The Digit-al Dozen does Marble - Water Marble Nails With Stamping

Hey there!  Today brings us the end of The Digit-al Dozen's Marble Week.  One of the coolest (but most challenging) marble technique has to be the water marble.  I personally find that I can only marble with certain polishes.  I don't know what it is in a formula that makes it water marble-able or not and I'm certainly not patient enough to figure it out.  So when I get the urge to water marble, I tend to go back to my tried-and-true pipe dream polish neons.  This brand is gone now but I'll always appreciate whatever magic she put in them that made them fool proof.

The Digit-al Dozen does Inspired By Each Other - Olivia Jade Nails

Hey there!  Alas, it's the final day of The Digit-al Dozen's Inspired By Each Other week.  I'm genuinely sad that I only did 5 so I really want to use any extra time I have coming up to copy the rest of the my girls.  That is how my sister named my blog after all, I started it by taking inspiration from the creative people.  I like to think that I usually come up with my own ideas now but I certainly loved this week since I got to pay homage to some of the other DD girls.  The lady whose nails I tried to recreate today is Olivia Jade Nails.  We seem to be drawn to a lot of the same stamping images and we both like lots of color so I like to think that we're Canadian-Australian nail soul mates, haha!  Ironically, the mani I picked to copy isn't even a stamping one...at least not for her.  She used nail vinyls to create this super cool rainbow-y turtle shell mani.  I tried with vinyls and failed so I opted for stamping.  We're not quite twins but close enough!

Nail Crazies Unite - Rainbow Water Marble

Hey there!  This week's Nail Crazies Unite prompt is Rainbow Water Marble so of course I had to bust out my beloved pipe dream polish cremes.  Ever since they decided to shut down, I think I've been avoiding using them knowing that there's no way to ever get more.  But that's dumb, right?  What's the point of nail polish that doesn't get used.  So I used them and I certainly still love them.  But after a few minutes I got bored of a plain water marble and decided to do some negative space stamping over them to make them even better...at least in my opinion...

Nail Crazies Unite - Inspired by Pixar

Hey there!  Today's Nail Crazies Unite prompt is a fun one.  This week we're doing nails inspired by Pixar movies.  I really wasn't sure what movies are Disney and what are Pixar so I hit up the Google machine.  Then I had to think of what I could actually accomplish with my own two hands!  I knew I don't have any Pixar stamping plates so I had to freehand something.  At first I tried to do Slinky Dog from Toy Story but what a mess that turned out to be!!  So I went simpler and did some easy Finding Nemo nails which turned out much less nightmare-inducing than that poor Slinky Dog!

The Digit-al Dozen does Throwback - Throwback Music Stamping

Hey there!  It's the Throwback Thursday of this month's Digit-al Dozen theme!  Since Throwback Thursday always makes me think of great older music, I'm posting an 80's-inspired music mani today.  This the Super Mario Bros nails I posted a couple days ago, this is pretty much my childhood on my nails!

Bundle Monster Homeroom Hell

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Hey there!  How is everyone doing out there?  I hope everyone is enjoying a beautiful summer day like it is here.  It's going to be 30 C today (86 F) which is too darn hot for me but I know lots of people love it.  I came home from the cabin for a couple days but today would be a perfect lake day.  30 C by a big body of water is great!  30 C in the city is melt-y!  Anyway, back to today's blog post.  I did a couple manis with a plate from Bundle Monster called Homeroom Hell.  I'm sure folks aren't quite looking forward to the return to school quite yet but this plate doesn't scream school to me, even though I did do a chalkboard look for one of my designs.

26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Water

Hey there!  Today's 26 Great Nail Art Ideas theme is something we can't live without - water!  I know I'm not alone in really, really loving water, hence I spend as much time at the lake as possible.  Even though I can't swim, being around water is just so calming.  Or, in the case of our cold and angry lake, it's exhilarating.  For today's mani I picked a design that was calming to look at but not so calming to actually do.  I chose to do a blue water marble so it's sort of water two ways - looks like water and used water to do it.

What's Up Nails Holographic Powder and Easter Nail Stencils

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Hey there!  A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by What's Up Nails asking if I wanted to check out some of their products.  Since I've been drooling over their stuff for awhile, I jumped at the opportunity.  So last week when I got a package of goodies, I started playing with them right away and I definitely wasn't disappointed.  Because Easter is approaching, I thought the Easter nail stencils would be a good first product to show.  I paired one of the stencils with the holographic powder available from What's Up Nails so I'll show you that first.

The Digit-al Dozen does Decades - The 60's

Hey there!  For my second design of The Digit-al Dozen's Decades week, I'm doing my take on The 60's.  Bright coloured water marbles make awesome sixties-inspired nails so that's how I started.  This was honestly one of the best water marbles I've ever done but I still couldn't resist throwing something else one top of it.  When I was planning my nails I was trying to think of memorable things about the 60's (even though I wasn't alive yet) and one night the space race popped into my head.  I have NO idea where that came from since Canada wasn't involved at all as far as I know.  But it gave me a good excuse to use more images off the awesome Bundle Monster/Kelli Marissa plate that I just posted last week.

MILV Water Decal Review

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Hey there!  Tonight I'm having a throwback to something I used to use a lot but haven't had time to use lately - water decals.  Honestly, I love water decals.  You can get pretty nail art looks that I personally would never be able to achieve with either stamping or freehand.  But I've been doing a fair number of stamping reviews or Facebook group nail art lately which hasn't allowed me to use water decals.  However when I was approached by MILV to do a review of their products and I checked out their website, I couldn't refuse.  There's some super pretty (and really unique) decals on there!  They even have metallic foil decals.  So I picked a few (including two of the aforementioned foil decals) and had a lot of fun with them.  Some require a white base and others can use any base so keep reading to see how I used them.

HPB Presents: My Final Halloween Nails

Hey there!  Happy Halloween!  I thought I'd share the Halloween mani I wore all weekend.  In a pipe dream polish fan group I'm in, @mrsenj posted an amazing orange and black water marble.  It was so awesome that I couldn't let Halloween slip by without trying one myself.  Mine didn't turn out anywhere near as good as hers but this still made a fun design to wear this weekend.

The Digit-al Dozen does Birthday - Unicorn Wood

Hey there!  For the last few months, the Digit-al Dozen ladies have informally celebrated each other's birthdays by doing a group mani inspired by a piece of art picked by the birthday girl(s).  Amber of Nails Like Lace is the only October birthday girl and she picked such a photo we are referring to as "unicorn wood".  Keep reading to see the inspiration and how I did my look.

UberChic Beauty Collection 11 Review

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Hey there!  I already have the next collection in hand (though I haven't had a chance to use it yet) and I'm only now sharing the UberChic Beauty Collection 11 designs I've done.  I know, I know, I should really be more on the ball.  UberChic started by releasing collections of 3 plates at a time and they will always have a special place in my heart.  While I do like the more specific themed plates, I really love the collections that have a little of something for everybody.  Collection 11 is just that - a great mix of everything!

UberChic Beauty Halloween-02 Review

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Hey there!  Well it's October so I'm allowing myself some Halloween nails, starting with this review of UberChic Beauty's second Halloween stamping plate.  Her first Halloween plate was a hit and I think this one will be too.  I've never had issues with UberChic's plates so I always jump at the opportunity to review them.  This plate was easy to work with, as always.  I've done four manis to kick off Halloween season which you can read about below.  

The Digital Dozen does Four/40 Great Nail Art Ideas does Red, Green and Yellow

Hey there!  No, it's not Christmas yet, despite the appearance of my nails in today's post.  Today I combined the Digit-al Dozen Four theme with 40 Great Nail Art Ideas prompts of Red, Green, Yellow and water marble/water spotted for this four-polish water marble.  I can't be alone in always seeing Christmas anytime red and green are together, can I?  Even the yellow and silver that are included in this marble just add to the holiday feel.  Despite the unseasonable look, I'm not unhappy with how the marbling turned out.  At first I had tried a red, green and yellow marble in four different patterns.  I don't think I ever had a more frustrating nail night.  Took forever, had to redo a bunch of nails and it still looked awful.  I deleted those photos so I never have to be reminded and decided to do this one instead.  At least I know I can usually do a stripe-y marble with reasonable success even if I did end up with red everywhere!

Clear Jelly Stamper Review Plus Giveaway!

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Hey there!  Welcome to the start of a new work week (for those of you who had a long weekend like I did).  I'm in love with the products I'm reviewing today from Clear Jelly Stamper but I'm mortified at how long it has taken me to get this post up.  I received these products earlier this summer but, with the potential of a Canada Post strike, I delayed myself in posting these since I was including a giveaway.  And then I forgot.  But I'm finally posting them today and, since I'm relatively sure there won't be a strike, I'm including a giveaway of three Clear Jelly Stamper plates.  When Debbie sent me The Big Bling stamper/brush and CJS-13, 14 and 15 she also included a few plates I already had (CJS-08, 10 and LC-01) so she said I could do a giveaway with them.  Entry information can be found at the bottom of this post.  It will be open until 11:59 pm next Monday so enter now.

UberChic Beauty Op Art Stamping Plate Review

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Hey there!  Today I have one of UberChic Beauty's latest stamping plates to share with you.  This Op Art Magic plate is right up my alley for the type of images I like.  I did have to ask Brittany why it was called Op Art - it's a mix of Optical Illusion and Pop Art (I so should have been able to figure that out on my own).  I love this type of swirly optical illusion images.  I love them so much that I did three manis already using this plate, all sparkly and all worn out into the real world as full manis.  That, in itself, speaks volumes about how much I like this plate!

The Digit-al Dozen does Negative Space: Day 2 - Mosaic Nails

Hey there!  It's the second day of the Digit-al Dozen Negative Space theme.  Today's nail art was created while relaxing at the cabin during my vacation last month.  It was shortly after the amazing @ane_li passed away and I was devouring her instagram photos.  I was inspired by a mosaic look that she had done ages ago and decided to try my hand at a freehand mosaic myself.  Unfortunately I didn't have many tools at the cabin but I still think these turned out not so bad.

Bundle Monster Hangloose Gift Box Review

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Hey there!  Today I have such a fun Bundle Monster collection to review.  This summer they released a Hangloose Gift Box (Set 2) full of fun nail art goodies.  In it are at 10 piece stamping plate collection, beach-themed nail studs, iridescent stamping polishes and 4 sets of water decals (which I will be reviewing later this week - you'll see why I'm separating them then).  I'm consistently impressed with Bundle Monster's creativity and this set brings it to a new level.  It's called a gift box so you could buy it for someone else but who says you can't buy yourself a gift too?  Hopefully this collage of the stamping I did with this collection entices you to read all about it...

Sharing The Love For @ane_li

Hey there!  Today's post is a sad one.  As I'm sure most people know by now, the nail art community recently lost a star, @ane_li on Instagram.  This girl was only 18 years old and such an inspiration to so many of us.  In her memory, we're doing re-creations of her art.  I can't come close to her perfection but wanted to honour her as best I could.  To see everyone's tributes or tag one of your own, you can use the hashtag #sharingtheloveforaneli.