100 Follower Giveaway! Plus China Glaze Anchors Away Collection

I was very surprised to sign in to post my Christmas mani to discover my little blog had 100 followers! What a nice Christmas present to me! Thanks so much to everyone who is following me as well as anyone who has stopped by on occasion!

Now, as a present to those who are following me, I'm going to give one lucky follower six polishes of their choice of the new China Glaze Anchors Away Collection! This collection is scheduled to be released in February 2011 but I was lucky enough to pick up 8 of the 12 colours a couple weeks ago. (I only picked up the ones I was liking the most-left the other 4 in the store! But the winner will be able to pick any 6 of their choice and they will be purchased new and sent to you!)

Here's one of my favourites of the collection, Ahoy! This is two coats. I love this raspberry colour polish with glass flecks that shimmers oh so subtly!



Then stamped with China Glaze 2030 using fauxnad IP h12, hb16 and amisy f05.

Here's a close up; hopefully you can see the flecks better!



It really is lovely in real life; my camera doesn't do it justice!

Here's the rest of the ones I picked up:

Sea Spray

Pelican Gray

Below Deck

Knotty

First Mate

Lighthouse

White Cap

I think White Cap is going to be very versatile, especially for those who like to do topcoats or layering to add shimmer/glimmer/effect!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, these are not 100% colour accurate, especially First Mate and Ahoy due to camera quality/lighting. Hopefully this will be one of my last posts before I get a new camera, which should be within a week or so...just have to figure out which one to buy now that Santa was good enough to leave enough gift cards in my stocking to pick one up!

Now onto the giveaway! The rules are simple - just be a follower and follow these instructions!

To receive one entry, leave a comment below with the name as you follow as well as your email address so I may contact you.

To receive a second entry to the giveaway, comment about the giveaway on your blog or note on the sidebar and provide the link in the comments!

Also, let's have some fun and see if there are any standouts in the collection so please note in the comments with your other info the six polishes that you like best of the collection...and don't worry if you change your mind; whomever is the giveaway winner will have opportunity to change their mind as I will confirm the six polishes with you! (And if you don't want to leave your six faves of the collection, that's OK-you won't be disqualified-it was just for fun!)

And as I love to stamp and hope you do to, fauxnad image plate H12 (with the anchor!) will also be mailed to the giveaway winner!

As I don't have all 12 noted, you can take a peak at the full collection below!

It's that simple! Contest will be open internationally until January 22, 2011. Once a winner has been chosen and contacted, they will have 48 hours to reply to my email or another person will be contacted.

Last but not least, thank you, thank you all so much again for following my little blog!

Merry Christmas!

Base is OPI Bride's Bouquet, Konad red, green and black special polishes with fauxnad IP's M38, E03, AT01, and D.

Happy Holidays!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Yep, another Christmas mani...my Christmas tree manicure.



And what do you hope to find under a Christmas tree on Christmas morning... presents! So I added a couple....



Three coats of OPI Alpine Snow matte, topped with OPI Happy Anniverary for a little sparkle action. Stamped using fauxand IP T45 and HB 36, using Konad green and black special polishes. Oh, and a few coloured rhinestones to bling it up!



This pix was taken this morning in my back yard...that IS snow in the background...so it looks like we are going to have a White Christmas this year...the first in quite a few years!

Thanks for looking!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Its hard to believe that Christmas is just 10 days away!

I've been trying to squeeze in as many Christmas manis as possible before Christmas and here's another featuring the big guy himself!



(This was my attempt at photoshopping my pix...but I need to get a new camera first before I do too many of these closeups! Maybe Santa will be leaving one for me under the tree....)

OPI Dear Santa (of course!) for base, random white topped with a coat of OPI Happy Anniversay for a few sparkles, stamped using Konad black special polish and Orly Luxe. Santa face is fauxnad IP T34 and belt is Konad IP M9. Santa's sparkling hat is a red glitter stripping polish.



This was before I did the gold stamping....



And just for something different, I did my right hand with OPI Smitten with Mittens, same white polish and sparkly coat, same gold polish for the belt and then stamped with fauxnad IP E03, using green Konad special polish and SwM dotted with a dotting tool for the hollyberries! I am right handed so cleanup/application wasn't the greatest but I really liked the holly.



Thanks for looking!

Gingerbread People!

I made gingerbread people!


The above image is taken outside in slightly overcast skies.

The next two inside...




This is fauxnad IP AT01, stamped using Konad black special polish and accented with some coloured rhinestones.

Base is Dior Gold... not very forgiving to any nail flaws and there are lots like it already on the market...on the plus side, its one coater!


Thanks for looking!

NOT Snowflakes!

Not too long ago, I wore OPI Smitten with Mittens and for this mani, I decided to wear its sister, Dear Santa. These two polishes are similar-Smitten with Mittens is slightly darker...but I prefer the brighter Dear Santa.



Stamped with Konad IP M12 using red Konad special polish for the candy cane and fauxnad IP HB12 and green Konad special polish for tree.

Here's before stamping...the white polish is OPI Alpine Snow Matte, topped with SV.

Lastly...just before I took this polish off, I thought I'd try to stripe it...unfortunately, the white polish didn't pick up that well...plus I neglected to remember which way I put the stripes on so each time they were a little different...the perils of doing your nails at 2 am when one is tired! This image plate is H12.


Thx for looking!

More Snowflakes!

I finally got around to picking up OPI DS Magic...while I had seen it at Chatters in September or so, I wouldn't pay the $15 they were asking for it, so I had to wait for the local beauty supply place to get it in stock.....unfortunately, I didn't get the other DS Radiance so used OPI DS Corononation instead for the accent finger....*make note to self to pick up Radiance next trip*....

As you may recall, I got some new image plates on Friday. This is another new plate, T45 which has a full nail snowflake stamp. The accent nail is using fauxnad A39. Stamped using Konad blue special polish and Nicole by OPI Positive Energy.

I got this image plate at Nail Art and Mehr...they also have a few other new T series plates. I know that Chez Delaney was selling T series plates too, but I don't know if they have these ones or not...but they have developed their own series of plates that seem really cool....

And here's OPI DS Magic and Coronation before stamping....

And for those of you who enquired about that A series plate from last post, I contacted the supplier where I got them. Unfortuantely, they won't be selling them on their website. I had seen them on a blog in Europe and contacted a nail art distributor there who ordered them just for me. Once a few people enquired about where I got them, I contacted them and asked if they would consider selling them. They said they were too difficult to obtain from the supplier to sell on a regular basis...I would suggest that anyone looking for them check out whomever already sells the A series plates (ie Chez Delaney) or maybe one could swap with a fellow nail art fanatic iwho has access to them in Europe... and maybe one day, they may decide to sell them. Sorry! If I ever find out who has them, I'll be sure to post!

Are you tired of snowflake mani's yet...I think this is four in a row for me...

Thx for looking!

Please note that I paid the full amount invoiced to me for these plates. I do not endorse nor promote this website/etailer other than I am passing on the info of where I got them to those who may wish to know. I have no affiliation with any company nor receive any compensation for promotion of these products....nor am I promoting...just letting fellow bloggers/nail art addicts know where they may be obtained should they be interested!

Finally-WHITE Snowflakes!

Yesterdays mani didn't stay on too long! While the green snowflake looked OK, it just wasn't the look I was going for. Here's another green mani with snowflakes and sparkles.....


Savvy Garland looks gorgeous in the bottle but looks very dark and not too sparkly on my nails.




This pix was taken before sparkly topcoat....



Savvy Garland stamped with white Konad special polish, using fauxnad IP A39 (yes, this is a new to me series of image plates I just got in the mail on Friday!) Used Fingerpaints sparkly topcoat for sparkle accent on top of the snowflake.


A pix of the A39 plate.


Thanks for looking!

SV Nail Fail...

This is going to be short and sweet.

This is a nail fail.

Did my mani, the usual...coat of instant artificals, two coats of Misa Like it Like that, then coat of SV. Stamped snowflake with fauxnad HB11, with Konad special white polish, added China Glaze Nova for some snow affect (closest I could get-couldn't find a white glitter in my stash).

Topped with SV...and...before my eyes, it turned my white stamp green! I was ticked. If it wasn't 2:15 am when I finished this, I would have took off and did again.....

I have to post. This blog is about keeping track of my manis, one at a time, good or bad.

Has this happened to anyone else? I've had it happen twice now...should have learned my lesson the first time...I don't know if its the SV or the white special polish....only good thing is I have a great reason to redo my nails tonight!

Thanks for looking!