A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away....

    Hello to my lovely ladies! I did a mani today that I've been wanting to attempt, but repeatedly put off. It actually turned out pretty good and was extremely easy to perform. With that being said let's get this party started. (Warning very picture heavy, but it goes through step by step on how to do a galaxy mani.)


Supplies: Polish (duh lol)
              Dotting Tool
              Make Up Sponge


As always the polish used:

1. Sinful Colors Black on Black 

2. Sally Hansen Xtreme White On

3. Spoiled Are Mermaids Real? 

4. LA Colors Tease 

5. Sally Hansen Xtreme Marine Scene 

6. Jordana Crystal Glitter

After adding the glitter polish I stamped on some stars and a UFO on my ring finger and my thumb using Cheeky plate CH 14.

Is this not a very cool, relatively easy mani or what?! You can play with colors to add your own twist or whatever. I did watch a YouTube tutorial before attempting this on my own. There are many out there to give you examples and ideas. I recommend watching more than one. 

Well, there you have it girls. An awesome, eye catching, question asking, mani that's great for any age. I think my Star Wars loving daughter just may want to wear this one.

Thanks for reading. See you soon.  :p

P.S. Here is an awesome giveaway for  you from Julep. Don't forget to check your e-mail after entering. Good luck. ;)

Poppies!

    Well it's Monkey See Monkey Do challenge Monday. I actually waited until last minute to do mine which is very unusual for me. I had a hard time choosing which one to do. I settled with the French Poppy design from Red Hair Black Nail Polish. It's a fairly simple mani even though I'm not impressed with mine.


Here are the colors I used. (You know the drill! lol)

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Pumping Iron
LA Colors Berry Red
LA Colors Atomic
LA Colors Bronze
Sally Hansen Xtreme Rockstar Pink


You will need a paint brush, a dotting tool, and something to put you colors on (again I use an old plastic cutting board).

After you make three strokes at the tip of you nail with the paint brush, add a center, and a few dots and you're done. (I added glitter to the base coat after I was finished with the flowers.)

There you go a poppy mani. For a better tutorial that breaks everything down click here.

Thanks for reading. See you soon.  :p

Don't forget to check out the rest of the challenge mani's!

Thoughts & Suggestions (A Life Post)

 

Warning this is NOT about nail polish, nail art, or stamping, but it is about life and a cause that is very important to me and I'd like you're help.

     The month of May is National Brain Tumor Awareness month. This is a cause that hits very close to home. In August 2004 my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. He was given a choice of no treatment and live three weeks or have surgery and do treatments and live roughly a year. My dad's first question to the doctors was what quality of life would I have after surgery? (In times like this we believe it's quality versus quantity.) If he was going to be a vegetable or an invalid he'd take the three weeks. One of the top neurosurgeons in our area promised that he'd remove as much of the tumor as possible with the least amount of side effects. The location of the tumor meant that, if done properly, he'd have minimal effects on his health from the surgery. We were very lucky and our surgeon was very good. After a short recovery period (and medication changes) the only major effects from the surgery was peripheral blindness and losing the ability to read. My dad recovered great and though we still had a long road ahead of us with treatments we were certain we'd made the right decision with the surgery. My dad fought very hard to live and tried to beat an unbeatable cancer, but in the end he lost the battle. I lost my dad to complications from his cancer in July 2006. We were very lucky to have had the time we did with him and the time was good. He didn't get really sick until the last three days of his life. In those two years that my dad was in constant battle with his body I seen him smile and laugh and enjoy life more then I had my entire life. 


    I still mourn the loss of my dad. Even after all these years I break down and cry at times because I miss him so much. I still have those moments when I need an answer to a question or some advice and think "oh I'll call dad". With all that being said I'd like to do something special for National Brain Tumor Awareness. This is where you guys come in. I'm not sure what to do. How can we help spread the word? I personally think May is the best month they could have chosen since it is my dad's birth month. The designated color for Brain Tumor Awareness is...wait for it...GREY. I also think this is great. I've seen ribbons with slogans reading "Grey Matters". So, how do we do this?


   To put in to perspective how many lives this touches. More than 575 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with a primary or metastatic brain tumor each day. With nearly 600 diagnoses each day that means more than 210,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumor each year, according to the National Brain Tumor Society. There are no screening tests in existence for early brain tumor detection. Oklahoma CyberKnife radiation oncologist Dr. Melisa Boersma describes public education on the symptoms of brain tumors as “crucial” for early detection.  Brain Tumor Awareness Info

    When my dad was diagnosed the doctors told us that his cancer was rare and incurable. In all honesty I don't believe that. Before my dad was diagnosed my cousin (by marriage) lost her mom to the same cancer and then a few years after my dad passed my uncle (by marriage) was diagnosed with the same cancer and passed away this October. That is three people completely unrelated genetically diagnosed with the exact same cancer and all three lost their battle.There are several types of brain tumors and not all have a death sentence. My neighbor was diagnosed with a brain tumor and after surgery is looking at a long life. But we NEED to spread awareness. Will you all please put your heads together and help me out with spreading my message?


Thanks for reading (and letting me share with you). See you soon.  :p


Links for helpful information. National Brain Tumor Awareness Society, Oklahoma Cyberknife, Choose Hope (Purchasable Items), American Cancer Society

Butterfly Wings

    I've seen LOTS of mani's with butterfly wings, but hadn't attempted it yet. Then like someone was reading my mind Lace and Lacquer shared a tutorial from Nail-Art-101 that really broke down this mani and I thought well let's give it a try. 


I'm going to warn you my attempt did not turn out the greatest, but with a little more practice and a different paint brush I think I'll improve.


In the tutorial they used yellow and orange as a base (like a Monarch butterfly), but I wanted to put my own spin on it so I used pink and purple. 


Here are the polishes I used (you know I have to show you this first. It's how I roll. lol)

From left to right: LA Colors Tease, NYC Purple Pizzazz, Sinful Colors Black on Black, and Wet 'n' Wild Fast Dry The Yellow Years ( I know I don't normally name my colors, but I think this is good practice and will try my best to do so from now on.)

After a base of Tease I sponged on Purple Pizzazz.

I then painted on my wings with Black on Black and used a dotting tool to add dots to the tip of the wings in The Yellow Years. 

Since I'm right handed and have NO control with my left hand I decided to stamp on my right hand. I used a Cheeky and Red Angel plate.

I stamped using Konad Yellow and Konad Black and the glitter I added to both hands is Sally Hansen Xtreme Rockstar Pink.

This is what I came up with for my left hand:

I've linked both Lace and Lacquers and the Nail-Art-101 so don't forget to check them both out. The Nail-Art-101 has a GREAT tutorial for the butterfly wings. Also, don't forget to check out my blog list there are some amazing nail artists blogging out there.

Thanks for reading. See you soon.  :p

P.S. I started a new page on Facebook. Would you go check it out and like me if you would. LeSamowen:Life, Love, & NailPolish I also added a share link for Facebook.

Polish Haul and Two Simple Mani's

     I told you I'd be back in a few days with a post and here I am. I will warn you though it will not be super exciting. I've not really done anything special since the Rainbow of Colors mani. I will try and do one this week though.


The first thing I want to share with you is my polish hall for the week. I ended up with three new polishes.

The orange is LA Colors Shock and as pretty as it is in the bottle it takes at least three coats for good solid coverage. The blue is LA Colors Atomic it's a two coat tops polish. I LOVE this color. The third is Sally Hansen Xtreme Rockstar Pink and I've not used it yet.

Next the first mani I want to share with you is one I did just messing around with my dotting tools. I bought my dotting tools the same time I bought my first stamping kit and needless to say I've never used them. With that being said here is my first attempt with the dotting tools. (The blue is LA Colors Atomic)

Lastly for today I want to share with you my mani for the Adventures In Stamping challenge. The challenge for this week was a Queensday mani. For those of you who don't know what Queensday is it is a Dutch holiday click HERE for more information on the holiday. 

This was  really nothing fancy. The only thing that really went with Queensday is the orange. (Which by the way is the LA Colors Shock after three coats.) I then stamped over it with Konad Blue.

I promise I will try and do a more excited mani for you this week. Thanks for reading. See you soon.  :p

Oh and don't forget to take a look at my blog list to the right and visit some of my friends. XOXO

Just Stopping By

    Hi, Ladies! This will be short and sweet with no pics. I just wanted to let everyone know that I will post a "real" blog in the next day or so. I get fairly busy on the weekends so it's hard to stop and post. This weekend we've been doing some construction on the house, next weekend who knows what, plus my girls play soccer so we have to add that into the mix. I have not forgotten you though and I shall return. In the mean time take a look at my blog roll. These ladies are AWESOME.


Thanks for reading. See you soon.   :p

A Rainbow Of Color

     So, I was cruising Pinterest looking for some inspiration and guess what?! I found some (imagine that lol). Although my creation didn't turn out as good as the original I'm going to share anyway. This is the mani I will use for my Monkey See Monkey Do challenge on Monday. 


You will need a brush for this mani. The original used a striping brush, but I used a craft brush with a fine tip. 


First (as always) here are the colors I used:

You start out with a base coat of black. Mine is Sinful Colors: Black on Black. It is a one coat polish. I loved it!

You then you put a dab of each color on a surface of your choice. (I used a plastic cutting board.) Make sure to leave the polishes open because you'll need to dab more as you go and don't put too much down because it will dry on you and get stringy.

Then with your paint brush make lines starting at the base of you nail, but leaving some black at the tip. Here is the brush I used. It's just a regular brush that came in a pack I bought at my local Wal~Mart.

After my stripes had dried I added some stars to the tips and a space ship on an accent nail. I used Konad white stamping polish and Cheeky plate CH4.

I threw some glitter on my accent nail, put on a top coat, and voila your finished.

Here is the link from Pinterest picturing the original mani: http://pinterest.com/pin/114912227962403989/

As I mentioned it's not as good as the original, but I'm still happy with it. I did notice I need to work on my clean up skills. lol

Thanks for reading. See you soon.   :p

 

Sharing A Giveaway!

     I wanted to share with you a giveaway from a fellow nail gal. She has a blog, is on Pinterest, and has a Facebook page. She is the : Do It Yourself Lady. I will include the links to her blog and Pinterest.


Blog: http://doityourselflady.blogspot.com/


Giveaway: http://doityourselflady.blogspot.com/2012/04/giveaway-time.html


Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/thediylady/

Thanks for reading. See you soon.   :p

Life Gets In The Way

     I'm sorry I've been absent for a while. I had my power shut off and was at my mom's for a few days. Now everything is taken care of and I'm back to rockin' and rollin'. I don't have anything significant to post because of being away from home. Just a few pictures. I have a future tutorial in mind, but it won't be for a few days. I want to get the kids settled back in and back into a routine.


Here is my Sunday, April 22nd mani from Adventures In Stamping. (The challenge was music that inspires you. Mine doesn't really inspire me, but it works. lol) I did: These Boots Are Made For Walking

I also did the mani challenge for Monkey See Monkey Do. Here's what I came up with.

My inspiration came from Pinterest. I changed the colors to match my shirt and had to use different plates because I didn't have the same ones. It came out okay. Here's the link to the pin form Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/114912227962370094/

Thanks for reading. See you soon.  :p

New Image Plates!!!

    Guess what ladies?! I received some Nail Mail today! That's right the Cheeky plates I ordered came in this morning. Of course with a band new set of plates sitting there I couldn't help but stamp. (Even though I have two challenges this week and a wedding on Saturday.)  With that being said this should be short and sweet.


In the mail today I received Cheeky's 2012 collection.

Here is the link from Amazon if you're interested: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006OMHR1S/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

I didn't test ALL the images, but the plates are good quality and everything I did stamp stamped GREAT. I recommend these to all my fellow stampers.

So, after looking through all 26 plates and 160 designs this is what I ended up with.

Now, while you're sitting there enjoying my creative genius (lol) get on Amazon and order your plates. They come in a timely manner and they stamp wonderfully. 

Thanks for reading. See you soon.  :p

Sponge Technique Gradient...

    I know, I know, my last post was about gradient nails, but this is gradient nails with a different technique. I went out and bought a pack of makeup sponges (I got 28 for $1.25) and decided to try the sponge technique.

First you need makeup sponges. These can be found just about any store and are fairly cheap.

Here are the colors I used:

I put one coat of the Sally Hansen Diamonds (I believe the color is Glass Slipper.)

Next I cut the sponge to fit my nail. (Oh and don't throw away the unused sponge. They are GREAT for cleaning off image plates.)

I then taped my thumb to help with clean up. You just need plain old scotch tape. I highly recommend this step. It's time consuming and a pain, (the reason I honestly only taped my thumb) but it helps with clean up tremendously.

All you do is paint the colors on the sponge in the order you want them. It doesn't matter if they over lap. Then sponge the color on.

After all my nails were finished I put on a clear coat. Then decided it needed...wait for it....a stamp! I used Konad black stamping polish and Red Angel 113 image plate and added another clear coat.

I was very pleased with the end result. I do think I could use some more practice though. There is a great YouTube video to show you how to perform this technique. I highly recommend checking it out before attempting to do it on your own.

Here is the link to the YouTube video I used: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbOhpugJlkk

So, there you have it. Now you have two ways to get the perfect gradient. While you're out surfing the web stop by and visit my fellow stampers blog and enter her awesome giveaway. 

Here's the link: http://canadiannailfanatic.blogspot.ca/p/giveaways.html

Thanks for reading. See you soon.  :p

Gradient Nails....

    There's a Facebook group called "Adventures in Stamping" that does weekly challenges and one of the challenges to vote on this week was gradient nails. I had never done a gradient before so I watched a couple of YouTube videos and gave it a try. Most of the videos show people using make-up sponges. I on the other hand didn't have any (I'm not into foundation all that jazz) so I tried by just painting them into a gradient.


     
First off, here are the colors I used:

The first step I did was paint my whole nail with the light color. I know it is a pink and my other two colors are purple, but I didn't have any light purple and it ended up working well with the other colors. I only used 1 coat of the light color.

The second step was to add the medium shade (or the lighter purple) to the nail. Only paint about 3/4 of the nail NOT the whole nail. Also only do one coat.

The next step is to add another coat of the medium shade, but leave a small "line" of the first coat of the medium shade unpainted. (Remember to let your nails dry between coats.) Then repeat the process one more time. You should be getting a layer effect at this point.

I promise there is an end in sight. lol Now, take the dark shade and add one "line" at the tip of the nail. (I actually did two coats when I did this step.)

At this point I was NOT impressed with my work. It looked uneven and messy and I just wasn't feeling it. Then I added the glitter polish. I don't know why, but the glitter polish pulled it together. (Probably because you couldn't see how choppy it looked.) So, now add your the glitter, girls!

See, glitter makes EVERY thing better! :) 

I'd like to say that this was the end of my adventure. That the sun was shining and I skipped off into a field of wild flowers. Unfortunately, it's not :( I decided in all my brilliance to stamp some designs onto my nails. 

My first color is:

I used Red Angels RA-102 for my first stamp.

Okay, not too bad. Still looks alright. Then in another act of pure brilliance I added another stamp. 

This is the color I used:

I added the dragon fly from Konad plate M5.

Needless to say neither of the designs showed up very well and it just looks too busy or crowded or something. 

Though, I may not have been happy with the final outcome. I think my first try at a gradient nail turned out pretty good. It is something I will definitely try again. 

Thanks for reading. See you again soon. :p

   

Some Examples...

    Well now that you know a little about myself I thought I should add some of the designs I've done.