31 Day Challenge: Day 31: Inspired by your favorite challenge!

Today I am going to show you one of Kelsie’s challenge manis, recreated by moi. Kelsie’s manis are gosh darn perfect every time. I mean, it was so hard to choose one of hers to do because A) she is infinitely talented in nail art and there were so many I admired and B) I also had to choose one that was within my skill level! :)

My first attempt at Half Moons on Day 18 was sort of a fail. This time, they turned out much much better. Using Kelsie’s Day 18 mani for inspiration, here’s my recreation:

I didn’t have good light for photos but you don’t really  need it; you can all see what it is! I painted my nails white using Spoiled Correction Tape, I stamped zebra designs using Sinful Colors Black Out, and then I tried three coral polishes before I had to settle on this orangey red Sally Hansen Insti Dry in Sonic Boom. All of my coral polishes were too sheer and you could see the zebra through them.

Here’s is Kelsie’s beautiful mani, which can be found here.

All of her manis are simply gorgeous and I am so envious of her perfection! I feel as though I just slap-dash crap on my nails all the time.

I still have quite a few challenge manis to catch up on, and I will get to them soon! I started my summer class this week and already SWAMPED. Boo!

Check out Kelsie, Stephanie, Amanda and Jess!

www.kelsiesnailfiles.blogspot.com

www.alittlepolish.blogspot.com

www.noxnails.blogspot.com

www.nearlynaturalnails.blogspot.com

Thank you all for following me thru this challenge! I have to say it was pretty hard and am not ready to jump into any other challenges for a looooong time!!

-Erin-

31 Day Challenge: Day 6: Violet!

Hello and good afternoon! Did you all have fun celebrating Cinco de Mayo yesterday? I am a big dull dud and spend my afternoon filling out job applications and working on my International Business Operations final project, which is kinda cool because it requires me doing research on Zara, a wonderful clothing store that I wish we had here, and I just found out you can order online finally!!! Yay! Oh and of course I've been working on the Challenge!

Today is a double hit because it also satisfies the requirements of the Adventures in Stamping challenge this week: unnatural animals! So, I did violet nails, with blue zebra stripes.

Two more Zoyas today! They are probably my favorites of the moment. But I also own the most of them of any other brand so maybe that’s why. They have fantastic sales so I am always sure to take advantage! Speaking of sales, I found the entire Color Club Take Wing collection this weekend for $8! $8!!!!! Those colors are gorgeous and I'm so glad I bought them. Expect to see lots of them coming up. :)
This is Zoya Zara (purple) and Zuza (blue). I topped my ring finger with Pure Ice Cheatin’. I loved this mani! This is really my style as far as my nail art goes. I am not super inventive or adventurous. :)

I hope you like it! Check out the other girls’s violet nails today!

Kelsie @ www.kelsiesnailfiles.blogspot.com

Stephanie @ www.alittlepolish.blogspot.com

Amanda @ www.noxnails.blogspot.com

Jess @ www.nearlynaturalnails.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by!

Erin

Queen’s Day: An Adventures in Stamping Post

Good afternoon! Are all of you having as lazy of a Sunday as I have had? Meant to study all day – got two assignments finished then got sucked into My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding – Holy cow! Does anyone else ever watch that?

Anyway, for today’s challenge, the theme was Queen’s Day, which is a Dutch holiday. On this day the Dutch celebrate their Queen by wearing the colors of the flag (red, white, and blue) and orange, the official color of the Queen and I think there is also a big flea market?  I didn’t have a suitable blue for red, white, and blue, and I don’t have any crown stamps. So I went with the orange/celebration/party theme.

(If my understanding/interpretation of the holiday is wrong please tell me!)

The orange is actually a neon but unfortunately is a little camera shy. I stamped using Pure Ice Silver Mercedes with a Shany plate, that looks like confetti-shredded glitter. Then a light coat of WnW Party of Five Glitters. I am trying to stay away from glitters for a few days but couldn’t help myself, I thought glitter was appropriate for this mani.

This was fun to do and I am glad I participated! The Adventures in Stamping group is a great group of ladies and it was fun to celebrate a holiday that means something to someone in another country. So, Happy Queen’s Day! :)

Thanks for reading!

XOXO

Erin

Inspired by Music: An Adventures in Stamping Post

Happy Sunday!! Well, I’m not gonna lie, I thought I was going to have a lot of trouble with this challenge. (I guess you can decide that for yourself!)  I am not a huge music buff. I only listen to a few favorite artists, and I don’t know singers, album titles, song lyrics, etc…I usually just listen to whatever my boyfriend puts on the stereo. Hence, this mani. Inspired by DEADMAU5!! In case you are not familiar with Deadmau5, it is the  name for electronic artist Joel Zimmerman. My brother and boyfriend are huge fans. I like his music too, but like I said, I am not a huge music buff. So anyway, Deadmau5 is pronounced Dead’mouse’, and he wears these huge mouse heads when he performs. So here’s my take on it:

side by side of the mau5 heads.

Here’s a pic of Deadmau5 on stage:

Several things I want to say about this mani:

1) When I stamped the dot background, the whole glitter topcoat SLID across my nail and I had to SLIDE it back…omg I almost died. Really. I did not want to remove all of that stinkin’ glitter and start all over!

2) Stamping dot background WHAT? you are probably thinking..Yes, I did stamp on these nails but it is very hard to see…:(

3) My middle nail looks awful in these pics…it looks like I chopped off a whole chunk of polish around my cuticle. Well, I am practicing my clean-up skills, (my makeup brush seriously SUCKS) and I thought I did a gosh darn good job – until I crop my macro shots. In real life, the flaw is barely noticeable. Instead of redoing it and taking new pics, I’m leaving it – hence why I call this blog Beauty Bumbles, because I feel like I’m just bumbling around with all of this nail stuff….

4) The base color is Zoya Sooki, I stamped with Pure Ice Silver Mercedes (so glad I took the recommendation of the ladies at Adventures in Stamping!) and Sally Hansen Black Out (must take other recommendations for black stamping polishes, because it looks horrible on Sooki), and I used a Claire’s glitter topcoat.

5) I bought Sooki mostly because I LOVE TRUE BLOOD! And Charlaine Harris’s books too, of course. :)

So that’s it! I did not match my right hand to this, the coordinating mani is actually for my challenge tomorrow, Monkey See, Monkey Do manis inspired by my Pinterest board. The two look really cute together.

I hope you like it!

Thanks for reading!

XOXO

Erin

Gradient with Two Stamps: An Adventures in Stamping Post

Good morning! This week was a fun challenge. We had several options this week since the vote was a tie: stamping over gradient nails, or using more than one stamp. I thought all week about what I was going to do, well…..on Friday I got my Zoya polishes in the mail (plus Riveting and Smoke and Ashes from my cousin!), and last night I got my new Shany plates! So all ideas went out the window and I of course had to use some of my new goodies. This isn’t anything original, as I have seen lots of variations of this theme,  but I love it and it screams ‘ME!’ Now I wish I was going on vacation somewhere. :)

There was something BLACK in my cleanup brush so you can see the flubs around my little finger and my thumb…not sure what happened there..!

What I used:

Orly | Top2Bottom, China Glaze | Sun Worshipper, Zoya | Kimber, China Glaze | Riveting, Sally Hansen | Black Out, NYC Top Coat

Plates: SH19 and m26

There was some discussion in the group as to what designs all of us do on our right hands; I usually match my designs but if the image is one that is hard to get centered I usually do something else. For example, for the Cardinals mani I did I just did a skittles mani with the colors I used. For this mani, my right hand is just painted with China Glaze | Riveting – a gorgeous eye catching color! So that’s what I do. What do you guys do?

Thanks for reading!

XOXO

Erin

Happy Easter! An Adventures in Stamping Post

 My first post for the Sunday stamping challenge.This didn't exactly turn out how I envisioned, but still Easter-y. I don't have any Easter plates, so flower and butterflies will have to do. The base is FingerPaints | Tiffany Imposter. My new favorite, I think!

What I Used:

Happy Easter eveyone! I plan to celebrate by getting my fill of Cadbury Creme Eggs.

Thanks for Reading!

XOXO

Erin

P.S. I just got on Pinterest, so follow me there too! :)

I Joined a Group....

....but I didn't participate in the theme this week. The theme was any unstamped mani. My nails from Friday are still going strong and I have been no where for anyone to admire them yet (HA!) so I'm keeping it on for another day or two. Hopefully I'm up for the challenge next Sunday! 

I did paint my toenails, but I can't say I love it. But I'll share anyway. I don't like French tips on my toes but they look gorge on other people's. What can ya do?

Also, I added a GOTTA HAVE IT! tab at the top, I've been admiring so many swatches on everyone's blogs lately, so I guess it's time to start a wishlist so I can keep track! The list is pretty short for right now.

I'll leave you with a picture of my little Riley.