13 Feb

#Mynailsandmydress and Cebu Bloggers Society Turns 7

Hi gals,

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. Any big plans this weekend? I’ve got a couple of things happening but more on that later. Today I’ve done some nails based on some details from a dress of mine. I don’t always match my nails to my clothes. But when I do it is awesome!

MJXXVI Stamping

For this look I started with my go-to pigmented-but-a-pain-to-apply-white (Yeah, I need to find a white I actually love). Then I stamped using Girlstuff Blues an awesome design from the MJXXVI plate sent to me by My Online Shop. As I expected, this plate stamped beautifully. I love that we have high-quality plates available locally. Meann also sells the squishy white stamper that will make stamping a dream.

My nails and my dres

I bought a gorgeous party dress this week at a little boutique here in Cebu called Best Finds Thriftshop.  I plan on wearing this dress to a Valentine’s dinner tomorrow night. We have some games planned and a potluck dinner. There will be baby sitting, so no interruptions. Yay!cbsi7

I’m also going to a blogger get together on Sunday night. The Cebu Bloggers Society is celebrating it’s 7th founding anniversary, and they have invited members to get together to celebrate. I just recently joined the Cebu Bloggers Society. I don’t get to go to many events because  what I actually blog about is very limited, but I’m still proud to be a member of a group of bloggers dedicated to making our city and our world a better place both from behind the computer or as we go about our daily lives. I love how bloggers across the board can, in their own ways, promote local companies and brands and especially come together and use social media to inspire people to be better and to help in times of crisis.  I look forward to meeting all the new faces. The Cebu City Marriot Hotel is graciously providing a venue for the bloggers of Cebu to come together and get to know one another better. I’m looking forward to it!

No matter what you are up to this weekend, I hope you have a lovely time doing it. Make someone smile!

Hugs,
Rach

28 Jan

Girlstuff Chestnut and MJ XXVIII Stamping

Hey gals,

Sorry for being so quiet around here lately. I blame it on a wedding in the family and some related festivities, my son’s birthday party, lovely hormones, having my nose stuck in a book, homeschooling my kids, and just being busy with real life in general. You all know how it goes.

While I have been too busy to blog, I haven’t been too busy for doing my nails. Recently I’ve enjoyed wearing some of my favorites and simply polishing nails for several friends.

Girlstuff Chestnut with MJ XXVIII stamping

Today, I’m sharing a stamped design using MJ XXVIII which is available from My Online Shop. Meann was kind enough to send me a couple of the new MJ stamping plates to test out along with some gold and silver stamping polish. Yay! Every single plate I have from MyOnline Shop stamps beautifully and this one is no exception. I’ve included a couple of macro shots near the end of this post because it’s my blog and I can do stuff like that if I want to. Ha!

MJ Stamping Plates

My base is two coats of Girlstuff Chestnut. My sweet hubby surprised me with this pretty over the holidays, and I am happy to show it off now. I think it fits in with Marsala—the “color of the year”—don’t you?

Girlstuff Chestnut

I used two coats for this and had no issues with application or removal. The formula was great and it was quick drying like all Girlstuff Polishes.

MJ XXVIII Stamping Macro

Look at the detail in this stamping! I used the bottom right of the larger sections of etching on the MJ XXVIII as it reminded me of henna designs, and I liked the idea of gold over Chestnut. It’s quite pretty if I do say so myself.

Macro Shot of MJ XXVIII Stamping

Well, that is all I have to share for today. I hope you are all having a lovely week so far. Keep smiling!

Hugs,
Rach

02 Jan

The Nailinator Does Nails

Hi Gals!

Happy New Year! I’ve got a scheduled post for you today as our plans to go out of town pushed through. Hopefully the weather will have cleared up and we have had the chance to soak up some sun while we are by the beach. If not, I’m sure we are having a grand time anyway.

I thought I would do a quick post sharing some of the nail art I have done for friends and family last month. I did a few designs that are seasonal and a few that would be great for any time of the year.

First up we have some fun zebra stripes in Christmas colors that I convinced The Shutterbug (my youngest sister) to let me try on her. If anyone can pull of this look, it’s her! I did the stripes with acrylic paint and a striper brush.

Christmas Zebra Stripes

Next we have some super cute and easy winter wonderland nails I did for The Bookworm (my other younger sister). We started with a light blue base (Sansan Warm Blue), and I stamped snow flakes and an adorable snowman from my OB19 plate that I purchased last year from MyOnline Shop. I added a few tiny dots for a finishing touch.

Winter Wonderland Nail Art

Next up is a look The Queen Mother requested after seeing my Holly Jolly nails. She wanted my holly stamped accent nail with all the other nails in red. I wish I could remember the name of the red she brought along. It is a stunner. I will check with her and update this (then I’ll probably go out and buy it!).

Holly Accent Nail

Next, I’m showing you a look that I was surprised to find I ended up really liking. A friend showed me a picture and I did my best to replicate what she was asking for. First I painted the whole nail in a very light jelly pink. Then I added color to just half of each nail (alternating brown and white). On each brown nail I painted a tiny gold bow. On each white nail I taped off the non-white part of the nail and stamped an image in black over the white. The tape kept the stamping on the white part I had painted before. I added a gold stripe across the nail and was finished. I had never tried a half nail design like this and had also never tried a stamping technique like this. It is always fun to try new things.

Gold Bow

The next look is a floral design, something I’ve done several times before with different color combinations. This lovely lady picked mint green and off white as her base colors and wanted small roses and leaves. This was my first time painting such tiny roses which proved to be a challenge. I did my best, though, and she liked them so that is what counts after all.

Floral Nail Art

The last look I have to share with you is so fun and colorful! My friend wanted rainbow stripes with black strokes. I used a striping brush to paint each color in rows starting from the cuticle out toward the tip (purple, blue, green, yellow, pink and orange). I used black acrylic paint and added the black marks. We did this on her accent nails and thumbs. Since we used 6 colors I suggested we paint the other nails with those colors. They look suuuper cute!

Rainbow Nails

I love doing nails for other people. It is fun to take on the challenge of suggesting things that will suit them and colors that will go with what they have in mind. Do you do nails for family and friends? If you follow me on Instagram you have probably already seen these as I share them there most of the time.

I hope you have had a wonderful holiday vacation so far. Mine has involved lots of food and laughs with my family which is just the way I like it. I’ve been under the weather with a crazy cold that won’t go away. But on the bright side, my hubby has been a darling taking care of me and the kids most of the time. I’m a lucky lady for sure!  Whatever you ended up doing for the New Year, I hope you have had a great time and blessed year ahead!

Hugs!
Rach

04 Dec

Holly Jolly Christmas Stamping with OB19

Hello loves!

I’ve got another quick post for you this evening to share these super cute nails I have been sporting for almost a week now.

Holly Jolly Christmas Stamping nail art

Don’t  you think they look like Christmas wrapping paper? They turned out so cute and were very easy to do. I applied my gold polish then added stamping using a no name brand opaque green polish I have in my stash. I used a small dotting tool to make the red holly berries. The holly image is part of the OB19 stamping plate which I purchased last year from Myonline Shop. This image is just perfect for Christmas nail art. It is loaded with great images. I used the two snow flake images for some nail art last December. I also used the Christmas tree image for some simple nail art on The Bookworm last night. You can see those if you check out my Instagram account.

OB19 Stamping plate - Christmas images

As you can tell, I chose to stamp the holly image multiple times to cover each nail. I did start off with this as a simple accent nail (see below). It was a couple of days and several compliments later that I decided I needed holly on all my nails.

Gold nails with Christmas Holly Stamping Accent Nail

I finally got my hands on a clip-on macro lens for my phone. So I took a shot of these just for fun!

Holly Jolly Christmas Macro

Well, I hope you like these as much as I do and that they give you some inspiration for some fun holly-day nails. 🙂
Have a great day!
Hugs,
Rach

23 Oct

I Love Nail Polish Indie Go with Spiderwebs

Hi, Dolls!

I may be slacking a bit in the blogging department, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing my nails. I am also working on some product reviews which will be featured here very soon.  In the past couple of weeks, I have been doing several overdue craft projects here at home. Did you know that, in addition to nail art, I love to sew, cross stitch, paint, and make all sorts of crafty things? I am also fond of cultivating my OCD tendencies and germophobia by indulging in my long-time hobby of organizing and cleaning the house. With two little ones running around, I’m never at a loss for something to clean.

I was up super late doing some awesome “The Nightmare Before Christmas” nail art for The Shutterbug (I’ll share those soon), so I went for some thing quick and easy for myself. I started with two coats of  I Love Nail Polish Indie Go. It happens to be my favorite indie polish and a very cool shade to wear for the season. I used my MJ XIII plate from MyOnline Shop with some special stamping polish and stamped these neat cobwebs on my nails. I used this same stamp last year, but with a new nail shape and a change of colors, I think it looks completely different. Wouldn’t you agree?

I Love Nail Polish Indie Go with spiderwebs

Check out my swatch of Indie Go. It’s what I would call a “blurple”—meaning it’s blue, but it’s also purple. I had trouble catching the holo magic using my lightbox, and it rained every day while I was wearing this, so I never could get a snapshot of it in the sun. #bloggerproblems

I Love Nail Polish Indie Go (lightbox)

This last photo is in direct indoor lighting.

I Love Nail Polish Indie Go (direct indoor lighting)

I hope you have a wonderful day and that you get the chance to make someone smile.

Hugs!
Rachael

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