Revlon 2011 Holiday Nail Polishes – Glitz and Glam, Mistletoe

I was attracted by two lacquers from the Revlon Top Speed Holiday collection.

Glitz & Glam is a rose and silver glitter in a red base.  Three coats will give you complete, streak-free coverage.

And here’s how Glitz and Glam looks compared with OPI DS Bold (pictured on nails).  While they share similarities they are not exact dupes.  G&G is slightly darker/less pink, with finer glitter.   I actually preferred the formula on the Revlon, as well.

And Mistletoe is a grown-up blackened golden olive foil.  This is three coats as well.

Mistletoe doesn’t really scream “holiday” to me, but I think it’s a lovely color for fall/winter wear.  Glitz and Glam is definitely more party-ready!

~ Allison ~

A Holographic Nude – Color Club Love Em Leave Em

This is Love Em Leave Em, a holographic nude by Color Club with fine holo particles.

I love the concept of holographic nudes because they look all demure and tame indoors.  Then in bright sunlight, bam!  Their true star quality comes out.

You could call this a work-safe holographic.

~ Allison ~

Making a Large Polymer Clay Face Cane

Generally I approach polymer clay from a sculpting perspective.  A lot of what I make is three dimensional.  But another long tradition in polymer clay is making millefiore canes.  This technique is drawn from Italian glassblowing, where rods of glass are fused together so that cutting across the tube reveals a two dimensional picture.  The same can be done with clay.  I’d made simple canes in the past like spirals, bullseyes, and stripes.  Even though I’d admired complicated canes in magazines, I had shied away from more complex cane-making for way too long for fear that it would be too difficult.  Last night I changed all that by tackling my first real cane.

Before you start, make sure you have:

• A large clean work area

• All your tools laid out

• A reference photo to work from and refer back to

• Plenty of clay.  If you run out of a color in the middle of the night when the stores and closed and it’s too late to buy more, you’re gonna be screaming at yourself!  (I found this out the hard way)

•  About two days, and patience 🙂

My subject?  Boston Terrier, of course!  I started with the eyes.

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Halloween Nail Ideas

Halloween is less than a week away!  Here’s a medley of random nail polishes that would make for sweet Halloween nails.

This is Pumpkin orange and black bar glitter – the nail polish that comes in the super cute pumpkin-shaped bottle.  I used two coats on top of CG Idyllic, a burgundy-based duochrome with a gold/green shift. P.S. What’s the difference between “bar” and “string” glitter?  Or are they synonyms?

Mattese Elite (ME), a brand sold by Ricky’s – I can’t remember for sure, but I think this is called Purple Sky.  It’s a dirty dark eggplant that leans towards grayish brown in certain lights.  This is a good zombie color I think!

Wet N Wild “Craze” Inferno.  Wow, look at that glow in the bright sunlight!

Brucci Black Emerald is one of my favorite colors of all time.  It’s black, it’s green, it’s heaven. Good color for a witch or swamp monster!

LA Splash Crimson Tide is a dripping bloody red glitter for vampire vixens.  Due to its dark red jelly base it builds up nicely in 3 juicy coats.

Kleancolor Golden Nightmare has a funny name.  I agree with the nightmare part but “golden” sounds too angelic.  It’s a black base with greenish gold glitter.  It’s very bumpy on its own and begs for a solid topcoat.

It reminds me a little of China Glaze It’s Alive meets Nina Ultra Pro Mossy Britches.

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Sally Hansen XTreme Wear Pumpkin Spice is an orange glitter with a brown jelly base.

Here’s how it looks matte.

Sinful Colors Serena and Chloe, an orange glass fleck in a jelly base.  This one is so pretty.

Then I used some crackle on top for extra Halloween flair.

~ Allison ~

Puppy Love.

Say hello to Daisy, the newest and tiniest Boston Terrier addition to our family!  She decided to crash my jewelry photo session and ham it up, herself.  Daisy is a 14 week Boston terror – spunky, cute and fierce.

And why not go for some kisses while she’s at it?

I will get around to posting the bat necklace, soon 🙂

~ Allison ~