31DC2014 Day 30 - Inspired by a tutorial

Hey there! Second last day of the 31 Day Challenge.  I'm happy to say that I've done all the prompts and I even managed to get them done a couple days in advance so I wouldn't miss any.  These were actually the last ones I did and I ended up wearing them all weekend because I couldn't bring myself to 1.  take them off because I loved them and 2. do my nails one more time.  This challenge is definitely challenging!

The tutorial I picked today was the scaled gradient from the amazing Simply Nailogical.  Everything she puts out is awesome.  And she gets a few bonus points for being a fellow Canadian, haha!

31DC2014 Day 29 - Inspired by the supernatural

Hey there!  Day 29 of the 31 Day Challenge and I already know I'm going to miss it a bit.  Today's prompt is "inspired by the supernatural".  I thought I'd have a trillion ideas for today based on the TV I watch and the books I read but it ended up being a challenge for me.  I think the biggest challenge was figuring out what is considered supernatural.  So I went with a pretty standard supernatural being and did some alien nail art.  And, of course, it just had to glow in the dark!

31DC2014 Day 28 - Inspired by a flag

Hey there!  For Day 28 of the 31 Day Challenge I've done a flag of a country that, until 2 minutes ago, I wasn't entirely sure where it is located.  But it is the temporary home of a dear friend of mine who moved there this month so I chose the United Arab Emirates (UAE) flag as my inspiration.

31DC2014 Day 27 - Inspired by artwork

Hey there!  Today's prompt for the 31 Day Challenge is "inspired by artwork".  I've already seen some super cool representations of famous artwork but what I did is far from famous.  Earlier this week I was going to went to a PaintNite event which is where you recreate a painting while enjoying a couple beverages at a bar.  They provide the supplies and you get to pretend you're an artist.  So the night before I was going I decided to practice by putting the painting we were going to do on my nails.

31DC2014 Day 26 - Inspired by a pattern

Hey there!  While looking for inspiration for today's post, I once again hit up Pinterest and found this pattern that I thought would look cool on nails.  I have no idea what this style is called but I think it's super neat and I had a blast doing these.  And I'm even happy with how they turned out!

31DC2014 Day 25 - Inspired by fashion

Hey there!  Day 25 of the 31 Day Challenge and I'm still on top of things!  Today's prompt is "inspired by fashion" which, if you knew me in real life, you'd know is a laughable prompt since I don't know the first thing about fashion.  I'm currently sitting at work (shhhh, don't tell) in my old jeans, baggy hoodie and a toque, even though it's 21 C outside.  So I hit up Pinterest, typed in "fashion" and thought this dress would make some cool nail art.

image source

31DC2014 Day 24 - Inspired by The Incarnations of Immortality

Hey there!  I have to admit I am so not feeling motivated to write up this post.  Day 24 of the 31 Day Challenge is Inspired by a book day.  I love reading.  I read every night.  But do you think I could come up with a decent idea for today?  Nope.  Since I managed to get a few days ahead on the challenge, I was doing these this past weekend and I just kept staring at my bookshelf.  Eventually I grabbed a series of books called The Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony and used the first five (out of the eight in the series) and used them for my inspiration.

31DC2014 Day 23 - Inspired by a movie

Hey there!  For my 31DC2014 movie inspiration, I thought of my 4 year old niece's favourite movie and did some Frozen nail art.  I even ran it by her to ask her if she knew what it was before I decided if I was going to post this.  But when I asked she immediately said "Olaf!" so I figured I was good to go...

Rica Stamping Polish Review

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Hey there!  Before I post today's 31 Day Challenge mani, I thought I'd post a review on a couple of Rica polishes that I was sent by Color4Nails.  I was so excited to review these because I really wanted to test out Rica polishes for stamping.  As a bonus, they're also safe to wear as regular polish.

31DC2014 Day 22 - Inspired By A Song

Hey there!  Today's prompt of Inspired by a song for the 31 Day Challenge was a killer to me!  I love music almost obsessively and since this is my first time doing the challenge I wanted to pick some cool new song that I love to make me look all up to date with music.  But I couldn't pick a song that I could make into nail art so I ended up going in the completely opposite direction and picking an old country song, On The Road Again by Willie Nelson.

31DC2014 Day 21 - Inspired by a color

Hey there!  As soon as I saw the prompts for the 31 Day Challenge I knew exactly what I wanted to do for Day 21.  For "Inspired by a color" I took inspiration from a nail polish name, Zoya Autumn.    So I did a fall-toned gradient and stamped on some autumn leaves.

31DC2014 Day 20 - Blue Water Marble Nail Art

Hey there!  How's your weekend going?  I've pretty much done nothing but lay around today but I'm finally getting around to posting this water marble for Day 20 of the 31 Day Challenge.  I love water marbles when they work and curse them when they don't.  For this one I got lucky with the polishes I picked and they all spread nicely so it worked pretty seamlessly.  Hooray!  I used mostly Zoya polishes, plus one Essie.  Keep reading to find out which ones and to see how I just couldn't resist stamping it too.

31DC2014 Day 19 - Expanding Galaxies

Hey there!  Happy Friday everybody!  Day 19's 31 Day Challenge prompt is Galaxies.  Galaxy nails are seriously one of my favourite types of nail art so I was looking forward to this one.  So much so that I may have taken way too many photos of these.  After doing my galaxy nail art I decided I wanted to unleash the geek in me and turn them into Big Bang nail art (the scientific principle, not the TV show) so I used some Nail Vinyls to make them look like the galaxy was exploding/expanding.

31DC2014 Day 18 - Pinstripe Half Moons...and Another Giveaway!

Hey there!  For Day 18 of the 31 Day Challenge, we have another technique I've never tried before...half moons!  At least I've never tried traditional half moons, paper reinforcement and all.  For these I used A England Bridal Veil and jazzed them up with some pinstripes and some glitter.  And at the end of this post I'm also sharing another Facebook giveaway that I'm involved with so, if you like free stuff, click "read more" to make sure you don't miss out!

31DC2014 Day 17 - Stamping Over Glitter

Hey there!  Today's prompt for the 31 Day Challenge is Glitter.  Who doesn't love glitter?!  I love it so much that I managed to do a couple of different glitter mani's this weekend but I could only pick one so here it is.  I went with KBShimmer Sand In My Stocking because, man, there's A LOT of different glitters in there.  After seeing a stamping post on Instagram by one of my favourite IG'ers, @sveta_sanders, I fell in love with the stamping image which made me buy this plate from MoYou London.  Yup, it made me.  I had no choice in the matter :-P

Hobby Polish Bloggers Facebook Giveaway

Hey there!  I have another exciting giveaway to announce!  A group of us on Facebook have joined to  put together a great giveaway, open internationally.  The only limitation is that you must be over 18 years old.  We love our younger followers but we do have to obey the law.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The prizes will be distributed through Paypal.  First prize is $165, second prize is $90 and third prize is $75.  Who couldn't use a bit of extra cash to spend on polish, right?  Entry closes on September 30th so you have 2 weeks to enter if you don't have time now.

Please take a moment to visit the sponsors of this giveaway.  They're a great group of bloggers, that's for sure!  I followed many of these lovelies long before I had my own little blog.

A Little Polish http://alittlepolish.blogspot.com

acidicice http://www.acidicice.co.za

Addicted to Polish http://addictedtopolish.blogspot.com

BeginNails: Every Journey Has A Beginning http://www.beginnails.blogspot.com

B'Nails http://boomernails.blogspot.com/

Canadian Nail Fanatic http://canadiannailfanatic.blogspot.ca/

Carinae L'etoile's polish stash http://www.carinaeletoile.com

Copycat Claws http://www.copycatclaws.blogspot.ca

Doctor Crafty https://doctorcrafty.wordpress.com

Fashion Footing http://fashionfooting.blogspot.com

I Feel Polished http://www.ifeelpolished.com

Imperfectly Painted http://www.imperfectlypainted.com/

LacqueredGeek http://www.facebook.com/lacqueredgeek

Lavish Layerings http://www.lavishlayerings.blogspot.com/

Les essais beauté de Schette http://schette08.free.fr/essaisbeaute/

Lit From Within http://beautylitfromwithin.blogspot.com/

Lustrous Lacquer http://www.lustrouslacquer.blogspot.com

Manic Talons http://www.manictalons.com

Manicure Addict http://www.manicureaddict.com

Pamper with Polish http://www.pamperwithpolish.com

Peer Pressure Polish http://www.peerpressurepolish.com

Plump and Polished http://www.plumpandpolished.com 

Polish Galore http://www.polishgalore.com

Polished and Glittered http://www.polishedandglittered.com

ProcrastiNails http://www.ProcrastiNails.com

Sammy Gail's Nails http://sammygailsnails.blogspot.com

Sassy Shelly http://www.sassyshelly.com

Shelby Lou Nails http://shelbylounails.blogspot.com

The Dalai Lama's Nails http://www.thedalailamasnails.com

The Polished Hippy http://thepolishedhippy.blogspot.com/

The Polished Mommy http://www.thepolishedmommy.com/

The Sparkling Hoard http://www.thesparklinghoard.com/

xoxo, Jen http://xoxojen.com

Also don't forget to also enter my own first blogiversary giveaway if you haven't entered yet!  You can find that post here.  It's open for 5 more days.

'Til next time...

Gloss 'n Sparkle Strawberry Spring, The Green Mile and Needful Things

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Hey there!  I'm back for the second time today to post some swatches of a new-to-me brand.  The brand is Gloss 'n Sparkle, another great Australian indie brand.  Seriously, I don't know what kind of nail polish mojo the Australians have but I've yet to tried an Aussie brand that I don't like.  Gloss 'n Sparkle is no exception.  I was sent three polishes (Strawberry Spring, The Green Mile and Needful Things) from Color4Nails to review.  Click "Read more" to check out my full review.

31DC2014 Day 16 - Rubik's Cube Nail Art

Hey there!  Today's 31 Day Challenge prompt of Geometric was a tough one for me.  I don't know why.  I am aware there are a lot of shapes in the world...I just couldn't decide which ones to put on my nails!  Then I had the brilliant idea of doing Rubik's Cube nails.  Of course when I googled, I found some other bloggers that have already done awesome versions but I went ahead with it anyways and absolutely love how it turned out.

31DC2014 Day 15 - Delicate Print

Hey there!  I've been trying to avoid doing the 31 Day Challenge with entirely stamping-based nail art but sometimes stamping is just better.  Today is one of those days.  Today's prompt is delicate print and, while I did try to freehand something, stamping simply kicks butt when it comes to getting fine lines into my nail art.  So I stamped this lacy pattern over Dance Legend Knight.

31DC2014 Day 14 - Picture Polish Forget Me Not Flowers

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Hey there!  How's everybody's weekend going?  I've spent mine engrossed in my nail polish, trying to get a couple of days ahead on the challenge and get some review swatches done.  I've been a busy bee!  For the 14th day of the 31 Day Challenge, the prompt was flowers.  So I took inspiration from the polish's name and painted some Forget-Me-Not flowers on Picture Polish Forget Me Not, one of the latest blogger collaboration shades to come from Picture Polish.

31DC2014 Day 13 - Animal Print

Hey there!  I literally just realized that it's after 9 pm here and I haven't written up the post for Day 13 of the 31 Day Challenge.  Oops!  So here it goes.  Today's prompt is "animal print".  I saw this awesome post by Chickettes for snake skin nail art and I wanted to try it.  So I called up my mom this week and asked if she had any tulle fabric (she sews, I don't) and tried it the night I picked it up from her.  But I think I stretched the holes in the fabric too far so it came out looking more like a turtle shell or giraffe than snake skin.  So it's still animal print.  I'm just not sure which animal...

31DC2014 Day 12 - Stripes over gradient

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Hey there!  For Day 12 of the 31 Day Challenge I'm killing, not two, but three birds with one stone, as they say.  1.  I get to complete "stripes" day.  2.  I get to review these cute cuticle tattoos from Bundle monster and 3. I get to do a new gradient since I didn't love how my gradient day nails turned out.  So today here's a new gradient with stripes.

31DC2014 Day 11 - Fall-Toned Dots Shower

Hey there!  Since I've already done a polka dot look for the 31 Day Challenge I was browsing Pinterest, looking across inspiration for what to do for for the official Polka Dots day.  I came across this awesome manicure by Raggio di Luna that she called "Dots Shower".  I loved it so much that I tried to do a similar look with an autumn colour palette.

Born Pretty Store Review

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Hey there!  While I have a few extra minutes I thought I could take another break from the 31 Day Challenge and fit in this review of a few Born Pretty Store items that I received.  The items I have to show you today are pretty diverse...a couple of water decals, a polish AND a ring!

31DC2014 Day 10 - Gradient Nails

Hey there!  The prompt for day 10 of the 31 Day Challenge is "gradient nails".  Well there is nothing I love more than gradients.  They are absolutely my favourite nail art look.  So it pretty much broke my poor little heart when my gradient turned into a failure.  And since I decided at last minute to go ahead with this challenge, I don't have much time to re-do my fails.  Instead I tried to save it with some subtle stamping...

31DC2014 Day 9 - Rainbow Brite Nail Art

Hey there!  Thanks for all your kind words on my blogiversary yesterday.  You guys are awesome!

It's Day 9 of the 31 Day Challenge!  For today's theme is Rainbow Nails I'm sure I'm dating myself but I completely love what I did.  I've gone went WAY out of my comfort zone and tried to doodle on some Rainbow Brite nail art.  This was my sister's suggestion when I was at a loss for a rainbow design idea even though she wasn't even born when Rainbow Brite was a thing!  Poor girl knows way too much about the 80's and 90's thanks to having two sisters who are nearly a decade older than her.

31DC2014 Day 8 - Metallic Nails

Hey there!  I'm back for the second time today.  Hopefully you didn't miss my first blogiversary and giveaway post earlier today.  If you did, check it out and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway of a few of my favourite things...I feel like Oprah!

Day 8 of the 31 Day Challenge is meant for Metallic Nails and I totally geeked out here.  Have I mentioned that I'm a scientist by day?  So I titled my metallic nails with their chemical symbols.