Nail Polish Addiction

Today marks Day Five of the Flu.  I'm much better today, but very tired and kind of drained.  I hope to feel back to normal tomorrow.  I was feeling restless so I took myself to the store to binge on nail polish and such.  This is my haul.

I got some cuticle remover, a quick dry top coat from OPI (my bottle of Essie's To Dry For top coat is tinged pink and is getting low), a glass nail file, four new polishes, and some nail stickers.

I've been wanting to try nail stickers, but I haven't seen any that I liked until tonight.  These are from Maybelline's Color Show line, called Midnight Lace.  I like the Color Show nail polishes, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

The two tiny bottles are Essie polishes (Wicked and Ballet Slippers) and they came in a little set with the nail file.  I was looking for a glass file and couldn't find one by itself.  So I got bonus nail polish.

The other two polishes are from CoverGirl.  I haven't used CoverGirl polish lately, but I had a coupon and they had the pale white pink that I wanted.  So.  We'll see how it goes.  The colors are called Forever Frosted and Tickled Pink.

Earlier today I painted my nails.  Twice.  I first painted them Essie's Bahama Mama, which looks like a dark raspberry in the bottle, but on the nail looks like ox blood.  It wasn't ugly, but it was boring me to death, so I took it off and painted them red instead.

I got a couple little bottles of polish in my Christmas stocking, so I put them to use today.  I did two coats of ORLY Ma Cherie, which is a bright, bright red.  It goes on very sheer, and I didn't really care for it, so over the top I put two coats of China Glaze Ruby Pumps, which is a red jelly with very fine red glitter.  It's a gorgeous color.  The photo doesn't really do it justice.  It's very bright and sparkly.

My nails look awesome.  And a bonus, for once they match my toes.

Fresh Walls: Simplify

I'm turning over a new blogging leaf this year, and I'm starting out the fun with freebies!  Every month I'll post a fresh wallpaper to dress up your devices, so you've got something new and pretty for your eyes to feast on.

Dress up your devices with this simply pretty new wallpaper in gray polka dot.  

Simplify Wallpaper, #1

Playing

Day one with the Intuos 5.  This is what I'm working on.  Just a face so far.  I'm just getting a feel for how it all works, and adjusting the settings.  I think I've almost got it how I like it.

I've found that I press way too hard with the pen, and I've already worn down the nib quite a lot.  I try to make myself let up, but I get caught up with the painting and then I find that I'm doing it again, or just gripping it really, really tightly.

I'll figure it out.

It's been a long time since I've done any digital painting.  I've forgotten which brushes I liked to use before, so I'm just trying all the rough ones to see what I like now.  They give good texture and it makes me care less about skin looking smooth and perfect.

Intuos 5

My Christmas present to myself was a shiny matte new pen tablet.  (...and an iPod.  Hence, the iphoneography.)  I've been using a medium sized Graphire4 so a large Intuos 5 is quite a change for me.  I've been trying to get accustomed to it, and to get all the settings just how I want them.  So far I'm very impressed with it.

I think I'll go doodle some more.

Etsy Treasury: Crimson and Gold

I love making treasury lists on Etsy.

1. statement necklace by louxinyan | 2. vintage red and gold tin box by TheRetroBottega | 3. vintage brass gazelle figurines by saltandginger | 4. gold red ruby quartz bangle by OhKuol | 5. crimson holiday book decor by hucksterhaven | 6. 14k yellow gold red garnet diamond ring by watchandwares | 7. golden gate bridge san fransisco bridge view by sscphotography | 8. red and gold bubbles gift tags by gifttags | 9. gold and red ceramic mug by primitivepots | 10. owl embroidery hoop art by sweetharvey | 11. red ruby crystal snowflake pendant by found300 | 12. crown hair comb by fabcessories | 13. carnival photography by bomobob | 14. gemini keychain by angelyques | 15. vintage smiley buttons by theblingbazaar | 16. holiday vintage book collection by hamptonhousevintage

Space Nails

I've recently become obsessed with nail polish.  It's probably Pinterest's fault - most things are.  But I've been buying nail polish left and right and painting my nails a couple of times a week.  I love the gradient glitter nails I've seen on Pinterest, so I decided to try some of my own.

This one starts with two coats of Essie's Midnight Cami.  Then a gradient of Ulta's Indigo-Go Girl glitter polish.  Then a very small amount of Essie's Set in Stones glitter polish.  The end result looks like stars in the night sky.

NaNoWriMo

I love NaNoWriMo.  Last year I didn't think I had the time to even attempt it, but this year I'm making time.  I've got my characters picked out.  I've got a tentative plot.  I've made a pinboard with my cast of characters, creepy settings, and other things to get me in the right frame of mind, and I can feel my characters coming alive in my head.

It's an awesome feeling.

The most important part for me in creating a character is to have a very firm idea of what they look like.  Otherwise I get confused about what their voice sounds like when I'm writing them.  I know, it's weird.  So yesterday I went hunting on Pinterest for pretty people, saved the ones that looked promising, and to my delight, a story began to form around all the pictures I'd selected.  I've made up a dozen character sketches, and I'm still working out how everyone plays off everybody else, but it's all coming together really nicely!

Turns out that I'm writing a paranormal horror romance.  I don't even know if horror and romance can rightly go together...  oh well.  It's going to be a blast to write anyway.

So, I'll see you after this madness is over.