Yabba Dabba OOOH!

Get ready to go bowling, break out your foot-powered car, and get your Dino on! Today is the 50th anniversary of the 1st episode of the Hanna-Barbera classic, 'The Flintstones'!!! Fun tidbit- for the longest time when I was a kid- I always thought that Hanna Barbera was a person, not the last names of two people. I eventually caught on though... Today's nail art is a tribute to the stone-age smile-inducers- the Flintstones (and the Rubbles). On my left hand, I have Fred, Wilma, and Pebbles Flintstone, with Dino on the ring finger, and a closeup of Fred's garb on the pinky. On the right hand, I painted The Great Gazoo on my thumb, then Barney, Betty, and Bamm-Bamm Rubble, with Bamm-Bamm's club on my pinky.

I used:

Left:

Thumb: Fred Flintstone

Orly Snowcone as a base, with American Apparel Summer Peach for his skin, then mixed with Color Club Best Dressed List for his stubble. For his tongue, I used a combination of American Apparel Palm Springs and Orly Pixy Stix, for his eyes, I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud and for the hair and outlines, I used American Apparel Hassid.

Index: Wilma Flintstone

Orly Snowcone as a base, with American Apparel Summer Peach for her skin, as well as as a base for her hair. For her hair, I used CND Electric Orange. For her necklace and teeth, I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud, China Glaze Salsa for her lips, then outlined everything in American Apparel Hassid.

Middle: Pebbles Flintstone

Orly Snowcone as a base, with American Apparel Summer Peach for her skin, as well as as a base for her hair. Like Wilma, I also used CND Electric Orange for Pebbles' hair. Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for her eyes and the bone in her hair. For her dress, I used Pure Ice Wild Thing, then outlined everything with American Apparel Hassid.

Ring: Dino

Orly Snowcone as a base, with Color Club Ms. Socialite for the purple, then mixed with American Apparel Palm Springs for his muzzle. I also used this combination in a different strength for his tongue. For his collar, I used Zoya Yummy, with Barielle Aura Angora for his 'dog' tag. I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for his eyes, and American Apparel Hassid to outline.

Pinky: Fred's 'suit'

CND Electric Orange as a base, with Zoya Yummy for his tie, with American Apparel Hassid to outline, and for the spots on the orange fabric.


Right Hand

Thumb: The Great Gazoo

Orly Snowcone as a base, with L.A. Girl Army Green for his face, CND Green Scene for his shirt and helmet, a mixture of CND Green Scene and
American Apparel Hassid for his collar, Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for his eyes, and American Apparel Hassid to outline everything.

Index: Barney Rubble

Orly Snowcone as a base, with MAC Abalone Shell for his skin, then mixed with Color Club Best Dressed List for his stubble, American Apparel Manila for his hair, OPI Ginger Bells for his 'suit', and American Apparel Hassid to outline everything.

Middle: Betty Rubble

Orly Snowcone as a base, with American Apparel Summer Peach for her skin, China Glaze Salsa for her lips, Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for her eyes, and American Apparel Hassid to outline, as well as for her necklace and hair.

Ring: Bamm-Bamm Rubble

Orly Snowcone as a base, with American Apparel Summer Peach for his skin, Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for his eyes and hair, CND Electric Orange with American Apparel Hassid to outline and for the spots on the hat.

Pinky: Bamm-Bamm's Club

Orly Snowcone as a base, with L.A. Girl Army Green for the club, outlined with American Apparel Hassid.

Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

It's a living.

People Say I'm Nuts

...but really, I'm just a-corny. :-D (bad joke)

A book came out yesterday from my FAVORITE author, David Sedaris, called 'Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary'. I bought it tonight, and I'm SO excited to read it. Seriously, if you haven't heard of him, or if you have, but haven't read any of his stuff yet, you seriously need to get on it. The man is a genius, and I've laughed more while reading his books or listening to him speak than I have at most comedians. His deadpan delivery and dry, self-deprecating humor will have you rolling, and I highly suggest, at the very least, LISTENING to one of his audiobooks. (My favorite is the Santaland Diaries, which chronicles his experience employed as an elf at Christmastime in a major department store) A while back, reader Shannon L. suggested that I do squirrel nails, and that got me thinking about acorns, and tonight, I joined both ideas together in honor of the new Sedaris book! :) The acorns turned out to be a funky version of a french manicure! (with lots of shading!! :-D)

and my nails with my new book.... :-D

I used American Apparel Palm Springs as a base, with butter LONDON Crumpet over it, then mixed OPI Ginger Bells with American Apparel Palm Springs and MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious for the tips, with a darker version of that mixture for the textured 'scales' on the acorn caps. For the shading on the acorn, I used a mixture of American Apparel Palm SpringsOPI Ginger Bells and MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious to shade, a mix of OPI Ginger Bells and American Apparel Palm Springs for the darker highlight, then pure American Apparel Palm Springs for the main highlight. For the thumb, I used OPI What's With the Cattitude? as a base, with American Apparel Palm Springs as a base for the squirrel, topped with OPI Ginger Bells, then a mixture of OPI Ginger Bells and MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious over that, then a few swipes of American Apparel Palm Springs around the eye, ear, and tail. For the eye, I used American Apparel Hassid, and for the grass I used CND Green Scene , L.A. Girl Army Green, and Pure Ice Wild Thing. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Stand on the magic star, and you can see Cher!!

Friki Tiki

I've always loved the aesthetic of tiki masks, and the funky feel they have. I like the different face shapes and facial expressions that you can see on them, whether silly or scary, tiki culture is awesome!! Today's manicure is my interpretation of the wooden tikis that are often portrayed for parties and shindigs. :-D

I used Color Club Best Dressed List as a base, then mixed with MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious to shade, and mixed with American Apparel Palm Springs to highlight. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Something I learned last night while making cookies- if you put chunks of caramel in cookies, you have to let them cool to remove them from the cookie sheet, otherwise you get a lot of broken cookies that you have to eat, because naturally, you can't give away broken cookies, now can you? (what, I think I've stumbled on a great idea here...more cookies for me!!)

Tarte Cosmetics Sale on ideeli!

There is a Tarte Cosmetics sale on Ideeli today!! it ends at 11:59 PST (so, approx 24 hours from this post). There are check stains, brow kits, foundations, mascara, and other odds n ends. Decent prices, too! :)

Check it out! Tarte Cosmetics Sale on Ideeli

Cross-hatching a Plan

So I broke down and checked out the MAC Venomous Villains collection tonight at the Pro Store. Bad idea. I have far more willpower than I thought, because it's all super pretty!! The mineralized shadows from Maleficent's color story are crazy sparkly and beyond gorgeous. The three polishes are pretty too, though, as I'm sure you know, two are dupes for the Orly Cosmic FX collection. The third, however, is called Bad Fairy, and is a magenta foil duochrome that flashes an orange-red color. Super pretty. While in the Forum Shops, I also came across Inglot, there is a STORE AT THE FORUM SHOPS NOW! (that is my excitement typing) I've never seen any of their products in person until tonight, and let me tell you, everything I saw was crazy awesome, and once I have money again, that place is going to be Dangerous (yes, capital D). Anyway- today's manicure utilizes Bad Fairy (yes, I broke down, I'm not a saint :-P)

I used MAC Bad Fairy as a base, with American Apparel Hassid for the crosshatch design. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

This pictures don't do this polish justice. It's super shiny, sparkly, foily goodness.

He's Got a Way With Murder

We know him as Dexter, loving family man by day, serial killer that takes out the 'trash' by night. He's America's So-Called Favorite Serial Killer, and tonight IS the night... for the season premiere, that is. I'm one of the devoted followers of Dexter. Love the books, love the tv show. I actually SQUEALED when I saw the first commercial for this season on Showtime! Seriously. I re-watched the entire series AGAIN to prepare for tonight. :-D Lame? Perhaps. Awesome? Definitely. Today's manicure is devoted to the man who likes to dismember... Dexter Morgan. :) (I'd considered painting each nail a different color as an homage to the ice truck killer in the first season, but thought it wouldn't really be considered nail art, so I didn't) The cartoon Dexter on the thumb is a mash-up of Dexter Morgan, and the illustration style and some characteristics of Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory, I dug it when I first saw it, and thought it'd be a fun addition to an otherwise gory manicure. :)

and the close-up/right side up picture of Dex on my thumb:

I used Essie Bone Chilling White as a base, with A Beautiful Life Poison for the blood spatter and DEXTER logo. For the thumb, I used American Apparel Summer Peach for his face and neck, OPI Ginger Bells for his hair, Orly Snowcone for his eyes, and American Apparel Hassid to outline everything, with, again, A Beautiful Life Poison for the blood spatter on his face and collar.

Did you watch Dexter tonight? It was a good one, for sure. I freakin' love this show!

I'm Not the Villain Here!

As all you makeup addicts out there know, MAC Cosmetics is releasing a new collection on Sept 30, and if you have Pro Store access, you can even get it NOW. Obviously, I'm talking about the MAC Venomous Villains collection, which is separated into four color stories representing and emblazoned with the images of 4 Disney Villains...The Evil Queen from 'Snow White', Maleficent from 'Sleeping Beauty', Doctor Facilier from 'The Princess and the Frog', and Cruella de Vil from '101 Dalmatians'. I was going to go to the Pro Store today to check it out, so I did today's manicure in honor of it, but got sidetracked, and it's too late to go because I have to be somewhere else- so I'll go tomorrow! I want to buy stuff, but seeing as I JUST started my job, I'm still broke (and will be for a while), so just window shopping for me! :-P

I'm not in love with how these turned out, Cruella looked better when I did her for the 101 Dalmatians manicure a while back, but my hand was super shaky, so I did what I could. I also think that I need to get a new paintbrush! The only one I'm pleased with is the Evil Queen on my ring finger, I think she turned out pretty ok. :-P

I used:

Thumb: MAC logo

American Apparel Hassid as a base, with Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for the logo.

Index: Maleficent

American Apparel Hassid as a base, with Orly Gumdrop for her face, Barielle Grape Escape for her eye shadow, A Beautiful Life Poison for her lips, American Apparel Hassid to outline everything, and Essence Pointbreak to outline her horns. I also used Barielle Grape Escape for her collar.

Middle: Cruella

American Apparel Hassid as a base, with a mix of American Apparel Summer Peach, Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud, and Eyeko Punk Polish for Neon Nails for her skin, Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for her white hair, Essence Pointbreak to outline her black hair. American Apparel Butter for her fur coat, China Glaze Flyin' High for her earring, A Beautiful Life Poison for her lips, Pure Ice Wild Thing, and American Apparel Hassid to outline everything.

Ring: Evil Queen

American Apparel Hassid as a base, with American Apparel Summer Peach for her face, Barielle Grape Escape for her eye shadow, Barielle Aura Angora for her crown, A Beautiful Life Poison for her lips, Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for her collar, and American Apparel Hassid to outline everything.

Pinky: Doctor Facilier

American Apparel Hassid as a base, with Color Club Best Dressed List for his face, then mixed with Barielle Unraveled Rust for his lips, Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for his eyes and teeth, Orly Snowcone for his pupils, MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious to outline, American Apparel Hassid for his hat, A Beautiful Life Poison for the sash on the hat.

Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

What are you going to buy from this collection? I'm excited to see it, but I'm praying for lots of dupes to stuff I already have. :-P

Circle, Circle, Dot, Dot

I got my cootie shot.

:-D

I survived day two at the new job- and let me tell ya, I'm outta job-shape, I can't remember ever being this exhausted after a day of work. So far, the job is great though, and the people are really super nice! :) (I hope they think the same about me too!) I'm debating what I can whip up in my oven to fully win them over though. :-9 Today's nails are just a random design. I liked the colors, and wanted to use them together, and this is what I came up with!

I used butter LONDON Artful Dodger as a base, with circles and dots painted over it with MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious, Essie Alligator Purse, and the yet unnamed franken that I showed you yesterday. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Great, now I have that damn Jamie Kennedy song in my head. Whatever happened to Stu Stone?

A 'Bone to Pick

Herringbone that is. Today's nail art is my interpretation of a herringbone pattern. I actually even frankened the base polish myself- it matches the wall pant of someone I know perfectly! I loved the color so much on the wall (I picked it out, natch) that I had to create a nail polish for my very own. :) I used a mixture of equal parts American Apparel Manila, American Apparel California, and a few drops of L.A. Girl Army Green.

It matched my shirt (unintentionally):

I used my franked polish, which I'm still undecided on calling, with MAC In the Buff to paint the lines to make the pattern. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

About the job:

I am now working for a real estate marketing company as a graphic designer! :) First day went great, other than freezing. Everyone seems really nice so far, too! :)

Fall-ing for You!

Hey all!! Quick post today- I'm on a desperate hunt for my birth certificate, which has magically disappeared, and which I need TOMORROW. :-/ Not good. Anyway, today's manicure is to celebrate the first day of FALL!! (which, sadly, Las Vegas doesn't really have... it's just slightly less hot.) I used three autumnal colors over Incoco's Oscar Night nail appliques! (which saved my life when I had 1.5 hours to get showered, ready, do my nails, and get to my last minute interview!)

I used Incoco nail appliques in Oscar Night, with Barielle Unraveled Rust, Essie Alligator Purse, and butter LONDON Minger marbled over it. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Wish me luck with finding the birth certificate!!

Awesome Graphic Designer Seeks Job

UPDATE: I got a job!! Ironically, not from this post, but from a résumé that I sent out at the same time. They called me up right when they got it, and I interviewed this afternoon and GOT THE JOB!! :) YAY! Thank you all for your well wishes!!!

Are you hiring?

As many of my readers now, except possibly the new subscribers, I am, unfortunately, unemployed right now. When I started the project, I was a full-time graphic designer working as a slot machine artist here in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada. About 7 months into my yearlong project , I was let go due to some company restructuring. I've had about ZERO luck finding a job. No one here in Las Vegas is hiring, and most of the ads I read that are hiring, which are for service industry jobs in the casinos (bartenders, cocktail waitresses, hostesses), have a requirement of head shots, and suggest that applicants be models, actors, or dancers. I'm none of these things. I do like to work- and prefer to have too much to do as opposed to not enough. I'm quick and friendly. I like deadlines and challenges, and learning new things. I have knowledge of major design programs AND mixing drinks. I like people, and can talk to anyone, yet I'm still unemployed. Not fun. I've applied for design jobs, for typesetting jobs, for marketing jobs, for bartender jobs, and for server jobs to no avail.

I know that plenty of people are in my same predicament, and trust me, I empathize.

So in closing, I put this message out into the world. Hire me?

NYX Sale at Hautelook!

I know that I've been posting sales every day this week, but it's apparently Beauty Week at Hautelook- so they're doing lots of great cosmetics/beauty sales!!! Today's sale is NYX Cosmetics, they have everything from brush sets and brush belts to chrome pigments, to eyeshadows and mascaras...and everything in between! They also have some KILLLLLER special effects eyelashes (perfect for fun looks AND Halloween!), palettes, huge kits and makeup sets, too!

Check out the sale! NYX Sale on Hautelook!

Gleekin' Out

The minutes tick by as the clock gets closer and closer to 8 o'clock. Finally...the night has come for the latest installment of the GLEE story- Season 2 is upon us, and I, for one, am soooooo excited! I'm writing this post as I watch, and so far, so good- LOVED the rendition of Billionaire! Anyway, I'm a huge GLEE fan, and honestly, though she's not a main character- my favorite character is definitely Brittany, her comments are so awesome.

I used American Apparel Manila as a base for all the nails except the thumb, which I used Eyeko Saucy Polish for Naughty Nails on. I also used Eyeko Saucy Polish for Naughty Nails for the letters, Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for the FOX logo, and for the hand, I used American Apparel California Trooper as a base, topped with MAC Abalone Shell, then I mixed MAC Abalone Shell mixed with Barielle Unraveled Rust to shade, and mixed MAC Abalone Shell with Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud to highlight. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Ok- I gotta get back to GLEE!!! (Next is NCIS!!!)

LORAC Sale on Hautelook!

Wow- this is one of their best beauty sales yet- prices start at $3, and don't go over $10- and that's for palettes! Almost everything is under $5. Lots of lip products (mocktails, lipglosses, lipsticks, lip polish, etc.), a few eye shadows, some palettes, cheek colors, and some foundations. :-D WOOO!

Check out the sale on LORAC sale on Hautelook!

You're Getting Sleeeeeeepppppyyy

I love black and white nail art, in fact, those were the colors that I did all of my nail art with when I was younger and had just started playing with designs. Today is a bit of a throwback to that, I did a hypnotic black and white swirl!

Tonight I went to The World Series of Comedy's first night here in Vegas, I laughed my ass off, my face hurts from laughing. (no jokes about my face killin' you, either!) Hopefully my friend Mike places in his show tonight, so he moves on!! :) Cross your fingers!

I used Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud as a base, with American Apparel Hassid for the black design. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Now that you're good and hypnotized, send all your cash to me. :)

Stila Sale at Hautelook!

Hey all you makeup lovers like me! Hautelook is having a Stila cosmetics sale today and tomorrow! There is Barbie stuff, and smudge pots, lipglosses, eyeshadows, palettes, tools, etc. you name it! From what I saw, most is at least 50% off, some is much cheaper than that!

Check it out! Stila sale on Hautelook!

VERTICAL ZAGS

HOLIDAY NAILS: WATERMELON + WATERMELONS

ZIG ZIG ZAG ZAG BOOM

HOLIDAY LEOPARD ! BLUES, GREENS, GREY AND GOLD

MIXMIXMIX

ZIG ZAG PATTERNS

MIXMIXMIX

NUDE, BLACK AND GOLD TIPS / LEOPARD

REVERSE BLACK AND GOLD LEOPARD

BLUE GREEN AND GOLD LEOPARD

THUG LIFE

ORANGE WITH BLACK HEARTS, GREEN WITH WHITE HEARTS

GREEN POLKA DOTS WITH HEARTS

PINK AND BLACK LEOPARD

BLUE GOLD AND BLACK LEOPARD

X Marks the Spot!

YARRRRRR!!!! `Tis finally here! Today be one o' th' wee days durin' this 365 tide journey that I be havin' actually had th' art planned ou'. (an' in this case, I`ve had 't planned since th' beginnin' o' th' voyage) I LOVE International Talk Like a Swashbuckler Tide!! Today I decided t' do a shipmate`s booty map fer th' daily nail design.

And... to translate into non-pirate speak:

Hey! It's finally here! Today is one of the few days during this 365 day journey that I have actually had the art planned out. (and in this case, I've had it planned since the beginning of the year) I LOVE International Talk Like a Pirate Day!! Today I decided to do a pirate's treasure map for the daily nail design.

I used American Apparel California Trooper as a base, with China Glaze Classic Camel sponged over it in spots, then I sponged a mixture of China Glaze Classic Camel and MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious over those spots, then I sponged MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious on the tips and some of the edges. For the map's ink, I used a mixture of MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious, and American Apparel Hassid. Topped it off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Now that be my kind o' nail ARRRRRRRRRRRR-t! ;) Where's me rum?!

Quiet in the Peanut Gallery!

Yesterday's cookies got me thinking about other cookies... namely, Nutter Butters. Then, thinking about Nutter Butters (besides getting me hungry) made me think of actual peanuts... which, in turn, got me thinking, hey- that might be a fun nail design! So, I bring you- peanut nails! :-D Don't mind the shimmer, apparently nail polish manufacturers can't seem to make a simple golden/tan/beige creme with no shimmer. (or I just don't know about one yet- so if you know of one that is similar to Classic Camel without shimmer, LET ME KNOW!

I used China Glaze Classic Camel as a base, then mixed with MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious for the darker lines, and with American Apparel California Trooper to highlight. Topped everything off with Essie Matte About You.

My left eye is twitching, that can't be good, right?

Not So Double Stuffed

Dunno, I've never liked Double Stuf Oreos. I could never get behind the ratio of sugary filling to chocolate cookie. It's an unbalanced scale, and will never win a place in my heart. I know, I'm probably one of the few that hates them, but what's new, I'm the odd one in the group...nothing wrong with that! :-D However, I DO love regular OREOs. Seriously, I swear they're the cure for insomnia, for hunger, for a sweet tooth, for everything. The bad thing is, once I start eating OREOs, I find it hard to stop, and before I know it, 1/3 of the package is gone. :) Oops. (They're SO GOOD) Today's manicure idea was a suggestion of Chris'. (apparently the OREO commercial was on at his house when I texted, contemplating what to do for today's nails) I did the OREO logo on my thumb, and close-ups of the printed side of the cookie on the index, middle, and pinky, with a stack of OREOs on the ring finger. Nom Nom Nom. (you know I did 'research' for this manicure)

I used MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious as a base for the cookie nails, mixed with American Apparel California Trooper to make the design/highlight, and mixed MAC Rich, Dark, Delicious with American Apparel Hassid to shade. On the ring finger, I used Essie Bone Chilling White as a base, with the same colors as above for the cookie parts. For the logo nail, I used ALDO Sea You in Ibiza as a base, with Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for the logo, and China Glaze Flyin' High for the teal outline. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

I think I'm going to go bite my nails. :-9