I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You - Colin Hay

after been given the task of becoming a snowflake for an impending festive fiesta (and that means literally, becoming one...not simply adorning myself with some paper flakes...) , i started thinking about my makeup and of COURSE, i decided that nothing but snowflake nails would do! 

i just rummaged around my nail varnish collection (supplemented by my aunty's impressive stash - girl after my own heart, that one!) and ta-da! 

inglot XL5/inglot 955/miscellaneous silver nail striper

it was one of the more time consuming designs i've done (third only to strawberries and hello kitty!), but so adorable! i'm thinking i might try and do Father Christmas nails next...!

Regina Spektor - Laughing With

i think this song has to be one of my all-time favourite songs - regina spektor has a magical voice, with her dulcet tones are instantly soothing and possess the ability to dissapate any of my worries. for once i seem to be at a loss for words in order to describe her music adaquetely, so i suggest that you just listen to this and all will becom crystal! if you are to listen to just one of her albums, pick Far!  

poland is continuing to be a perfect adventure, filled with friends, teaching Europeans the joys and jubilations of Ring of Fire, flirting with barmen till they let you pour pints and mix your own cocktails and exploring the city! it's now getting so cold that your breath curls out in little cloudy mushroom puffs and i'm barely surviving! when winter really arrives (hello temperatures of -20 degrees!) i'm not certain what i'm going to do...i think i'll have to hibernate till march!

my new beautiful pin-up flowers from this ebay seller (expect a longer post on these) - classic polka dot nails - my new f21 leopard print mary-jane heels - painting with my little cousin Maja - borrowing jumpers from boys because you're incapable of dressing yourself appropriately

what things have been floating that proverbial boat of yours this week?

The Civil Wars - Poison & Wine

i'm so sorry i missed this week's wishing wednesday- i've had a funny week which has meant i've burrowed underneath my duvet and not really re-surfaced until now. i managed to find enough strength to make a life-long dream come true - strawberry nails! i used cutepolish's tutorial, but adapated it a wee bit as i was missing all the tools (unfortunately i am rubbish and forgot to take a picture of all the varnishes and aforemention tool of old, clean liquid eyeliner brush as my nail art brush)!

this has to be one of my favourite manicures i've ever done - i got so many compliments (albeit from corner shop owners and sainsbury's checkout cashiers, as i've ventured nowhere else). quite a few people aske me if they were those nail stickers - ER NO, crafted by my own fair hands!

Model's Own Red Alert/Model's Own Green Grass/Model's Own Lemon Meringue

oh and this exciting bit of news cheered me up considerably - i've won pearls, lace & ruffles giveaway and can pick something worth up to $37 from Petite Delight's etsy! it's such a generous prize and i can't quite believe it - thank you so much!

i have no idea what to pick! what would you girls choose?

City and Colour - Northern Wind

1. new pjs!

2. playing ball with lily <3

3. leopard print nails

4. going away present from my bestest best friend 

5. listening to moosic 

ps. one of my favourite blogs Being Little, is having the most generous giveaway to celebrate Being Little's 1st birthday!

Dallas Green - Sleeping Sickness

my sister (aka bestest best friend in the entitre world, claire at little love) is completely and utterly obessesed with Hello Kitty! - folders emblazoned with with that little red bow, iPod and blackberry adorned with stickers and numerous pens/mugs/compact mirror shaped like that infamous feline face. so in an ode to her cutesey preoccupation, i thought i'd try out some Hello Kitty! nails and do a little Hello Kitty nail tutorial. (i know they're a little shakey and not perfect, but i sorta like how the face are slightly different - Hello Kitty sisters perhaps?)

you will need;
- a background colour of your choice (Topshop's Milkshake)
- a white (Barry M's no.66)
- a yellow/gold (17's Sphnix)
- a red (Misguided's Mischievous)
- a black liquid eyeliner (Barry M)
- a bent out bobby pin



after applying your base coat, load on your background colour all over the nail.

using your white, draw on thick white tips, curving them slightly so they're shaped like Hello Kitty!'s head. here is also where you make her ears, (but I forgot to do that till after I did the nose, sorry!) by using the edge of your brush to form tiny triangles for her ears. you WILL get varnish on the edges of your fingers, but that's easily remedied by dipping an earbud in nail varnish remover and tidying up!




take your bobby pin and dip it in the gold/yellow, and place a dot in the centre of the white bit of your nail, nearer to the tip of the nail than smack bang in the middle.




with the black eyeliner, form tiny dots for her eyes both side of her gold nose. then, pain three lines on either side of the nail for whiskers (and try and get the middle whiskers level with the eyes)




finally, take your bobby pin again and dip it in the red, and first, make a single red blob by the right ear (this is the middle bit of the bow). then, after dipping it in the red varnish, make slightly bigger red blobs either side of the first one to create the iconic red bow. finish with a top coat and revel in the praise you'll get from EVERYONE!

kitsch nails like this often spark either LOVE IT or hate it - what do you think? cutes and kitsch or tacky?

Coeur de Pirate - Comme des enfants

When a lack of a summer job for the first time in four years and thus, an overspill of empty hours threatens to haunt me, I do what any self-respecting girl would do; go shopping. Recently, jewellery seems to be my Achilles heel and I’ve obtained numerous necklaces and a few rings, all from Topshop. The necklaces are delicate, on short chains and can be layered to encircle my neck in pretty golden rings.

Two were bought in the sale for a mere £2 each (the “B” and the tiny glass ball, but ignore the ugly neon chain, I’m going to slip the B onto a simple gold one asap).

My skull necklace was £5 – reasonable for Topshop, though I’ve had to transfer it onto another chain because my 1st one broke AND so did the replacement!

I also ADORE my ring, as it was also only £2 (though it does make my finger a wee bit green).

Does anyone have any recommendations of cutesy jewellery shops? I’m on a glitzy roll! I want rings, necklaces, earrings, cuffs, anklets – THE LOT!

Beyonce - If I Were a Boy

decidedly bored whilst lounging in the south of France (where else would i be spending my summer daaahling?), claire and i thought we would pass our time festooning our nails with the print of the cutest of big cats; leopard! this look is easily achieved with a base coat, two of your favourite nail varnishes, liquid eyeliner, a top coat, steady hands AND a boxset of series three of Gilmore Girls.

method
1. paint your nails with the base colour coat (nudey lilac)
2. using an opened out bobby pin, put slightly linear blobs on your nails (gold)
3. then, take your liquid eyeliner (any one will do) and carefully encircle your linear blobs, leaving a tiny gap so it’s not quite an enclosed circle. you’re aiming for an ‘o’ which never quite manages to kiss. an overeager ‘c’ if you will.
4. and just simply pop on a top coat and wait to fully dry – this is where Gilmore girls comes in handy!

(Sally Hansen Base&Top coat, Model’s Own Utopia, 17’s Sphinx, Barry M liquid eyeliner in black, Nails Inc Top coat)

i’m having a glorious time with my best friend, we’re filling our days with sand, sunbathing, workouts and our nights with Lorelai and Rory, apertifs (Francais for pre-dinner drinks don’tcha know) and plenty of French cheese. and we’re only sneaking to the café to use the internet every few days, so the internet’s imaginary claws are only loosely grasped round our wrists. 

if were are maintaining the focus on all things superficial, check out my polka-dot nails!

barry m's pink 172 was licked onto my nails, followed by rimmel's french manicure to turn it from a hot-pink, into a more muted, pastel-ish version. clever, no? and these polka dots were created by folding out an ordinary kirby grip, dipping the end into barry m's black and dabbing onto the nail.

sadly, i can't take credit for this ingenious idea polka dot idea; i read it on a blog somewhere and can't remember for the life of me where, but whoever you are, THANK YOU.
(the muted colour by means of french manicure varnish, however, is entirely my own!)

i love polka dots, so to have them on my nails is a fantasy COME TRUE. i've tried numerous colour combinations and although this pink is my favourite, emulating ladybirds on my fingernails with red and black is a close second.

so go forth, and change your bare nails FOR spots.