on the tips. I stared at this mani a lot, and will likely want to do it again some time.

And though I've shown you this one before too, I'm including it here again. Nicole Pitch Black Glimmer over WNW Black Creme.

I'm hoping to get some more NOTD pictures uploaded soon, and I did a very few swatches too. Now, on to my 'guest'.

So, I pull into the driveway in the dark, headlights on, obviously, and on the dogs' tie-out cable, I see this.

I think it's just a regular barn owl, but I don't know. I'm not up on different types of owls.

I was really worried that it was going to fly away while I went inside to get my camera, but apparently not, and I was able to get some great shots.

While it looks like I am right INYERFACE close, I was just past an arm's length away. Which is still incredibly close, in my opinion.

Every little noise made that head turn in a different direction. It might be neat to have that kind of hearing.

Pretty small owl, I'd guess the size of a super floofy small Amazon parrot.

I haven't seen it since, but I sorta hope it sticks around the area. We've got bunnies that breed out back, and they can be rather pesky. Plus, I think there might be mice in our shed. I don't really want to do anything to hurt either of those critters, but a natural predator taking them out doesn't hurt my feelings at all.