Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Pink Wednesday: Jelly and Stripes

Happy Leap Day and Pink Wednesday!

This is a good example of a manicure that just didn't come out quite the way I envisioned it.  That goes for most of my Pink Wednesday manis so far.  Speaking of Pink Wednesday, the color in this mani is more of a magenta, but I'm going to declare magenta and fuchsia pinks, so there!

The polish in this one is one I'd seen around in Wal-Mart, but what really made me want to pick it up was this post on Let Them Have Polish.  I'll definitely have to do another mani soon that will do it justice.  I originally wanted to do a French, but I'm waiting for a few of my nails to grow to where I want them before I do that.  Instead, I did tape stripes--sort a a different kind of jelly sandwich, I now I wish I'd done one of the other ideas I swatched.  Look out for this color again next week.





Thursday, February 23, 2012

Is it Just Me? Measuring WPI

Every once in a while the WPI gauge conversation comes up.  If you're a spinner, you probably know what I mean.  Someone asks about the necessity of it, almost everyone says no and tells them what they use instead.  Personally, I use a ruler.

One thing that seems consistent is that people wrap the yarn to measure WPI--in which case, I'd think something with a larger circumference/perimeter that a lot of the alternatives to the WPI gauge would actually be a better choice.

I don't wrap.  I shove my ruler into the hank and choose  a variety of threads to measure with because I want something closer to an "average" WPI rather than the WPI of just one section, which is what you get when you wrap around a ruler or dowel or whatever it is you're wrapping it around.  In fact, I'd go as far as to say a niddy noddy (or your skeining tool of choice) seems like it would make a better WPI gauge than a WPI gauge.  I suppose if I were more anal about my spinning and consistency, wrapping would be a more attractive option, but I'm fine with my natural variation, so there will be a ±1 weight variation from what my intended yarn weight is at some point in the yards upon yards I'm spinning, especially since I stretch my projects out timewise.

So there you have it.  I apparently think the best time to measure WPI is during the skeining process.  But maybe that's just me.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Pink Wednesday Stamping

The pink in this Pink Wednesday is a stamp over a nice silver foil.  Expect to see this polish on this blog often because I am full of ideas for it.  I picked it up in CVS the other day, and I have to say I'm happy with it.  Nice dry time, opaque in 2 coats, looks great, good price.  There will have to be a mashup of this and my Sally Hansen Fractured Foil crackle polish at some point. 

And here's a picture:


Wednesday, February 15, 2012

A Quick Pink Wednesday Update

This will have to be a quick post since I lost track of time, and I have a date.  Eep!

This mani is just yesterday's with sponging.  I wanted a cloudlike effect, and I think I succeeded on some nails but it didn't come out so well on others.  I'm not a big fan of the pictures either, but... I'm working with what I have at the moment.



Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Catchup! Challenge and Valentine's Update

Ah, I've been a bad girl.  These manis were supposed to be separate posts and both were supposed to be up before today.  What I have for you today are my submission for the third week of the LSGGN Black Out Challenge and my last Valentine's day mani for the year.  So without further ado, I present:



Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Pink Wednesday: Roses and Jewelry

This Pink Wednesday has a bit of a Valentine's Day theme going on.  I'll warn you it's not my favorite mani, but that may have something to do with the fact that it was a bit of a rush job in the end.  It also doesn't help that they didn't photograph well.  As I look down at it, it's kind of growing on me, but I don't know.  I may not survive until tomorrow.


Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Black Out Challenge: Take Two

This week's challenge is called "Stagediving"  I decided to do something that combines grit and glam with a tri-color mani that included a silver crackle.  I love it and can see myself recycling it with different colors in the future.




Friday, February 3, 2012

Friday I'm in Love

This post is brought to you by a YouTube/blogosphere collaboration I found out about via Collete at My Simple Little Pleasures and the letter O.  Valentine's nail art!  What's not to love?

You might be wondering what in the world the letter O has to do with Valentine's day.  Well, It has something to do with the millions (okay, a bit of hyperbole) of stamps I had to put on my nail.  All of them were the letter O.  At least it covers up the lousy patch job I did on some of my nails.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

This Mani Does Double Duty

I submit my mani for Pink Wednesday and for the LSG Gets Nailed Black Out Challenge.  Since this week's part of the challenge only required black as an accent, why not do a popular color combo?  With kittens!



Details:
Base Color-- NYC In A New York Minute Quick Dry Polish in Uptown
Stamp Color-- Wet N Wild Wild Shine in Black Creme
Stamp--Konad equivalent m30