GOT: valentine – pink hearts on red

Am a bit late to the party here. And for some reason the inLinz is not working anymore, or at least not today. So can't join the rest of the party, either. Did this yesterday, which was the 14th here. Definitely two of my oldest polishes!!

The base is just one coat of OPI Red-y for Anything (from the Legally Blonde collection). I got this polish ten years ago at a press junket for Legally Blonde 2. In fact, I got three: red, white and blue. But I only have the red left. The red reminds me very much of Zoya Elisa (or vice versa). Still works well. And only needed one coat for complete coverage! Then I free hand drew hearts on a string (like about five million others this year!) and filled those in with an equally old Chanel Marilyn. This is really only a good dotting or nail art polish now. Has gotten a bit thick (could use restore on it, though).

For some reason the mani is really difficult to photograph. After top coat, the red is so shiny and reflective! The difference between the hearts and the background is not that great, either, so everything blends a bit. Better in real life. The thought with the hearts is that they are all hanging, but a couple are falling off, and one is lying on the ground. Or is it laying. Never can get that right!

What a day so far today. By noon two cars had driven in to the carpark, turned around, and drove out! What is with people? Will never comprehend that. Then, though, at noon customers started coming for breakfast and coffees, and to make it the best: I sold jewelry!!!! So, know what I will do tonight - must start pendants and earrings. I'd say, check out the others but my linky thing isn't working.

Valentine's 2014: a bit of Gwen love

Confession right off: this mani is really difficult to photograph. It doesn't help much that the skies have been overcast. Don't know why, but the gold reacts weird with the black and the photos are not capturing the satiny finish of the gold..... at all. This is my take on Valentine's this year and I can't include it in GOT as these are obviously not old polishes. Not really as black as it appears (ha! - so, anti-Valentine....). Relationshipwise I am in a very good place. Though the Mr is all bloke Kiwi and not even interested in the day, apparently. Time will tell on that one.

Visually this is a pure OPI Gwen Stefani mani. But I cheated on the red as I did not buy her "signature" red. Looked like a lot of other reds to me. So I snuck (i.e. substituted) in Zoya Sooki for the red. I'm pretty sure the mani would look exactly the same with her red. I used L.A.M.B. as the beautiful gold, and 4 in the Morning (with a dab of Zoya Storm) for the black.

I started with a coat of red on that part of my nail that was to be taped. Waited. Then I taped off using thin nail art tape and applied two coats of L.A.M.B. Took the tape off immediately after coat two. Then I waited again. I freehand drew hearts and filled them in using my dotting tool with 4 in the Morning and Storm. I added a couple of red hearts for good measure. I purposely didn't fill in perfectly, wanting to leave a very freehand aspect to the hearts.

The top coat pretty much cancelled out the matte of the polish. If you get it in just the right light, you can see that the gold is full of satiny pearly bits. Really, really pretty. And application is super smooth, like velvet.

right hand

Now, if I can get my act together I may be able to do another V mani, this time for GOT challenge. I have the perfect red for that. But tomorrow night is movie night (currently a non-event in regard to attendance) so won't be able to do nails in the eve.

George has been trying to get Harvey's attention. Look at me, Harvey!! It's me, Harvey! Harvey doesn't care. I took off today. Wasn't feeling 100% and Monday was such a terrible day businesswise that I decided to stay home two days instead of just one. I managed to get a lot of jewelry finished and designed and created, so that is good. Back to work tomorrow, hoping for better business and a successful film night.

And..... made a pendant to match (more here)!!

My Ripponburn ladies 2:14

Yesterday was Ripponburn day. It seemed like a smaller crowd - many were away on adventures with their families (some newbies as well), a couple have moved on to another facility. Since there was way under a dozen ladies, I offered to do anything they wanted - even hand drawn flowers for Lilian!!

nellie with dotted flowers

Nellie started us off, she was perusing the colours with Ivy. Ivy is so cute! She is getting a tad smaller, but that makes her eyes seem bigger - big inquisitive eyes. Anyway, Nellie chose blue and let me add a couple of flowers on her accent. Nellie can't see very well, but I think she ended up noticing the flowers. The mani looked really good.

ivy

lilian

Ivy was next and had decided quite quickly! Pink with glitter. Lilian was more than happy to take me up on my offer (!!) and wanted something nobody else was going to have, based on gold. Good that I brought my acrylics. Seems I haven't done acrylics there for a while. But with 14 ladies waiting, and a rigid time schedule!, it is not always possible. Well, Lilian thought everything looked great! Whew.... :)

gladys

dorothy

Gladys was next and said I could do anything. I had brought a Hungry Asian with me so (after Lilian's flower request) thought I do acrylics on Gladys as well. I love this Hungry Asian but noticed I am not wearing it much so let it come off the shelf for the day. I knew Dorothy would want something metallic so packed enough for her to chose from. I noticed that Dorothy has her nails filed pointy. That was t-h-e fad back in the 40-50s, my Mom still wears her nails like that.

joan

jenny

Well, newbie two is Joan (another Joan). "Regular" Joan was there, too, but was taking a nana nap the whole time and I didn't want to disturb her. Newbie Joan is a tad confused, and forgetful. Keeps asking when it is her turn, and if I will do her nails, too. She wanted pink and glitter but then forgot wanting glitter. That is fine. She got something and seemed very happy. Jenny was knitting!!! She managed to stop to get her nails done but ...... I was very concerned she would start knitting again and smear everything. She has a habit of doing that!

norma

Probably my favourite experience yesterday was visiting wee Norma. All the ladies are dear to me, but wee Norma seems so fragile. Probably was a really ballbreaker in her day!!! Ha! Last time she was too tired to come out, same today. But I asked if I could visit her in her room and she said yes. So when I was done I walked down to her and did her nails. She has pink blankets. So wee and quiet. I felt a bit sad as her TV was blaring soccer - now, why would she have to watch that? Oh well, too difficult to try to understand. Just seemed sad. It was fiddly doing her nails as her hands wouldn't work much but she said she wanted glitter, too. So that is what she got. I gave her a kiss and said she looked great and hope to see her next time. I hope so. Am back in two weeks!

Mani breakdowns:
Nellie: two coats OPI No Room for the Blues, dotted flowers in Cult Nails Deal with It and CG Sunshine Pop
Ivy: two coats Orly Artificial Sweetener, one coat OPI You Glitter be Good To Me
Lilian: two coats Thai Golden Triangle, acrylic painted flowers
Gladys: two coats Hungry Asian Belle, acrylic painted flowers
Dorothy: two coats Color Club Model Behavior
Joan: two coats Orly Artificial Sweetener
Jenny: two coats China Glaze Sexy Silhouette, one coat CG Make a Spectacle
Norma: one coats Essie Raise Awareness, one coat China Glaze Make a Spectacle

Kia ora koutou: Waitangi Day silver fern and koru

Today is Waitangi Day in New Zealand (read up on here). Up north there are all sorts of celebrations, marae visits, hui, political speakers, bbqs etc. Down south, where I live, it is a day off and people are upset that they can't go shopping and go to the lake! I am not 100% happy with this mani but am posting regardless as I will be wearing it through to the weekend (Ripponburn tomorrow avo!). In a nutshell, I feel the background is too dark. Maybe. My problem lately.

I started with no base coat and two coats of Layla Coffee Love. This is one of my favourite holos. A beautiful brown shimmer. With these Laylas there is no need for a base coat. The polish works best directly on the nail. It dries a tad matte so a nice top coat makes the colour really shine - especially in the sun!!! I didn't top coat before drawing, just waited a bit.

The silver fern (go the All Blacks) and the koru are two very kiwi icons, and set deep in our culture. Working slowly, I freehand drew a silver fern on both ring fingers. Very fiddly. I dot filled the fronds with Zoya Storm, a black holo. For the green dots I started with my right hand and chose too large dots. So did better on my left with a smaller tool. I am happy with the koru on my thumb. Didn't really know what to do with the rest. A koru (or fern) on every finger would have been too much.

indoor lighting

All in all I love the base Layla colour and am very happy with my fern and koru (also the fern on my right hand, legend!). But somehow, it is all very uneventful, no really "wow" effect. And I am afraid the fern is too hard to see, so no one will really notice. Maybe I am just being too hard on myself.

right hand: great fern but dots too large

Good news: I got called for a job interview early March! Disappointing news: café still not sold and time is running out. Frustrating news: I have been working on a pendant for my daughter and am afraid I messed it up. It had been going so beautifully all these days. Have let it sit by the side while I think and re-think colour choices. Now I am afraid the background is too dark. Jury still out on that one.