The Night Circus Nail Art

Hey there!  This month's The Polished Bookworms book was one of the greatest things I've read in ages...The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  It's a story of duelling magicians which sounds odd but it works.  The setting of this duel is a mysterious circus that is only open at night called Le Cirque des Reves or The Circus of Dreams and wow does that circus ever sound dreamy.  The best thing about this book, to me, was how fully immersed I became in this circus.  The imagery is so well written that I felt like I was there...and now I wish the circus was real!  The circus is set up so everything is black and white, except for a group of diehard fans who follow the circus called Reveurs who always wear a splash of red, hence the red striped accent in my nail art.

#ITRUSTINDIES - Indie Nail Polish Swatches

Hey there!  As I'm sure most of you know, the nail polish world has been all abuzz with drama due to some unsavoury behaviours by a certain indie nail polish brand.  I've stayed quiet about the issue because I knew I couldn't do it the justice that other blogs like Ashley Is Polish Addicted and The Mercurial Magpie have.  Unfortunately, when larger sites like Cosmo, Jezebel and Seventeen got wind of the story, the indie nail polish started coming into question.  People are now questioning the practice of all brands but I'm here with a group of other bloggers this week who still and always will love and trust our indies.  The Crumpet has put together a link up for us to share our love indies so I spent all my spare time this weekend swatching just a few of the brands that I know and love.  I wish I could do this for all the indies I trust but alas, there wasn't time so today I just have a small sampling of some amazing indie brands.

It Girl Nail Art Stamping

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Hey there! Last week I posted a review of the first round of It Girl Nail Art stamping plates.  It Girl is the new indie stamping plate brand on the block and her first three plates are great - great images, great quality.  So great that I decided to keep playing with them and do another post of manis I've done using IG101-103.  I was feeling some simple metallic stamping when I was playing so 3 of the 4 designs are using shiny stamping polishes.  If you'd like to know exactly what polishes I used, keep reading below.

TV Off Air Nail Art

Hey there!  This week's 52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge prompt is TV.  I admit that I'm a full blown TV junkie but I couldn't think of any individual TV shows to use as inspiration for today's post.  So, because it's summer and TV programming isn't so great at this time of year, I thought I'd do a TV mani that will definitely date me....an off air screen and a static-y TV.  I grew up on an acreage where we couldn't get cable so I only had 3 channels (yikes!) so if you flipped to any channel that we didn't have, you were accosted by static.  And back then, late at night, you'd frequently get the off air screen.  Good thing I was little and wasn't trying to watch TV in the middle of the night like I do now.

HPB Presents Birds Over Neon Sunset

Hey there!  So it appears I've inadvertently started on my Halloween nails really early.  But I promise that wasn't the intent for today's post.  This month's Hobby Polish Blogger's link up theme is Neon and I couldn't miss that (I do love the neons) and I was inspired by the brilliant sunsets I see at our cabin.  This year a huge flock of gulls has taken up residence on our beach so I wanted to stamp some bird silhouettes over my sunset nails but it ended up looking like bats on Halloween...oops!  I guess that's why it's good to practice ahead of time sometimes...

It Girl Nail Art Stamping Plates Review

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Hey there!  Today I have a review of the inaugural plates from a new stamping plate brand, It Girl Nail Art.  It Girl Nail Art is an indie company located in Tacoma, Washington that is the brain child of a member of our stamping community.  As a member the community, she knows what us stampers are looking for in our plates and she did definitely succeeded in coming up with a great product with the launch of her brand.  She has started with 3 individual plates, IG101-103, and was kind enough to send them to me to review.  I started testing them out by doing one mani with each plate that I'm posting today.  Keep reading for my thoughts and all the details.  ..

Uneven Striped Summer Nails

Hey there!  We're in the last half of August but I'm certainly not letting go of summer yet, as evidenced by this striping mani I wore recently that definitely has a summer feel to it.  Stripes are my favourite pattern (I'm a simple girl) and my bedroom is decorated in mostly beige and turquoise stripes.  Because of that, when I received my latest Vinyl Boutique order of nail vinyls including these uneven line stencils, I knew exactly what my first color choices would be.  I'm sure it won't be the last time you'll see these uneven lines on my blog though since I ordered 3 sheets of them!  

Pale Pink Tweed Nail Stamping

Hey there!  Well I'm back from my week off work and back to not having scheduled posts starting with this one.  This week's Crumpet's Nail Tarts 52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge prompts were pale pink and tweed.  I definitely knew I couldn't freehand a decent tweed pattern but I can stamp so that's what I did!

Hot Pink Tribal Nails

Hey there!  I'm all written out so today's is going to be a quick Crumpet's Nail Tarts 52WPNMC.  This week's themes were hot pink and tribal so I tried out TWO untried's in one go.  Yay me!  Now if only my camera could show you how neon this truly was.  Keep reading to find out which polish and plate I used.

The Digit-al Dozen does Food - Day 5 Diner Blog Hop Coffee

Hey there!  For the final day of The Digit-al Dozen's Food/Snacks week, we're doing a fun idea that was thought of by Amanda of Lady Maid Nails.  We're going to have one heck of a meal at a typical American diner.  Canadian Nail Fanatic should be starting us off by welcoming us to the diner and I am doing what I think most people want to start with when they sit down...coffee!  I'm not a coffee drinker but I recognize this as one of the most important staples in a lot of folks diets therefore I honoured it in stamping.

Here's what's on our menu for today.  I hope you're full by the end of it :-)

The Digit-al Dozen does Food - Day 4 Cupcake Nails

Hey there!  I know I just did cookies for yesterday' post for The Digit-al Dozen's Food/Snacks week so it might seem like I'm trying to give you cavities by posting cupcakes today.  But it's my sister's birthday on Monday and I wanted to do my nails for her with this theme.  She loves making cupcakes (always vanilla, never chocolate...boo!) so I did these with her two favourite nail colors, mint and pink.  Variations on this look have been done a lot and I have NO clue who the original was (if you know, please pass it on so I can give them credit).  And it's no wonder they're so popular.  They're easy and cute!

The Digit-al Dozen does Food - Day 3 Cookies (and Cookie Monster)

Hey there!  Today is the third day of The Digit-al Dozen's Food/Snacks week.  For day #3 I did some more junk food thanks to a couple of Fab Ur Nails stamping plates.  I'm not a big cookie fiend but my mom has made some delicious cookies this summer that's she has shared with us when we've had family lake time.  And who can have cookie nails without Cookie Monster?

The Digit-al Dozen does Food - Day 2 Fruit Stamping

Hey there!  It's day 2 of The Digit-al Dozen's week of food/snacks and today I have some stamping I did of one of the few healthy foods I like - FRUIT!  I eat a ton of fruit.  It's nature's candy.  In the summer, I try to get to the farmer's market every week and spend a small fortune on the stuff.  While the province I live in doesn't grow much fruit, the adjacent promise has some of the best fruit you can get and there's people who are willing to drive it here every week.  And then I buy it all!  I don't think we grow much of the fruit you can see on my nails (other than strawberries) but I still think this stamping is cute as can be.  

The Digit-al Dozen does Food - Day 1 Old Dutch Potato Chips

Hey there!  After yesterday's more sombre post, today I'm back with the start of this month's Digit-al Dozen week.  This month we're doing Food and Snacks.  This week you're going to see what my friends already know - I'm a terrible eater.  Today's post is all about my all time favourite junk food - Old Dutch Baked Salt n Vinegar chips.  I like to justify them by telling myself they're baked so they're less bad for me.  But honestly, when I put down an entire big bag of chips in a sitting, more than once a week, even I can't lie to myself that much, haha!

Sunday Stamping - Inspirational Word Nails

Hey there!  Today's Sunday Stamping challenge of Inspirational Word Nails couldn't come at a more appropriate time for me.  My Uncle Dennis was diagnosed with esophageal cancer two years ago.  Since then he has undergone surgery and chemo and suffered two heart attacks.  Unfortunately a couple of months ago it was discovered that the cancer is back, has metastasized and is now incurable.  But he's going to fight to stay around as long as possible.  He is the sweetest man - he will do anything for someone who needs help.  It feels silly to just do my nails in honour of him but I guess I did it anyways.

UberChic Beauty 4-03 Stamping Plate Review

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Hey there!  Today I have the last of my current UberChic Beauty stamping plate reviews.  Both of the mani's I came up with using plate 4-03 inadvertently ended up being double stamping.  I always have issues coming up with layered stamping looks but I liked these.  That speaks volumes about the types of images that UberChic Beauty comes up with...they're so versatile!  Keep reading to see all the details.

UberChic Beauty Stamping Plate 4-02 Review

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Hey there!  For today's post I have another couple of mani's I've done lately with UberChic Beauty's stamping plate 4-02 - two looks that couldn't be more different.  I did some stamping over a bright pipe dream polish water marble because it's still summer and some much more fall-appropriate stamping (because maybe a tiny part of me is looking forward to darker colors).  It's only August but I still feeling like we're already getting ready for a season transition here (the weather is chilly today) which is symbolized here.  Keep reading to find out all the details.

UberChic Beauty Stamping Plate 4-01 and Uber Mat Review

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Hey there!  I'm so excited for today's post because, not only do I have a review of another new stamping plate from UberChic Beauty (plate 4-01) but I also have some photos of their exciting new product, the Uber Mat which has gained massive popularity already.  I did two mani's with this plate - for one of which I made decals using this nifty new mat.  This mat really is going to be a game changer in the nail art world.  Keep reading to find out all the details.

Tie Dye Nails With Stamping

Hey there!  This week's Crumpet's Nail Tarts prompts were "Tie-Dye" and "Fugly".  I wanted to do a neon tie dye look without any fugly colors so I made mine into a cute tie dye mani.  The tie dye part was challenging and didn't come out like traditional tie dye, as you'll see before, so I jazzed it up with a few symbols of the 60's with the stamping.  Then I thought it was pretty adorable.

UberChic Beauty The Far East Stamping Plate Review

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Hey there!  Happy Monday folks.  Luckily, for me, today is part of a long weekend that some of Canada recognizes so I should be enjoying some lake time when this gets posted.  For today's post I'm continuing my review of some of UberChic Beauty's themed plates.  I've already shown you The Wild West, Out of Africa and Love and Marriage and today we have The Far East.  UberChic Beauty is quickly becoming one of the stamping plate brands thanks to her creative designs and amazing quality and this plate falls right in line.  The Asian-inspired images are absolutely gorgeous and also versatile as I hope you will see here.

Sunday Stamping - Over A Radial Gradient

Hey there!  Oh geez, the prompt for this week's Adventures In Stamping Sunday challenge is one of my worst nail enemies...the radial gradient!  I think I would happily water marble with terrible polishes than do a radial gradient.  But enough complaning...I sucked it up and attempted a radial gradient.  However I learned that, when trying something that challenges you at the best of times, it is probably best not to start it at bedtime.  While I don't completely dislike how my gradient turned out, I did manage to leave gaps in my stamping (despite it being an awesome plate), smudge a nail and leave my cuticles a mess.  So here we have my less-than-stellar stamping over a radial gradient.