Hello, again!

Hey, guys!  So, I'm sorry about the super long hiatus - I actually can't remember the last time I blogged.  Long story short, I enrolled in some business training in the summer and really started to step up my game with Sarah's Sparkles.  I've been working some seriously ungodly hours and just haven't been able to find the time to paint my nails, never mind blog about it.  Boo, me!  I kept meaning to pop over here, and let you guys know where I was, but I suck, and never quite managed it.  I'm really sorry. :'( I hope nobody worried about me too much.

Unfortunately, due to some serious neglect on my part, my own nails have fallen into a state of disrepair.  Seriously you guys, they're gross - you do not want to see them!!  But, I have missed blogging so, so much in these last few months, I really want to find a way to squeeze both things in.  So, for now, I'm going to be posting my mani's exclusively on press on's.  This way, I only need to find the extra time to write the post.  The nails and the photos need to be done for the shop anyway, and what's a little half an hour here and there to type up a post, eh!?  Now, I know that many of you aren't too keen on press on nails, so of course I'd understand if I lost a few of you, but I'm hoping most of you will stick around.  I missed you guys!!!

A2Z - U is for....Unusual ~China Glaze Electric Nights Neon Rainbow Leaves Nail Art~ (with tutorial)

 Hiya lovelies!  Sorry it's been all quiet around here for the last week or so, but today I have my mani for this weeks A2ZNails to share with you.  So, the prompt is "U is for Unusual", and at first I was completely stumped on what to do.  Then on Friday, I received all 9 of the creams from the China Glaze Electric Nights collection in the post, so I decided to find a way to use those........

A2Z: T is for.......Texture (tape mani with video tutorial)

Hiya lovelies!  Sorry today's post is a day late guys, I had to wait for the daylight to get some pictures.  I actually received a new daylight bulb in the post yesterday, but I must have gripped it too hard when I was putting it in my lamp, as it shattered in my hand!!  Luckily I managed not to cut myself though, so no real harm done.  It does mean that I'm still without a proper lighting source for a few more days though.  I'm only just getting my blogging mojo back at the moment, so I'm going to be posting crappy photo's like these for a couple more days.  Don't hate me :p

52Week Pick 'n' Mix Challenge - Pink & Orange, and Mosaic/Stained Glass (with video tutorial)

Hiya lovelies!  So today I'm jumping back in to the 52 Week Pick 'n' Mix Challenge.  I'm not going to try and catch up or anything, but I've really missed this challenge, so here we are.   As luck would have it, I switched my daylight bulb on to take some photo's this week, and it decided it was a great time to die.  So, huge apologies for the phone pictures with flash you see here today.  It did a better job of the neon colours than my point and shoot usually does though, so that's something. I also still managed to get a video tutorial made for this, which is awesome!

A2Z: S is for....Silver (with video tutorial!)

 Hiya lovelies!  So, today I have my mani for this weeks A2Z, but more about that later because I have exciting news!  I made a YouTube channel!!!!!!!!!  Oh, yes! I really don't like doing regular tutorials, so I've been considering this for a while.  I'm actually filming on my phone for now, but I'm hoping to eventually get a DSLR and start filming like a pro!   If you want to subscribe to my channel you can do so here.  (opens in a new tab)  I'll also pop the video down at the bottom for your viewing pleasure.... (or at least I hope)

R is for...... Redo/Reboot/Recycle/Recreate

Hiya lovelies, and welcome to this weeks A2Z.  We're up to R today, and the prompt is "Redo/Reboot/Recycle/Recreate". I wasn't sure what to do for this at first, but then I thought it might be pretty cool to do a pair of matching mani's, where one is essentially a reboot of the other, so here we are :)

Dark Metal Lacquer - Ordinary Vanity

*This polish was sent to me in exchange for a completely honest review.

Hiya lovelies!  Today I have a gorgeous new polish to show you from Dark Metal Lacquer that was kindly sent to me for review with my last order.  This is Ordinary Vanity (named after a song from the Silent Hill 2 Soundtrack) - a beautiful nude crelly with black and white matte square and hexagon shaped glitter, as well as gold microglitter.

A2Z - Q is for..... (Pretty) Quirky

*Products in this post were won in a fellow bloggers giveaway.  Yay!

Hiya lovelies!  So today I have my post for this weeks A2Z.  The prompt is "Q is for Quirky", and I knew exactly what I was going to do!  I was lucky enough to win a pair of stunning, exclusive, multichrome flakies from the lovely Morven @ Pretty Quirky in her recent giveaway, so I've been holding onto them for the last few weeks so I could use them today.  It wasn't easy, trust me. :p

A2Z: P is for......Pale

Hiya lovelies!  So today I have a quick post for you - it's my "P is for Pale" mani for last weeks A2Z.  I went very literal and did a pretty pastel gradient with some white stamping.  Very pale indeed!

A2Z - O is for........Old. (Then & Now)

Hiya lovelies!  So, today I have my mani for last weeks A2Z, and the prompt was "Old".  I decided to recreate an old mani, with some of my oldest polishes.  The original mani was posted all the way back in November 2013 - see the original here.

A2Z - N is for.....New

Hiya lovelies!  So, this week in the A2Z, we're up to the letter "N", and the prompt is "New".  I decided to use a brand of polish that I've only tried very recently, and am really loving - Orly.  So, I picked out In The Navy, since it was untried, Basket Case, because I love it, and Luxe, because I knew it would look good with the other two.  From there it made sense to do a nautical themed mani, especially since I haven't done one before.  Loads of new in there... :D

A2Z - L is for Lines, And M is for Multicoloured

Hiya lovelies!  Sorry I've been M.I.A for a little while, but there are a few family/financial issues going on in my house at the moment that have kept me super busy, so I've not been able to find the time to blog.  I actually had naked nails for 3 whole days this week, but I have painted a few mani's over the last couple of weeks, including my mani's for this weeks and last weeks A2Z...........

A2Z - K is for.......Kitchen Sink

Hiya lovelies, and welcome to this weeks A2Z mani. We're up to K is for "Kitchen Sink".  As always, there are many ways you could interpret this, but the main one is "everything but the kitchen sink" So you would mix lots of different things together, whether it be patterns, colours, techniques etc.  I decided to go with techniques, and I managed to cram 8 into this mani.......

31DC - Day 20 -Rainbow

Hiya lovelies!  Just a quick post today, but the 31 day challenge prompt for today is "Rainbow", and I couldn't miss that :D  I decided to use my OPI Sheer Tints to create a rainbow gradient over Dark Metal Lacquer - Whisper, and then I stamped these awesome zig-zags from MoYou Back to the 80's 04, with Konad Black.  I actually layered the glitter over a white base for no reason other than I already had it on my nails, and it was quicker to paint over it XD  The little bits of white poking out around the cuticle are annoying, but other than that really liked this mani.  I've been meaning to try and make a glittery rainbow out of the sheer tints for ages now, and I think it turned out pretty well. :D
(more pictures after the jump)

31DC - Day 17 catch up. "Recreate a mani by your favourite blogger".

 Hiya lovelies!  So, I've missed the last couple of prompts for the 31 day challenge, but while I may be down, I'm not out just yet.  I don't have anything for today's prompt, but I did do something for yesterday's prompt - "recreate a mani by your favourite blogger".  Now, whilst I could never narrow it down to just one single blogger, I do have a few ladies who's nail art I really, really love.  One of those ladies is the lovely Sam from FingerFood Nails.  Sam's had to take a little break from actual blogging recently, but you can still find her knocking around on Instagram @fingerfoodnails

A2Z - J is for....Jewel

 Hiya lovelies, and welcome to this weeks A2Z post.  We're up to J now, and the prompt is "Jewel".  I decided to keep it fairly simple today, and kept my design mostly to an accent nail.  (Of course this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I only painted these last night)

31DC - Day 15 - Green Base

Hello again you lovely lot!  As promised, I'm back today with my mani for today's 31 day challenge prompt.  That prompt is "Green Base", and I decided to do some more stamping decals with the foil glue method......

31DC - Day 14 - Holo

Hiya lovelies, and welcome to day 14 of the 31 day challenge.  The prompt for today is Holo, and I decided to have a go at stamping decals again, but this time, using a method I'd seen in Adventures In Stamping that involves foil glue.  I was super impressed with the results, so read on to find out why.....

31DC - Day 13 - Inspired by Pinterest

 Hiya lovelies!  So, I missed yesterday's prompt for the 31 day challenge.  I got as far as putting down 2 coats of colour, and that was it.  Instead of trying to catch up and making myself even more behind, I decided to just move on to today's prompt, which is "Inspired by Pinterest"  After about an hour or so of browsing indecisively, I finally settled on something, and even better, I could use the base I'd already painted as a starting point.  Hooray for convenience!

31DC - Day 11 - Reversed Polarities

 Hiya lovelies, and welcome to day 11 of the 31 day challenge.  Today's prompt is "reversed polarities", which is essentially just inverted colours, for example, a yellow sea with a blue sun.  I played it fairly safe with my mani, as thinking about this one too much gave me a bit of a headache...... :p

31DC - Day 10 - Glitter Base

Hello again!  So, today's prompt for the 31 day challenge is "Glitter Base".  If you've followed this blog for more than a few weeks you probably already have an idea about how much I've been looking forward to this prompt.  I do love me a good glitter base mani....

31DC - Day 9 Catch-up - Red Base

*All products purchased with my own money.

Hiya lovelies!  Unfortunately I didn't get around to posting my mani for yesterday's 31 day challenge prompt, but I did do one, so I figured I would still post it quickly, before I posted today's mani.........

A2Z - I is for....Inspired & 31DC -Day 8 - Monochromatic

 Hello again lovely people!  Today's mani is a bit of a two-for-one, as I've managed to combine the prompt for the 31 day challenge with this weeks A2Z prompt.  The 31 day prompt is "monochromatic", and in the A2Z we're up to I is for Inspired.  So, I did some all pink galaxies, inspired by this mani from Lucy's Stash. (she was inspired by Coewless for her version as well, so very appropriate for this prompt too!)

31DC - Day 7 - Pink & Aqua

Hiya lovelies, and welcome to day 7 of the 31 day challenge.  Can you believe the first week is gone already?  Today's prompt is pink and aqua, and I've done....drumroll please...................yup, another tape mani!  I can't help myself.  Not to worry though, you guys won't need to stage an intervention or anything just yet.  Tomorrow's mani will involve no tape whatsoever.  Promise :D

31DC - Day 6 - Half and Half

 Hiya lovelies!  Welcome to day 6 of the 31 day challenge.  The prompt for today is "half and half", and at first I was dealing with a bit of a mental block trying to come up with something.  I kept going back to a mani I'd already painted and posted, and I couldn't seem to think of anything else.  In the end I just decided to pick out a couple of polishes from my stash and see what happened........

31DC - Day 5 - Dotting Tools

 Hello again lovelies!  Today we've reached Day 5 of the 31 day challenge, and the prompt is "dotting tools".  For some reason, I remembered this as "dots", rather than specifically using dotting tools, and I was initially planning to post a stamped dots mani I wore at Christmas.  Luckily I realised in time, and managed to put something together that did actually involve dotting tools.

31DC - Day 4 - Happiness

Hiya lovelies, and welcome to day 4 of the 31 day challenge.  The prompt for today is Happiness, which could be interpreted in all sorts of ways.  I didn't have much time to think about this prompt, as I only decided I was going to take on this challenge 2 days before it started, so I decided to just pick out some of my favourite nail things and make a mani out of them......

31DC - Day 3 - Water Spotting

 Hiya lovelies, and welcome to day 3 of the 31 day challenge.  The prompt for today is water spotting, which is a new technique for me, so I was a little bit nervous about this mani........

31DC - Day 2 - Tape Mani

Hiya lovelies!  So today is Day 2 of the #31DC, and the prompt is Tape Mani.  I really liked today's mani, but it's a shame, because I really struggled to get my photos colour accurate............

Crumpet's Nail Tarts - 31 Day Challenge 2015

Hello lovelies, happy new year!  So, I doubt it's escaped your attention that this blog has been a little neglected recently, and I've had times where I haven't posted for over a week.  I know it's not that long really, but it is the longest I've gone in the last year and a half, so it feels like a lot.  I've wanted to get back into a better routine for a while now, so I'm jumping in with both feet, and I'll be attempting this 31 day challenge to start off the year.  (alongside my usual Thursday A2Z posts, of course)  The first prompt is "follow a tutorial", and I didn't do so well...............