Viva la Nails Water Decals Make Getting a Gorgeous Manicure Easy!

I've been meaning to post this for ages, but I keep getting distracted. I'm bad about that... I'm totally scatterbrained! Seriously, y'all have no idea. Let me describe a typical experience for me...

Let's say I need to go to the bathroom. I get up, fully intending to go to the bathroom. But as I'm getting up, I think I may as refill my water bottle while I'm at it, so I grab my bottle and head for the kitchen. Once I get there, I think, "Hey, I'm kind of hungry, I should get a snack." I set my bottle down and go to the fridge, looking for something to nibble on. Then I remember I needed to throw a load of laundry on to wash, so I meander to the washing machine and start loading it, only to have to stop because my back is spasming too badly for me to continue. I hobble back to bed, only to realize as soon as I get prone that I still haven't gone to the bathroom, I now have nothing to drink, no snack, and the laundry still isn't washing!

.... and this is typical for me. :D

So...let's get back to the subject- ages ago, I sent off for the Viva la Nails sample pack, and I am so glad I did! It contained an absolutely lovely collection of goodies, including glitter, crushed shell, stickers and decals and stones... it was seriously awesome! I recently decided to try a set of water decals, since I'd never used them before. I was a little nervous about it, since it was new to me, but I figured hey, it's just nail polish, right?

The first thing I did was to gather everything I would need to do my nails. Since I was starting with already-painted nails, that involved getting a small dish of warm water (because I didn't want to dip my fingers into cold!), my tweezers (totally optional), the decals, and my scissors. Then I got comfortable. I had no idea how long this would take, and I wanted to be sure I wouldn't have to move halfway through because I wasn't comfortable.

I started out by cutting the sheet of decals into individual pieces. This makes it possible to soak each decal off individually, so that you don't end up making a huge mess. Trust me on this one. :D

Now, let me take a moment to discuss my setup. You may or may not know that I'm clumsy, but I am. I am incredibly clumsy, and I'm good at making a total mess without intending to. I don't do well with open containers of liquid- I drink from bottles with caps I can replace, instead of glasses, because I will almost always knock it over without meaning to. But how to handle this, since I need the open water?

I used a magnet. I have a nice supply of the small plastic medicine dosing cups that I use for mixing colors, holding beads or whatever I'm working with, or whatever small project I'm doing at the time. I placed this cup into a small metal coffee can and dropped the magnet into the cup, which held it firmly on the bottom of the can. After I put the water into the cup, the magnet ensured I didn't accidentally knock the cup over, and even if I did it would stay inside the can. It worked really well for me, even if it's slightly odd.

So, once I had my individual decals and my water, it was time to apply the decals. Since the decals are small, I decided to use my tweezers to hold each one as I wet it. I grasped the decal firmly by the edge with my tweezer, then sort of waved it around to make sure I had a good grasp on it. I was afraid I would drop it, or lose my grip or ... I don't know what I was worried about, really, I was just terrified I would destroy the decal somehow. Surely this couldn't be easy, right?

However... oddly enough, it was. Once I was content with my grip, I dunked the decal into the water and watched it. I could see the water soak into the paper, so I pulled it out again after a few second. I watched it a bit longer, and used my thumb and forefinger to see if I could slide the decal along the paper.

Once it slid freely, I scooted it off the edge of the paper. I didn't want to slip it completely off, in case it would fold up or collapse or something. I wasn't sure how well it would work, since the whole thing was new to me. But it slid easily on the backing paper and slipped to the edge of the paper nicely. I left it about half on and half off, just to be safe.

Once again using my tweezers, I grasped the edge of the decal to hopefully control it easier than with my pudgy fingertips. The tweezers worked wonderfully, giving me good control. Then it was just a matter of placing the decal...

Oddly enough I didn't get any photos of that. I can't imagine why... how hard can it be to photograph yourself applying a decal to one hand while holding it with the other? Oh wait... I only have the two hands... ok. That would be why. But moving on...

When the decal is first placed, the water underneath lets you slide it around the nail and place it. However, once it's smoothed down with your fingertip, it becomes stuck solidly. Once it's placed and dried, it's on. Then it's simply a matter of dunking and applying to the rest of the fingernails. Believe it or not, it took a whole five minutes or less to apply the decals and then top with a coat of China Glaze Fast Forward. Then it was simply a matter of taking a photo to show the final result!

So... my final opinion? I absolutely adore these, and want more. They're so delicate, so beautiful. I'm sold on these, and love the way their thin delicate lines accent the nail in ways I could never duplicate with a brush.

They also work beautifully as a base for decoration. You could easily add stones or polish over them. For example, you could add small strokes of color inside the petals, beside the leaves, and add a rhinestone at the flower center, or perhaps at the end of the vines. Instead of the end of the decoration, they can be a great start, and I can't wait to experiment more with these!

Unfortunately, that has to wait for a while. But that's ok... I have so many fun things to show you. I just need to find the time to get everything shown... I don't have enough hands!

So what do you think? Have you used water decals? Would you try them? Do you think they'd work better as the decoration, or as a start to paint over and embellish?

Til next time...

The water decals used in this post were provided by Viva la Nails for evaluation.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

I Love Born Pretty!

Ok, I have something superawesome to share. Several weeks ago, I found a cute little web store online called Born Pretty that had an interesting selection of nail art goodies with pretty nice prices. I sent them an email introducing myself, and we exchanged a few emails back and forth. The result? I got to pick a few goodies to have sent to me, to evaluate whether I thought this was a company I'd like to showcase.

See, I get emails pretty often from companies offering goods, this or that, but I don't want to showcase anything on the blog that I don't actually like, or wouldn't use myself. I respect you guys too much, and I don't wanna spam you with blogs about lowering your insurance rates or ... well, I think you know the sort of stuff I'm talking about. Besides, I don't think I could write about stuff I don't like!

So... back to Born Pretty. I'd gotten a bit worried because shipping took a long time. I was really eager to get my goodies, but they did get here, and they were packed incredibly well. When I opened the packet, my husband was laughing at me because I was squealing like a child. Guys, this stuff is SWEET!! I immediately hauled out my camera to photograph everything, even though I felt like a truc had run over me. (Yes, this was mid-fibro flare, so trust me... it took a lot of excitement for me to photo this stuff!)

The first item I pulled out was a packet of gold-plated false nails. I was absolutely drooling over the photo of these on the website. If you look at the photo on the website, they look absolutely stunning. However, they're listed as 24k gold electroplated, but they only cost 50 cents? Surely they couldn't look that pretty in real life... could they?

I looked at the box closely as I pulled it out. It's cute, with badly-translated English phrases on it. Still, the nails looked very interesting... I couldn't resist. I opened them before I pulled anything else out!

I am so happy with these. While my photos look a bit yellow, in reality these match my gold wedding band perfectly. They're so incredibly shiny you can see my reflection in them! I also dry-fit them to my nails, and they seem like they'd fit well.

I'm considering painting over these, doing an animal print (or combination of animal prints) over them. I think that could be delicious... let's see, right? :D

Next I pulled out the packet of nail brushes I got. Now, let me be honest here- I wasn't expecting a lot from these. I was hoping, but realized that for $2.55 these were likely to be kind of ... well, not so great.

Unfortunately, they seem to be exactly what I was expecting. I haven't used them yet, but I'm not expecting a lot. However, this isn't a bad thing. Consider this me taking one for the team... you know to pass up this set for one of the more expensive sets. I'll be trying more as time goes on, hoping to find one I'm happy with. You'll know as soon as I find some I love.

Next, I pulled out a rhinestone wheel- my first! If I was a bit disappointed with the brushes, this wheel more than made up for it. These are SWEET!

This wheel cost a whopping $3.33, and contains 1800 rhinestones in 12 colors. I was a bit worried that the rhinestones would have been able to shift around inside the wheel, so that they'd be mixed up. Thankfully, they're all nicely separated by color, and what a selection of colors!! I am one happy camper!

I put a few out on my paper just to show them. They're a good size, not teeny tiny but not so big as to be hard to use. I'm also really happy with the color selection... there are black stones, pink stones, a gorgeous lavender... so many colors to choose from! I'll definitely be using more stones in my designs now!

And finally, if you know me at all, you'll know I had to get some glitter. It was hard to choose, because there is an absolute TON of glitters to choose from. But when I saw these gold and silver rhombus-shaped glitters, I knew they had to be mine. $3.69 gives you both bottles, and I actually have no words to describe how amazing these two are. The holographic glitter reflects the colors of the rainbow, as do my favorite holo polishes, and the rhombus shapes are large and interesting.

One thing to be concerned about though- these are packaged in the same sort of vial that liquid medications are, like my son's insulin bottles. Opening them is not easy, and the metal rim surrounding the rubber stopper is sharp! If you're not careful, you can slice the crud out of your finger. Just be careful opening it, and you should be ok. If I can do it without needing stitches, you can too. :D

I couldn't resist pouring a bit of these out as well. Honestly... is this fabulous, or what?

Now that I've shown you the wonderful goodies I was sent, I get to share the good news! Not only are the prices at Born Pretty, the people there are super nice too! They're so nice that they're giving readers of my blog a 10% discount! Just use the code LAYNIE20 when you order- how cool is that? This code is only good through March 31, 2011, so be sure and order before it expires!

Oh, and if you order? Tell them Laynie says hi! :D

All items in this post were provided by Born Pretty for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Pain Management Using Art

I'm sorry, guys. I know I haven't been updating much lately, and when I do, my posts have been a bit lackluster. I'm in the middle of one heck of a fibro flare, so doing much of anything is rough.

But I learned something a few days ago that has helped me immensely, so I want to pass it on to all of you. I've recently stumbled across an interesting drawing program called Zentangles, and they've done absolute wonders for my pain!

They're well-named. There's something zen-like in the repetition of the strokes, in adding color and shading and texture to make these drawings come to life. Unfortunately, while my pain recedes while I'm drawing, it tends to rush back as soon as I stop, so I've been drawing quite a bit over the last few days. I've pulled some of my better pieces to share with you all. Keep in mind how much time it takes to create these, and you get an idea of what my time has been like lately!

Also, I'm putting the majority of the pictures under a jump so I don't spam your feeds. Never say I don't love ya! Here's a taste of what you'll find under the jumplll

So, wanna see more? Come on in!

Secret Message Nail Art- an understated approach to nail art?

I am a bad, bad blogger. I took this shot several weeks ago and meant to share it, but then I got totally sidetracked. It's a good thing I'm not a doctor or an air traffic controller or something, else people would be dying while I wondered what it was I'd needed to do...

So, today's nail art is sort of backwards, in that you do the nail art first and then cover it up with your base coat. I know, it sounds totally bizarre, but look at the end result!

This was a super easy look, and it will absolutely make people look at your nails. I started with a base coat of solid white, just a cheapie 99 cent white polish from Love My Nails. It works well enough, although it tends to streak a bit on the first coat. Still, for 99 cents I'll deal.

Once that had dried a bit, I used my Art Deco black striper to draw vertical stripes down my nails fairly evenly spaced. This is a cute look on its own, but I had something else in mind. I'd noticed that the Sally Hansen Purple Diamond Nail Prisms dries very translucent, and I wanted to experiment with it.

Once the black and white had dried, I brushed a layer of Purple Diamond over the stripes and sat back to watch it dry. I wish I had video capabilities, because this is an absolutely gorgeous look. It's subtle enough to not look like you're wearing circus tent stripes on your nails, but it's still striped enough to make people wonder how you managed it. I can't wait to wear this one as a full manicure.

So what do you think- do you want to try some hidden nail art? Does it look interesting to you?

Can holographic polishes really be called understated? Who knows?

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things

 Wow... I've actually managed to stay awake for more than three hours at a time! Siri is back to her independent, lovebucket self, and her tests all came back fine. I'm wondering if she got into something she shouldn't have. Unfortunately, there's no way to know, so we just have to watch her and hope for the best. But she's back to her old self, so I'm much less worried.

Also, since I've managed to be awake for more than a couple of hours I've got my nails painted and I've got a series of nail art nails in progress. I'm experimenting with a strict color scheme, and it's actually a lot of fun! We'll see how things come out... so far, I'm actually having fun!

I have to share something with you guys. I guess the stress of the last few days had me looking for ways to distract myself. I spent a heck of a long time on Instructables looking at things like how to make a wig like they wore in the musical Cats and how to make an embroidered felt hair clip. I looked at 9 things to stuff a baby into for Halloween, and laughed myself silly over it.

Then there are the online shopping sites. Oh man, it's probably a good thing I'm broke, because if not... well, I'd be broke from all the shopping sites! First off, Etsy... oh Etsy, how I love you! Hair thingies galore... an embroidered appliqued felt hedgehog barrette! Silk roses to clip into your hair! And as if that's not bad enough, my friend Din started sending me links to shoes and handbags... she's got a serious thing for marc by marc jacobs. When she sent me this link for marc jacobs handbags I'm not sure who squealed louder, me or her! These are so freaking sublime.

And see, I don't understand it. I'm a jeans and tee shirt girl. I wear my kitty shoes and a ponytail most of the year. What do I need with a bag like this? I carry lots of things... I couldn't put my art supplies and sketchbook in that bag! And yet...

... it's a thing of beauty, isn't it? It's probably a good thing I don't have money to spend right now. If I did, the neighbors might think I'm having an affair with the FedEx guy!

Til next time...

Wanna turn your girlfriend on? Show her this link... designer handbags are hot.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

A Quick Sirius Update

I am so tired. Apparently the doggy drama wore me out. I even ran from my mom's house to mine to get my address book so I could call my dad's cell phone. As a result, once we got home and calmed down, I absolutely collapsed.

I made it to my bed, but didn't manage to get completely undressed. Then I slept... and oh my goodness, did I sleep! The insomnia I've been fighting with for weeks was gone, thankfully. I slept from probably 11am until around 5pm, when I woke up long enough to eat a sandwich, drink a bottle of water, visit the restroom, and stagger back to the bedroom where I slept until around midnight. I woke up again, realized how achy I was, and asked my husband if he would take me to go walk. He said sure, get dressed and we'll go...

... and I promptly fell back asleep before I could get up and dressed. I woke up again around 3am when he came to bed and asked why we didn't go walk. He explained that I went back to sleep so he figured I needed the sleep more than the walk. I think he was right, since I went back to sleep and didn't wake up until around 7am the next morning, and spend most of that day sleeping!

I'm just now getting back to feeling somewhat awake, and I have no idea how much that's going to last. But I want you all to know how much my mom and I appreciate your thoughts and comments. Siri is acting more and more like herself, and the longer she goes without another seizure, the more relieved we all feel. She'll see the vet again tomorrow for bloodwork and probably to be spayed, and with any luck these seizures will be a very rare event.

Hopefully I'll be able to stay awake long enough to paint my nails soon!! As it is, they've been bare for three days now, and it feels weird! :D

Love y'all...

Wow... I had no idea I could sleep that much and STILL BE SLEEPY!

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Think Good Thoughts For Us, Please?

This is a very quick post to apologize for the lack of content for today and the next few days, as well as to let you know what's going on. If you follow me on Facebook,you'll know what I'm talking about already. For those of you who don't, I'll explain briefly.

My husband and I live next door to my mom. Early this morning she woke us up, knocking hysterically on our door, sobbing that she thought her dog was dying. We immediately threw some clothes on and ran over to see what we could do, trying to get the story from her as we did. It seems that Sirius (so named because she's a black dog with a tiny pinpoint of white on her chest, so she's the dog star) was sleeping on the sofa this morning and had a seizure. When she came to she was disoriented and didn't know mom or the other dog Champagne, even though they're the best of friends and often snuggle together. Siri growled at mom and was acting as if she might bite her, so mom quickly closed her into the living room and ran to get us, leaving Champagne in the kitchen.

When we got to her house, I tried to calm my mom down while my husband went to check on the dog. He quickly came back saying she'd growled at him, but that she seemed more scared than aggressive. He got her favorite squeaky ball and tried again, and apparently the squeak of the ball cut through the cloudiness in her head, because she immediately snapped back to herself and ran to him for snuggles and reassurance. They came in to see us and she made the rounds, giving all of us (even Champagne) kisses and doggy hugs.

She still didn't seem herself, totally, though- she wasn't focused, and she seemed very hyper. Mom was terrified, I was terrified... I didn't realize it until I spoke with him afterward but even my husband was terrified. That's one thing I love about him- he's my rock, my calm stable point in times of chaos. He managed to keep us from running in circles without knowing what to do.

Anyway, it was a very long stressful morning, including a rushed trip to the local vet and a very long wait trying to keep Siri from losing her mind at the vet's office. She's not used to other people and other dogs, and she's had to be muzzled at the vet before. It went surprisingly well, though, and now we're waiting to see what happens next.

We don't know why she had the seizure, we don't know if it's a late-onset epilepsy or a reaction to something she's eaten. It could even be a uterine infection, because she hasn't been spayed or had puppies, so that could be the cause. We just don't KNOW, and that's pretty stressful for all of us. I expect to be spending a lot of time at mom's trying to help keep her sane over the next few days, and I don't think that's going to leave a lot of time for blogging and nail art. I'll see if I have some stuff in the In Progress folder to post, but things might be kind of quiet for the next few days.

I'm sure you guys will understand, and I'll let y'all know if we hear anything, good or bad. Just... if you can, send some good thoughts our way? For all of us, my mom and the dogs and everyone. We all love her a lot, and want her to be the healthy, adorable devious little muttley who makes us all smile.

Til next time.

Nothing much to disclose, other than I'm worried sick!

See my disclosure statement for more information.