Old School Swatches

So today for Sunday Swatches, I thought I'd show you some of the 'Old School' swatches I've done. My nails were extra short, I didn't have a clue about lighting (well, maybe a clue, but not much of one!), and I hadn't started doing a different number of coats to show coverage yet. But I'll still share these pictures, because it's kinda fun to see how far I've come.

My Kingdom For A Title!

Er, well, since I have no kingdom, I suppose it would be more like, "My nonexistent dream of a kingdom for a title!" But yeah, I couldn't think of anything really creative or whatnot, so you're stuck with that one. Well, *I* am stuck with that one. You can probably block it out with a little post-it note over the monitor or something. Wow, I think I've been too long without sleep, and it's affecting me quite a bit. So why don't we see what I put on my nails, and I'll try to rein in my inane ramblings.

Partly Pink

We all know what day it is, so I probably don't need to tell you that On Wednesdays We Wear Pink. But, in case you've forgotten, feel free to click the graphic and go find out about it. Then you can check out all the folks who get involved - if you like pink, then this is your chance to see all sorts of it!

So why did I title this 'Partly Pink'? Well, it's another splatter mani, so it's only got a little pink in it, but I'm counting it anyway. Mostly because I don't happen to have worn just pink recently. I have SO many colors I love, and pink sometimes get forgotten about a little bit. Anyway, let's get to the pictures and go from there.

Saturday Simplicity

Today I have a very simple mani to share with you, one that is easy and kinda elegant, I think. I've gone with a white base color, and done a konad stamp of a bow on each finger in blue. Sometimes it's nice to do something that isn't a whole bunch of stuff, and is just a fairly quick and easy mani, yet still looks pretty nice, in my opinion. Let's take a peek.

Holidaze... 4th of July in September!

I know, I know, it's way late, but I'm still playing a lot of catch-up from being gone so long. So anyway, over the 4th of July, I didn't have as much time to do a lot of celebratory manis, but I did manage one that I loved.  Let's see how it turned out!

Beautiful On Film

"Monday, Monday, so good to me... Monday, Monday, it was all I hoped it would be." (from the song Monday, Monday by the Mamas and the Papas)

It's Monday again, which is kinda all the same to me, since I don't work in an office or anything like that. The days can tend to blur together when you 'work' 7 days a week. (If you don't know, my job is caretaker to The Mate, and it's an every day thing. And eventually I'll start getting paid for it again, but that's another whole thing that I'm not gonna get into here and now.) It's usually a pretty good thing, as there isn't any day of the week that feels like a yucky one to me, they are all pretty good in general. Although today, The Mate gets the little disks removed from his nose, so maybe it isn't an awesome day for him. We shall see how that goes.

So today I've got a layering combination to share with you, one that I think turned out really great. There's been a LOT of glitters released this year that are awesome for layering, and I've been trying to get the ones I can. Of course, no paychecks means very little polish, but hey, it's not like I don't have a good collection already. I did snag these in the spring though, and I'm sharing them today. Let's take a look.

Monday Marbling

Whoa, I think I've lost my marbles! Oh wait, there they are. Let's look, shall we?

Oooh, Like, A Whole Month!

So we've come to day 30 of the challenge, a mani inspired by a tutorial. Well, one of the ones I've liked best is this one over at the Indian Makeup & Beauty Blog. This Geometric Nail Art Tutorial is reasonably simple (anybody can do it!), and gorgeous. So why don't we take a peek at how I did?

It's Becoming A Pattern!

Well, more like I was inspired by a pattern, but who's keeping track of that kinda crap? Not me, that's for sure. So anyway, I was thinking that it would be nice to do something that I love, and I love stained glass. So I chose to be inspired by this pattern:

Seriously, how can you not think that's pretty awesome? So, let's take a peek and my take on this one!

Let's End The Year With Xmas Manis!

One last post for the year... this one containing a few Christmas manis that I snuck in between the challenge ones. I didn't go as overboard as I have in the past, mostly because it's been a super busy year this year, and I had to hurry some of these. But I enjoyed them anyway, and wanted to share them with you.

Galaxy!

Welcome to day 19 of the challenge, galaxies! I kinda made this an extra layered mani, just going all out on adding all sorts of things that might make it look like a galaxy or five. Muahahaha! Let's jump right in and see what I did.

I'm Earning My Stripes

Okay, so don't ask me what I'm doing to earn them, I just remembered that phrase and used it. Hee. So, anyway, today's challenge post involved stripes, and I had a blast with it. Let's take a peek.

In Black And White

Oooh, such an original post title! We're at the day 7 mark of the challenge, and today's nails are black and white.  Not a whole lot to say about that, is there? I'm all sorts of wired up and scattered today, I guess I'm just overflowing with holiday spirit or something. Hee. Plus we got something like 4 inches of snow, and it's all white and pretty (and it makes my bones hurty - yikes) outside. Anyway, let's take a peek at the nails.

Cult Nails Hypnotic Collection!

Another collection full of fabulosity from Maria at Cult Nails! Yeah, I know I'm behind a ways, but to do her polishes justice I can't just slop it on any old way. These polishes are high end, like when you save up to buy that fantastic sports car you've always dreamed of. Okay, so they aren't the most expensive of all, but they are special. And I'm not getting anything out of saying that other than knowing that I believe these to be high caliber polishes that deserve to be loved. If you know me, you'll know that I'm not going to sell out for nail polish, no matter how addicted I am. So let's take a look at these beauties!

Saturday Shatterday!

Wow, so I'm sort of starting to get back into the swing of things around here. Still, I'd rather have the kids here all the time and never have online time if it were a choice. So anyway, I saved a couple of my Black Shatter NOTDs to share with you today, I think I'll make Shatterday kind of it's own day, like once or twice a month. I'm so totally NOT over the whole crackle thing, so if you are, you can feel free to skip these posts.

I Was Getting Artsy!

I love the gradient type of manicures, and so I had to try that yet again. I also discovered some nail art on DeviantArt, and thought it would be fun to try some of those out, so these next few manis are definitely nail art as opposed to just plain colors. I'm rather proud of them.

Marching Along

Oh look, Marching, March... HAHA. Anyway, let's grab a look at the rest of March once I finally took off the Clarins.

More Swatches To Share!

Okay, this time I'm actually getting back to this before a week has gone by! Go me! It's windy and rainy, and I've had a really rough day, so I'm kicking back with a Subway sub, some delicious wine (a Sangria from Brookmere), and the time to do a little 'housekeeping' on both my blogs. Maybe I'll even find the time to get some more swatching in tonight, unless I get tipsy. Of course, that wouldn't take much. So let's go through how my day went while we see the rest of the WNW swatches. (Fair warning, there is some gross talk in here!)

Wow, I've Been Way Too Lax!

So I've been extremely absent lately, and I'm sorry. It's just been such a madhouse around here lately, and I've been so wiped out that I haven't spent nearly as much time at the computer. I've even been skipping doing my nails off and on, which we all know is odd for me. But I'm coming back, and hopefully won't be abandoning you any more! Now if we could just get the Jeep truly working again... yeah, it's out of commission again. This time it's brakes. Argh! At least the warranty covers it, but we have to wait until May 6th for it to get into the shop!

So, since I've been so lazy, I don't have mani pics, but I do have a bunch of swatches (the entire WNW Fast Dry collection that came out recently). I'll split them up into two posts, because I have a LOT of pictures of them. So let's get right to it!

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.

The Good:

• We went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra last night, and it was A. MA. ZING! I took approximately 375,519,486 pictures (I do exaggerate sometimes) and about 6 of them turned out decent. I'm so hyper still from it, and we WILL see them again.
• We should have our Jeep back tomorrow, and if so, then I'll probably be right back in transports. I've missed it so! Our little truck is a cutie, but it's just not workable for those kinds of things. 
• We picked up some really decent bottles of wine on special, so we had to get a wine rack for them. It's a cute little thing, and I feel all grown-uppy or something, having this little selection of wines. 
• Missy seems to be settling down quite a bit more, and I'm hopeful that with some more work, she will be able to tolerate Lassie without trying to kill her. 

The Bad:

• The weather has been wreaking havoc on The Mate and me, and we're both pretty sore. I'm not old enough to be arthritic and such!
• Krissie headbutted me hardcore last night, and my nose really really hurts! I'm pretty sure if she'd hit just a touch harder it would have broken, and I say this because I've HAD a broken nose, and this pain is close. Luckily it should heal quickly.
• The Mate's boys are having a rough time, each in their own way. It sucks that we can't just swoop in and fix things for them. 

The Ugly:

• My skin - it is looking pretty bad. You know how when you get sunburnt, and your skin gets all peely when it heals? Yeah, mine is doing that all over the place, only without the burn part. 
• The living room - it's just not even close to ready, and I'm starting to feel like it will never ever get done. And that makes it harder to get motivated, which means it will take longer and ... well you get the point. Blargh.

So anyway, let's look at some more WNW swatches, then tomorrow I'll have a very special manicure for you. And by tomorrow, I mean, sometime within the next several days. Hahaha.