Konadicure - Hello Kitty, You're Lookin Wild Today!

Ah yes. Since we all know, or at least have a pretty good idea by now, just how much of a geek I am... This is a perfectly acceptable manicure for me to sport. I'm a tomboy at heart- I work on tractors, cars, and trucks. I can do my own oil changes, know how to replace my brake pads- and put it all back together. I've replaced a broken head block, bored out stuck screws, and know how to clean spark plugs. It's quite easy. I know where my fusebox is, how to replace a blown one, how to back up with a trailer attached to my vehicle and not jack-knife it, and how to squeeeeeeeeze my Truckasaurus Rex into areas where people in VW Bugs think is impossible for them to travel. I'm proficient on how to get a fire out side going, how to split wood, plowing a driveway with a tractor (if there's ever a time I have one of my own, I know how to operate it. To hell with a snowblower!), lay real pine flooring, assist with tiling work and an array of other stuff. I'm familiar with nearly all of Dad's tools, in the tool box and the "Big Boy Toys". Told you I'm a tomboy.

I'm also excellent at applying makeup, and love to do my nails.

I hate the word "cute". I don't know, I say it some times... But don't ever call me cute. It's a guaranteed butt whoopin for you if you dare to go there. And be aware- at this time, I wield a cane, so I have the added assistance of a "weapon", if you can even call it that.

 

Anyways- look at what I'm excited to show you! I did my nails in a totally awesome mani today. I rewarded myself- it was laundry day, I cleaned, vacuumed, and did litter boxes (since we have a lot of cats). I figured, what the heck. I've had my nails bare for a few days now, and I was positively dying to use my Hello Kitty stamping plate that I got from Born Pretty Online's Store. Yep, they had a promo for a while where if you Re-Tweeted their Tweet, you'd get a free HK plate. So guess what I did. Yes, indeed.

I didn't, however, want to go all out and put that darling little cat on each nail of mine- I thought it would be kawaii overkill. I suppose I could have gotten away with it, but I love how this turned out! Don't you agree??

On my nails:

Orly Rubberized Basecoat

Sinful Colors "Forget Now"

Sally Hansen's Insta-Dry polish in "02 Whirlwind White"

N.Y.C. Long Wearing Nail Enamel in 104A

Seche Vite Fast-Dry Topcoat

Konad's Special Polish in Black-Gold

Konad Plate M57

Born Pretty Plate in M71

Very Small Swarovski Crystals (If I had to guess, about 2mm)

Basically, what I did was brush on the Orly Bonder. Then, on all fingers except my "accent", or ring finger, I applied SC's "Forget Now" polish. I like this one because it's a beautiful deep magenta with silver sparks in the polish. When in sunlight, it's absolutely gorgeous! Once they were done with 2 coats, I finished them off with a coat of Seche Vite.

Next, I painted my accent nails with Sally Hansen's "02 Whirlwind White" for my base. I did 2 coats, and finished with a coat of SV. I then took Konad's M57 plate and stamped the lacy leopard print pattern onto the tips of my nails using their Special Polish in Black-Gold. By this time, my accent nails were dry enough to stamp, so I put on the lovely Miss Hello Kitty and covered all my nails with a SV clear coat.

I used SC's "Forget Now" again to color in the little bow on her head, and applied the N.Y.C. 104A to my nail around Hello Kitty's face. I did two coats, because I wanted the pale blue shimmery shade to really be set off in sunlight and show that there really is another color besides white on my nails. One that was done, I put a dab of SV in the middle of the bow, picked up a rhinestone, and placed it. Another (bit thicker) coat of SV was applied- and I was done!

Now, in some of the pictures it appears that Hello Kitty is smeared and has an air bubble. Upon closer inspection, I didn't smear her face (my camera somehow picked that up!), and the air bubble has since gone to Vegas.

I'm totally feeling like a sassy cat right now! Is it a manicure you'd be proud to sport??? What do you think?!

I'm feeling pretty girlie right now... And that's ok with the tomboy part! *laughs*

Sparklies and Hello Kitties to all!

x0x0x0 ~*Snarky P

Pretty Pink Konadicure for Spring

So yeah... I painted my nails at least 8 days ago, and I'm just now getting around to posting it! Ha ha ha! Yesterday I had two small chips- one on my thumb, and another on one of my middle fingers (how appropriate, right?!) and today I chipped a big piece off my pinkie finger.

But that's not what this is about.... The awesomeness that was my manicure:

First, Lippman Collection's base coat went on

I used Sally Hansen's Beyond Perfect  29 Pink Lilac as a base color

The patterns are from Konad Image Plate m57

The fishnet pattern was stamped using Sally Hansen's Insta-Dry in 02 Winterland White. I love the fact that it looks like fishnet, or lattice... There's so many different looks I have in store for this image I tell ya!

The flowers were stamped using Sally Hansen's Insta-Dry in 220 Flashy Fuchsia. Instead of using the flowers pattern all at once (like show on the plate) I used the largest flower on my thumb through ring finger. The medium flower went on all fingers, and the smallest one was on my pinkies.

Taa-daaa!

These are the nails I've been sportin' for well over a week! I loved how it brought in a little spring for me....

For a little extra "sparklie" effect, I picked up a very old bottle of Sinful Colors polish in iridescent-glitter and applied it just over the flowers. When I say old, I mean somewhere along the lines of almost turning 15. I have no idea how this thing hasn't dried up and gooped in the bottle. I kind of think it's hilarious, and I'll remember to snap a pic and show it to you! This thing is in their old packaging- it's 203 Agaci !! I completed everything with a good ol' coat of Seche Vite.

But now, since they've chipped.... I'm gonna take 'em off and get another design figured out! And I promise... I won't wait a week to share! LOL

Spring wishes and glittery nails to all!

x0x0x0 ~*Snarky P

Konadicure - Funky Patterns Galore Black Glitter and Silver Shimmers

I nearly forgot to share these nails with you! How could I?! So far, they've been my favorite other than the Anti-V-Day ones.

I wanted to go punk-rocker style, so I put on a couple coats of Sinful Colors "What's Your Name" which is a gorgeous black polish with peacock colored glitter flecks. A quick swipe of Seche Vite to dry and get ready to stamp... Which I did using Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in 220 Celeb City.

Each of my nails had a different stamp design... For my thumbs, I used Konad plate M60 with the argyle pattern, and the graduated dots pattern. For the rest of my fingers, I used assorted stamps from Bundle Monster plates: BM 16, BM19, BM20. For the tips of my fingers, I used a magenta glitter polish I had picked up from Hot Topic years ago, and swiped it across each nail for a little extra sparkle. Once more, a coat of SV, and I was ready to go! These suckers were sparkly, shimmery, and bold!

I like black nail polish, but it's so overrated with people wearing it just plain... I love that I can jazz it up now... Especially considering I have a polish which is not only black, but has glitter in it too!

Would you create and wear something like this??

x0x0x0 ~*Snarky P

Konadicure - The Anti-Valentine's Day Mani

Well, I might as well break the news to you the blunt way.

I despise Valentine's Day. If you want to read the story in it's entirety, you can do so here. Needless to say, I've always had a sour taste in my mouth for this particular holiday. To me, it's over commercialized, has lost its meaning, and somehow turned into the holiday where guys are supposed to give diamonds or a very expensive gift to his significant other. I think it's bull crap.

Every day of the year can be Valentine's Day. February 14th should not be reserved for expensive gifts to "prove" to your other half that you love them. Especially in the case of us single people, it's a too-sugary-sweet-makes-me-want-to-barf seeing all the cutesy, lovey-dovey, sappy fake presentations of "love" and "adoration".

Give me a break. The flowers are dead when they're given to you, the 1 lb of chocolate inexplicably and strangely makes you gain 10 lbs which goes straight to your tush or hips, and the jewelry is most likely CZ's. Ok, last one happens far too often... Want to know how to tell if you've gotten a fake?? CZ's throw off blue reflections, whereas diamonds throw off rainbows. It pays having a sister who's certified in diamonds and stones... Sweet! But if you're one of those lucky gals which received real diamonds- good for you!

Ok, I could rant on for weeks about this holiday... But I'm sure you want to see nails. So here they are:

Can you believe these are my real nails?! I don't think I've ever had them uniform length, and feeling so strong! The Seche Vite top coat really has helped not only dry my nails in a snap, provided flawless coverage without streaking... And also helped prevent me from getting nicks and splits!

I was aiming for a graffiti look, and I hope I succeeded. I threw on a base coat first (always!), then did two coats of Sally Hansen's Insta-Dry nail polish in 02 Whirlwind White. After applied, I swiped on a coat of SV to dry and seal the color.

The background was stamped with BM11, the "hearts on strings" full nail stamp. Well, since BM plates are small, it doesn't quite cover my entire nail- but it's ok. The more you layer, the more creative your effect will look! This stamp was applied using SH's Insta-Dry in 220 Flashy Fuchsia. That's right gals, it's super-pigmented and opaque... Surprisingly not a Konad Special Polish!!

Next up I did use my Gold-Black KSP to stamp two images from the BM03 plate. I stamped the heart with wings once on my nails, about mid-way. Some I angled, some I didn't... But I didn't want it perfect. My thumbs, I stamped it twice on an angle. I figured it was appropriate to show a heart "flying" away! The second stamp was the heart "flower", which I only covered halfway with polish and stamped on my pointer through pinky fingers where the half moon on my nails would be. Again- I didn't want it to be perfect, so some were angled a little off from others, some were twisted a bit... I wanted variety!

Once that was done, I finished off with a coat of SV to seal the design and my nails... And they're super-shiny! I love that when I look at my nails, it looks like a black to pink fade!This mani will need to be a staple because I'm just totally in love with it... Perhaps come spring time, I'll try it in other colors!

What do you think?? Would you wear a design like this??

x0x0x0 ~*Snarky P

Konadicure - Did the Cat Eat the Fish?!

Well, this past weekend was pretty tough for me, so I figured my nails this week would somehow have to incorporate kitties into them. While the pros of my travel were finding out my back can at least handle (to some degree) a rather long ride without totally spazzing out on me, and seeing one of my best childhood friends and my god-daughter (her little girl), and seeing two friends who are very dear to me who also live down in CT, the cons were I gave up two of my little kittens!

Now those of you that know, we have 5 cats already. There's Mitts, the 18 1/2 year old gray Maine Coon, Balls the totally black boy and Ratcat who's his sister, and a pretty sandy colored tiger, who are 10 1/2, and Hobbes who's a big spotted Tabby Tom Cat who's gray, black and white. They mostly get along, except when Balls chases his sister, or Hobbes decides to... Or when Balls and Hobbes decide they're going to prove who's the owner of the house. There's no doubt about it. Mitts is the King. All he needs to do is raise a mighty double-paw and plunk it on the head of whatever cat decides to bother him. Ha ha ha! However, when I came home back in Spring, I brought my little cat Peeps with me. She's the 1 1/2 year old kitty who is a Patchwork Tabby Calico girl, with quite an attitude. She's quite sweet, but doesn't really care for the other cats much. The pictures which follow are from our journey down to CT, and back home to NH! They all did so well during the ride!!!

However- she liked Hobbes enough to um... Well, I'll just say it. They had kittens in October!

(do not worry, neutering and spaying is in their near future)

Peeps had 4 "Little Doobies", as I'd affectionately nicknamed them, and I've had them in tow since then. Due to the fact that they hadn't weaned by 8 weeks old, and Christmas had come barreling down the expressway... I held on to them a little longer. Then, due to scheduling and stuff, I kept them longer. So, I've had my "babies" for 17 weeks- and now they're in new homes!

Honestly, I didn't know which of the boys my two friends in CT would choose, though I knew they are parents to an orange cat currently. Whoosh- no help, considering both boys are orange! Little Dude is dark, and Dane is peachy.  Dane earned his nickname after the comedian Dane Cook, who declared because he liked Transformers, he wanted to name one of his children "BbbbbrrrrRRRRRRReeeeeHHHHH!". Yes, the little kitty loves to talk- and he used to greet me every morning with a twitter!! While he doesn't typically like to be picked up by a human, whenever one sits down... He has to curl up and take a catnap with them. He's so affectionate, and it just made my heart swell even more for this little guy! He was the one chosen by my friends, and his new parents have re-named him with one which suits him beautifully- JB Westen 007. He's a super-cat spy! Quite fitting indeed!

Next up was my little cuddle bug sweetheart going, and her nickname was Sweetie. Guess why!? I do, however love her new name- because she's so dang cute! Love-Bug is now Precious <3 She loves chin rubs, cuddles, anything soft and snuggly, and has a purring motor that would put a jet to shame. I never in a million years thought I'd get a snowball-kitten from Peeps, since she's a calico. But you guessed it... I had two white girls with black ears and tips! The best thing was they both kept their pretty blue eyes!! As they get older, their colors are coming out more- and Precious has a lot of coloring on her face. I nicknamed her "Gremlin" for a little while, because she looks like one ha ha ha! I love the coloring on her face- black, tan and orange! She also does the cutest little butt "raise" when you reach down to pet her... Head butts, and her rear end goes up! I know her new Mommy wouldn't do this, but as much as Precious suits this kitten to a T, I can't help but imagine her skipping around her condo and in a funny Golem voice saying "My Preciousssssss! Oh, my... My Preciousssssss!" LOL And of course, I imagine the sweet little kitten would either run and hide... Or join her! Ha ha ha!!!

Little Dude came home with me, and I'm working on convincing someone to let me keep him. He's missing his siblings- he wanders the house at night looking for them, then comes in to me with a look on his face like "Ok, game's over! Where's my brother and sisters?" He's been super-cuddly and affectionate, but then again... That's his nature. He's got a great disposition and is definitely an Omega cat. Easy going, just like our Old Man Mitts. He loves to purr, loves to be around people (except when he naps during the day), attacks any toys he can literally get his paws on... And in general, is just an absolute awesome kitten. He's nearly as big as his mother- so I think he's going to be one big boy!!!

So yeah, that's my story about this past weekend- so I'm feeling a bit "child-less" without my kittens! I miss them... But I know they're in new homes where their parents absolutely adore them!!! I woke up in a panic Monday night, thinking my kittens escaped my room and I'd have to round them up. Once I woke a little more, I remembered I no longer have them. But there was Little Dude, at my feet, curled up and comfy. He felt me kind of roll over with a start, and he got up, nuzzled me under my chin, and curled up against my belly under the covers, cuddled and purred until I fell asleep. Peeps also joined me, up near her favorite spot  on "her" side of the bed. (aka, what would belong to another human, but doesn't) So as an ode to my kittens... I did my nails in Kitties and Fish-Bones!

Hope I didn't bore you with my cat story!

On my nails:

Base Coat from Lippman Collection (Old, just using it up... I think I got it from a friend...)

Wet 'N Wild Craze nail color in 231 Shield (a beautiful dark burnished gold)
Sinful Colors in Courtney Orange
Konad Plate M60 - The Plaid Design used with-
Sally Hansen Chrome in 48 Purple Diamond Chrome
Bundle Monster Plate BM04

Konad Special Polish in Gold-Black to stamp Cat on BM04

Sally Hansen Chrome in Pure Chrome to stamp Fish Bones/Skeleton

Seche Vite Top Coat to Seal.

You like? I thought it was really cute! Even Mom liked it!

x0x0x0 ~*Snarky P

* All products used have been purchased by me.

** I was quite disappointed with this application of polish. I painted my nails Monday, and three of my tips chipped yesterday... Most of my nails today have chipped and lifted polish which have the WnW color, which I'm bummed about. Sadly, I'm removing them tonight. But that means a new design! I really like this soft gold. *shrugs* Oh well. Win some, lose some.