Grumpy Cat nails

I’m sorry for the long wait to see my birthday nails, but I hope they are worth the wait J. I was thinking for a long time about what nails I wanted to do to commemorate my 30^th birthday and it wasn’t until a few days before the big day that I finally settled on the design. My fellow nail lover friend Patty is the one who suggested I do Grumpy Cat nails, and I can’t think of better nails to have when turning 30.

I surprised myself with how little flash these nails had but I ended up liking the solid brown next to the designed nails. For this manicure I used Sally Hansen CSM Barracuda, OPI Brisbane Bronze, Aphrodite’s Pink Nightie, and Pompeii Purple, and Orly Liquid Vinyl and White Tips.

Grumpy Cat nails

To create the adorable yet grumpy kitty on my middle finger I used a corner piece of makeup sponge and sponged on the white first. The triangular shape of the sponge helped define her ears. I did two layers of the white before I sponged on the brown; I always forget how much I love this brown!

Nothing says turning 30 like a disgruntled kitty on your middle finger

To get her tiny angry mouth I used my smallest dotting tool and used a stippling method to tap the color on. My original idea was to put a party hat on her but she took so long to do that I didn’t want to risk messing her up. To make it a little more birthday themed I put balloons on my thumb and pinkie. My right hand has balloons on the pinkie, middle, and thumb.

 

I can’t believe I missed her at the state fair

I had this manicure when I went to get a facial after my birthday and I got asked one of my favorite nail questions by the salon lady. She asked if I paint them before I put them on, I’m sure a loser that I love being able to say ‘no, actually they are real’. I hope my birthday nails were worth the wait and that you love Grumpy Cat as much as I do J

Pink Argyle Stripe nails

I’m not usually one to complain about my phone unless it really pisses me off, perhaps this comes from the fact that I work for a cell phone company. I have an iPhone, it’s not the fanciest phone available but it works for what I need it to, that is except for the horrible maps. As you could probably guess, I had to use the GPS recently and it didn’t go so well. I had a baby shower to go to in the cities last weekend, I don’t like diving in the cities to begin with and I like it even less when I’m alone and totally reliant on my phone for guidance. Stupid Apple maps took me to the wrong place and I drove around for 45 minutes before I finally found the place I needed to be at. That, coupled with the inevitable Minnesota road constructed, resulted in me needing to take a few minutes in my car to calm down so that I didn’t show up to a baby shower as a rage monster (rage monsters are not welcome at baby showers).

I had two baby showers to go to in August, one for a boy and one for a girl. My original plan was that I was going to do the same design for both showers and just change the colors (pinks for the baby girl shower and blues for the baby boy shower). I am so underwhelmed by these nails though that there is nothing about them that I want to revisit for the baby boy shower at the end of the month. For this manicure I used OPI Aphrodite’s Pink Nightie and Alpine Snow and a pink striper polish.

Pink Argyle Stripe nails

I wanted the accent nail to look like argyle and I think they fell just short. It’s not that they are bad; they just aren’t quite what they could have been. At first I just had solid pink nails with the one accent but I thought they looked so boring I wanted to add something to the other nails. I think in the end the dots are my favorite part of this manicure.

Nails that say ‘meh’

I can’t believe these nails are my 100^th post nails! I started blogging a year ago this month, crazy I know. I hope everyone enjoys reading my blog as much as I enjoy it. I love having an excuse to paint my nails far too often J

Easter nails

Hoppy Easter everyone! It was a chilly Easter but Spring is in the air and the Easter Bunny left my favorite Easter candy for me (mini Cadbury eggs). I always loved Easter when I was a kid, my parents did a great job making sure that all holidays were done up right and Easter was no exception. Mom had color coded plastic eggs so my brothers and I got the same amount of eggs even though they were way better at the egg hunting process. I wish I could still get a brightly colored Easter dress and hat to wear, but I think people might look at me funny if I was wearing a polka doted Easter dress with petticoats, although I do have bunnies on my nails right now so I guess I’m not really fooling anyone.

For this manicure I used a crap ton of colors, that is a very technical term in case you were wondering. I used OPI Alpine Snow, You’re Such a Budapest, and Aphrodite’s Pink Nightie, Orly Liquid Vinyl, Lemonade, and Prelude to a Kiss, China Glaze For Audrey and Rich & Famous, Ulta Sun-Sational and Oh!, and Sally Hansen CSM Parrot. I also used three stripers so in total that is 14 (plus top and base coat so 17), and that is a crap ton. Nothing says Easter like an overwhelming number of polishes J.

Hoppy Easter nails

My boss requested that I do tie-die egg nails but I was resistant because I hate water marbling. The last time I attempted water marble nails it resulted in me drinking too much and making a huge mess on my patio table. I’m not going to pretend that this attempt didn’t involve alcohol, but overall it was much more successful. I actually like how the pointer on my right hand turned out better than the left so you are about to be treated with a rare right hand shot.

Tie-Die egg success!

I was a bit disappointed at Easter when my nails failed to impress an 8 year old girl, I don’t think that was fully my manicure’s fault but more the fact that children are like bees and they can smell my fear. I’m not really sure if bees can truly smell fear but I heard it somewhere and have decided it must be a fact.

They may not impress an 8 year old, but they make me smile J

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and enjoyed my cutesy Easter nails. I mostly write this blog for my very good friend Gayle and she recently announced that she and her super awesome husband are expecting. I hope her baby can’t smell my baby related fear because I’m sure their kid will be pretty cool. Congrats Gayle and Ben!

Heart nails

Today is a stay in the house kind of day. We were supposed to get hit with an epic blizzard, I wouldn’t really call the weather today epic, but it is unpleasant. So far the heavens have deposited layers of sleet and wet snow, what a lovely combination. I keep having to remind myself that this is February and I live in Minnesota, so I shouldn’t be surprised. Last night we decided to be social since we knew today we would be home bound. We went to a silent auction at my parents church, it was fun as always and I won a super cute ‘girls night in’ basket (complete with the movie Bridesmaids). I joked with my mom that next year I should put up a manicure for auction; she seemed to think it would sell but I’m not so sure about that, I’m a really messy painter. :)

For this manicure I used China Glaze Rich & Famous, OPI Aphrodite’s Pink Nightie, and Sally Hansen CSM Gilty Pleasure. That China Glaze is quickly becoming my new favorite pink, I’m pretty sure it is going to be in all my Valentine’s manicures. To create the heart design I folded a piece of scotch tape in half and then drew and cut out half a heart, unfolded the tape, and used the stencil on all my nails. I was surprised I was able to use the same stencil on all my nails, but since I’m not very good at drawing hearts it made me very happy.

Jaunty hearts

I messed up the heart stencil a little bit on my pointer finger because I had too much paint on the stencil when I pulled it off. This was the first time I have made a stencil out of tape, I usually use tape for my French manicures. I was really happy overall with how it worked but it is very important to make sure that there isn’t too much paint left over on the tape or it gets in the wrong places.

I love the rhinestone heart

I had totally forgotten I had rhinestone hearts in my enormous rhinestone collection (thanks again Thad) I’m pretty sure these hearts will be making another appearance this month. I’m also pretty sure that I’m going to end up doing Valentine’s Day nails all month because I’m having so much fun with them.