I have not been to work since September 30th. October 1st is when the Government Shutdown started... so I have had a lot of time to paint my nails and read some books.

I did a gradient tonight with some light pink striper polish, OPI Suzi's Hungary Again and 1 coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust over the pink. I stamped with Winstonia Store plate W102 & Konad Black. 1 coat of Seche Vite topcoat.


These are the books I've read lately. I'm big on history, biographies, memoirs or historical fiction. I do read some regular fiction too. The books below, some I've purchased, some I've taken out from our local e-library and others I've gotten free on Amazon. I check the free categories in my favorite subjects on Amazon at least once a day, you can find paid books that are only free for a day or two. (Note: You may not be able to see the book widget below from a blog reader).

If you're having trouble viewing the book widget above, here's a text list of the books I've read lately:

1. My Story, By: Elizabeth Smart

2. One Light Still Shines: My Life Beyond the Shadow of the Amish Schoolhouse Shooting, By: Marie Monville

3. Orphan Train: A Novel, By: Christina Baker Kline

4. I'm No Angel: From Victoria's Secret Model to Role Model. By: Kylie Bisutti

5. The Language of Flowers: A Novel. By: Vanessa Diffenbaugh

6. The Fault in Our Stars, By: John Green

7. Sidonia's Thread: The Secrets of a Mother and Daughter Sewing a New Life in America, By: Hanna Perlstein Marcus

8. Eat Cake: A Novel, By: Jeanne Ray

9. Searching for Peanut Butter in Paris, By: Kat Sparks

10. Confessions of a Kidney Transplant Recipient, By: Mary Wu

(I do use Amazon Associates, but not because I've made any money- because I haven't! lol! But I like that I can show a picture/link with a product when I'm blogging. Plus I do recommend Amazon.com for their low prices. That or Ebay!)

I picked up L.A. Girl Brilliant Blue a few months ago. It is from their 3D Effects line. (I also have Teal Dimension). I used 2 coats of Brilliant Blue, and I stamped with Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Silver Sweep using Winstonia Store plate W113. I also used 1 coat of Seche Vite. 


When Zoya released promos for their 2013 Holiday collection I was wondering if Zoya Dream was a dupe for Brilliant Blue. Refined & Polished swatched both Brilliant Blue & Zoya Dream. They are exact dupes. So if you picked up the L.A. Girl you don't really need Zoya Dream. (Vice Versa).



You can still find L.A. Girl 3D Effects for sale on CherryCulture.com. They are priced at $4, so it's a bargain if you don't want to spend $8 for Zoya Dream.

P.S. I just removed Brilliant Blue- with no staining. I love when dark blues don't stain!

This is my very first thermal polish. I bought it from PolishNV on Etsy. It's called Fe's Chameleon. It starts off as a very pretty periwinkle blue when it's warm or room temperature. When cold it turns into a gorgeous deep purple. It has lot's of scattered holo sparkles in it.

I did 3 coats of the polish and 1 coat of Seche Vite. For photographing the polish, I had one bowl of warm water and one bowl filled with ice water so I could capture the thermal effect at it's best. It's the prettiest thermal I've come across so far when browsing on Etsy. And I love how thermal polishes give you a gradient look! (A thermal polish works best on long nails: the longer your nail tips the more gradient effect you'll have).

Starbucks has created an online petition to send to Washington, to re-open the US Government. If you could take the time to sign it, as a furloughed federal worker who has now missed 80 hours of work/pay due to the Government shutdown, I would really appreciate it.



The link above also has a printable petition that you can sign & drop off at your local Starbucks! Thanks!

I am still out of work due to the Government Shutdown, so... I have a lot of time on my hands. I picked up this gorgeous indie polish on Etsy, with a little leftover eBay money I earned.

This is Indian Ocean by the shop Pink Dispy Bulle Franken Polish. It's a gorgeous purple with pink shimmer. I easily could have just done 2 coats, but I did 3 anyway. The formula was very easy to work with. I used 1 coat of Seche Vite.

These are similar to the Halloween nails I did with Birefringence a few days ago. This time I used 2 coats of I Love Nail Polish Cygnus Loop. 1 coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust. I placed a few stars & moons from Revlon Celestial FX. Then I stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Silver Sweep and used Winstonia Store plate W116. I finished everything with 1 coat of Seche Vite topcoat.

I used Winstonia Store stamping plate W116 for these nails. I tested the spooky face on one nail at first and it looked like a jack o' lantern's face to me. I got the idea to do pumpkin nails. I used Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Mint Sprint, 2 coats of Zoya Pixie Dust in Destiny. Konad black to stamp and a coat of Seche Vite over everything.

I've been posting a lot more recently, since I'm home from work, due to the Government Shutdown. Here are some gorgeous random pretties. :-)

First up is 3 coats of Maya Cosmetic's 'Sanctuary' with 1 coat of Philly Love's Laquer 'It's Always Sunny' holo topcoat. I did not do any other top coat besides the holo.

I did some early Halloween nails today with I Love Nail Polish, Ultra Chrome: Birefringence & China Glaze Fairy Dust. I stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Silver Sweep and used Winstonia Store plates W116 & W102. I finished with a topcoat of Seche Vite. I absolutely love how these turned out! Birefringence changes so many colors at different angles, and the China Glaze Fairy Dust gives it sparkle.

I've made a few small changes to my DIY Light Box. (You can see the original post here). The biggest change was that I got some white contact paper from Dollar Tree and covered the back and bottom with it. I was getting too much cardboard in the background in some of my photos. I replaced the 2 pieces of paper over the contact paper.

The 2nd change was I now only have one light facing through the tissue paper. The left light stays in the same position. What I started doing with the right clamp lamp was pointing it diagonally inside the right corner of the box. Occasionally depending on how I want the lighting I also sometimes put it inside the left corner too. Or if I want to get really creative and I need just the right lighting, I sometimes balance the clamp lamp in the crook of my right elbow while taking photos of my right hand, lol!








I edit all of my photos using PaintShop Pro Photo XI. What I normally do first is crop and sharpen my photo. Then I usually increase the brightness by 15, maybe more. I also increase the saturation to 5 to boost the color. Then I run it through the photo effect called Time Machine: Cross Process. Most all my photos go through this filter. (That's why you see a black and white frame around my photos). I usually set the effect to 2 or 3. (For pet photos I set the effect to 5.)


Products I use and own:





(I do use Amazon Associates, but not because I've made any money- because I haven't! lol! But I like that I can show a picture/link with a product when I'm blogging. Plus I do recommend Amazon.com for their low prices. That or Ebay!)