Happy Thanksgiving with OPI You Only Live Twice

Happy Turkey Day everyone! This is probably my favorite holiday right after Christmas. Seriously, I love it. It kicks off the holiday season, with family, food and fun! What could be better? :) So, I did a autumnal manicure to wear for the holiday. Take a look!

This is OPI You Only Live Twice from the Skyfall Collection as the base, for this manicure. The mustard yellow is Pure Ice Vintage Glam, the stamped leaves were done with China Glaze Call of the Wild, and that lovely sparkle is China Glaze I Herd That. What a great bunch of colors together. I'm loving this manicure. I've been getting so many compliments on this mani, I am getting a bit of an ego. :) I love it!

Here is OPI You Only Live Twice by itself. It is gorgeous. Before I added the nail art, I was at Ulta window shopping, and not one, but two people stopped and asked where I got my nails done. Of course, I shyly told them I had painted them myself, and directed them over to the OPIs, teehee. This color is so fabulous, and will be awesome for Christmas time.

And, I have to tell you how I came to own this little beauty. It was awesome. So, I'm sitting at work, you know working and what-not, and two of my co-workers came rushing up to me with this little gift bag, all giggly and excited, set it down, and then ran off. It said 'from the Christmas elves'. How cute! Talk about getting into the holiday spirit early! Anyway, they know how much I love polish, and how I can't afford to pay for these higher priced polishes, so they picked it up for me, knowing that I was totally in love with the Skyfall collection. Oh my gosh, how sweet. I almost cried.

Anyway, I hope you all have the most fabulous day with your friends and family. Try to relax and enjoy the precious time. We don't get it all that often. That's what makes this time of year so magical. Til next time!

10 Day/Week...OK MONTH! Challenge - Favorite Freehand Nail Art Design

Oh man, I'm starting to worry I won't finish this in ten months now. What a disaster! I just get so distracted with other things and don't want to follow what this challenge tells me to do. :) But, I was actually really excited to do this one because it was inspired by one of the first bloggers I ever read religiously - Little Nails! I am so impressed by her skills with a striper. Her lines are so straight, its insane. I had to wait for my hand to stay steady for me, but I think it worked out.

She did this awesome little mani a while back featuring chevrons, framed nails, and hearts. Oh my! It looked great, so I practiced my striping and chevron-making skills, so that I could pay my homage to it. I used different colors because I like to pick colors that I have never had the chance to use yet. So here it is!

I used Spoiled Black Mamba for my base color, and then added my frames with Zoya Dannii. After that, I made my chevrons and hearts using L.A. Colors Atomic, which I really love. It is a fabulous teal. :) Here is Spoiled Black Mamba by itself.

So what do you think? Mine isn't as perfect as hers, but I'm sure with more practice I will get there. Thanks for looking!

China Glaze Purr-Fect Plum: What can you do with two bottles of polish???

Hey everyone - I'm back. Maybe you didn't notice I was gone, but I usually post at least once a week, and it's been longer than that. I am just so busy lately, I don't get much time to do my nails. But the wait is worth it. I have for you today a two-for-one!! These manicures were done for the two bottle nail art challenge being held by Nailed It. I decided to go with a new favorite of mine: China Glaze Purr-Fect Plum, and a simple white, Pure Ice Super Star!. Take a look at my first design.

I painted on China Glaze Purr-Fect Plum, and then mixed it with Pure Ice Super Star! to make several different shades for an ombre effect. I really like how this turned out, even though my lines are a bit imperfect. It looks great in real-life. The swirls were painted freehand using a small nail art brush. The dots were added using a small dotting tool.

Here is China Glaze Purr-Fect Plum all by itself. LOVE.

I tried out a similar design on my right hand, mixing Purr-Fect Plum and Super Star! together in different amounts to paint each nail and make an ombre effect. Then, I painted my design with Super Star! (shakily with my left hand). I like this one too, but decided that I liked my first design better. So there you have it. Two bottles of nail polish. Two different designs. I'm pretty happy with this little adventure. :)

Here is my ombre all by itself. Pardon the thumb - I got excited and started painting before I remembered to take the pic. :)

Here's a pic of my (messy) workspace, so you can see the colors I used and how I mixed them.

If you have time, enter this challenge yourself. It was fun to spend some time getting creative and trying to come up with a unique idea. You can enter using the link above or here.

Thanks for looking!