GUESS I'M A BIG HONKIN' LIAR

I actually got some sleep last night. Not a lot, but certainly more than Friday night. And it was a consecutive almost 5 hours which made it even better. Did I want to get up at 7:45? Not really, but I've gotten lots of puppy play and tv in today.

Seeing the -17 temperature wasn't so great. Poor Tinlee and Seven were having a very hard time with it. They would go out, and their feet were so cold they could barely walk. Tinlee would try to come in but would only take a step or two at a time because it was hurting her. It makes me feel so bad when that happens. It's warmed all the way up to -3 now so it isn't quite as terrible for her. I imagine later tonight it won't be good.

On a good note, I finally sold my old car! She's coming to get it this week. I'm happy for her, and I think she's going to be happy with it. At least I hope she is. I want her to love having it as much as I did. And even better, Kev will love having his side of the garage back.

I completely forgot I had this mani in my drafts. Probably because I had temporarily titled it "failure". I had put the good mani in as well as the craptastic one so when I was doing my posts, I didn't even look at it because the fail is so bad I decided not to post it at all. 

So I lied about no more hearts. This one was supposed to be my actual Valentine's Day post because it's red.

I used Kleancolor Metallic Red with Konad white and the new DRK Themes Enlaced stamping plate. The Kleancolor metallics can really stain, so I did this one because I knew I'd be soaking off my nails later that day.

It's red; it's got hearts; it's cute; I like it. That's all I need to say about it.

Now.....I promise that's it. No more stinkin' hearts for awhile!  I just need to think of an idea for this evening after Seven goes back to her actual home. 

And then keep my eyes propped open long enough to do it.

Kleancolor Metallic Black, Kleancolor Metallic Red, DRK Themes Enlaced roses Valentine stamp

NO WORDS FOR HOW MUCH I HATE THESE CANDY HEARTS

Another lovely Illinois day. Evidently the good weather will be here next week. Typical. I arrive and it sucks. I leave, and it will be good. Who the hell jinxed me??

One thing nice about coming here is Sushi Train. No place to get sushi in No-Wheresville-Escanaba. Six pieces later, and I am stuffed. Plus watching a 3 year old wolfing down miso soup is hilarious. That kid is redonk.

Kev arrived today so the Griffster is one happy boy. He is obsessed with his Grampa Kev. That's one of the best parts of having a grampa that isn't even 40 yet...he's still young enough to act like a 3 year old.  Of course, he was also a grampa at 25 so he's got some experience under his belt.

A few weeks ago CNS requested mani's, and this is one they wanted. I hate it SO effing much!! I just cannot manage writing anything small enough for my damn nails. 

Seriously, every time I look at this I'm annoyed. I'm so glad I didn't have to be seen in public with it. I'm even more annoyed that it might show up on some other blogs somewhere. Maybe I shouldn't have watermarked it. Unfortunately for me, my damn hand pose gives me away a lot of the time. lol

Gotta' give me credit, though, people. At least I'm a good enough sport to show the crap mani's, too.

EARLY VALENTINE'S DAY TUTORIAL - "KINDA" LOOKS LIKE HEARTS

I can't win this winter! Bitter cold, snow - lather, rinse, repeat. Seriously. Yesterday was freezing and Kev left; warmer today, 8 inches of snow. Come on already! Somebody up there must really hate me. I don't know what to do about that damn driveway since the hubster won't be home until next Wednesday. Can I get a break, please? I'm begging at this point.

I'll post this mani now that it's up on the NailIt Magazine website. They've put up two of my tutorials in the past week or so!! They've also requested another one from me that I need to do sometime before Valentine's Day.  I also need to buckle down and finish my latest tutorial article for Les Nouvelles, but I really have to be in the mood for that.

I started off with two coats of Sephora by OPI's Ruby Without a Cause. I really could have just gone with one coat, but since I wasn't sure, I did two.  Once the burgundy was dry, I moved on to working one finger at a time. I did another coat of burgundy, and while it was still wet I used my dotting tool to put a thick dot of gold down each side.

Then I immediately used my smallest dotting tool and very lightly started at the top dot of gold and dragged all the way through to the bottom dot.

The dotter makes a notch in the top of each dot so that it forms an abstract heart shape, connected like vines.

I love Ruby Without a Cause. It's such a nice rich color, and the shimmer in it is really purdy. Orly Luxe is a great gold, too. 

I had actually tried to do this once before without success. I had a little bit better luck this time. I don't know if I used the wrong polishes the first time or what, and even though this one turned out, I still think the hearts could have been better.  I do like it, though, so don't yell at me about how I'm too critical of myself. lol

Even though it's a bit early for Valentine's Day mani's, I did wear this for a couple of days.

See? Told ya' I like it!