Is this how we say goodbye...?



I'm sure all or at least most of you are familiar with the blog, The Crumpet. Recently, this post showed up on The Crumpet, highlighting a list of some of the people who stopped blogging in 2014.  There were some interesting and very valid points made about why people stop blogging or lose interest or just disappear.  Many of my most loved blogging friends have thrown in the towel on the blogging game. There are loads of reasons to stop. Blogging is A LOT of work.  Just like a new relationship, in the beginning its new and fun and exciting and spending 30 hours a week on it is something you just don't think about. Why do anything else?  But after awhile it becomes tedious and a chore and just...work.  Then there are other things. The reader disappeared and that makes it an absolute nightmare for me trying to keep up with thousands of blogs.  Not to mention there's not a lot of payout anymore.  Before the reader was gone you could look at your page and say to yourself, I have 1300 followers.  I could work really hard and maybe I'll get to 1500.  Now there's no number game anymore and with comments that trickle at best it's easy to feel like you're just blogging to an empty audience.  Add to that Instagram with it's quick posts and fancy filters and it's easy to say, why sit here and take pictures and edit the lighting and spend all this time writing out blogs for no one when I can instantly snap, filter, and reach thousands?  It's a challenge.  I'm sure if you come here often (and for those of you who do I am truly grateful) you've noticed a decline in the amount of blogs I post and probably in the length of blogs.  I still love nail art and polishing but my life has changed dramatically from when I first started posting. I've moved over an hour from my family, started a new job working twice the hours, struggled with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and various other health ailments, lost loved ones, experience financial setbacks....well...you get the picture. Blogging for me is not what it used to be.  There are certainly times I'd like to give up on it, however, then I remember why I started blogging.  I've come to recognize that I'm never going to be one of those bloggers who has tens of thousands of followers.  Heck, I may never even crack 2000 and I've learned to be OK with that.  I'm not ever going to be someone who tries to squeeze 30 hours of blogging into an already packed schedule.  Sometimes I have a lot of time and I get ahead and sometimes I have no time and I fall behind.  I recognize that this hinders my ability to be a "top blogger" but it's my life. It's my voice. My little corner of the bloggerverse and I like it.  There is no sunshine where I live at the moment and while I invested in a light box some months back I've never sorted using it properly and everything I do with it looks a mess.  So I've been using Instagram to show off my work lately because I feel that these photos aren't "good" enough for my blog.  Today, I'm throwing caution to the wind though and I'm sharing these anyway! No, they aren't blog perfect.Yes, there is tip wear (this is day five) and the filter skews the colors just a tad but here it is anyway! I hope you like them and I hope you remember if you're a blogger that your blog is YOUR voice.  You don't have to live up to anyone's standards but your own. If you want to post once a month; do it. If you only have a cell phone camera, post them anyway! Do what makes YOU happy and you can't fail at this. :) Happy Holidays to all of you!

Flashback Friday: Reindeer/Rudolph



It's the final day of the Digital Dozen's Winter Wonderland challenge week. For today's look I wanted to recreate a design that I did for another challenge several years ago! It continues to be my most popular post of all time and it's ironic because it was a design I just sort of threw together at the last minute! So these nails are based on this post, which was part of a 31 day challenge I did in 2011.  The days challenge was Rudolph and/or Reindeer.  Thing is I was SO sick that day and it had snowed so of course it was FREEZING outside.  I was already twelve days into the challenge and I wasn't about to miss a day so I hauled myself out of bed and threw together this look with reindeer pulling a sled.  As almost an afterthought I added a little red nose to the lead reindeer and while I was happy with the look it certainly wasn't what I considered my BEST work.  Sometimes that's the way it works out!  I still think the lighting was better in my original post but there has been just NO sun whatsoever recently here and while at that time I had days off I now have an 8-5 job so it's fairly dark when I get home.  SO...that said. The original look is below.  I still had most of the original polishes so I used Models Own Bloo Bloo again for the base with a topper of My Blue Lacquer's Space Lift.  I added a snowy gradient to the bottom this go round, painted a little bag onto the sled and stamped my reindeer in brown rather than black, although I think I prefer the black deer.  I also did Rudolph's nose a bit smaller! Which look do you prefer?


Check out the other ladies art work below!!
 
 

In a Winter Wonderland...



It's day four of the Digital Dozen's Winter Wonderland challenge. I can't believe how fast this week is going!  I had some fun with this design but it really didn't come out nearly as nice as I wanted it to.  I really need to look into some smaller snowflake stamps.   At any rate I did like the gradient and the snow glitter.  I was hoping it would come out with a litte more depth but you win some ya lose some! Check out what's sure to be some incredible art from my fellow dozeners below! 

Frozen in Space...


You might notice I'm sort of dipping in and out of this weeks challenge.  I've had a rather tough month leading up to this challenge and I wasn't really able to get ahead so I apologize for that. You'll also notice the change in length on my nails. I usually do a full start over in January BUT this time it was for other reasons I had to start over. I had a job interview for a promotion at work and there are often type tests involved so in an effort to look professional and do the very best I can I chopped them. It worked though, I was told yesterday that I got the promotion! So I'll be happy to look at my little nubs knowing my polish budget just went WAY up. ;) At any rate these nails are meant to be an icy galaxy. I hope you enjoy them!!

Check out the other girls work below!

The Digital Dozen does...Winter Wonderland


It's time for another week of art with The Digital Dozen.  The theme of this week is Winter Wonderland.  You're going to have to excuse the changing length and shape of my nails as this week progresses. I had a job interview and  had to cut them down. Having stiletto nails which are short is a challenge so I rounded them out until they grow back.  At any rate these are some Frozen inspired nails I did for my nieces birthday.  They feel very wintery so it seemed like a great choice to start the week!


Please check out the other girls artwork below!!


Leader of the pack...


Apologies for being so slow with the posts here lately.  I've had lulls before, usually due to health issues or work but this time it was for something I never wanted to face.  My grandma passed away on Thanksgiving Day.  It was somewhat unexpected and it's been very hard on my family and I.  I'm trying to get back into the game here and do some nail art but I'm just really not feeling it lately.  A week before she went I spent a day in the hospital so it's just been a tough time all the way round. That said here's a design I did awhile back.  I was sort of playing with different techniques and trying to use some fun 3D nail accents.  It came out pretty well I think.  I love the ring finger with the negative space.  Which is your favorite?

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