40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Pale Blue Base

**Nothing to Disclose**

I'm back! This week's prompt was to do a mani over a pale blue base, and my design was watercolor. Which I have never done before. So this was definitely an experiment for me.

I started with a base of Zoya Blu, then put random blobs of Philly Loves Lacquer That Elsa Doll is Mine!,  Zoya Rayne, Rocky, and Yummy. I worked one nail at a time, putting down one color and swishing it around my nail with a bunch of acetone. Overall, it was a simple mani for me, but I did find that if you aren't careful with the acetone you will end up eating through the base color.

~Kelly

An InLinkz Link-up

HPB Presents Monochromatic Nails

Nothing to disclose

Hi everyone! Every month, the Hobby Polish Bloggers group chooses a different theme. This month, it is monochromatic nails, which I absolutely love to do. I decided that instead of making a new manicure, I would show some old ones that never made it onto the blog.

The first mani I have for you is my first attempt at an abstract look. I used the purple China Glaze set and a small paint brush for this. This was also my first attempt at an artistic photo.

This was my next attempt at this style. I used a bunch of random polishes, including the China Glaze green set. I also decided that my sweater dress matched better than a scarf.

And now, pink! This was the pink China Glaze set (noticing a theme yet?), and by this time I had improved my artistic pose with a scarf. I also think I had lost my thin brush because the brushstrokes look a lot thicker. Or maybe I was just in a hurry?

My final picture is my black and white version. I think I ended up using 5 shades for this one. The lack of scarf is only because I haven't unpacked my scarf box yet. In case you are wondering, yes, I have a scarf that matches this perfectly, and yes, I have a bit of a scarf obsession.

An InLinkz Link-up

Reading Challenges

2016 Craving for Cozies Challenge

Challenge Dates: Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2016

Challenge Rules: http://www.escapewithdollycas.com/challenges-2/craving-cozies-challenge-2016/

Level: Satisfied - 21-40 cozies

Date Finished:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/24616783-kelly?shelf=craving-for-cozies-2016

Books Read:
1: A Cast-off Coven - Juliet Blackwell (finished 1/5)
2: A Brew to a Kill - Cleo Coyle (finished 1/11)
3: Death by Coffee - Alex Erickson (finished 1/13)
4: Tagged For Death -Sherry Harris (finished 1/21)
5: Cat Bearing Gifts - Shirley Rousseau Murphy (finished 1/30)
6: Chorus Lines, Caviar, and Corpses - Mary McHugh (finished 2/4)
7: Here Today, Gone Tamale - Rebecca Adler (finished 2/8)
8: A Room With a Pew - Peg Cochran (finished 2/23)*
9: Hail to the Chef - Julie Hyzy (finished 2/25)
10: Button Holed - Kylie Logan (finished 2/27)
11: Murder, Plain and Simple - Isabella Alan (finished 3/2)
12: Wedding Cake Murder - Joanne Fluke (finished 3/6)
13: Pane and Suffering - Cheryl Hollon (finished 3/9)
14: The Vicious Vet - M.C. Beaton (finished 3/15)
15: To Helvetica and Back - Paige Shelton (finished 3/19)
16: Novena For Murder - Sister Carol Anne O'Marie (finished 3/30)
17: Flipped For Murder - Maddie Day (finished 4/2)
18: By Cook or by Crook - Maya Corrigan (finished 4/5)
19: Veiled Threats - Deborah Donnelly (finished 4/7)
20: Presumed Puzzled - Parnell Hall (finished 4/13)
21: Death of a Bacon Heiress - Lee Hollis (finished 4/14)*
22: Murder on the House - Juliet Blackwell (finished 4/20)
23: Mug Shot - Caroline Fardig (finished 4/22)*






What an Animal IX Reading Challenge 2016

Challenge Dates: Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2016

Challenge Rules: http://socratesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2015/11/what-animal-reading-challenge-ix-2016.html

Level: 2 - 7-12 animal themed books

Date finished:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/24616783-kelly?shelf=what-an-animal-2016

Books Read:
1: Kneading to Die - Liz Mugavero (finished 1/9)
2: Lending a Paw - Laurie Cass (finished 1/18)
3: The Cat, the Quilt and the Corpse - Leann Sweeney (finished 1/23)
4: Cat Telling Tales - Shirley Rousseau Murphy (finished 1/28)
5: When Bunnies Go Bad - Clea Simon (finished 3/6)*
6: Bite the Biscuit - Linda O. Johnston (finished 4/9)






2016 Alphabet Soup Challenge

Challenge Dates: Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2016

Challenge Rules: http://www.escapewithdollycas.com/2015/11/27/2016-alphabet-soup-reading-challenge-sign-up-post/

Date Finished:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/24616783-kelly?shelf=alphabet-soup-2016

Books Read:
A: And Then There Were Nuns - Kylie Logan (finished 3/26)*
B:
C: A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J Maas (finished 1/7)
D: The Dirt on Ninth Grave - Darynda Jones (finished 1/31)
E: Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett (finished 3/25)
F:
G: Get Fluffy - Sparkle Abbey (finished 1/9)
H: Hexes and Hemlines - Juliet Blackwell (finished 3/13)
I: It Takes a Witch - Heather Blake (finished 3/10)
J:
K: Killer Reunion - G.A. McKevett (finished 3/28)*
L: Love, Lattes and Angel - Sandra Cox (finished 4/16)*
M: Murder Casts Its Spell - Margaret C Morse (finished 2/12)
N:
O:
P: The Perfectionists - Sara Shepard (finished 2/5)
Q: The Quiche of Death - M.C. Beaton (finished 3/14)
R: Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard (finished 2/28)
S: See How They Run - Ally Carter (finished 2/4)
T: To Brew or Not to Brew - Joyce Tremel (finished 2/15)
U:
V:
W: When - Victoria Laurie (finished 2/16)
X: X Marks the Scot - Victoria Roberts (finished 2/18)
Y: Yellow Brick War - Danielle Paige (finished 4/18)
Z:


Books marked with a * were provided by NetGalley for review

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Teal

Nothing To Disclose

Hmmm, apparently I don't know how to start a post very well. I've typed 5 different things, and none of them seemed to work for me. I'm part of the 40 Great Nail Art Ideas challenge, and I'm doing the color + pattern prompts. This week is teal, and my pattern is swirls.

I started out with 2 coats of KBShimmer PT Young Thing topped with KBShimmer Clearly on Top. After that was fully dry, I stuck on some of the KBShimmer swirl vinyls (my first vinyl mani!). I then put a nice thick coat of KBShimmer Up and Cunning on one nail at a time so that I could peel up the swirls before the polish dried.

I think this turned out nicely for a first attempt, and I definitely learned a few things. The first thing is that it is hard to place vinyls nicely one handed. It took 3-4 attempts per nail to get decent placement. The second is that curved nails mess with the vinyls laying flat. I had a little bit of polish get under some of the vinyls because they weren't fully pressed down. The last thing I learned is that this makes a mess. I was trying to do the teal nice and thick so I would only need one coat, which meant I didn't have as much control of the color as I'm used to.

~Kelly
(I'm also horrible at how to end a blog post)

An InLinkz Link-up

31 Day Challenge Progress - Week 1

Nothing to Disclose

4 days done, 27 to go. My nail art skills are a bit rusty, so I'm starting this challenge out with simple designs.

For Day 1 - Red, I used Glitter Gal Redback, and did a simple accent nail of Dorothy's Revenge over Redback.

Day 2 - Orange is Zoya Arizona with stripes of Tanzy.

Day 3 - Yellow. Um, yeah, I don't own much yellow, and I've never found one that I like on me. This is Zoya Pippa with accents of Sinful Colors Pumpkin Spice.

And finally, Day 4 - Green. I used Sinful Colors Black on Black and topped it with Green Ocean. I probably should've done a different background for this one, black on black doesn't show up very well.

If you would like to follow my progress, I am posting my manis on my instagram.

~Kelly

2015 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge

Nothing to Disclose

Yup, another reading challenge. This one I found at Escape With Dollycas Into a Good Book. Basically, you read a book that starts with each letter of the alphabet. I have decided I hate the letters Q, V, X, Z, and N. Yes, N. I don't own ANY books that start with N. And I already read a book that starts with Q earlier this year, so I had to find another one. The challenge runs through the end of the year, crossovers with other challenges and rereads are allowed. I made it more difficult for myself by not allowing rereads, crossovers, or reading multiple books by the same author (no author repeats in either challenge).

Here is my list:

A: All Fall Down - Ally Carter (finished 6/7)

B: A Breath of Frost - Alyxandra Harvey (finished 8/6)

C: Criminal Confections - Colette London (finished 7/4)

D - Dissonance - Erica O'Rourke (finished 7/10)

E- Everneath - Brodi Ashton (finished 7/23)

F - Faces of the Dead - Suzanne Weyn (finished 7/30)

G - Gossip Girl - Cecily von Ziegasar (finished 6/23)

H - Hearse and Buggy - Laura Bradford (finished 7/15)

I - I was Jane Austen's Best Friend - Cora Harrison (finished 8/3)

J - Just Ella - Margaret Peterson Haddix (finished 8/4)

K - A Killer Plot - Ellery Adams (fnished 7/19)

L - Lost in Thought - Cara Burtrand (finished 8/11)

M - Murder Strikes a Pose - Tracy Weber (finished 6/21)

N - No Ghouls Allowed - Victoria Laurie (finished 4/30)

O - Origin Scroll - Richard S. Tuttle (finished 6/25)

P - Pawn - Aimee Carter (finished 7/25)

Q - The Quick and the Thread - Amanda Lee (finished 7/27)

R - Ruby Red - Kirstin Gier (finished 9/10)

S - Snow White Red-Handed - Maia Chance (finished 6/20)

T - Transparent - Natalie Whipple (finished 6/26)

U - Undercover in High Heels - Gemma Halliday (finished 7/12)

V - Virals - Kathy Reichs (finished 6/29)

W - The Wicked Will Rise - Danielle Paige (finished 7/29)

X - The Xibalba Murders - Lyn Hamilton (finished 7/8)

Y - You Slay Me - Katie MacAllister (finished 6/17)

Z - Zombies Don't Cry - Rusty Fischer (finished 6/16)

These challenges may seem a bit weird, but they are a great way to find new authors and to work through a TBR list.

***Challenge finished 9/10***

~Kelly

2015 Summer Book Challenge

Nothing to Disclose

I have been reading a lot recently, and came across this challenge from Semi-Charmed Kind of Life that sounds like a lot of fun. The rules are simple:

General rules:
The challenge will run from May 1, 2015, to August 31, 2015. No books that are started before 12 a.m. on May 1 or finished after 11:59 p.m. on August 31 will count.

Each book must be at least 200 pages long. Audiobooks and large-print books are fine, as long as the regular print versions meets this length requirement.

A book can only be used for one category, and each category can only be completed once. If you want to switch the category of a book during a later check-in, that's fine, just be sure to account for that in your point total.

Rereads can be used for a maximum of three books in the challenge. This rule is meant to encourage you to try new books while still allowing you to revisit books from your childhood or young adulthood that you might get more out of now. Please reread the entire book within the timeframe of the challenge in order to count it; no simply finishing old books or partial rereads.

The highest possible total is 200 points, and the first five people who finish the challenge will be invited to contribute a category for the next challenge.

My preliminary list is:

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that fits the general rules. Killer in High Heels - Gemma Halliday (finished 6/9) 260 pages

10 points: Read a book you have never heard of before. (Just go to a shelf and pick a book based on the cover, the title, whatever you want!) Murder Simply Brewed - Vannetta Chapman (finished 5/27) 352 pages

10 points: Read a book that has been on your TBR list for at least two years. (If you've had a Goodreads account for 2+ years, this will be easy to figure out. If you don’t, do your best to pick a book you’re pretty sure you’ve been wanting to read for years.) If Walls Could Talk - Juliet Blackwell (finished 5/16) 316 pages

10 points: Read a book that won a Goodreads “Best Book” award in 2014. We Were Liars - E. Lockhart (finished 5/30) 227 pages

15 points: Read a book by an author who is completely new to you. Flunked - Jen Calonita (finished 5/29) 256 pages

15 points: Read a book by an author you have read before. (No re-reads for this one.) The Golden Lily - Richelle Mead (finished 5/4) 418 pages

15 points: Read a book with "light" or "dark" in the title. (Or "lightness" or "darkness.") The Dark Unwinding - Sharon Cameron (finished 5/11) 318 pages

20 points: Read a book with the name of a city, state or country in the title. Prom Dates From Hell - Rosemary Clement Moore (finished 5/2) 320 pages

20 points: Read a book with an animal on the cover. The Chihuahua Always Sniffs Twice - Waverly Curtis (finished 6/12) 320 pages

25 points: Read a book that is part of a series with at least four books. Crushed - Sara Shepard (finished 6/4) 336 pages

25 points: Read a book that is longer than 500 pages long. — Submitted by winter finisher Kristen from See You in a Porridge. Allegiant - Veronica Roth (finished 5/20) 526 pages

30 points: Read a book with an alliterative title. (All words in the title must begin with the same letter; no exceptions for articles or prepositions. Examples: Gone Girl or Nicholas Nickleby. Yes, this is tough, which is why it's worth the most points!) Miss Mayhem - Rachel Hawkins (finished 6/2) 288 pages

This should be a lot of fun, and a great way to work on my to-read shelf. If you want to see my progress, follow me on Goodreads

~Kelly