I've been busy working on some Holiday Designs to share over the next four days. Today is day one and I really loved how these turned out. They remind me of Christmas Poinsettias. 
I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Cherry Red and Cult Nails in Grunge. I stamped with Maybelline Metallics in Bold Gold and topped everything with one coat of Seche Vite dry fast topcoat.The design is stamped with Messy Mansion plate MM20.

I'm stuck taking photos with my left hand this week. I had a bad break on the middle nail, on my right hand- which is the hand I usually use for photos. It feels really awkward to take photos in my lightbox using my left hand. I'm just not used to it.

These are my nails for the work week. :-) I used I Love Nail Polish: Birefringence and Washing Ashore, plus China Glaze Fairy Dust. I started with Washing Ashore at the top of my nails and Birefringence at the tips. Then I dabbed both colors around here and there.

I stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Silver Sweep, plus one coat of Seche Vite topcoat. The stamp is Messy Mansion plate MM14. I love how they turned out. You can see so many different colors.

My Thanksgiving nails chipped with all of the cooking... so I decided I would stamp over Zoya Carter with some of my bird cage stamps. 

I used Moyou London Kitty 11 for my pinky & ring finger. And I used Messy Mansion MM14 for my middle and pointer finger. 2 coats of Zoya Carter and I stamped with Maybelline Bold Gold. No topcoat.

Tuesday morning after the Government Shutdown set in and I was told not to report to work, I got a nice surprise in the mail. Belated Birthday gifts from my cousin in Georgia. Boy... did I ever need that to cheer me up!

The inspiration for these nails, actually comes from one of my favorite pieces of furniture.


I ordered two of these Arista accent chairs from Walmart back in 2011. When I saw Messy Mansions 'In The Garden Plate' MM20, the pattern on it immediately reminded me of my chairs.


I used Sally Hansen Insta Dri in white and Konad Black stamping polish. I also used a topcoat of Seche Vite for the 1st two photos, then I tried a matte coat. (1st 3 photos were taken in my DIY lightbox, the last one is a flash photo.)

I was excited to try out my other Messy Mansion stamping plate, MM06. I tried the damask pattern this time. It's a little tricky to center on the nail, but I still think they turned out pretty.

I used China Glaze Flying Dragon for my base. I got a mini bottle on eBay. I'm glad I did get a mini and not a full size, because it takes longer than usual to dry, even with Seche Vite fast dry topcoat. I did 3 thin coats.

I've never had a problem with China Glaze's formula before... but this one was tricky to work with. It's a royal purple color with blue & pink micro glitter. It dries gritty & matte, so you need a topcoat to make it shiny. I stamped with Maybelline Color Show Metallic's in Bold Gold.






Disclosure: The products above were purchased with my own money. I was not asked to blog about them.

P.S. I also did a little video showing how I paint my nails. Mostly because I get asked a lot how do I keep my nails so neat when painting. It's not really a tutorial, it was mainly to show people after painting my nails for 3 years straight every 1-2 weeks, I've developed a steady hand- so it is rare that I ever have to do more than swipe of a q-tip if I do get paint on my skin.

Now.... the only exception to that is doing a gradient or stamping... those are messy and you will get paint on your skin, I do! I don't have a tripod, so I balanced my camera on a book, lol. There's no sound... but you get the idea!