I'm going to apologize in advance for the slowness of my blog lately.  It's probably going to be slow for a little while longer since I've just started a new job and my hours aren't quite set yet!  But I'm trying to squeeze in a few little things so that you have something to read while I'm in between! :)  Some of you mentioned you'd like to see more hauls and honestly, the reason I don't post them is that I generally don't 'haul' polish.  In an average month I probably only buy 10-20 and I rarely buy them all at once.  But recently some things have caught my eye so I'll show you what I've 'hauled' over the past two weeks.  It's smallish I know! I actually bought a TON more...but it was for someone else. :P  Here's what I got for me:

Top row: China Glaze Neons in I'm With the Lifeguard, Sun-Kissed, and Splish Splash (which by the way, is decidedly NOT neon!)

Middle row: Orly Rock the World, Sashay My Way, and Be Brave, OPI Shatter the Scales, and Zoya Chloe

Bottom Row: Zoya Zuza, Maisie, and Opal

Do you have any of these colors?

(...just for fun...here's my haulage for friends!!)

I'm starting up a series of mini blogs titled "Did you know?"  They will feature small tidbits of information and tips and tricks for you to use to help you take care of your nails and improve your nail art. :)  Today will be the first in the series...

Did you know...

If your nails are saturated with water, your polish cannot fully dry until the nail plate is fully dry.  This means when you do a manicure and soak your nails in water, or polish just after a shower or bath you are actually extending the dry time of the polish.  Be extra careful for at least two hours following a water mani or a pedi so you don't mess up all your hard work!!

Well today was my very first official day of work!! It was a long day! But I learned A TON and I have so many more nail care posts planned for you guys. I can't wait and I'm loving all the feedback I'm getting from you all. :)  One thing I learned about recently is nail shape.  Did you all know that we have a shape that's perfect for our nails?  There's a quick and easy way to tell what shape is right for you. I'll be posting on this hopefully on Saturday along with showing you how to tell what basic type of nail you have so that you're better equipped to care for them.  Knowing your nail type will not only help you choose the right products to use but will also help you prevent hangnails and other pesky problems.  My natural nail shape is meant to be oval.  Which is ironic because I had just ovaled out my nails the other day on a whim and today when I trained it ended up just being the right shape for me.  I still think I like them square!! But I'm normally a risk taker with these types of things and it's easy to go back to square!! What do you all think of the new shape?

Today's design was inspired by my new iPhone case.  Cute, no?  Hope you all enjoyed and thanks for following!!

...but today we're going to dwell just a BIT.  Here's the round up for my Harry Potter series.  I had so much fun doing this one.  Harry Potter is something that's very dear to my heart. :)  I wanted to do this round up like the one for the LOST series by showing you all my favorite mani from the other girls, but unfortunately there aren't seven to choose from! :(  So instead I'm going to show you my favorite mani's from Debbie and Kerrie. :) Then, just for fun I'll show you which one was my personal favorite of my own! :P  Here we go...

From Kerrie...

These were for The Half Blood Prince.  I really loved that Kerrie chose to do a newspaper mani! This is something I've been wanting to try for a long time but haven't gotten around to. I know Kerrie's intention was to display the potions book Harry got which had once belonged to Professor Snape, but I loved too that it really summed up my thoughts on the book: A LOT OF WORDS. Lol...

And from the lovely Debbie...

OK I really tried but I could NOT choose just one of Debbie's mani's!  So I'm showing you two!  First we have her Sorcerer's Stone nails. She really started this challenge with a bang!

 I can't get over how PERFECT her 9 3/4 nail is.  And the middle...I know it doesn't REALLY look like what it's meant to (the wall leading into Diagon Alley) but it just looks SO interesting.  I love, love, love these.  Then I also really loved her nails for the Prisoner of Azkaban, which is fitting since it's my favorite book!

I love needle marbling anyway and Debbie ROCKED. THIS. OUT.  You get dementors from it right away but it also just looks darn cool.  (You can also check out Baby Crumpet's version!) I like the black on blue and the way they sort of 'float' through her nails.  Very cool!

What was my favorite of my mani's?  

The Marauder's Map!!  These came out so much better than I had planned them.  And let's face it, I seriously WANT this map.  I could do so many things with it!  

Well that's the round up!!  I have another rehab post planned for very soon but I'm stating my job as a nail tech this week so things may get hectic!! I can't wait to share with you all the tips and tricks I learn in the field!  Thanks for following!

OK, so here we are at book seven.  The Deathly Hallows was a HUGE book.  Not only was it huge but it also contained TONS of information and that made it incredibly difficult to choose art for this mani!  I originally had this epic idea to do a scene over the top of the nails and then run a different theme through the bottom. Unfortunately, I kind of hated it at the end.  Since I'm a trooper...I have included it anyway at the bottom of this blog. Let's face it, sometimes art doesn't work the way we want it to and besides that, when will I ever use it if not now?!  What I chose to do for this mani was some of what I felt were the more important theme's.  The pinky is to represent Fleur's wedding dress (which, btw was modeled after a GORGEOUS McQueen gown!).  It seems like a throwaway but I felt that not only was it the only real happy spot in a book of incredible depression, but it also provided a place for Harry and his friends to gain a lot of information which helped them later with their search for horcruxes.  The thumb for example: the symbol for the deathly hallows.  It was in a book which is given to Hermione while they are waiting for the wedding to take place.  It is also spotted on Luna Lovegood's father's necklace AT the wedding.  Also given to the friends?  The middle nail: Ron's deluminator.  I chose to do his deluminator because it was once Dumbledore's and because it helped him to return to Harry and Hermione and I felt like the bonds of friendship were very important in this book.  The ring finger of course is Dobby's grave.  Then for the index I went for sort of a double design.  The background is representative of Nagini, thought to be the final horcrux.  The foreground is Harry's glasses, which fell to the ground after it was discovered that, in fact, HE was the final horcrux.  On a totally side note: did anyone get a Lord of the Rings vibe during this book?  The necklace reminded me so much of the ring which also was trusted to someone to be destroyed and which had a strong emotional pull on who ever wore it.  Also, they started out sort of as a team and slowly dwindled into just two.  Though in this book they reunite rather than remaining separate.  Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this series! I had so much fun doing it! If you want to see my hideous round one nails...keep scrolling past the color list!!

Don't forget to check my fellow mischief makers, Kerrie, Emma, Abby, Julie, Debbie, and Sam's pages to see their art for this series!!

You can still check out yesterday's post as well: The Half Blood Prince!

Colors used: 

Thumb: Essence Midnight Date, Barry M Gold Foil

Index: China Glaze It's Alive, Revlon Black Lingerie
Middle: China Glaze Stone Cold, Barry M Bronze, Catrice Miss Money Penny

Ring: Essence The Dawn is Broken, Models Own Nail Art Pen in Black

Pinky: Revlon White on White and Black Lingerie

And here are the FAIL nails:

 It was meant to be, thumb to pinky: Snape's collar, Fleur's wedding gown, the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw aflame, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and Dobby's grave.  The top represents the battle between Harry and Voldemort, displaying each wand and the spells colliding.

Thumb: China Glaze Stone Cold and Jitterbug

Index: Revlon White on White and Black Lingerie, China Glaze Smoke and Ashes, Mahogany Magic, OPI Red

Middle: China Glaze Riveting, Smoke and Ashes,  Orly Luxe

Ring: China Glaze Kinetic Candy, Electric Pineapple, GaGa for Green, Aqua Baby, Smoke and Ashes

Pinky: butterLONDON All Hail the Queen, Models Own Moody Grey, China Glaze Smoke and Ashes, Mahogany Magic, GaGa for Green

Today's post is for The Half Blood Prince.  I was so excited for this book to come out. See, when I got through The Goblet of Fire there wasn't much time in between to wait because The Order of the Phoenix was nearly out already. But after that one, it felt like ages before this one hit stores.  Perhaps that contributed to my disappointment with it.  It's not that there wasn't a TON of information in this book; there was. I'd wager almost all of it is vital to the storyline as well.  It's just that in the wake of two action packed, intense, excitement laden novels...it almost felt dull.  There is certainly a lot to take in; Snape's revelation that he is the Half Blood Prince (not Potter himself as many suspected pre-book release), and that he is, in fact, in love with Harry's mother.  The back story of Tom Riddle and his rise to power as Lord Voldemort (anyone pick up a little Anakin Skywalker syndrome on that one?).  And of course, the beginning of the role of the Horcrux.  However, save for setting up the next book there is no real movement in this novel at all...well...until the famous page 596!  The death of Professor Dumbledore.  The epic motion that singlehandedly divided the Potterheads; trust Snape or don't.  Myself I was on the trust Snape side of the fence.  My husband was not.  Nor was a majority of my family and they made that very clear anytime they had the chance.  But look who's laughing now? :P  There was also that group of people who somehow believed Dumbledore's death was a clever ruse and that he would be back--which in some ways was true, but sadly, as Dumbledore himself once said, "There is no spell which can awaken the dead."  So what's on my nails?  For the thumb I did a night sky.  I used a black polish with colored glitter which looked much cooler in real life but didn't pick up well on camera unfortunately.  It was meant to represent the Astronomy Tower where Dumbledore falls to his death. The index is a page from the potions book which Harry borrows and which is embellished with the writing of the half blood prince.  The middle is meant to be a bow tie to represent Slughorn and his Slug Club. The ring is, fittingly, the ring Dumbledore wears which turns out to be a horcrux. And on my pinky, the gold locket and the letters R.A.B.  

Don't forget to check my fellow mischief makers, Kerrie, Emma, Abby, Julie, Debbie, and Sam's pages to see their art for this series!!

Don't miss out on the final post tomorrow! The Deathly Hallows

Or visit the previous day's post:  The Order of The Phoenix

Thumb: Barry M Black Multi Gliter, Color Club Worth the Risque

Index: Essie Sand Tropez, Revlon Black Lingerie

Middle: Revlon Black Lingerie, Deborah Lippmann Almost Paradise, Orly Wandering Vine

Ring: Revlon Black Lingerie, Color Club Disco Nap, Deborah Lippmann Dancing in the Sheets

Pinky: Color Club Disco Nap, Revlon Black Lingerie

This series is moving right along isn't it?  Today's post is for book five in the Harry Potter series: The Order of the Phoenix.  Raise your hand if you didn't want to slap the bejeesus out of Harry while reading this book?  If anyone has their hand up: we are officially no longer friends. :P  Kidding, kidding.  But let's face it Harry turned into a self obsessed, obnoxious twat in this book. Or basically your average teenage boy. ;)   So much happened in this book and it was the first book to really make me cry.  I SOBBED like a baby when Arthur Weasley got bitten by that snake. Oh the suspense...that was so not cool J.K. Rowling.  Oh yeah, the movie? Glossed that RIGGHHHT over.  It was like...two seconds and done.  Then I cried again for the loss of Sirius.  More because of what he had become to Harry than for any other reason since his involvement in the novels, while important, was slim.  But this book provided TONS of information.  It led us to Kreacher, who showed us what House Elves were REALLY like for rich people, the introduction of the legacy of the Black family, and the house Harry would later inherit.  It also provided a rebel base and the beginning of what would later be a very important alliance.  And it sparked off another rebel base...right inside of Hogwarts! Dumbledore's Army.  Who didn't want to be a part of THAT secret club?!  I think the layman's term for what happened in this book is: Shit got real.  Real fast. The Ministry got involved at Hogwarts, Malfoy and Harry very decidedly chose sides, Harry got his first taste of love (and it was bittersweet), and we found out about that prophecy.  This book was action packed to say the least.  So the art?  For my thumb nail I chose to do the shadow of a phoenix rising through flames.  I felt it was fitting for the Order of the Phoenix and also because, well Dumbledore played an important role in this book. For the index I've chosen to do a wand tip with a patronus creeping out.  Harry's patronus plays a part in this book and plus, with a polish called Expecto Patronum, how could I resist? My middle finger is for Dolores Umbridge, the batty little professor from the Ministry who makes Harry's life a living hell.  The ring finger is the logo for Dumbledore's Army and to round things out, the pinky is the marble walls of the Ministry of Magic where Harry has several encounters during this book and where Sirius ultimately loses his life.  :(  Sad times...

Don't forget to check my fellow mischief makers, Kerrie, Emma, Abby, Julie, Debbie, and Sam's pages to see their art for this series!!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on book six: The Half Blood Prince

Or visit yesterday's post on: The Goblet of Fire

 

Thumb: China Glaze Electric Beat and Life Preserver, Revlon Black Lingerie, OPI The Show Must Go On

Index: Dollish Polish Expecto Patronum, Models Own Moody Grey, China Glaze Mahogany Magic

Middle: butterLONDON Teddy Girl and Queen Vic, Essence Mashed Berries, Orly Luxe

Ring: Revlon White on White, China Glaze Winter Berry

Pinky: Revlon Black Lingerie and White on White