An experiment that works!

I should wait. I know it. I get way too excited about things before they're finished, then I tell everyone and the surprise is ruined. But I'm halfway through the first set of these, and I think I can share my test nail without ruining too much of the surprise. So, humor me, will ya?

Yesterday, my husband and I went walking through a variety of shops- hobby stores, craft stores, etc. I don't know about you, but I absolutely love wandering through a creative-type store, because I never know exactly what's going to catch my eye, or what I'm going to go home with.

Thanks to this wandering I get to show you a preview of my next set of nails. They're for halloween ... they're spooooky monster nails! Be afraid!

Ok, maybe they aren't exactly scary, but they're monsters! Monsters with googly eyes! The nail in the picture is the second to smallest size nail tip, so most have more room for painting and detailing. Thankfully, I've got all sorts going.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I'm enjoying this set. I was painting last night in a room alone, giggling to myself about how silly and cute some of these monsters are. There are no details yet, but personalities are already starting to show. I cannot WAIT to finish this set!

So, what do you think? Have you started thinking about halloween at all? Am I the only one who starts thinking about halloween in August? Talk to me!

No H8- my inspired reaction to the overturning of Proposition 8.

I'm not even sure what to say about this, really. When I heard yesterday that Proposition 8 had been overturned, I was so overwhelmed. I sat and smiled, feeling history being made, and wondered what had taken so long to get to this point. I told my husband, my son. My online friends and I talked and laughed, happy for some good news for a change.

Then last night before I was heading to bed, I found this post- the Daily Nail's post about her No H8 manicure. I love rainbows as you may have noticed in my past blogs, but even more so I love the idea of the No H8 campaign. I also absolutely agree with every word she said in her blog. So when I saw her manicure, I knew I wanted to do my own spin on the idea. But be aware that this one came directly from the Daily Nail.

I immediately pulled out all my stuff and got down to business. Sally Hansen Hard as Nails base coat, then I mixed custom colors for the rainbow in acrylic paints*. For some reason, I like my rainbows with brighter colors, rather than the traditional red, so I used Medium Magenta, Brilliant Blue, and Cadmium Yellow Deep Hue straight from the tube and mixed the purple, green, and orange from these. For my left thumb, I used 2 coats of Fantasy Makers** white, then used a dotter with Fantasy Makers black and Sally Hansen Teflon Tuff in Red Forever Creme to do the lettering.

I took the picture to the right before I'd even finished cleaning up. My fingers are so messy... don't judge me, please! At that point, it was something like 2:30 am and I was absolutely crashing. I shoved everything back into my polish box and tried to sleep some. Once I got up, I realized that I didn't like the way the colors looked, so I decided to top the rainbow fingers off with a holographic top coat. I grabbed my Milani HD and did a thin coat over all the rainbow nails, leaving the NO H8 thumb alone.

I did another round of cleanup and scrubbed my hands nicely and wound up with this, and I think I'm pretty happy with it. Unfortunately, no one has noticed my nails yet. But it's ok. I know what they mean... they sum up my belief that love doesn't discriminate between color or gender, and that our laws shouldn't either. I have no problem with churches refusing to marry couples of the same sex, because that is their right. But there is a difference between marriage in the church and a legal marriage, and the church, in my opinion, has no right to step into legal matters.

Be happy, be safe, and be kind to each other. Those are the best suggestions I have for this life...

*I use Liquitex Professional Acrylic Artist Color in Heavy Body for my acrylic paints.
**Fantasy Makers polishes are distributed by Markwins Beauty Products Inc.