Aussie Nails Christmas Challenge 2013

Better late then never *hangs head in shame*

Wrapping up 2013 with a nail art challenge:

Excuse the long absence....

I've had a crazy couple of months! How have you been?
Can you believe it's almost Christmas??? Crazy I say!

so..... let's catch up a bit - I'll post a heap of pics to show you what I've been up to
and then we can do the Aussie Nails Christmas Nail Art challenge together, ok?

Where in the World - Day 21 Japan

Hi lovelies!

I've been running around this weekend, so skipped a couple of days,

 but here is the next installment of the challenge!

I found this lovely Japanese silk print to inspire my design

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The BATTLE (Nail Polish) Challenge - Week 12

Continuing with the Battle Challenge - theme 12 is creme vs shimmer

Read on to see what I created!

Paint It Blue! - Day Ten and Eleven

Hey I'm back! with a couple more updates...

Day 10 I wore Orly Angel Eyes:

Pictures in time

I have been a bit slack lately with posting, but I do have some of the manis to show you.

This one I did using one of my magnetics - they are heavily pigmented, so work well for stamping!

The base is Essence Where is The Party?

And here is one I did when I was in the mood for blues.

OPI Dating a Royal with CG Blue Bells Ring

This summer was a hot one - 

Nikolai in a very comfy twisted position

My first ever ruffian attempt - it grew on me after a couple of days lol

OPI Designer De Better and My Very First Knockwurst

I tried some layering and stamping in one go

OPI Nein! Nein! ...Ok Fine! with CG In The City stamped using Essie No Place Like Chrome

It was too blingy, so I added a matte TC. Much better!

I also got some more indies - like this one - Mardi by Alanna Renee: 

And this was my mani for Chinese NY:

I also played around with some new plates from Brazil:

And finally, here is the design I did for Australia Day back in January:

Isn't that bottle shot pretty???

So there you have it - some of the designs from the last 7 weeks.
Thanks for stopping by!

Blogger Collaboration Series: My Take

You may have seen my recent guest bloggers taking inspiration from jewelry,

(Teneil, Christine, Lacqueerisa and Julz) so I thought I would jump in as well.

Here is a pair of earrings that I got from Diva:

 I took the colour "idea" from the jewelry, but I didn't try to replicate it.

ALL the #nailmail!

If you are on Instagram you have probably seen this hashtag floating around - it's one of my favourites. 

This means someone has received a package (from an online order, or a blog sale or a swap) 

containing some pretty bottles! 

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Today I thought I should show some of the amazing stuff that I have received,
and acknowledge the wonderful people who have sent it to me.

All about the 'stache in November

Not sure if you heard, but November in Australia is now called Movember.

 To support men's health initiatives blokes are encouraged to grow a mo for the month 

to raise awareness. Now, I am not saying I will be growing one, but I will show you my 'stache (stash).

When bloggers meet up (aka EPIC HAUL)

Yesterday I had an awesome experience of meeting up with a fellow blogger - Mai from Nanna Nap! 

It was so much fun!!! Amazing to be able to talk face-to-face about the stuff we write and read about (although she did call me a "crazy enabler" LOL). 

As you would expect, the day was spent hunting polish and chatting))) 

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We found some fantastic polishes and I had my very first LUSH store experience!

Going Pink for the first time on a Wednesday

It's Wednesday and we all know what that means! 

My week in pink!

This past week I did my nails using a different pink every day for a good cause.

Khaki with a sparkle

A quick post about this great glitter I received from the lovely @gracilee in a swap we did last month.

Phenomena Hits Speciallita Borealis

Where in the World - Day 6 USA

Hey everyone!!! Today's post is so special to me - I've been looking forward to it since I joined the challenge. I don't think I've mentioned this on the blog before, but I actually grew up in the US (lived there from 1985 to 1989 and then from 1992 to 1997). Since we left Washington D.C. I have not been back, but I hope to visit in the future. This is my inspiration photo:

Yep, that's me and my mum at the Cherry Blossom festival

Where in the World - Day 5 Poland

Horray! A country I have been to and a place I visited - Szczecin! It's a lovely city on the Oder River and is close to the Baltic Sea. I welcomed 2004 NY there while visiting family friends. That evening we went to listen to a classical music concert, so I thought I would recreate the new  Philharmonic building:

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Doesn't it remind you of an iceberg or maybe an icicle, or a crystal?

Where in the World - Day 4 Israel

Getting back to the Where in the World? challenge, hosted by Gosia from Life in Color! and Jin from Superficially Colorful. The next country is Israel and for my inspiration I chose the Wailing Wall:

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I have never been to Jerusalem or any part of Israel, but this was the first thing that came to mind.