Nail polish these days. 🤯

Nail polish these days. 🤯 I am not good at writing descriptions, but this darker one is definitely AT LEAST a holographic multichrome with reflective glitter. These two photos are of the same polish - the only difference is that one photo was taken with flash and the other was not.

That blue jumping out is the reflective glitter, and it's going to be CRAZY on the nail in bright light. I opened the package it was in just now and it stopped. me. in. my. tracks.

Edited to add in this green; it's magnetic with reflective glitter.  Not my swatches; they are by Christian Gillespie, but I just want to spew a bunch of cursewords because it's so pretty.  It also came today with the other one pictured.

The things that independent makers have done with nail polish over the years have never ceased to amaze me. I can't wait to see what they come up with next. 🤩

If you have nothing more fun or interesting to do...

If you have nothing more fun or interesting to do this fine Friday evening, feel free to browse through my nail polish swatch folder. According to my spreadsheet I have around 4000 nail polishes, so this is far from all of them. I'm hoping to finish gathering swatches, descriptions, and collection names over the next few months, so the folders and photos found at this link will be updating while that happens.

The folders that are most complete are Bee's Knees and Tonic. Sadly, they are both on hiatus for now, but they make up some of the largest numbers in my collection and if you look at them you'll definitely see why. They made some beauties.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-1FdO7iQBsyidgnZNggHySOs4xIOsCyG

I don't know how many of you have a bunch of small things to sort through, but...

I don't know how many of you have a bunch of small things to sort through, but with my nail art collection I have a good bit of stuff. A couple of years ago I thought I'd make an app for storing nail stamping plates, but then I found the "Color My Life" app and changed my mind. "Color My Life is a mobile cataloging app designed exclusively for Paper Crafters." It's not meant for me, but it actually works quite well.

I have all of my stamping plates stored in there, as well as stickers, vinyls, nail wraps, water slide decals, etc. It has space for photos and brands and barcodes, as well as a field for listing where you stored your items. You can tag things by color and search by pretty much anything. I should probably give in and use this for my nail polish, but I've been too invested in making my own database to give that up. 😂 I'm nothing if not stubborn.

I thought I'd share this piece of my nail art organization for any of you who might be interested. I've got more Helmers on the way so it'll be a bit yet before I get my actual polish straightened out. That is a much bigger job. 😂😂😂

Today Shaun and I built 7 Helmers from Ikea.

Today Shaun and I built 7 Helmers from Ikea. Then we moved 58 small totes of nail polish downstairs. I got 36 of those totes put away into the Helmers. The rest of the polish is sorted by brand (easier to put into my database) rather than color (how the rest of my polish is sorted), so it's slower going putting those other 22 totes away. And I think I'm going to need a few more Helmers, anyway.

I sure wish I had Janet here to help me sort the colors! 😂❤️

I've decided to move my nail polish downstairs.

I've decided to move my nail polish downstairs.  I have 8 helmers being delivered from Ikea tomorrow.  I'm pretty excited about that.  It'll be a nice way to store my polishes properly (in a dark drawer so they don't fade), so I'm pumped about that.  I spend most of my time downstairs with the animals so it just doesn't make sense to have my hobby put away somewhere that is effort to get to.

Other than that, I've finally got the mental space and energy to think about starting back on my two long-term projects:  my nail polish database and my website.  Those two things were put on pause in August of last year.  I don't know how / when those are going to fit into my life yet, but as I fall into a comfortable routine here I know that the opportunity will present itself.  I'm excited to pick back up on those things and I feel more like myself than I have in a long time at just the thought of it.

I painted my nails the other day.

I painted my nails the other day. There's a lot going on here.

I used a milky white gel base, then applied a unicorn powder on that. Then, since those flake off the tips easily and I type a lot I sponged a sparkly gradient from the free edge. I stamped one nail because OBVIOUSLY I needed to. 😂 If only I had some stones here with me I would have put at least one of those on there, too - right near the cuticle of my ring finger.

But anyway. I had fun and treated myself to something pretty. Got kind of a "gelly sandwich" going on here. I like it. 😃

Research polish;
Research plates;
Stamping and Sponge Gradient techniques

Phone pic is all I've got, but...

Phone pic is all I've got, but these are my nails. I was going for a fall-ish theme, but Shaun said that they look like wrapping paper and I can't un-see it. 😂😂😂

Research polish;
Research plates;
Layered Stamping and Stamping Decal techniques

Every year...

Every year my work hosts an event for the employees. This year it's in Montana and it starts tomorrow. Since me and the other ATCs are still considered trainees we're not invited. We did get the week off with pay, though, and WHO in their right mind could complain about that after only 2 weeks with the company?

Not me. I flew home yesterday. Did the "connecting flight" and "check a bag" thing both for the first time AND all by myself. Made it here in time to celebrate Shaun's 40th birthday with him tomorrow. I missed my family. I missed home. But in my new position is absolutely where I want to be and the time spent away from home for training is going to be worth it for us all. Can't blame me for having so much enthusiasm.

#LFG

Research polishes;
Research plates;
Layered Stamping technique

I painted Shaun's nails today.

I painted Shaun's nails today.  His toenails are a pretty purple / blue / green shifting polish with reflective glitter in so it will LIGHT UP in the right light.  I might get a picture for y'all.  His fingernails are just plain black gel.  He can do something nicer over that if he wants.  He's got a whole stash of polish in his favorite colors.

I painted my nails this evening.

I painted my nails this evening.  Last night I re-did my clear gel overlay while Shaun painted his fingernails.  Then I did his toes and he's got a dark berry color with reflective glitter on.  It looks great.  It's not really fair that he's got such beautiful feet and I have these little stumps with tiny toenails, but at least he likes his nails painted.  Shadow's the only one here who doesn't let me do his nails, but I used to have to sneak on him when he was young to clip them and he hated the way it felt so I get it.  He's done with me grooming him and that's ok.