Christmas Day Nails

Happy Holidays to everyone!!

Hopefully Santa was good to everyone!  "Mrs. Claus" broke a thumb nail putting gifts under the tree Christmas Eve and she was none to pleased with that...the good thing is that they will grow in time!

Here's the mani I was wearing on Christmas Day.



Started with a base of Picture Polish Cosmos; this pix has no top coat.  *Swoon*  Love this blue!



Added a big blob of Sally Hansen Debut-tint then spread it around a bit.  This pix has no topcoat; I waited about 20 minutes for it to dry to the touch before stamping.



Stamped using Konad black special polishes using MM01 (all images except thumb) and Dash 10 (image on thumb).



Dabbed on a bit of Essence Make it Golden near cuticles.  You will also notice that the black at the tips didn't stamp solid in the pix above so I re-stamped the base part of the image plate and filled in the bare spots.  In hindsight, it probably would have been easier to just dab on some stamping polish to cover it, but I just stamped it in until it was covered!



Added SV to finish.



Mrs. Claus also has one last gift under the tree that has not been opened as its going to one special follower of this blog....a box set of the Gals Fairy 25 piece set of stamping plates, courtesy of Gals Cosmetics.  Please leave your follower name and email address in the comments of this post between now and midnight my time on January 3, 2013 if you are interested in taking part in the draw.  Open internationally; please refer to Giveaway Terms and Conditions for further details.  Once the comments are closed, random.org will be used, a name chosen, who in turn will be sent an email and they will then have 48 hours to respond or another name will be chosen. 
Thanks for looking!

Happy Holidays!

Edit:  Winner announced here!

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Unknown blue, Christmas, Dash 10, essence, Fauxnad, giveaway, glitter, Konad, Messy Mansion, MM01, picture polish, sally hansen, SdP

My Christmas Jumper Nails

Merry Christmas everyone! I don't know if it's the done thing to blog on Christmas morning but every year, we have a few hours to ourselves in between the early morning present opening and when the rest of the family gets here so I thought I'd squeeze in a quick post to show you what I'm wearing on my nails today! 

I've matched my nails to my Christmas Jumper which you can kinda see here. They're not super christmassy, I've gone easy on the glitter and haven't even featured any gold or green but I like them!

I used W7 Black as my base colour and painted the details with White and Red acrylic paint using a nail art brush. On my thumb and ring finger, I'm wearing Rimmel Heart on Fire with Lac Attack Dementor's Kiss sponged on to the tips. I finished it all off with a few coats of NYC In A New York Minute.

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Unknown black, Christmas, freehand, glitter, Lac Attack, red, Rimmel

Santa Claus the Night Before Christmas

It's the night before Christmas; Santa Claus is at the North Pole getting ready to deliver all the gifts all over the world!  Here he is before leaving for a busy night!

Started with a base of OPI Bride's Bouquet, two coats then sponged a gradient using NYX Girls Dark Gray and FingerPaints Black Expressionism.

Stamped using QA 19 (house), W220 (Santa), D01 (sleigh) and HD05 (reindeer); then hand painted in North Pole on pinky.

Added some snow using XL B.

Touched up the dots with a dotter.

Added SV.

For those who have followed my blog since last year, you may have already seen this, but for those who
have not, I thought I'd rerun Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Twas the night before Christmas,



when all through the house



Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,



In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.



The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.



And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,



Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow


Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.



With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!



On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!



To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.


And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,



And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.
His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.


The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.




He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.


And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight,



"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

From my family to yours, have a Merry Christmas!

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Unknown Christmas, Fauxnad, fauxnad D01, FingerPaints, gradient, HD05, Konad, NYX Girls, OPI, QA 19, W220, XL B

Blue Glitter Snowflakes

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, I've been busy moving around and my computer wasn't set up. I can't believe it's Christmas tomorrow! Is it wrong that the thing I look forward to above all is the Christmas dinner? 

Here's my take on a Snowflake mani. In hindsight, I should have used a thinner brush for more detailed snowflakes! I used Barry M Blue Glitter, and Essie Blanc to paint the snowflakes. I put a little sequin in the middle of the flakes for sparkle.

I absolutely love Barry M Blue Glitter! 

 I've got a giveaway coming soon, and I need to choose posts for a 2012 favourites thing, which is easier said than done! I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and thank you for following me. And remember, Christmas is a waste if you don't eat your weight in chocolate. :)

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Unknown Barry M, blue, Christmas, freehand, glitter, Nail Art

Christmas Nail Mashup!

Another December day, another Christmas manicure! As you all predicted I couldn't keep my nails away from the festivities for too long. These are the nails I did for the Christmas 'Do' at work. I think the phrase 'Christmas Do' is a very British thing. In the US, you'd just call it a Christmas Party right? Or do you have another name for it?

My base colour is Barry M White. For the candy cane nails, I used one coat of Seche Vite before marking off striped sections with thin cuts of scotch tape and painted on Rimmel Heart on Fire. While that was still wet I peeled off the scotch tape and, once dry, used a nail art brush to paint Barry M Red Glitter over the stripes.

The Rudolph nail is one from last year. I used Essie Glamour Purse as the base colour, Rimmel Desire for the lines and Barry M Red Glitter again for the nose.
Finally, the Christmas Tree which was inspired by a Wacky Laki manicure was created using glequins from Born Pretty Store (tutorial here).
I topped it all off with two coats of Seche Vite to smooth it over.

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Unknown Barry M, Christmas, freehand, Glequins, red, Rimmel, Scotch Tape Mani, white

A Quick Christmas Mani

Back to doing a holiday mani....a quick one I came up with.



Started with a base of two coats of Color Blast by Orly Raging Vine.  This is two coats; no topcoat.



Added NYX Girls Emerald Forest for some glitter french tips....for some reason, I'm kinda into these funky french glitter type of mani's right now....



Neither one of these has top coat on top.



Stamped with Konad white stamping polish using SdP 83.



Added a few red dots for the holly berries. 



(Topped with SV, which is the first pix.)

Just before I took it off, I had a recently received bottle of Lush Lacquer Ho Ho Holidays sitting out and thought I'd layer a coat on just to see how it looked.




Have a great weekend! 

Thanks for looking!

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Unknown Christmas, Color Blast by Orly, Fauxnad, glitter, green, Indie Polishes, Konad, layering, lush lacquer, nyx, NYX Girls, orly, SdP, SdP 83

Green and Gold Gradient

Hi! I'm miserable today because I've pulled a muscle in my back and it's agony. I've been wailing like a banshee all day and the house stinks of deep heat. Took me about 10 minutes to get upstairs to the computer...that's dedication, that. 

I love gradients so decided to do a Christmassy one. Kinda reminds me of a dragon or something.

I used China Glaze Glittering Garland, then sponged on some H&M Golden Treasure. 

I love the colours I used, Golden Treasure is my favourite gold and Glittering Garland is ridiculously festive. I might re-create these for Christmas day!

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Unknown china glaze, Christmas, gradient, HandM