A Parliament of Owls

Hello girlies! I don't know about you but I've been seeing owl nails everywhere. Sometimes just colorful owls like SuPa Nails Oh Oh Owls! Sometimes not so colorful like JawsOfKita-LoveHim's Owl Nails. There's also those with one owl like cutepolish's Cute Nail Art tutorial. Or those with designs that incorporate all nails like Chalkboard Nails Valentine's Owl Nail Art or Unhas da *micktuti*'s owl nails.

With all these awesome owl nails I wanted to try some of my own. I saw this design on Pinterest first and just had to recreate it. It's originally from Chalkboard Nails and was then recreated by Let them have Polish as part of a challenge—inspired by a tutorial.

I couldn't have chosen a worse time to do this design though. It was very hot and humid; the kind of heat that nail polish doesn't dry well in. I also had very little time to do my nails before I had to start getting ready for my niece's dance recital. I thought I could do it though. How hard could they be? Well, I'll admit they weren't that hard. I didn't think out the color choices very well. I mostly just reached into my nail drawer and grabbed the closest colors.

The base colors worked well together but once I started lightening it for the chest, dotting on the chest spots, and adding the beak everything just kind of blended together.

The spots and beak look nearly perfect on the mint and purple, shows up slightly less on the pink and red, but really just blends completely on the orange. If I had more time I'm sure I would have tested each color on paper before using them, but I was in a rush.

How much of a rush you ask? So much of a rush that I didn't realize I had scraped the eye off my thumb owl and dented the tip of the middle finger owl until I was in the car and far away from my nail supplies. I told my nieces that the orange owl was evil and attacked the pink owl. *giggle* I'm so mean. :)

I'm actually pretty proud of how well my right hand turned out all told. I'm right handed but through much practice I've gotten my left hand able to do much of the fine detail work. Still, it's never as good as doing nail art with my right hand. However, besides the googly eyes on the red owl I think everything came together very well.

For those who are wondering ... a groups of owls is called a parliament, hence the title. Yeah ... I had to look it up too. ;)

Polish Used

Revlon - Base Coat
Wet n Wild - I Red a Good Book
Wet n Wild - I Need a Refresh-Mint
Wet n Wild - Club Havana
Wet n Wild - Bite the Bullet
Wet n Wild - Tropicalia
Sally Hansen - Mellow Yellow
Sally Hansen - Sun Kissed
LA Colors - Black
LA Colors - White

1 comments:

Nail art "Red Passion"

Prodotti utilizzati:

base french manicure
colore acrilico Maimeri rosso
colori acrilici Americana nero e bianco
top coat

Ho voluto provare a ricreare una delle meravigliose nail art di Alek's Nail Atelier

Versione Verde

Colore acrilico americana verde smeraldo

Video Tutorial:

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Nail art "holographic sky"

Prodotti utilizzati:

base trasparente
smalto celeste olografico pupa n°033
colori acrilici bianco e nero
adesivi con fiori neri
top coat

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Moo MiniCards Review

This post has been a long time coming. I always seem to have more pressing posts though, but not this time! This is a product review of some custom business cards I bought last month from Moo. Always be on the lookout for Moo sales. I ordered these the moment I got the email saying they were selling their 100 custom business card sets to 500 of their customers for only the shipping cost. That's only $5.00!!

This is the pack my cards arrived in. All 100 of them! It's a really nice case, just about crush proof. However, I found it too big to carry around with me, so be sure to either have a business card holder on hand or purchase one with your Moo order. I already had one on hand.

The bottom of the case tag contains information about the company. Personally, I think that's pretty cool, but that's just me. Another thing I think is cool? The Moo case is free with Business Cards and MiniCards. It is recyclable and made from recycled pulp.

Here is the inside of the Moo case. You get your first look at the cards themselves. The cards are matte laminate so they have only a faintly reflective quality. This means, even on the brightest day, if you hand out your business card the recipient will certainly be able to see it! They are also made from paper product sourced from sustainable forests. I went with Moo's Classic Paper but there is also the option to order your cards on Moo's Green Paper. Green Paper is ecofriendly, 100% recycled paper. It's something to think about if you decide to order.

I ordered the first business card through Moo's free Business Card sample pack last November. I got 10 standard Business Cards with Moo's Printfinity. This is simply Moo's way of saying you can choose a different image for each of your business cards at no extra cost. What other business card company will print 100 different images on 100 business cards? The second card in the picture is one of my new MiniCards. You can see the size difference immediately. The MiniCard is about half the height of the standard card and slightly less wide.

These cards also have a customizable back. Use this to put your name, your number, your email, your blog, anything you could possibly want your business cards to say. Moo also allows you to change font, font color, and the background color.

I found the MiniCards absolutely adorable. However, they are slightly unwieldy. I found I had trouble sorting through them to find a specific card to hand out. They catch slightly on each other and you can't get your fingers positioned just right on their smaller surface to scan through them quickly.

Another con for the MiniCards is that they are a bit more grainy looking than the standard Business Cards. Still, this might be my new camera causing the image graininess. The classic Business Cards I ordered had images from my older, better model camera while the images on the MiniCards were taken with an emergency camera purchased when I dropped and broke my old camera at the beach. I found no difference between the photos on the computer but that may not translate as well to print.

Still, Moo is now offering a free sample pack of all their products. Again, this includes free shipping. You don't get to choose the images like I did for my Business Cards. These are pre-printed Moo products. They include a sample of their Business Cards, MiniCards, Postcards, Stickers, and Labels. If you are looking for a company to purchase from I would definitely order Moo's free sample pack and check out the great quality of their products before making any decisions.

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Swag Bucks

Hey everyone! I hope everyone is having a great day, hopefully with family and friends instead of work. :)

I want to take a moment from my day to tell you about a site that was recently recommended to me. Some of you will surely know about this, but it's Swag Bucks.

How did I find Swag Bucks and what is it? Well, I was looking for cool things I could use as a giveaway prize. Swag Bucks lets you use the points (or Swag Bucks) you rack up from doing searches, taking surveys, watching videos, using coupons, and so much more to 'buy' prizes and gift cards. It's like a carnival; you earn tickets and redeem them for prizes. The more tickets, the better the prize is likely to be.

I've only been doing this for a few days and I'm already over 1000 points. I'll have a gift card giveaway for you in no time at this rate.

Don't want to wait for only a chance at a gift card or want to help me earn it? You can start racking up your own points and help me earn points by using my referral link to sign up for yourself. Your searches will help me earn points while still earning you points. That means you can earn yourself a gift card and still have a chance of snagging yourself another gift card in my upcoming giveaway.

You can also use the Swidget to the right for searches and help me that way. It's a lot like Google so don't be afraid to use it.

So go to Swag Bucks, sign up, and start earning points for gift cards and cool prizes.

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Nail art "Taormina"

Con questa Nail Art ho voluto rappresentare la mia Sicilia e in particolare Taormina, essendo il luogo che amo di più al mondo, con i suoi colori e i suoi fantastici paesaggi da rimanere senza fiato!

Mi sono ispirata alla bellezza di un'isola piena di sole disegnando una terrazza di Taormina

da dove si può ammirare la maestosa Etna sempre attiva,

l'isola Bella immersa in una riserva naturale paradisiaca,

gustarsi la deliziosa Granita con Brioche

e i bellissimi e buonissimi Fichi d'India simbolo siciliano...

Questa Nail Art l'ho realizzata con il cuore e ho impiegato tantissimo tempo per farla...

Spero vi piaccia

Un bacio!

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Memorial Day

Hello girlies. Tomorrow is Memorial Day in America, a day to honor the men and women who died while serving in the Armed Forces. In national cemeteries, many volunteers place American flags on each grave as a way to honor them. These nails are my way of honoring the fallen.

I was hit with inspiration Friday night while looking through some tape manis. What if I used the elements of an American flag and put them on a nail? A red and white striped nail showing through outlines of stars. It could be just like a tape mani if I used stickers. It was brilliant. I just needed some star stickers in various sizes.

It was amazingly hard to find the sizes of stars I wanted ... or to find any star stickers at all! I thought of nothing beyond the sizes I needed. Silly of me! Anyone else seeing the problem? Yes, they are stars in various sizes. Yes, they are stickers. Why yes, that does says adhesive gems!! Instead of putting star stickers on my nails and painting over them like tape I had to put these hard gems on my nails and carefully trace around each one since they didn't conform to my nails like a true sticker would. Then I had to fill in the entire nail around the star outlines. It went from being such a simple mani idea to an all night and all morning job. I got one hand done before I was too tired to see straight and had to do the other hand first thing in the morning.

Some of the stars turned out amazing, nearly perfect, while others were a bit deformed.

Still, my original idea came through pretty well I think.

Here is a look at what is under all that blue which is China Glaze First Mate if you were wondering. I started with a base of OPI Alpine Snow and drew in a few messy stripes with China Glaze Poinsettia. I just wanted to show you that, for a design like this, the stripes don't have to be perfect because you'll be seeing only a very small portion of each one. Looking at the finished nails you would never think something this messy was under each one! :)

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New Features & Guest Bloggers Wanted

I would like to direct your attention to the right of your screen. Scroll down and view the new 'Blogs I Read' feature I finally got around to installing. Yay!! If you don't see yourself there ... well, don't feel bad. I haven't gotten around to adding all the blogs I read yet. However, if you don't think I've had a chance to view your blog yet and you want to be added to the list, I'm giving you the chance to leave a link in the comments section now! *poke, poke* Go on, do it now!! There is no need to add my blog to your own list or post about it anywhere. It would be nice, but it's not something you have to do to get added to mine.

Onto other new features. I've also taken the time to add a translation button powered by Google which can also be found to the right of your screen. There is also a Search bar now that will allow you to search my posts, also to the right. Direct your eyes thataway. --->

I have one more thing to mention. I'm looking for Guest Bloggers to help round out my posts in the coming months. I'll be going on vacation in August for a full week, and I'll be looking for one blogger to keep my blog active that week with two-four posts so I can completely relax without worry! I want to get the hang of Guest posts by then. If you are open to being a Guest Blogger I ask that you send me an email instead of posting in the comments. You can find my email in the Contact Me section. Tell me about yourself and your blog(s), the types of things you post about, if you have done any guest posting before, and include a link to your blog.

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Nail art "wedding floral"

Prodotti utilizzati:

base french manicure
smalto bianco
colore acrilico bianco, azzurro, blu e nero
strass
top coat

Ispirate a Saida Nails: http://up.picr.de/6260465lku.jpg

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Nail Art "pink flowers one stroke"

Prodotti utilizzati:
base french manicure
top coat con riflessi blu essence special topper n°05
smalto fucsia layla n°CE09
colore acrilico bianco e rosa
top coat

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Nail Art "wedding manicure"

Prodotti utilizzati:
base french manicure
smalto glitterato essence n°04
smalto bianco
colore acrilico bianco
strass
top coat

Ispirato a Tartofraises: http://www.nail-art.fr/article-nail-art-french-manucure-remixee-81307435.html

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Bonsai

Wow! I am like dead on my feet. I've been going to my sister's place every day. Sometimes we go shopping, mostly we go tanning. I'm getting a nice jump on some summer color. She also has three little girls: the older two in school and a two-year-old with her constantly. So, I've been getting run ragged by a little girl who wants to play with her 'Annie'. I was talked into throwing a softball for her and the middle girl yesterday. This is why I have a dog! Children expect you to run after them and get involved unaware that you are many years older than them and have nowhere near the amount of energy they have ... a dog will run and bring the ball back perfectly content if you stand in the same spot the entire time! Lol. I've had no time or energy to create elaborate nail art so I used a stamp and my dotting tool for this one.

I picked this color up last weekend during a shopping trip to Walmart. They have changed their entire selection of nail polish. They now offer new brands of nail polish and new collections from old brands. As always seems to be the case though, the one collection I was there looking for was the one collection they seemed not to have. With my luck, I simply overlooked it.

I did manage to snag Bonsai from the Revlon Colorstay collection. I'm not the kind of person who can pull off many shades of green without looking sickly, but Bonsai is a really pretty shade that worked well with my skin tone. This might have something to do with the very light yellow gold shimmer.

You can see in the pictures that the shimmer is very hard to see though. That wasn't the only problem I had with this polish either. The polish was very hard to get on the nail, streaky and with large gaps where the polish wouldn't lay. I had to use three coats to get total coverage. It wasn't such a big problem since I was using a design over it, but it is something to think about if you enjoy one color nails.

Another downside is that this polish only stayed on for one day! Not even that long because it showed signs of wear almost immediately and began chipping that night. I know I've been going non-stop and have likely put my nails through some hard times but that was ridiculous. Especially from the Colorstay collection which touts long wear, 11 days of wear if worn with their base and top coats. I did not wear this with their top coat but I did use their base coat. That should add something right?? I will allow that maybe I got a bad batch or some other kind of error because I have never had this many problems with the other polishes I own from this collection. But ...

All in all, pretty though it may be, I don't think Bonsai will become a staple around my house.

The stamping was done with Sally Hansen White On. I found this worked very well with my image plate but that might have something to do with White On being very old and thick. If you have some old lying around give it a try with your stamper. Or try it with new and let me know how it works.

I'm off to get ready for another day on the town. Have a great day everyone!

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Mario nails!

Mario nails! 2 nails in a week, you can tell I'm procrastinating! (MUST REVISE) I was so proud of these, but the stupid sunny weather (I'm joking I love the sun, but still) has given me reflections all over these, even in the shade and the photos dont do them justice! (hence why I've put so many up today)

There are way too many colours to list on here, but for all you who are interested the white background is Barry M 'matte white'
Alice :)

A Parliament of Owls

1 comments:

Nail art "Red Passion"

0 comments:

Nail art "holographic sky"

0 comments:

Moo MiniCards Review

0 comments:

Swag Bucks

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Nail art "Taormina"

0 comments:

Memorial Day

0 comments:

New Features & Guest Bloggers Wanted

0 comments:

Nail art "wedding floral"

0 comments:

Nail Art "pink flowers one stroke"

0 comments:

Nail Art "wedding manicure"

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Bonsai

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Mario nails!

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