Thursday, August 30, 2012

August 2012 Hauls

   Here's a fun post!  It could also be titled "When ShopRunner Shipping Goes Crazy", or "How I Ended Up With Enough Hair Stuff For Five Women", but those are too long and I'm trying something new.  Instead of posting little hauls here and there (which can end up being often and make it look like I manage a "lookie what I bought todaayyy!!" blog - ugh), I'm going to group them together at the end of each month.  I'm hoping that this will also make me realize just how much stuff I'm buying per month, and notice where my money is going.  Instead of it being a nail polish here, a new hair clip there... I want to fully realize how much stuff I'm acquiring so I know when to reign it in.

   This month it's a lot of stuff!  =D

   Oh, but there are other good reasons, too.  I plan on linking from my haul posts to any reviews or swatch posts I may have done for the items.  (Sadly that didn't happen this month... I was very sick with a cold.)  Or, if the item hasn't been featured on the blog already, readers can tell me what they want to see most and I can try to accommodate by posting about those things first.  =)


   So let's get started!  Follow the cut for more pictures and tales of wild Online shopping adventure!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Crackle Nail Polish Gradient

   My computer was "in the shop" recently.  Afterwards I was so busy that I didn't immediately get it all back to where I need to be for proper image editing and blogging.  Basically I've got an awesome new hard drive... but it's still missing some of my most-used programs!  I had to set up my watermark again, and so it is a tiny bit different now.  I found a few old pictures on my camera (from April...) to test it on, and figured I may as well slap them into a blog post.

   How's that for meaningful blogging inspiration?  =D


   The above nails are showing tip wear because I had already worn the mani for two days.  The colors used were Zoya Sweet (pink) and Yummy (blue).  I love them both and have a couple pictures of them without the crackle.  I used China Glaze crackles and the gradient technique should be self explanatory, with the key being layering them properly - check out my really old how-to post to learn how to do this perfectly!


   My nails alternated colors all the way across, so my left hand had a pink bare accent nail (can an accent nail have no art?  I think so!) and my unphotographed right hand's was blue.  Very easy manicure!


   There, a quick little post!  One of my projects is to go through the two SD cards of pictures from this spring and summer, and post the various swatches and manicures I had done.  This is a start!

   A bit of exciting news on the photography front:  I'm finally getting a little tripod for my camera during these close-up polish shots.  My hand is just too shaky on it's own.  I've been meaning to get a tripod for ages, but it's all thanks to my husband that I have one coming in the mail.  Woo!  ♥

Friday, August 10, 2012

Forget-me-not Nail Art

   Today I have a very easy nail art design to share.  I did these nails several months ago, for a spring nail art contest which I then never submitted the pictures to...  At any rate, I figure they have relevance now as I attempt to breathe new life into my blog.  Consider them a plea not to forget about me!  =P


   I just LOVE these~!!  Ahem.  I had to get that out.  You see, forget-me-nots are one of my most favorite flowers.  =)  And they were easy to mimic since they are a basic 5 petal shape.  The steps I used to make these are after the jump.