These are the nails I did...

These are the nails I did after seeing a new layering technique on the 'Gram. The bottom layer is a sheer purple, then over that is a silver cat-eye magnetic, then it's topped with a chrome powder, and finally sealed with topcoat. The product of that layering reminded me of a summer sunset, so I added the dandelions blowing in the wind for good measure.

I played with this technique on Shaun's nails over the weekend and found some really pretty combinations. I'll bother him for a photo (or video!) at some point soon.

Video

It's been ~1000 years since I've posted a nail pic.

It's been ~1000 years since I've posted a nail pic. Enjoy this beautiful color on my short little nubs. Gosh, I have missed this like you wouldn't believe.

Currently fighting Facebook about my page name with plans to combine Happy Nails and Polish ALL the Things. I'm hoping to be done with that soon and begin posting there again. Until then, I'm only sharing with you lovely folks.

Please don't judge my nail art or camera-wielding skills too harshly. I'm a rusty, crusty mess right now. 💜

I did my nails twice recently.

I did my nails twice recently.  One time, I had high hopes but hated the way it turned out.  The second time (pictured) I was just going to wear a polish but Shaun told me I should stamp purple on it, so this is the result.  I actually really like how it came out.  Sometimes less is more, I suppose.

If you're interested in trying a new thing during quarantine...

Hey friends.  If you're interested in trying a new thing during quarantine nail stamping is fun.  This little kit has everything you need to get started.  I know the nerdy theme of these plates is not for everyone, but you only pay for shipping ($7.99) to get this kit.  The stamping polishes and stamper alone are worth more than that if you bought them separately.  If you decide you're into it I know tons of sources for quality, cheap plates.  If you try it and need tips I'm happy to help!  😊

https://www.facebook.com/hellomaniology/posts/4375431789178705

So these were the other nails I did last month.

So these were the other nails I did last month.  Tonic SLAYS. ME.  These are the most beautiful and shifty polishes ever.  If you're interested in owning some I'd head on over to the Tonic Polish group and see what they are releasing on Sunday because I promise you it's pretty.  Some of it is limited edition due to lack of pigment and some of it will be back.  This is how it goes when you're a single-person indie polish maker and you've suddenly (and rightfully) become one of the most sought-after indie polish brands.

Pardon my claw hands and wonky angles, but I just needed for y'all to see the color changes and the flakies in this ONE. SINGLE. POLISH.  I also stamped on it with a shifty stamping polish so in certain lights it blended in and in others it popped.  I remember staring at my fingers a lot when I wore this.  I've got several Tonics that do that to me - including my proposal set that I hoard like treasure and rarely wear.  😂  I'm so bad because I love them so much that I never want to run out, but you just can't enjoy them the same in the bottle as you can when they are on you and with you all the time.

Anyway I just popped in to show these off.  Even though I felt pretty rough yesterday I have a little bit of energy today so I'm gonna get up and use it instead of sit here at the computer.  I hope you all have a lovely weekend.  🙂

Has anyone missed nail pics?

Has anyone missed nail pics?  😂  I sure have missed having time to paint and take photos.  Even when I do manage to get that much done I haven't been cropping or posting my pics.  Blegh.  Priorities.

I did these a month ago.  I used a magnetic polish and I'm posting two pictures because I don't want to deal with the video I took.  There is a super cool shift that a photo just can't catch, though.  You can see it most on my pinky finger.  Magnetic polishes are cool because from one angle, they might look one color or shimmery, but from another that same space will appear dark and deep.  It's really captivating in person.

Anyway, I have a few more photos I'm going to get ready to post tonight and I guess I will put them up over the next few days. I have felt rough for most of today so I'm taking it easy and doing something fun.

❤❤❤

Nail pic time! 😃😃😃

Nail pic time!  😃😃😃

I have been waiting all semester to do something fun with my nails.  Then I had to decompress enough to feel creative.  Blegh, finally!

I feel like over the last year or two I've become more of a polish hoarder / collector than someone who does nail art.  It's really sad.  But on the bright side there are some beautiful polishes out there that I am more than happy to have come and live with me so I guess it's not all bad.  🙂

Since this is an indie polish I feel like I just need to say that Poetry Cowgirl Nail Polish did a great job on this one.  It's called "Faerie Wishes She Could Be Here."  It's an Indie Shop Limited Edition so I'm not sure if it's still available, but if you like it go and find out.

I love muted colors so this was a win by being grayish / lavender to begin with, but then it has these things (what I tend to call "opals" because they are not quite the same as glitter) that flash red.  THEN, ON TOP OF THAT AWESOMENESS it also has this crazy shimmer.  You can see the teal on my pinky and the lavender on my pointer finger.  I will also upload a blurry thumb pic of the pink.  It's SO PRETTY.

Anyway, I stamped with holographic polish because WHY NOT?  Then, I picked up a unicorn on my stamper and filled him in with a tiny paintbrush because that was obviously what needed to happen here.  😁🦄🦄🦄  I thought about adding stones and doing more stuff, but then I didn't.  The week began and I'm working and blegh.  Life force officially zapped.

So... I feel happy with this as a comeback.  I was planning to do something quite a bit easier, but then I went all out.  What do you think?

Ok, so it's a day later than I thought I was posting it but here it is:

Ok, so it's a day later than I thought I was posting it but here it is:  The paint job that I'm super happy with. 🙂 I guess that was my last big "Hurrah!" before school starts.

I took some time to throw down a watermark because a lot of my nail friends in groups and on Instagram keep telling me to. I would say that I'm not worried about people finding my photos and using them, but it's happened before. (I found my nails on eBay when I was shopping for nail stuff one day). LOL I was not upset, but I guess this way at least I could possible get some more traffic to my social media.

So I used another magnetic polish for this mani... actually, the same one from last time. I know it looks really different, but it's just layered over itself rather than black so that makes a difference. I did the flowers with a stamping plate from Bundle Monster and the (supposed to be) diagonal-ish lines with some cheap nail art tape I had.

Btw, these are not supposed to be French tips - I just wanted some color aside from the flowers. I used the magnetic polish again to add depth. I'm really digging that stuff! Also, I know these look spring and it's winter (so I SUPPOSEDLY should be doing snowflakes or whatever), but you guys should know by now that I do what I want. LOL

Anyway, that's it. Possibly for a while, but maybe not. I guess it depends on how this semester goes.

So... I'm digging these plates. 😃

So... I'm digging these plates. 😃 They are clearly designed so that you layer the images and that gives the pictures so much detail. It's awesome. Even when you don't line the images up perfectly (or when you roll one and stretch the outline like I did on the leaves of the larger flower) it still looks adorable.

Unfortunately for me I don't yet have a ton of colored stamping polishes so that means a lot of trial and error with regular polish. I'm not into that tonight so I only did a few nails. But I'm super happy with all of this. My new stampers are so clear that you really can't see them once you are close to the nail. They stamp pretty well, but my polish kept drying before I could pick it up. I'm sitting under an A/C vent and being too lazy to move. Also, my stamping polishes are old and probably need thinning. But anyway, it is all working. I'm super pumped today! 😃

There are not enough stickers...

There are not enough stickers in the whole of the Internet to properly express my excitement right now. MY ORDER NOT ONLY ARRIVED TODAY, BUT IT HAD FREE PLATES IN IT, TOO!!! AND CHECK OUT THAT FUCKING PRECIOUS PACKAGING, OMG. 😳

These probably look a little more fancy than they actually are...

These probably look a little more fancy than they actually are, but I don't mind that. LOL I did not want to go through the week with naked nails, so I sat down to paint them pretty late last night. Aside from the time issue, I used my new peel-off basecoat, Ready for Takeoff by UNT. I wouldn't have used that, BUT, I've been doing some damage to my nails lately. I don't know why, but I've been picking at them. Must be nerves or something, but anyway, this was an attempt to minimize the damange I'd do by picking my polish. So, since I wasn't sure how long my nail polish would actually stay on using a peel-off basecoat, I didn't want to put too much work into my paint job.

I got this glitter from Sally's. It's by Bitzy and it is called Funky Melon. Since the glitters are huge and neon and there was no purple in it, I decided to try it over purple. But first, I topped my purple with Fairy Dust by China Glaze, because DUH - everything is better with glitter! I wasn't planning to stamp over the glitter, but I really did not like the way it looked just plain. So I stamped this pattern, which was picked out by my son. I thought it would look horrible, but I actually kind of like it now. Funny how you smush a bunch of ugly things together and it sometimes turns out really cool. LOL

Anyway. My stamping is a little off on my pointer finger and thumb. I'm still using the second stamper I ever bought, back in 2011. It's a squishy eraser-colored one that I ordered from Germany, because I was having no luck with my Konad stamper. I have some nice clear stampers, but they don't always pick up well, so there is no point in that. I have a few coming from Ali Express that I'm pretty excited to try, but we'll see how that goes when they get here. Maybe I won't be stamping crooked for much longer. Here's hoping! 🙂

The kitty cat nails didn't last long.

The kitty cat nails didn't last long.  The collar glequins and bowtie started coming off so then of course I started picking at them and just had to take all the polish off so that I didn't do actual damage to my nails from picking at them.  I'm the worst about picking.  Once I start it's all over with, so they just had to go.

So I did these last night.  I showed them to my guy today and he was like, "What made you do that?"  He looked truly baffled.   😂  Honestly, I saw something very similar in a blog and I liked the way it looked, so there you go.  They used totally different colors and no stones, but as you know I can't just leave well enough alone.  😁

I imagine that I will have the same problem with these as the kitty cat nails because of the stones, but that's ok.  I don't mind doing one last awesome mani before spring break ends.  😃

I was in the mood for something silly and fun

Ok, I guess I was in the mood for something silly and fun.  And also big because my nails are long enough to accommodate these big old kitty stamps (but just barely, as you can see from my ring finger).

I wanted a background that wasn't too crazy since I wanted the kitties to pop so I went with pale blue stamping over gray.  I used a few different cat-themed plates for that.  There are various paw print patterns, etc, and the middle finger says things like "Meow" and "Hiss."

All I really knew when I got started is that I was wearing these damn cats one way or the other.  😂  I had no plans for collars and bow-ties, but it just wasn't done until I added those touches.  How's that for spring?  They look quite dressed up for some reason!  Maybe they have a date!  😃

PSA Time:  Everyone make sure to spay and neuter your Ms. and Mr. Kitties because too many animals are killed in shelters.  It's a totally preventable problem - so don't be part of it.  There is no excuse.  Help is out there!

Spring and Butterflies

I felt like I deserved it so I treated myself last night.  I painted my nails!  Woohoo!  😃

I didn't go with the whole "butterfly on each finger" thing.  I just can't.  It feels so wrong to try to match my nails.  And when I inevitably fail it will look dumb, too because they won't be perfect, so... there's that.  😂

I wish this lighting would have captured the beauty of my base coat, Demure Vixen by Essie.  I know it's not the best match to my skin, but I love the pink / lavender undertone.

I also meant for one of my butterflies to turn out blue (the one on the thumb), but the way I layered the colors it didn't work out that way.  Oh well.  At least it is somewhat different than the green and purple on the ring finger.

Anyway.  I did it.  And I like it.  But I wish I could take it off already and paint something else now.  😂  I'm terrible.

I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to do Valentine's nails...

I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to do Valentine's nails to go with this ring, but I didn't.  Life isn't working out like that right now.  Maybe next year.

Might share a few nail pics from when I had time in my life.  😂  I used to look festive... on my nails - at least.  😛

I am Grumpy Cat this week.

I am Grumpy Cat this week.  Oh well.  😂

I was getting ready to chop my nails off yesterday, but then I remembered this plate and thought "I bet I could fit Grumpy AND her "NOPE" on there if I do this now."  I just barely got it all on there, but that's ok.  Since I was too tired and brain-dead for homework I painted my nails.  It cheered me up so it wasn't a waste of time.  🙂

My nails are almost long enough to make my nail beds sore.  I generally don't like them to be too far over the ends of my fingertips because I type a lot and I'm clumsy.  😂  But I figured I could live with them for a few more days to wear this.  🙂

Grumpy's pattern that you can't really see around the edge of her is a triangle pattern that is the same (but a smaller version) of what's on the rest of my nails.  I didn't really think about it not showing up because I have small nails, but that's why the rest of my fingers are done in a triangle pattern.  It's not like I have triangles on the brain or anything.  😛

Pardon my blinding whiteness...

Pardon my blinding whiteness, but I had to shine a light on this polish BECAUSE RAINBOWS.  😳  I did manage to sit down and paint my nails yesterday, but I will admit that it took WAYYY longer to decide what to do than it took to actually do them.  I have too many choices between stamping plates and colors and other embellishments.  I'm so out of practice and haven't been following the blogs since last year so I'm out of the loop and even doing something simple like this was a struggle to come up with.  I guess if I don't use my creativity it will get rusty, too.  🙁  Unfortunately, I don't see this year being any easier than the last.  Or the next two after that.  Boo!  At least they are freakin' pretty, though.  🙂

Mario Brothers Stamping

I've had a pretty good weekend, so yay!  I got to see my friend Shauna yesterday.  We see each other so rarely, but it's always nice when we can manage to get together.  I got to paint her nails which I've done so little of lately, but that made my day.  I probably talked her freaking ear off, but maybe she'll hang with me again one day.  😂

In the meanwhile check out Shauna's Mario Brothers nails!  🙂

THESE ARE ABOUT TO BE MINE.

THESE ARE ABOUT TO BE MINE.  I am gonna have so much animals on my nails and probably on jewelry, too.  😳

Painted my nails earlier this week.

Painted my nails earlier this week.  It's been MONTHS since I've taken care of them at all so of course they are nubs.  But that's ok!

This paint job was to celebrate spring.  Bugs and flowers and all that.  🙂

I haven't posted anything on my Happy Nails page in ages, but when I went to upload this photo I found that I have over 2000 followers there now.  😳  I am not sure how that happened, but it's SUPER COOL.  Here's hoping I'll have more time now that my schedule has changed to keep up with all this stuff.  🙂