Saran Space Out

Hey all,

Hope you're having a great Easter weekend. It has been so insanely beautiful out. I made my little bro accompany me downtown yesterday while I did some spring shopping. And it was so nice I was down to my tank top, in March! I'm super apprehensive. This can't last. The universe must balance itself, right? What kind of shit storm will end up befalling us??? 

Ha. Everything's sunshine and lollipops and I'm little miss doom and gloom. I need to learn to just enjoy the good. And to hell with whatever bad follows. 

Lucas and I have been on a bit of an alien/ sci-fi movie kick lately. He told me about the phenomena referred to as The Phoenix Lights, totally fascinating, google it! There's a documentary even, which is pretty compelling. Then we watched The Fourth Kind. Good fun. If you liked Paranormal Activity you'll like this. And anything with Milla Jovovich has my vote ;) 

It's no wonder my current manicure is partially inspired by the theme of space.

Space and this yo-yo. 

The YoYo Factory Chaotic.

Seems pretty random, I'm sure. But no. I look at yo-yos a lot. Lucas has been yo-yoing for around 3 years now. 

(He can do some pretty crazy stuff, it's very cool.)

He looks at yo-yos and tricks like I look at nail blogs. Constantly! You wouldn't believe how inspiring they are for nail art. There are so many splattered yo-yos with bold colour combinations. 

Go to yoyoexpert.com and be amazed!

This particular yo-yo always stuck out in my mind. 

There's something fantastic about it.

I painted my nails yellow, let that dry then painted a layer of blue and used saran wrap to recreate the look of the yo-yo.

I just had to use a few of the Big Ruby nail tattoos for some added interest.

One hand is a lot more yellow, and the other is more blue. I just can't saran the same with each hand. :P

I like them both though. They're super summery. Reminds me of popsicles for some reason.

What do you think? Far out?

I used two polishes from Nubar's new My Sweet Escape collection.

My New Obsession & Resort Yellow

Resort Yellow is a perfect bright true yellow. Not a tinge of orange. Looks great in two coats. This is my new go-to yellow :)

I can't really say much about the blue since it's my first time using it and it's smooshed on top of a yellow.

Both are a tad bit runny, but manageable.

I'm happy to say I'm 50% done my current crochet project! 

No pictures till it's all done though.

(You do already get to see it in every post :P)

I hope everyone is still having a great weekend.

I've got to get back on the porch with my little beast.

Outside crochet and kitty time<3

Have a great day and an awesome manicure!

jeebjeeb

Holographic Laser Show

Hey all.

Happy long weekend! Woot woot! Any big plans? It has been absolutely beautiful here in Vancouver, so I want to get out and enjoy it. Go for an urban hike. Go on the swings at a playground. Maybe play some frisbee! It's been awhile. How do I outdoors again?  (?_?)

I have some very exciting blog news! My Blu Skies manicure was featured on Nail Polish Canada's Favourite Swatches of the Week! I am not worthy!!! But so grateful. :) Thank you NPC <3 Check it out , 7 other bloggers are also featured with some very beautiful designs. 

This week I finally received the Color Club Halo Hues 2013 collection. This is my second time buying an entire collection. I've been coveting this one a long time. Every rainbow particled one of them. They're just too fabulous. How could I pick only a few? So in that spirit, here's my first ever "skittle" manicure!

Look at all that holographic goodness! It's insanity!

I don't think any colour outshines another. And none disappoint.

What do you think?

Application was flawless. Dry time was very quick. 

Color Club has outdone themselves. I absolutely love these holographics. 

They look unreal, trippy and extraordinary. Nails of the future. And the future is now!

If you want to see another sweet Halo Hues manicure check out my good friend Dagadelic.

She has some stunning and very Easter themed (I think) nails using the warm shades of the collection.

From left to right - Miss Bliss, Over the Moon, Eternal Beauty, Kismet, Cosmic Fate & Beyond

Muse-ic

I decided to go with Jimi Hendrix today because I think he would have appreciated my manicure. I love Jimi, a brother Sagittarius, flying the freak flag of free will and expression. Whether it be in music, clothing, or nail art. Be what you are. Be free. And don't let anyone else tell you who or what you can be.
This is a great live version of I Don't Live Today. There are some awesome shots of audience members dancing like maniacs. Makes me wish so bad that I was a youth then. But until we build a time machine, there's only youtube...



Have a great Easter and an awesome manicure!
jeebjeeb

Stamp on it!

Hey all.

How was your weekend? I hung out with my wee bro on Sunday. We made rice krispie squares without Rice Krispies. It was my idea to use Reese's cereal and Cap'n Crunch. And wow. Sugar bomb! I was kicking myself after. It's so sweet even my brother could barely eat any. I only have to learn this lesson once. Branch out and experiment by all means, but keep at least 40% rice krispie content. Trust me.

Slowly I'm trying to make my way through this candied monster. It breaks my heart. If I had the right proportions it would have been finished Sunday night. Instead it sits on the table screaming "Why don't you love me? You MADE me!" If it was a child I'd have to keep it in the attic. When was the last time something sounded delicious in your head but didn't pan out in reality? I hate when that happens. :P

I did make one really great discovery this weekend though! (It wasn't all empty calories and cavities.)

I hadn't seen anyone do it yet, and I was curious. And to my amazement...

You can stamp on Zoya's PixieDust with regular polish and you don't need a topcoat. :O

That's right, no topcoat! 

No matter how many times I ran my finger over it, the stamp did not budge!

It was a beauty to apply, and has a cool stuccoed look to it, with very crisp edges.

And it retains all of it's wonderful PixieDust feel.

Chyna still sparkles like crazy underneath Purity.

I love the flat white against the depth of glitter. 

It makes me think of picnic tablecloths.

If drag queens went on a picnic,

 this is what their tablecloth would look like.

So what do you think of the PixieDust with stamp on top?

Will you try it?

I wore the manicure for three days, 2 during the

weekend, and 1 very heavily worked day,

wear was minimal and the stamp remained perfect.

Try it.

You'll like it. 

         Have a great week and an awesome manicure

                                    jeebjeeb

Flecked Katherine

Hey all,

Hurray for the weekend! I had quite a hectic work week, so I'm so ready to just veg out. How was your week? Get up to anything? I started the week with a night of multitasking bliss. I made awesome chicken wings, made a bunch of earrings, and painted my nails all while watching a hockey game. I'm never really content unless I'm doing two things at once. I need to be able to take something in while I'm churning something out. Keeps my brain balanced or something. I was too tired to do anything nail related last night, so it was a crochet/movie night. I love crafting to movies, it's the coziest thing I can think of. What about you? Are you a crazy multitasker?

Here's my multitasking manicure. It was inspired by a combination I used for my nail polish jewelry.

 Since I was doing so much that night I kept it super simple so I could carry on crafting.

This is two coats of Zoya - Katherine & one coat of Zoya - Maisie
with another coat of Katherine on top.

Katherine is a fantastic eggplant jelly. I don't know if it's my skin tone or the addition of Maisie, 

but Katherine was looking browner than usual.

Maisie is a stunning fleck layering polish that shifts colours with different lighting and angles.

It's so mysterious I love it.

What do you think of Katherine with Maisie?

What colours would you combine Maisie with?

Muse-ic

I just watched a documentary on the Ramones and realized I never really knew anything about them. I have so much more respect for them now. And admiration. Watch End of the Century : The Story of The Ramones. You wont regret it.

The Ramones are pretty special to me because they combine genres that set my heart on fire. The hybrid of rock music and 60's pop. Loud, fast, aggressive. But melodic, dance-able and wrought with romanticism. When I was a kid the only dance that mattered was the twist. Well, this is rock music you can twist to. Their many covers make me so happy. Even the break up songs. So here's a classic for you. Enjoy <3

Have a great weekend and an awesome manicure

jeebjeeb

St. Patrick's Divergence

Hey all,
Happy St. Patrick's Day. I'm not Irish, but green is my favorite colour. So today deserves an extreme amount of green. :)
I was inspired by Nailside, one of my favorite bloggers. Her designs are absolutely stunning and her tutorials are excellent. When I first saw her "divergence"manicure I fell in love. It's so bold and crisp, with an excellent name (I love me some good vocabulary) When she posted this second version my heart skipped a beat again. Here's my St. Patrick's Divergence.

I used Enchanted Polish - Mean Mr. Mustard, Nubar - Forest & Zoya - Vespa

and good old fashioned scotch tape

Mean Mr Mustard is a beautiful green/gold duochrome with tiny scattered holographic particles

Forest is a super glossy deep green. It's always makes me think of classic cars.

And Vespa's texture makes a great contrast.

I really like how it turned out. Very dramatic and luxurious.

What do you think? Would you try a divergence manicure?

Nail art wasn't the only kind of art I got up to this weekend. 

Lucas and I did some excellent jewelry crafting. Not only that, but nail polish jewelry! :O

We went a little crazy with glass cabochons and made a bunch of stud earrings and one necklace.

The necklace was Lucas' design. It was his idea to stamp on the glass, I hadn't even thought about it.

 But what a brilliant idea indeed. I executed the stamping and painting, and he set it. Go team!

I'm really excited to make more. It was a great activity to get me thinking about polish in a different light.

And I ended up making earrings out of combos I never thought to put together before.

You can expect a manicure inspired by a set very soon! :)

How was your weekend? Any crafts? Art? Movies? Books?

I'd love to know what's inspiring you at the moment. 

Well that's all for now. Time to dive back into my book! I feel bad, I've been ignoring  my crochet. :P

Have a great night and an awesome manicure!

jeebjeeb

Pink Polka

Hey all,

How's your weekend going? I think I'll be having a snuggley day in with the cat. She's desperate for love. I'm typing with one hand at the moment, as she's refusing to leave my other hand alone. What a fluffy little ball of affection and agitation. 

This week I happened upon a brilliant source of inspiration. 

Yayoi Kusama

Her works are so simple yet incredibly complex. It is so much more than polka dots. Consciousness, space, shape, the unity of all things. The worlds she creates excite me. And, my god, she looks like Miss Swan on acid! (anybody watch old MadTV episodes?) She's been using polka dots in her work since she was 10, and at 83 years old, she's still creating. What a force.

I dedicate this manicure to Yayoi. The first of many :)

I need to practice with my dotters, I'm not as precise as I'd like to be. But I'm happy enough with the outcome.

What do you think? Would Yayoi like it? 

There's something about this that makes me think of suckers on an Octopus.

The palette is a bit more subdued that Yayoi's works. 

I told myself I wasn't allowed to use blue or green, they dominate my thinking.

I decided on two favorites I've been ignoring as of late

 Zoya - Sari and Essie - Off The Shoulder

I love these pinks. They're both perfect for completely diametric reasons.

Sari is the most delicate nude pink and Off The Shoulder is brilliantly vivid without being garish.

If you're doing any major drinking to celebrate St. Patrick's, I salute you and wish you good luck.

Although I'm feeling 100% better than I was last post, I will not be partaking :P

I'll be good to my body instead. Have two drinks max. Do a bit of yoga.

And give this sweety a good brushing. What an awesomely boring adult plan.

Have a great weekend and an awesome manicure!
jeebjeeb

Rock Solid Splatter

Hey all,

I would like to start this post off by saying, this is the first manicure I've done while hungover. Not just hungover, but completely destroyed. And not just because of alcohol. I destroyed myself by headbanging. Yes, headbanging. If you don't know what I'm talking about, goggle it. I went out Saturday night and saw Electric Six for the 3rd time. I enjoyed it immensely...maybe too immensely. I really rocked it. As a result my neck and shoulders have been so stiff and sore, you would think I'd been in an accident. I feel like Joan Cusack in Sixteen Candles.

And I did it all to myself and enjoyed every minute of it. My god I'm bizarre.

My manicure is a reflection of how I feel inside. A bloody mess. 

But man did it turn out nice. I love splatter. Simple yet effective.

I really like the colour combo, for some reason it reminds me of Cookie Monster 

Does that make any sense? :S

I used Sally Hansen - Brisk Blue, Orly - Rock Solid & Zoya - Dove

Rock Solid is so awesome. You can't tell from my nails,

 but it has amazing holographic particles. Just look at that bottle shot! Drooling.

What do you think? Hot mess or just a mess?

Muse-ic
I think it's only right that I share the song that did me in. It was damn Dance Commander. I'm pretty sure it was the last song, my final hurrah. And like the song says, you must obey the dance commander. And so I did. :) I tried to find a live version but they were all over 6 minutes, even I couldn't finish them. So this time you get a music video. Enjoy!

I'm going to take it easy and hopefully in a few days I'll be back to normal. I regret nothing :)
Have an awesome week and a great manicure!
jeebjeeb

A-England, A-mazing

Hey all,
Happy Saturday!
It's shaping up to be a pleasant afternoon here on the west coast. I'm going to spend it hermitting :)  But I will get out of the house for dinner and enjoy the evening sun with some of my favorite people. Do you have any plans for today?
This week I received my order of A-England nail polishes! I've heard so many good things and have wanted to try them out for quite a while. Believe everything you read, A-England polishes really are amazing!

The base colour is Tristam.
Holographic particles shimmer in the deep indigo base.
It's mysterious and luxurious.
The formula is incredibly dense and just a dream to apply.
Had I been more careful it would definitely be a one coat polish.

Stamping with A-England is just WOW! It leaves me breathless.

I used Excalibur, a beautiful silver platinum.

 It was probably the best polished I've ever used for stamping.

So pigmented, crisp and easy.

The wear on this polish is fantastic. The above shot was taken after two full workdays.

I was due to paint my nails today, but I can't. I think this manicure is just too fabulous. I need one more day!

What do you think? If you haven't tried A-England yet, I urge you.

You will not be disappointed. 

That's all for now folks. I would usually do a bit more ranting about random something or other, but I'm having an "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything" kind of day. I will have more to say on that in the next post.
Have a great weekend and an awesome manicure!
jeebjeeb

Blu Skies

Hey all,

How's your week going? I started my week well. I finished reading the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was a fun book. If you enjoy violent mysteries, I definitely recommend it. I liked it so much I had to keep going and started the second book. I meant to post yesterday actually, but I just couldn't tear myself away. It feels good to voraciously read again. I used to constantly digest fiction when I was younger. But then it petered off to one or two books a year :S Hopefully the tide has changed and I will return to my bibliophilia.

What also made the beginning of the week great was two beautiful days of sunshine! Exactly what I had wished for. On Sunday I sat in my window and painted my nails to match the sky.

I used Zoya - Blu as my base. It is the most fantastic and delicate robin's egg blue.

And I'm not usually into baby blues. But this one has sophistication.

For the accent finger I used one thick layer of Zoya - Nyx

and my handy dandy stripping tape

I love the textures. It feels so cool!

And looks super awesome, I think.

What do you think?

The PixieDust & Lovely Collections are made for each other <3

I can't wait to put more combinations together. 

Kit-Kat also got to enjoy her first day on the patio this year. Trolling for spiderwebs may resume! She loves spiderwebs. They're candy to her.
I hope everyone has a great week and an awesome manicure.
jeebjeeb

Zoya PixieDust Gradient

Hey all,

How are you doing? I'm slowly getting over this cold. One more day of doing nothing but reading and pigging out on oranges should make me right as rain. 

Rain. It's been nothing but rain for days. It permeates everything. Even my manicure.

On Friday I finally received the Zoya PixieDust collection! So excited. I've been anticipating this one for a long time. And I'm happy to say they do not disappoint. The first thing I had to try out was a PixieDust gradient. I didn't realize until later how much the colour combo reflected the gloomy scenery.

These polishes are fricken amazing. Looks so interesting and feels so cool. Like a smooth pumice stone.

Sounds bizarre, but I like it. What's not to love about an added dimension to play with?

And you can't argue with that sparkle! It's like wearing crushed gems on your nails. I feel so regal. 

This is actually a 3 colour gradient, but the periwinkle was quite subtle and consequently camera shy. 

I used Dahlia, London and Nyx.

The application was a dream and dry time was average. 

I used London as my base and used the sponge method to create the gradient.

And as Zoya suggests, I did not use any base coat.

I'm loving the PixieDust gradient and can't wait to experiment more! What do you think?

This is the first ever full collection I've purchased so you can expect tons of experiments. 

I have so many ideas I don't know what to try first! 

I like that kind of problem :)

Muse-ic

Last post I shared Nina Hagen with you. So today I have to share who I believe is a perfect bookend to Nina, Klaus Nomi. If you could pick any two musicians to be your parents, who would you pick? Well, since I was a teenager I believed it would be the most amazing thing to have Nina Hagen and Klaus Nomi as parents. And yes, Klaus is gay. I have a belief that society has got it all wrong. Little girls should be taught to be tough and self reliant. And little boys should be taught to be sensitive and emotionally aware. Hormones drag us in the opposite direction anyway. Why shouldn't we try to counteract that? Every person I know would have benefited from such encouragement as a child. 

And I guess it's the German in me that loves operatically trained new wave German weirdos. Klaus' stage persona came from his feelings of alienation, truly feeling like he was an alien. And Nina, well she claimed to have seen a UFO while pregnant and so named her daughter "Cosma Shiva". What does this have to do with anything? Nothing. I just love them so much.

Enjoy this live performance of Klaus. He is amazing. And if you like him, let me know. :)

I hope everyone has a great Sunday. If you have nothing to do, watch a movie! And if you don't know what to watch, watch Winter's Bone. It's a much better movie than the one Jennifer Lawrence won the oscar for. (But I am happy she won it.)
Have a great night and an awesome manicure!
jeebjeeb