Finally! The cut files for my holographic birthday card are up for sale!

The first birthday card I designed for my Cricut.

Some of you may be aware that I recently bought a Cricut cutting machine. It was somewhat of a late birthday present, and I got it on August 31. I've been a bit obsessive with it, jumping in with both feet and getting way over my head, having to learn lots of new things to use it effectively.

One of the first things I made with it was a birthday card. It was interesting... I layered 6 or 7 cut identical cut pieces of card stock together to make a very solid card front. I used a holographic glitter card stock as the background for it, and I absolutely fell in love with the result.

I got a lot of really, really good response to it. People seemed to really like it. I also got a few requests to sell the cut files... so...

Free sticker cut file!

I finally did it! I got the files together for cutting not only the card but a matching envelope. I even included a cut file for a coordinating sticker to keep the envelope closed!

So, if you're interested in getting the files to make your own card, check out my listing at gumroad. You might even enjoy checking out the rest of my listings... :D

There will be a brief break in normal posting...

Ugh. I'm having computer problems, so until I can resolve things new content may be a bit spotty. That's not a bad thing, though... I figure this is a great time to look back at some of my favorite posts from the past. Since I have so many new readers, maybe this will expose them to some fun posts they hadn't seen yet!

Bear with me guys, this should be resolved soon. Until then, let's take the time machine back to July of 2010! *makes wibbly wobbly timey wimey hands*

-*~*-*~*-*~*-*~*-*~*-*~*-*~*-

A while back, I was admiring the splat Konad plate (M21). It's extremely cute, and I was sad because I wanted to do something similar on my nails, but I don't have any Konad supplies. Then I saw someone on YouTube (I think?) paint their nails using a brush to get the splattered paint effect. So, I decided to give it a shot on my own.

First off, I started with two coats of Gosh Holographic. I absolutely adore this polish... I love it so much! I need to take some video of it outside, so that you can see the amazing holographic qualities it has. But for now, trust me... It's INSANE!

Unfortunately, using the holographic base for this design wasn't the best use for it. The splats covered up so much of it that the holographic beauty was lost, to a degree. It's a shame, really, because I really, REALLY liked the idea of having that rainbow goodness under the splats. But it's ok, I guess. I've learned that holos aren't necessarily that great under busy manicures. That's a good lesson to learn, so I won't be wasting any more of my precious Gosh Holographic under it!

After that, I started to add splotches with a tiny paintbrush. I used three coordinating shades (two pinks and a red), but I think next time I'll go for more variety in the colors. I used Love My Nails in Delicious (a moderately deep, somewhat dusty pink), Heaven Nail Lacquer in Ruby (an amazing red jelly with intense glitter), and Nail Fantasies in Peppermint Patty (a super hot pink). I basically did one or two splats per nail, alternating the colors somewhat randomly. I also tried to make some somewhat rounded blobs on some of the ends, just for fun.

Overall, I'm really happy with how this came out. I think more variety in the colors would be fun, of course, but overall this was LOTS of fun. I think I'd use a dotter for some of the ends of the splats, to make them rounder. Speaking of, I'll have to make a post about my oh-so-high-end dotting tools. I spent an afternoon with glue, tape, old dried-up pens and various items to make my own! They're even comfortable to use, until I can get some real ones. :D

So, what do you think?

Wheee, it's like a T.A.R.D.I.S. for my blog!

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Princess P-Nut's Zebra Nails

Ahh, weekends! We went to our friend's house again yesterday and this time I brought my nail polishes with me! I'd planned to do nails for more than just her daughter, but the fibro monster reared its head and said, "Nope, you're done!" At least I was able to get hers done!

We decided to call her Princess P'nut, courtesy of her mom. They'd seen my video on making sponged ombre nails and P'nut was really wanting rainbow nails. She also loved the zebra, so together we picked out the colors for her gradient. She chose different colors than I'd used, and I think they worked well together!

She also chose to put rainbow sparkles over the rainbow gradient but under the zebra stripes, unlike the way I'd done mine. I used Jessica Silver Holographic topcoat for the sparkles this time. I love that polish!

Since I'd left my acrylic paints at home, I used Princess P'Nut's acrylic craft paints to do the zebra stripes. As you can see, they came out just as well as with my artist's grade acrylic. Proof that you don't need to spend a ton on acrylic paints!

However, it's obvious that even though I brought my cleanup brush, I'm just not as good at cleanup on other people as I am on myself. I clearly missed lots of stuff, but my that point I was pretty tired and shaky. Ah well, it'll come off in the bath!

Princess P'nut absolutely loved her nails, and kept looking at them off and on. I was so happy! I love sharing the fun of nail art, and she definitely enjoyed it!

The rest of the day was lots of fun too! P'nut's mom made burrito fixings, and those were absolutely delicious! Then she'd made a blackberry cobbler, and we brought chocolate chip cookies. Way too much deliciousness... but who's complaining?

I can't talk about visiting without mention the snugglebunny animals. When I first sat down, Rico ran over and hopped into my lap! He let me scritch him for 10 minutes or so, then was finished. Cats are so mercurial!

Later in the day, we all went to sit in the grass and watch the chickens play in the leaves... such cuties! My husband snapped this gorgeous shot of Rico blatantly ignoring the chickens. He's so beautiful!

There's just something about orange cats that I love. I've yet to meet an orange tabby that wasn't a sweetiepie!

Finally, I have to share this picture of Boo the dachshund. Poor baby had been lying on the back sofa cushions and ended up slipping down behind them. He tried and tried to get out, but his little legs were just too short! Meanie that I am, I just had to get a picture of him looking so dejected.

We helped him up not long after this photo was taken. Surprisingly enough, he ended up sitting on my lap for a good two hours! Normally if his favorite person is home, he's sitting with her. But even though she was home, he'd decided he was snuggling me instead!

At one point, he'd been lying with his front half draped across my lap. He stretched and rolled over onto his back, with his little front legs sort of poking into the air, and he leaned his head back and started making the cutest little wheezy whimpers of contentment! I was absolutely squeeful!

So yea... yesterday was filled with lots of laughter, good food and good friends. You can't ask for more than that!

There's a reason I'm not a nail tech.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

This glitterbomb needs a name!

Expand this for full-on
glitter madness!

Ok, it's official. I'm over my dislike of bar glitter, at least for this particular application. I've said more than once that I don't really like bar glitter, mainly because it looks like your nails are hairy.

Seriously. Who wants hairy nails??

Then a polish came along to change my mind a bit- OPI's Save Me from the Nicki Minaj collection. I don't know why, but the little strings of holographic glitter worked for me in this one.

I kept seeing it every time I went to the local big box store, because the salon inside it sells OPI. But I'm cheap, and I'm broke. I didn't want to buy it if I didn't have to...

I kept wishing and wanting, and thinking I could do this myself. I won a contest from Viva la Nails and got some holographic bar glitter, thinking it would come in handy to franken my own... and then last night the final piece fell into place.

My husband wanted to stop by the Dollar Tree to grab a couple of things, and as usual my first stop was cosmetics. Sure enough, there was a nice selection of Sally Hansen polishes in the two-for-one blister packs! I picked up a couple, including Twinkle Twinkle in Xtreme Wear. It had the large hex holo glitter as well as the base silver I wanted.

I used a bottle of clear Wet n Wild polish for the base. I added a healthy blob of Twinkle Twinkle as well as some Chin Glaze Techno, then added a lot of the string glitter. Finally, I added some small holo glitter I bought literally 16 years ago for a crazy Mardi Gras. I threw in a couple of balls from TKB trading and shook like I was trying to dance in the 80s...

This is the result.



The only problem is that something this spectacular needs a name. I'm at a loss for words, so why not leave me a comment suggesting something?

Magpie, me? Whatever makes you say that...

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Rainbows and Holos and Zebras, Oh MY!

Tonight, I am exhausted. I didn't sleep last night, and I only napped for a couple of hours this afternoon. Then, I taught a 3 hour guest-lecture in my husband's photoshop class. It was loads of fun, but now I have not only used up my spoons, I've borrowed from next week's spoons. I am utterly and completely spoonless.

So, instead of writing up how I made what I'm wearing, I'll simply post pic spam. Let today be known as Spammy Tuesday! If you have questions about how I made this, just ask.

 

 

 

Jessica Holographic Topcoats were provided by the manufacturer for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

The Dotted Line- an experiment in black and white nail art...

Man oh man, was last night rough. I think I should be sleeping right now, but I'm too tired to think about it. I was up all night with nausea and praying to the porcelain god, and I didn't even have the fun of getting drunk first! Oh body, why do you have to be so eager to host such disgusting viruses?

As a result, the fun nail designs I've been working on are stuck in a holding pattern while I get over this ick. Good thing I've got some stuff in the archives I hadn't posted yet! Today I'm showing a look I did with black, white, and silver holographic glitter. I mean hey, glitter is good for everything, right?

Don't answer that... :D

This is a super-easy design and you don't need that much to do it with! I used my Wet n Wild white polish, a silver from a Sally Hansen gift set I grabbed a couple of years ago on sale, a black striping polish, silver holographic rhombus glitter from Born Pretty, and a black stone from Viva la Nails.

It's super simple to do, too. I'll list the steps in order...

1. Base coat. Always always always use a base coat to protect your nails and make your manicure last longer!
2. Paint entire nail white. Use 2-3 coats to ensure opaque coverage.
3. Paint one side of nail silver. I painted around 1/3 of the nail silver.
4. Paint black stripe dividing white and silver. This can be as wide or as narrow as you want.
5. Add white dots down the black stripe. I used a dotting tool, but you can use a bobby pin, a toothpick, a ball point pen... use what you've got!
6. Add silver glitter pieces in the shape of a flower. If you don't have the glitter, you can paint flower petals on.
7. Place a black stone in the center of the flower shape.  Again, if you don't have the stone, you can paint a dot, or use a drop of glitter polish, or a piece of glitter from a glitter polish. Do what you like, make it your own!

Of course, this could be done in any colors you like- pink and blue, red and black, green and yellow... That's one thing I love about nail art... you're free to pull inspiration from anywhere, and tweak it til you like it. Have fun with it, it's only nail polish!

Til next time!

The glitter and stone were provided by the shops listed in exchange for an honest review.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Stamping with the China Glaze Electropop Collection

Sometimes the best intentions just don't work out the way you'd hoped. I received the entire China Glaze Electropop collection from Dolly's 1500-follower giveaway yesterday and absolutely fell in love. This collection is so bright!! It's like they made it specifically for me!

Of course, the first thing I tried with it was stamping. Unfortunately, this look started bad and just kept getting worse. I've done worse manicures, but this one is just not my favorite, by a mile.

Lots of sparkle, and even some out-of-focus-ness
to show that gorgeous holo hex glitter!

I started with a coat of my usual Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator, then did two coats of NYC Oyster. This made my hands look a bit odd, but I knew I was going to stamp on it. I added a coat of NYC Pink Avenue for sparkle, which was nice. I'd like it more over other polish, though. (Both Oyster and Pink Avenue were part of a surprise gift from Melissa at The Daily Nail.) Then, because I wanted still more sparkle, I added a coat of China Glaze Techno!

Finally, I was ready to stamp. Picking colors was hard- I wanted them all on my nails, but I decided to stick with the most vibrant of them. Unfortunately, most of the colors I used were just too pale to really show up. Wicked Style (the bright pink) works nicely, but the rest just disappointed me.

Here you can sort of see Electric Beat (the blue) near the cuticle. The flash of blue at the free edge of my nail is a piece of holographic glitter in Techno. So sad...

I took photos of the rest of the fingers too, though. I only stamped my left hand, because the stamping wasn't looking pretty enough to replicate on my right hand. So, I'll let the other photos speak for themselves.

Oh well... it was worth a try! I still have ideas kicking around in my head, and now I know Oyster just doesn't look good on me. Knowledge is power! ;)

Til next time!

 

I love winning blog giveaways!!

See my disclosure statement for more information.

China Glaze Electropop Collection

Oooooh, I just got an email about the upcoming China Glaze Electropop collection. SOOO cute! This collection was made for me, what with the gorgeous bright rainbow of color and the holo glitter topcoat! These colors look lush! Check them out!

 

 

I know, aren't they delicious? These scream summer to me, warm days and thick sunshine. I want to play with them!

What do you think... are you looking forward to these? Leave me a comment, let me know!

Images were provided by the manufacturer.

See my disclosure statement for more information.