Let's get personal

Ok so since I've started blogging I've had a couple of awards passed on but I've never reposted them on my own blog.  I appreciate it, really I do, but I'm not entirely comfortable with posting them and linking various other bloggers.  Like I said, I don't want this blog to ever become huge and so I'm sorry but I won't ever be posting giveaways either.  That's not to say I'm not open to trading, or meet ups, or random acts of kindness, but I prefer to 'fly under the radar' if that makes any sense to you.

So having said that I thought maybe instead of posting the awards I would just share some personal things with you.  I do love to read about other bloggers interests and hobbies so maybe you might be interested in knowing a bit about me...

This man right here is my hero and the sexiest man alive - Dave Mustaine of Megadeth.  I took this photo at the last show I went to.  I've seen them well over 10 times now.  My absolute favourite place in the world is right here in front of the stage at a Megadeth show.

I decorate cakes as a hobby.  This is my all time favourite cake I made for my Dad about 4 years ago.  I don't do it often as it's very time consuming.  People tell me all the time I should go into business, but I won't do it because I need to be inspired when I do them.  Simply making cakes to order would bore me to tears.

I bought my own home 5 years ago.  I bought a fixer upper and have been slowly and steadily working on it but I've always planned on selling it within 5-7 years and moving closer to work.  The pic above is what the kitchen looked like before I moved in.

And this is what the kitchen looked like about 3 months after I moved in.  I had sunk all my money into renovating the bathroom so this was the best I could do at the time.  And now 5 years later I finally was able to finish it off by ripping out the sink and countertop:

Sorry for the stupid blurry blackberry photo, I took it this morning.  My kick ass brother in law just finished installing my new tile countertop, backsplash and new sink.  I still need to fix up the walls with some paint but I am so thrilled with what he did!  It looks like a brand new kitchen and was all done on a tiny budget.  I think I'm really going to like having my brother in law around lol.

So that's all ya get for now.  I hope you guys enjoyed learning a bit more about me outside my nail polish obsession.  Maybe I will share more in the future.  To all my Canadian friends out there - have a great May two-four!

Later
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Stampin' Joe

2 coats of Joe in Storm.  I love these polishes but they gotta do something about those lids!  This colour again looks familiar eh?

I didn't swatch them but this is in comparison to China Glaze Below Deck and Color Club Soft As Cashmere.  Doesn't match either of them, but it's not too far off from Below Deck.

Rexall/Pharma Plus last week had a big sale on all in stock nail polish and I picked up a couple of Sally Hansen Insta-dri's for stamping:

This is Jade Jump and plate BM03.  Wow does this ever stamp beautifully! I should have left it alone right here.

But no, I was in a stamping mood.  This is konad plate m53 and Revlon's No Shrinking Violet.  I'm really bad at matching colours.  I think it's just something you have to have a good eye for.

I also made my resin ring post into a sticky above for quick access for anyone who needs it.

Later
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Playing with new goodies

So after I noticed everyone buying cheap nail art supplies from a certain seller in China, I did a bit of research to see what else I could find online.  I've ordered stuff from China before and although the stuff I'd seen on other nail blogs was pretty cheap, I knew I could find cheaper.  So here's what I got for $15USD:

3 corrector pens: $2.86
12 pc glitter: $3.23
15 pc nail art brushes: $3.27
5 pc dotting tools: $2.07
3 1800pc gem wheels: $3.51
Total = $14.94 no tax and free shipping!

Same order from other online nail store = $25.84

Now the store that I ordered from is not a 'nail specific' store and they don't have polish or image plates but they do carry other supplies as well.  Shipping takes about a month from China regardless.  Only one of those items was cheaper from the 'other' store - the corrector pens were cheaper by 6 cents, but you have to buy them in a package of 5 so you're only saving a penny each.  The gems were $3 compared to the $1.17 I paid!  They are the exact same products!  As are the dotting tools (which were double the price) and the brushes (at $1 more).  The main reason I was put off by the other store initially is because I looked at their stock every couple of days and their prices were constantly changing.  It seemed like the more publicity they got, the higher their prices went.  If anyone wants the name of the store I made my purchase from I can add it in the comments later.

So I had to play with my new toys right away.

2 coats of NOPI's My Lifesaver.  I know I said before that I liked these new brushes in this polish and I do love the shape of them, however the bristles on this one were hard and it was a total pain to apply.

So this is my first time trying out a nail art brush and I obviously need a lot of practice.  I used China Glaze's Bogie here.

These are some great quality brushes and a nice variety too.  The bristles are nice and soft and they are solidly built.  I'm impressed for $3.

I pulled out my new dotting tools and dotted in China Glaze's Below Deck.  Definitely need some practice with the dotting tools too.  I find I'm pretty shaky with these nail art tools.  I added gems in the bottom corner to finish it off.  I don't hate it, but I don't love it either.  I'm finding that My Lifesaver is coming off kind of neon...it's very bright. 

So even though I suck at it, I am loving the dotting tools.  I will definitely try and use them as often as possible.

Later
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A girly mani

This is 2 coats of China Glaze's Light as Air which came in the spring mini set I picked up at Winners 2 weeks ago.  As much as I love the colours and selection that China Glaze has, I'm not overly impressed with their formulas.  I find there are better formulated polishes for much cheaper.  This colour however, looked familiar to me, so I did a comparison.

Turns out I was wrong.  The nail on the right is 3 coats of Secret Rendezvous from Color Club's Alter Ego Collection.  Sorry the pic was pre-cleanup because I removed it right after.  Secret Rendezvous is a very sheer polish and not what I'm used to seeing from Color Club.  But having said that, the Color Club definitely looks and feels like a higher quality polish in comparison to the China Glaze.

I applied a little China Glaze Fairy Dust down one side of the nail and then stamped with konad plate m15 in Revlon's No Shrinking Violet.  A little too girly for my tastes but some of you might like it.

Heh I'm counting down the days until my sister gets here with my new polishes...4 days to go!  I placed a last minute order for some Nfu Oh's so I'm crossing my fingers that it gets to her in time!

Later
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I'm a Troublemaker...

Not really a fan of Weezer, but this polish name reminds me of that song.  This is 2 coats of Sally Hansen Salon Manicure in Troublemaker.  It's much more plum than the photo.  The accent nail is Xtreme Wear in Celeb City.  This is the first time I've tried out the accent nail thing.

I wish so much that this polish had stamped darker on the accent nail, but oh well.  I used plate BM16 for the accent nail and Konad plate m35 for the rest.  I'm not a fan of this at all.  I think the accent nail looks best when it's done in a glitter of the same colour.

Oh and this was the first time I tried the Konad Top Coat from my Pro Salon Kit.  It's unfortunately pretty old so it had some gritty pieces in it, ugh.  I was impressed that it didn't streak at all though with almost no wait after stamping.  However, Konad polish has a really distinct smell to it and it doesn't go away easily.  Probably won't use this again.

So you know it's real bad when your friends and family feed your nail polish addiction...

My sister texted me yesterday from Zehrs (a grocery store) telling me that she was standing in front of a display of the NOPI Bieber polishes with 50% off stickers on them!  It's even more pathetic when she's asking if I want the blue one and I can actually tell her the names of the polishes I want!  Oh and it goes even further...I told her to grab One Less Lonely Glitter when I already own the Studio M dupe!  Is there a support group for this?

Later
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