Untried Month - getting my fish egg on!

Hi loves!

Today I'm wearing Accessorize Stardom - a yummy metallic grey, not too brushstrokey in two medium coats. Then I decided to try my new caviar beads - that have been setting blogdom on fire lately, and not for all the right reasons. My lovely friend Tracy got me these from Chez Delaney and I applied them as an accent nail just by sticking them into wet top coat. I didn't top coat over them because I wanted the texture.

 They lasted approximately half an hour before this happened-

Mr NN literally just touched them and they all fell off. It was like the top coat was too brittle? Maybe I'll try gluing them on next time...

Hx

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Untried Month - Color Club New Bohemian and OPI Last Friday Night

Morning :)

I couldn't decide what I wanted to wear the other day. Actually, I wanted Whimsical but couldn't find it, so I threw a few untrieds into a box and got Mr NN to chose for me. He actually came up with a pretty good combo! Color Club New Bohemian (thanks to my spring surpise from PAA) and OPI Last Friday Night, which I got in a swap. This is what I came up with!

I might get Mr NN to chose more often!

Hx

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Untried Month - Revlon Whimsical

Morning!

I wanted this polish sooo badly, I entered every giveaway offering it that I could find and even tried frankening a dupe. So I cannot explain why it has taken me so long to try it when I got it from one of my lovely Birthday club ladies back in February. I am hanging my head in shame. Now I am wearing it, I never want to take it off though! Ok so I said that about the neon mani was wearing yesterday, and Color Club Wild at Heart that I wore last week....but I digress. Today I am wearing 2 coats of Whimsical over 2 coats of Barry M Blue Moon. In the pictures you can still see a wee bit of VNL but you can't tell in person. So pretty and delicate looking.

I'm wearing it plain at the moment, but I might have to adulterate it later...

Hx

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Adventures in Stamping - Young Hearts Run Free

Hello!

The theme that won this week's adventures in stamping vote was a mani inspired by your favourite music. I did this mani inspired by one of my favourite songs, Young Hearts Run Free by Candi Statton. Not my usual pick, I'm an indie chick at heart, but this song was on the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack, which I played untikl the tape wore out (90's, darling) when I was about 15. For the mani I started with 2 coats of OPI Alpine Snow, let it dry then taped off a section before using colours from the Color Club Poptastic Collection (which I picked up at TK Maxx this week) to make neon skittles. I peeled the tape off while the polish was wet and retaped it for the stamping. I used HB 29 and Wet n Wild Black creme to stamp the pattern over the coloured part only.

Before the stamping

So happy with how this came out. I had visions of a big horrible mess, and while the lines aren't perfect and the stamping leaves a bit to be desired, I love it. Now, excuse me, I'm off to a roller disco...

Hx

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Untried Month - Color Club WIld At Heart updated

Hi all,

First opff a quick apology, my computer has died, hence the lack of untried month updates. I'm still doing it, I just wont be able to update as often as I'd like. Sticking with it though!

I said in my last post that I was dying to stamp over Color Club Wild At Heart, so I did! Using Barry M Silver Foil and two animal print images from the second set of Bundle Monster plates, I loved this manicure and it got lots of comments, even on my manky nail it didn't look bad! My luck ran out with the sunshine though, so these pictures aren't the best I'm afraid, but it really was a good looking design :)

I am scheduling another stamping mani for tomorrow, for adventures in stamping and I really love it! It took me all night last night (without the internet to distract me!) and I hope you'll like it too!

Also, while I've been away I hit 300 followers! *LeGasp* Thank you! A wee giveaway will be organised shortly!

Hx

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Untried Month - Color Club Wild At Heart

Morning!

Today's untried is Color Club Wild At Heart and it is gorgeous! I got this from one of my birthday club girls back in February and I have no idea why it's taken me this long to wear it. In the bottle it looks like a deep purple with silver speckle and if you didn't know better you might pass it up. Bt it has a secret holo that is just gorgeous! Granted, it's a shy holo, but get it in the right light and it shows how beautiful it is! I am celebrating today because I think it is the first time I have EVER worn a holo and had some sunshine to take pictures in! This was too perfect buttery coats but you could even get away with one if you're careful.

So pretty! I'm itching to stamp over it if it lasts the day...here's hoping it does I never want to take it off!

Are you joining me in untried month? here are some lovely ladies who are! Check them out :)

Alyssa B at http://www.fancyphalanges.blogspot.co.uk/

Alyssa C at http://polishjunkieninja.blogspot.co.uk

Ashley at http://onenailtoanother.blogspot.co.uk/
Kira at http://www.prettykittyclaws.blogspot.co.uk/
Lexi at http://finger-painted.blogspot.co.uk/

Nicole at http://notskindeep.onsugar.com/

Zoe at http://www.ocnpd.blogspot.co.uk/

Hx

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Adventures in stamping - design using 2 different stamps

Hi! This week's stamping Sunday challenge vote was a tie, so we could choose between stamping over a gradient or using two different stamps. Since I voted for using 2 different stamps and already had an idea in my head I went for that! I have seen this lace design a few times and wanted to try it out, even though the only suitable flowers I have are the cabbage roses from a few weeks ago...the lace element takes out the cabbagey-ness of it a bit though...I hope.

Continuing with untried month, I used 17 Lasting Fix Toasted Almond as the base, a champagne shimmer that has just a touch of dark silveryness about it to make me like it. I then stamped the fishnet design from BM209 and the rosey-cabbages from BM14 with Miss Sporty New Black, which in fact is a dark grey shimmer, and added a thin french tip. I used grey instead of black because I wanted it softer. The fishnet stamped more opaque than the roses so you can see it through them, but other than that I liked it :)

I either need smaller flowers or longer nails...

Check out the other lovely ladies taking part in untried month, and jump on the bandwagon too!

Alyssa B at http://www.fancyphalanges.blogspot.co.uk/

Alyssa C at http://polishjunkieninja.blogspot.co.uk

Ashley at http://onenailtoanother.blogspot.co.uk/
Kira at http://www.prettykittyclaws.blogspot.co.uk/
Lexi at http://finger-painted.blogspot.co.uk/

Nicole at http://notskindeep.onsugar.com/

Zoe at http://www.ocnpd.blogspot.co.uk/

Hx

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Let untried month begin! China Glaze Japanese Koi

Morning! I'm starting untried month off with this little beauty from China Glaze! I'm on a bit of a neon kick at the moment, and this bright bright red-toned orange didn't disappoint. In fact the only disappointing thing is, as usual, my photography skills, or lack thereof. But neons are hard to take pictures of, right? My nails kind of look like they're glowing. Please excuse the awkward hand positioning, I had to use my right hand for the photos and I'm losing a nail after having an infection (gross) and I was trying to spare you from the horror. Anyway, this was two coats, plus topcoat as it dries to a satin finish, being a neon. The formula on this one was great for a neon, I didn't use a white base coat, but if you did it would pop even more. Can't wait to use this on my toes.

Neon goodness! What neon collections would you recommend?

If you want to see my stash list, which shoes all my polishes and which are untried, click the tab at the top. I am also going to be on a no-buy for the monthi, apart from things I am already bidding on on ebay (oops) and for swaps. It's not too late to join in if you have an untried stash you'd like to scale down! Check out my lovely birthday club ladies who are joining me:

Alyssa B at http://www.fancyphalanges.blogspot.co.uk/

Alyssa C at http://polishjunkieninja.blogspot.co.uk

Ashley at http://onenailtoanother.blogspot.co.uk/

Nicole at http://notskindeep.onsugar.com/

Zoe at http://www.ocnpd.blogspot.co.uk/

Feel free to grab the logo, slap it on your blog and join in :)

Hx

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Purple Crumpet Spring Challenge - It's over! Spring Sunset

So, it's over! 40 Spring themed manicures have been completed and I can honestly I'm Springed out. I'm quite impressed that I managed to complete them all, and only had one true failure (the splatter, or Spring mush as I like to remember it by!) Some of my favourites have been my ducklings, Spring green, Mr Blue sky, large flowers...oh too many to mention! I will make a collage of them all this evening and add them to the challenge tab at the top. Anyway, onto today's nails, a Spring sunset. I wanted a moody purple like this picture, so I used China Glaze Peachy Keen as the base and sponged Essie Nutcracker Sweet and Barry M Indigo in a gradient.

Then (after much and pining moaning after walking away from it in Boots earlier) my lovely other half surprised me with a bottle of Models Own Hed Kandi Ibiza Mix, so I slapped it straight on and LOVE it. It really looks like a sparkly Ibiza sunset!

A mani I'm completely in love with to end the challenge, very fitting :)

There will be a Purple Crumpet Summer challenge, starting mid-May I think, but I have to say I wont be doing every one. I pushed myself to complete every challenge this time, and I'm glad I did, but I want to wear just some normal mani's too! I'm squeezing in a month on untrieds before it starts and then we'll see how I feel!

I hope you've enjoyed the challenge posts! I enjoyed doing them :) If you want to join the Purple Crumpet Fairy Challenge group, we're on Facebook here. And you can still join in my month of untrieds if you like too :)

Hx

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Purple Crumpet Fairy Challenge - Re-create your favourite!

Today's task was to recreate someone elses mani. Simple, right? Actually no! There have been soooo many good ones it was so hard to chose something that a) I could do and b) I could make look as awesome as the original. So hard! In the end I decided to go for something by our illustrious leader, Debbie Crumpet of The Crumpet, and recreate one of her mosaic designs, which she featured for Gnarly Gnails as a guest post. She's done a whole series of these now, so you should definitely check out her blog for more inspiration! I chose 4 greens for my mosaic - Nails Inc Spring Mews, Barry M Spring Green, La Femme Beauty Ultra Green and Sinful Colours Green Ocean, and a teal striper. Debbie recommends using 6 colours but all my other greens were too minty or too baby puke-ish. And believe me I've seen way too much puke over the last week thanks to 2 poorly boys with tonsillitis. It isn't the neatest mani, thanks again to the 2 poorly boys with tonsillitis, but I like it :)

Aren't my pictures a million times better when the sun's shining? Pray for more sunshine!

Last day of the challenge tomorrow! I have to say I'm a little bit glad it's over, although I have thoroughly enjoyed it it will be nice to just wear what I want to for a while :) Well, not exactly as in an effort to not feel so guilty at having never used about a quarter of my polish stash I will be doing a month of untried polishes challenge from Saturday 14th April to Monday 14th May. If anyone would like to join me, please let me know in the comments as there are already a few of us from my Birthday club taking part. You don't have to post every day, but every mani you do should be based around a polish you've never worn before. If you want to add stamping or nail art, that is excluded from the untried rule! Have you got a stash of untried polishes? Join in the challenge!

Hx

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Purple Crumpet Fairy Challenge - Favourite thing about Spring

The challenge is nearly over! Just two more posts after this, and we're done with spring! And we're finally getting some Spring weather - today we have had typical April showers, and I don't mind at all!

Onto today's nails, which was your favourite thing about Spring. Now while I love Spring for me the best thing about it is that it leads onto summer, and summer for me means flip flops! Yes, I painted feet on my nails. And what?

The base colour is Nails Inc Basil Street, which is my perfect creamy nude. It's actually pretty squishy and jelly-ish and is almost opaque in just one coat. The only thing is that the drying time isn't great, so if you want a quick perfect neutral mani add a quick drying topcoat and you're good to go! The other polishes are far too many to name, so I've included a picture - ask in the comments if you want to know a certain shade! All off the flip flops were done with striper polishes, and all of toes with a dotting tool and neon polish. I can't wait to try some neon pedicures for real this year!

That's a lot of polish!

Please don't tell me I'm alone in thinking these are kinda cure? No? Just me then...

Hx

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Purple Crumpet Spring Challenge - Representing Light and Ticker Tape Parade

I missed yesterday, and decided to combine two posts into one - I did do yesterday's mani - which was to represent light - but I wasn't happy with it and couldn't get good photos. It seems one of my adorable children have played with my camera and I can't get the settings right again, so prepare yourselves fr some blurry assed photos! That plus the baby having tonsillitis and spending most of Easter Sunday at the emergency doctors meant I had no energy for blogging! The photos for my ticker tape parade are slightly better, so keep reading for those.

Firstly, I couldn't think of anything better than a crapton of glitter to represent light! I used two coats of Barry M Lilac Foil and then topped it with Color Club It's a Hit, which I won in a giveaway from Pointless Cafe - thank you Sheila! It's a hit has large lilac hex glitters in a clear base and you really have to work at getting them spread evenly. It really is packed with glitter, but this means they clump together and you have to dab them onto the nail. It also means though that you can get pretty good coverage, and I used 3 dabbed coats to make an accent nail on the ringfinger. I thought it would be bumpy and annoying but it only took one coat of Poshe to make it smooth and I wore it for two days before the temptation to pick it off took over! Once again, I'm so sorry for the bad photos, I'm almost ashamed to post them but I don't want to miss a day of the challenge so close to the end!

And for my ticker tape parade, I went ofr my first ever jelly sandwich! I have wanted Revlon Royal for a little while now, so when I saw it in a blog sale I snatched it up. Can you say perfect blue? It's a beautiful, perfect squishy royal blue, and I can't wait to use it under Fantasy Fire. But first I tried layering some bar glitter in between two layers of it. I'm not a huge bar glitter fan, I think it looks a bit hairy and weird, but I can cope with it like this! I used Kleancolor Grand Finale, holo silver bar glitter, and Meteorites Vulcan Probe, lilac, purple and fuchsia bar glitter. It wasn't super visible until you caught it in the right light and then it popped!

I actually ended up accidentally wearing something really chocolatey yesterday! I'm off to throw my camera at a hard thing until I can get a decent picture of it for you...

Happy Easter!

Hx

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Purple Crumpet Fairy Challenge - Spring Guest post!

I'm so excited to share my first ever guest post with you! A friend from my birthday club, Jebba, has got something a little bit different for a spring challenge - she is in New Zealand so Autumn is arriving for her! Please check out her lovely blog at The Key to Jennasis and give her a follow! You might even find a cheeky guest post from me there!
_____________________________________________________________________________

Spring has long passed in New Zealand and having a limited supply of nail polish in my tiny flat room in this University City means I was not able to design something springy. Instead, I was able to produce something that is bright and stands out for this cold rainy autumn and the closing winter.

I really love the design of this stamp, it’s fun and edgy and it suit this cold weather without “being way too happy”. The polish that I used for stamping is part of one of my favourite collections by Kleancolour – they come out unbelievably crisp!

... and of course, I cannot resist adding glitter into the mixture.

It was really fun to be able to paint and design something on my nails after such a long time with plain base colour manicures. Thankyou for reading and Helen for inviting me to guest post on her blog and have a safe and happy Easter Holiday!

xox Jebba

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Purple Crumpet Fairy Challenge - Maundy Thursday

Hello again!

Today is Maundy Thursday, a very religious day in the Christian calendar as it was the day of Jesus' last supper with his desciples. It's also traditionally a day that alms are collected for the poor. Short of recreating Da Vinci's Last Supper on my nails (yeah right) I had no idea what to do. So I created this simple "coin" manicure using OPI Skull and Glossbones as the base and Barry M Gold and Silver foil for the coins. As an accent nail I did a coat of gold foil and topped it with ELF Golden Goddess. And Ta Da! Alms for the poor...

I just randomly dotted the coins on, using a large dotting tool, but if I were to do it again I might place them a little less hotch potch!

On a side note, I really love Skull and Glossbones, more than I thought I would. I can't describe it but I just love how it makes my hands look. Except for the really red middle finger in these pics, what's going on with that?!

Hx

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Purple Crumpet Spring Challenge - Easter Egg Hunt

Hi loves!

This was meant to be posted yesterday but I completely forgot! Oops! Anyway, here is my easter egg hunt! The base is China Glaze Electric Beat, the eggs are done with models own Lemon Meringue and Pink Blush and the grass is Nails Inc Spring Mews, all done with dotting tools and a tooth pick. Simple and really quite cute actually! I didn't wait long enough before the topcoat, though, so don't look too closely! Haha!

I'll have another post for you later, since this one is late, and a lovely guest post tomorrow!

Hx

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Purple Crumpet Spring Challenge - Easter Bonnets

Hi!

Just to forewarn you, the challenges for the next few days are HARD! Curse you Debbie Crumpet! This was my second easter boonet manicure and the first one was such a hairy arsed fail that I didn't even dare take a picture. Then I remembered a tutorial I had pinned on Pinterest and this was born. I figured it looked frlly and lacey and bonnety, so I have it a go. And failed. But I guess you can tell where I was going, right?

I used Sally Hansen Camelia as the base (very sheer pink) then drew heart tops with OPI Steady as she Rose. Then I outlined the heart with a pink striper and added the dots as per the tutorial:

Compared to the perfection above, mine is a fail! Never mind!

Hx

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