My Top 7 Manicures of 2014

Hi everyone! I have decided to do a year-end post about my most favorite manicures of mine from this year. I narrowed it down to the five I feel the most proud of/admire the most. At the end of the year, I feel like it is a good time to look back at my accomplishments, so here they are:

First and foremost, I applied for and received a promotion at work. It is great to be putting the degree I just finished last December to good use, but the job is, of course, more difficult and stressful. I feel like I haven't been blogging as much as a result, but I do not intend to let that trend continue. Once I get into the swing of things, I will be back at it more regularly.

Second, my little blog has been doing pretty well. I have about 6500 more followers on facebook than I did at this time last year. What?! I'm not sure what happened there, but for some reason I've been getting hundreds of new followers each week. I'm not complaining, mind you. :) My other social media outlets have not received as much attention, but they have steadily grown all year, too. I also received some much needed assistance from a fellow blogger, who did not need to spend much time with me, but what she taught me has been invaluable. Thank you, Michelle!

Last, after I graduated, I took some time to get my household back together, which has taken up a lot of my blogging time, but allowed me to once again live in a house that feels like a home. For a while there, it felt more like a giant box filled with so much clutter...I am ashamed I let it get so bad (don't think hoarders, it was just not so neat as I would have liked!). I spent every night after work choosing a small corner of the house and putting things where they belonged, sorting through piles of papers, etc. I love having a living room that doesn't have stacks of junk in every corner, a kitchen counter without a mound of unopened mail, and a bedroom where our clean clothes are actually in the closet, and I'm not living out of a laundry basket. :) I am hoping to keep up with my home, kick butt at my job, and continue having fun with my blog throughout this new year. Wish me luck!

Anyway, on to the nails. First up are these stained glass nails I did back in February 2014 for a fun nail art challenge I did that was hosted by Missy over at Gnarly Gnails. She disappeared over the summer, and is greatly missed. She probably has a nice clean house now, though. ;) I loved the Nail-Art-A-Go-Go Challenge that she came up with. I adore art, so it was right up my alley, and so were these nails.

Next are my ninja nails. This is a mani that I loved doing. I always enjoy some freehand nail art, especially when it comes out the way you envisioned (adorable). My husband liked these ones a lot, too. I'm thinking about asking him to write up a post about his top 5 manicures for the year. Maybe if he has time, he will do it for us. He is a fantastic writer, and hilarious, so I'm confident it wouldn't disappoint. :) I would be interested to see what he thinks about my nail art, and if he would agree with me on any of these picks.

 

 Next up are the nails that I did for my father-in-law's memorial. It was Hawaiian-themed since he always wore Hawaiian shirts. I loved everything about how this manicure came out. The gradient was perfect, the stamping came out great, and Northern Lights topcoat topped it off with sparkly goodness, too.

Next up, is my first completely successful watermarble. I have tried it a few times, but typically end up struggling so much, I just wind up with one nail as an accent. This time, I had success with every single nail. So much success, that my sister insisted that I give her a watermarble manicure, too. And we had a blast doing them. :)

Here are my sister's nails (I'm cheating and squeezing in another mani - it's my blog, I do what I want!). 

Next up, are my Child of Light nails. You all know how much I love my video games. They are another thing I have not had much time for this year, but I get my beloved xbox time in when I can. :) I found this little gem of a game and was immediately hooked. I worked super hard on these nails and was so proud of them! I love doing this type of nail art. It is so time-consuming, though, I don't get to do it much.

Next, is my 1960s matte floral manicure I did for the 52 week pick in mix challenge. I had so much fun painting these and I just loved how they turned out! This is another manicure I spent a lot of time on - not so much as the Child of Light nails, but a decent amount of time.

Last, are my kawaii kitty nails. This was another manicure I just loved doing, and they came out even cuter than I pictured them in my head. I was so sad to remove these cute little guys. But, that is the life of a nail blogger.

 

Thank you so much for following me this past year and for supporting my nail madness. Here's to next year!